Suggest a mobile phone

[John Jai]

Hi guys,

I am planning to buy a mobile around 10,000 rupees in Chennai (India). Please suggest a mobile you like in that range.

I wish to buy one that has Android os.

[Mohamed Sanaulla]

For what purpose are you planning to buy a new phone- Just to make calls or for browsing,emails?

For Android I would suggest to go with a highend hardware. I have a really bad experience using Android on 10k around budget phones- they freeze, they behave crazy, application icons disappear ( in Froyo 2.2 ), and when I keep it for charging, it switches off automatically Others may have a different experience though. But for good smartphone experience go for a slightly high end phone.

May be you can check out Flipkart for options available, then read the reviews elsewhere? (on Engadget or Slashgear)

[John Jai]

Oh thanks..

My usage mostly will be to use some applications that runs on android...

I like to use non-touch (only keypad) phone... One that I previously used was Sony Ericson Elm.. I liked it much but lost it...

Do you know any good or high end that has only keypad...

My friends make fun of me for buying keypad mobiles... They also say Android came only for Touch users...

I don't have much idea on mobile phones... and I am not crazy on the camera resolution too...

[Mohamed Sanaulla]

Exactly my requirements- 7 months before I was in search of an Android phone with QWERTY keypad and I had 3? or so models available - Galaxy 551 (touch with slider keypad), HTC Z, Sony Xperia Pro, Motorola milestone out of which 2 were expensive and Sony,Galaxy being cheaper. And at that time even I got the same response- there are very few android phones with QWERTY keypad.

Now there are quite a few more options- HTC has in 15K range, then Sony has released a new one again in 15K range.

I have compared a few on Flipkart, you can view there here. And in that I found: Sony Ericsson SK17i (Black) to be stand out, though a bit expensive.

[John Jai]

I read the reviews of SK17i.... All are good except the battery it seems... its tempting

I have not used a QWERTY keypad before... I used the normal (the one with Nokia small range phones)... any thoughts on getting accustomed to QWERTY? will it be difficult to type and handle?

[Mohamed Sanaulla]

QWERTY - Comes both on Touch screen as well as on the Keypad (non-touch). But generally specifying QWERTY would refer to the non touch.

They are easy to use- but again depends on the type of buttons- some are easy to press and type, some cause pain to your finger tips. So you might want to go to the shop and try it out before buying. I find them very quick to type, and typing large text is quite simple.

Again battery is an issue with most of such phones. I need to charge my phone daily or twice a day if the usage is more - like reading tweets or using gmail app or some other app.

PS: This is no longer a Meaningless Drivel. Moderators will be able to move this to General Computing? if they see fit. Or may be keep it here

[John Jai]

oh ok thanks..

checked in a local online mobile store... they have listed it under the name of xperia mini pro... its 300 plus the flipkart price...

i will check the phone going to the local store... thanks mohammed

I am going to read the reviews of the phone in the 2 sites you previously gave...

[John Jai]

hi mohammed,

I have made a comparison between some android phones here...

Suppose if i give up the keypad (qwerty) feature, can you suggest any similar model with good performance with Android os...

I like the mini pro you suggested... but it seems to have very low battery backup - i read that in most of the reviews and in slash gear site... thanks

[Mohamed Sanaulla]

Except for Sony Ericsson SK17i , all others are Touch based qwerty (no qwerty keypad) and no Widlfire S- its not value for money, the specs arent good for the money you are paying,

Go in for anything that has a good processor and good ram, and more memory. That way you will have a good user experience. Did you not check HTC ChaCha It has decent specs and more over it has a QWERTY keypad (like Blackberry or Nokia E series).
In any case please look around for reviews.

[Muse Ran]

Buy this one

[Chris Baron]

The Samsung Galaxy Ace is good. I have one. It's very well equipped for its price, except for the processor. That's an older one and that's where they save the money to be able to offer it at this price. You don't really notice it in normal usage. Swiping and animations on websites may be slow and bumpy but it was far better than the Sony phone that looked very much like the Xperia Mini Pro when we where building a HTML5 app with jQuery mobile.

Edit: I just saw that there is a dual sim version of it which is not available where i live. Edit: this one doesn't seem to have GPRS/EDGE but only slow CDMA for internet though.