Android Thread: Phones / Apps / Mods

[discobiscuit]

Originally Posted by ZeRo©

It should be available early next month, prices will be upward of 43000, will go higher for 32 & 64 GB version.

Got the details from a samsung employee at their HQ in Gurgaon. He said as it is the flagship model so they are not pricing it anywhere near Note. Galaxy Note MRP is still around 38000, of course you do get it for much less.

That cant be real

Rs. 43,000 for 16GB is way too much for Samsung Standards.

That is like obnoxious iPhone pricing. Don't think Samsung will price the 16GB over Rs. 39,999, else it will really effect it's sales.

[F150]

Team,
What is your feedback on Droid Razr ?
I saw this phone at e zone just now.
It feels so premium.
What should be the best price ?

[Saanil]

Originally Posted by Parthasarathig

Today i personally used the sony xperia s for quite sometime. By the end of two hours i still couldnt find anything in the phone that i might like even after trying so hard.
Overall opinion
The phone didnt feel that special. The reviews just overhype it.

You have perfectly summed up what I too think about the new Sony phones. The fact that you are comparing Xperia S to HTC One V itself shows how disappointed you were. I never tried Sony phones except recently when I wanted to buy a phone for my father. After going through many websites and using some of the phones personally, I feel Sony cannot compete with Samsung or HTC. Please do not think I hate Sony because I did buy Xperia Sola phone for my father but that is irrelevant to the discussion. Even I heard a lot of things about Xperia S but when I checked it out personally I did not find anything special. Bravia screen is good but not better than AMOLED. Design is good but software I think is one point where Samsung takes the lead. I do not know about others but I love TouchWiz. It is very user-friendly. Somehow I find Samsung’s android to be faster than other droids, even though both having similar hardware. I am not saying Sony is way behind but then Samsung feels much better. With the recent price cuts in S2’s price I doubt people are buying Xperia S - I may be wrong here).

[sups]

Originally Posted by Parthasarathig

The One V felt like an apt competitor to this phone even though its priced at 16990 and the Xperia S at 30k plus.
Regards

Thanks for the nice review. Did you notice any prominent lag/delay in One V while doing some basic operations like opening up the contact list etc? Some users have complained that its a slow phone.

Did you get a chance to look at motorola phones like defy +? Any comparative comments with defy+ and one V would be useful.

[normally_crazy]

With a budget of 30000 INR - what phone could be a replacement for the Galaxy S2 ?

Motorola and Sony would be the least preferred brands - HTC too I am not too keen on unless you guys manage to convince me otherwise ?

So should I get the Note ? Is it handy enough to be operated with one hand ? Or should I stick to the S2 ?

What other options do I have ?

[Parthasarathig]

Originally Posted by sups

Thanks for the nice review. Did you notice any prominent lag/delay in One V while doing some basic operations like opening up the contact list etc? Some users have complained that its a slow phone.

Did you get a chance to look at motorola phones like defy +? Any comparative comments with defy+ and one V would be useful.

One V would definitely be better than the defy+ due to the fact that its a current generation phone. Also looks wise One V is sleek and has the htc premium finish. Defy+ is a bit on the heavier side. But it'd be best to ask defy+ owners on this forum about it.

Between 12k - 20k phones worth considering (not according to price)
- Lumia 710 (zippy UI with live tiles and amazing SNS integration)
- Omnia W (710+ Super Amoled Screen)
- HTC Wildfire S (Gingerbread 2.3 + beautiful Sense)
- galaxy Ace (iPhone lookalikes)
- Xperia neo V (lots of inbuilt camera modes, ICS now available)
- Xperia U - (gives the Xperia S feel but on a smaller budget, only 8gb memory)
- Motorola Defy+ (one tough handset)
- HTC One V ( ICS + Sense 4.0 + Sleek + htc premium build quality + SLCD2)
- HTC Incredible S ( huge screen for the budget)
- HTC Rhyme (for the girls)
Feel free to add to this list.

regards

[ZeRo©]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

With a budget of 30000 INR - what phone could be a replacement for the Galaxy S2 ?

Motorola and Sony would be the least preferred brands - HTC too I am not too keen on unless you guys manage to convince me otherwise ?

So should I get the Note ? Is it handy enough to be operated with one hand ? Or should I stick to the S2 ?

What other options do I have ?

Galaxy Note. Think no further.

Once you use it for a day or two there is no going back. It should be quite good for next 1 year or so. Ice cream sandwich will be available soon in our country and even jelly bean might make it to the phone, if Samsung does not then xda guys will obviously port it.

The one hand thing is not a deal breaker.

watch these.

Living with the Galaxy Note: Thoughts After 5 Days - YouTube

Samsung Galaxy Note: 1 Month Later (Review) (HD) - YouTube

Samsung Galaxy Note Challenge: Day 14

[sbkumar]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

With a budget of 30000 INR - what phone could be a replacement for the Galaxy S2 ?

Motorola and Sony would be the least preferred brands - HTC too I am not too keen on unless you guys manage to convince me otherwise ?

So should I get the Note ? Is it handy enough to be operated with one hand ? Or should I stick to the S2 ?

What other options do I have ?

Can't talk about other phones, I do find Note pretty comfortable. Using it for a month now and I don't feel awkward anymore when I have to attend calls in public though people look at it sometimes :-). Apart from that you will love the screen size. What happens is that you get used to the size after a while ( at least for me it was the case ).

[sups]

Originally Posted by Parthasarathig

Between 12k - 20k phones worth considering (not according to price)
- Lumia 710 (zippy UI with live tiles and amazing SNS integration)
- Omnia W (710+ Super Amoled Screen)
- HTC Wildfire S (Gingerbread 2.3 + beautiful Sense)
- galaxy Ace (iPhone lookalikes)
- Xperia neo V (lots of inbuilt camera modes, ICS now available)
- Xperia U - (gives the Xperia S feel but on a smaller budget, only 8gb memory)
- Motorola Defy+ (one tough handset)
- HTC One V ( ICS + Sense 4.0 + Sleek + htc premium build quality + SLCD2)
- HTC Incredible S ( huge screen for the budget)

Feel free to add to this list.

regards

Whatever little I have seen, really liked lumia and omnia except for the 8GB non-extendable memory. But end of the day, its a call between android vs windows. One of my requirement is voip calls to india while travelling abroad using wifi, not sure about how good window is in terms of that.

Defy+ is a rugged phone with lot of good feedbacks. But its not a looker like HTCs.

[Parthasarathig]

Originally Posted by F150

Team,
What is your feedback on Droid Razr ?
I saw this phone at e zone just now.
It feels so premium.
What should be the best price ?

It was my initial choice and what I went out to actually buy that fateful day, but one look at the note and I was smitten. Probably cause the dealer also didnt have the moto phone on display only packed. The S2 felt very light in weight but heavy on the pocket.

The RAZR should be around 26-28k from local shops. Ebay is giving for 28k. Its definitely a very rugged phone with the gorilla glass and the kevlar back. And looks as sexy as the previous razrs. What I didnt like was the reluctance of various stores to put it on display and their overenthusiasm to sell samsung only. Are you able to get a hands on with the device? XT910 is slimmer than the s2 and feels much more solid than other phones. Also the Motoblur UI feels closer to the original android interface plus it has resizable widgets.
Its style is sharp and its backed up by performance too. plus lets not forget that its future proof with its LTE antenna. And you'll love MotoCAST. This is one phone that has kind of revived Motorola's early fame for designing sharp cutting edge phones. (pun highly intended)

Regards

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Saanil

You have perfectly summed up what I too think about the new Sony phones. The fact that you are comparing Xperia S to HTC One V itself shows how disappointed you were. I never tried Sony phones except recently when I wanted to buy a phone for my father. After going through many websites and using some of the phones personally, I feel Sony cannot compete with Samsung or HTC. Please do not think I hate Sony because I did buy Xperia Sola phone for my father but that is irrelevant to the discussion. Even I heard a lot of things about Xperia S but when I checked it out personally I did not find anything special. Bravia screen is good but not better than AMOLED. Design is good but software I think is one point where Samsung takes the lead. I do not know about others but I love TouchWiz. It is very user-friendly. Somehow I find Samsung’s android to be faster than other droids, even though both having similar hardware. I am not saying Sony is way behind but then Samsung feels much better. With the recent price cuts in S2’s price I doubt people are buying Xperia S - I may be wrong here).

Dude,

There is just no freaking way you can say Touchwiz rocks. I mean - its the MOST underwhelming android layer around by far. I spent 5 hours fiddling with phones today while buying my chacha and the only thing that went through my head while playing with the Note/s2 was - how much would they rock if they were actually running sense.

And before you reply, I invite you to observe or tabulate the number of S2/Note users who go in for custom ROMs. I mean, if Touchwiz rocked SO much - why would S2/note users go in for custom ROMs in droves? why not as many sony users? why o why?

/i think if core android wasnt so flawed, no ROMs would be required, only themes

Originally Posted by sups

Defy+ is a rugged phone with lot of good feedbacks. But its not a looker like HTCs.

Completely agree. Now having a Chacha, I can comment on its stylish looks unlike the plain jane Defy.

[heavy_foot]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Dude,

There is just no freaking way you can say Touchwiz rocks. I mean - its the MOST underwhelming android layer around by far. I spent 5 hours fiddling with phones today while buying my chacha and the only thing that went through my head while playing with the Note/s2 was - how much would they rock if they were actually running sense.

And before you reply, I invite you to observe or tabulate the number of S2/Note users who go in for custom ROMs. I mean, if Touchwiz rocked SO much - why would S2/note users go in for custom ROMs in droves? why not as many sony users? why o why?

/i think if core android wasnt so flawed, no ROMs would be required, only themes




Completely agree. Now having a Chacha, I can comment on its stylish looks unlike the plain jane Defy.

I disagree with the explanation that people use other ROMs because TouchWiz is crap. Correct me if i am wrong but isnt touchWiz only a launcher? You have tons of launchers out there if you feel TW is crap. I personally dont like TW and i have Go launcher EX on my I9000. Most of the people i know who go for custom roms are people who want to get the latest updates like for eg ICS, nothing to do with TW.

[ethan3686]

I personally hate samsungs Plastic body. Hell even in a 'flagship' phone like s3 they are using plastics! Htc one X is the best phone to get right now and i would get it even if s3 had been launched. S3 is a phone designers nightmare. Seriously samsung needs to get better designers. Put more money in that department if you want to beat Appple!

[F150]

Originally Posted by Parthasarathig

The RAZR should be around 26-28k from local shops. Ebay is giving for 28k. Its definitely a very rugged phone with the gorilla glass and the kevlar back. And looks as sexy as the previous razrs.

The phone looks and feels awesome, solid construction. Its has premium written all over it.
Only the price is holding me back, also there are reports of photos shot not from it of being as good as one would expect.
It doesnt have a standalone battery.

Are you able to get a hands on with the device? XT910 is slimmer than the s2 and feels much more solid than other phones.

Yes, the device was on display on in ezone, i used it for few mins, felt good.

[Parthasarathig]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Dude,

There is just no freaking way you can say Touchwiz rocks. I mean - its the MOST underwhelming android layer around by far. .

+100 to that. Touchwiz lacks the visual appeal which most other manufacturers have managed to implement in their own launchers. However the one basic advantage of TW is that unlike most UIs, it doesnt consume much ram and thereby lesser system lags.
Also i like the touchwiz keypad, after the iPhone keypad.

Originally Posted by ethan3686

I personally hate samsungs Plastic body. Hell even in a 'flagship' phone like s3 they are using plastics! Htc one X is the best phone to get right

Yes especially the white covers absolutely suck. The glossy plastic feels as if its not even worth 50paisa. Htc one series and overall Hyc flagship has a premium build quality feel to it even in the plastics department. Each and every phone including the above mentioned ChaCha and explorer feel sturdy and solid. Feels like "ya this is worth the money i spent"

Originally Posted by F150

The phone looks and feels awesome, solid construction. Its has premium written all over it.
Only the price is holding me back, also there are reports of photos shot not from it of being as good as one would expect.
It doesnt have a standalone battery.

Yes, the device was on display on in ezone, i used it for few mins, felt good.

Yes the battery is non user replaceable just like my n8 and the lumia 800 but that hasnt been an issue. So dony worry. I had seen it at the airport once in someone's hands and it made the person look better than he actually was. haha. With this phone motorola has brought the style and posh looks of the first motorazr flip phone and now its got the performance too which is a bang for the buck.

For camera performance, please goto gsmarena.com and see the review of the phone. Their reviews are unbiased and trustworthy. I think theirs was the only review that said Xperia S display disappoints, when the rest of the world went gaga over the words Bravia engine on a phone. I should have paid attention to their words rather than be disappointed ultimately.

You can try Htc sensation Xe also. See if you like that instead.

Regards