Team-BHP - Android Thread: Phones / Apps / Mods

I am looking for an andriod phone and have following requirements, please suggest/share your opinion -

Preferably Android 3.0 or higher
At least 16 GB storage
1 GB RAM (Can live with 512MB if other criteria are satisfied)
Touch phone :D
I guess GPS comes with all new phones??
Good camera (5MP+)
Nice to have - HD recording
Good display resolution
Budget - @25k+ (Can be extended if I really like the phone)
Good handling (Should feel good in hands, sorry I know this is a subjective requirement!!)

I checked Samsung Galaxy SII and Galaxy Note. SII now fits into budget (@25k), I found note a bit too big to handle as a phone. THough, SII lloks plasticky and feel is not as good as one wants to be.
I also checked HTC OneX but it seems too costly (@33k). Do I have any other good options in HTC?
iPhone 4S at 44.5k is too costly for me. I have an iPad so it would have been good to have the iPhone as well. I also considered the iPhone 3GS but then I don't want to buy a phone that is not really the latest.
I am not looking for anything beyond Samsung or HTC at the moment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Figopian (Post 2779039)

MOTOROLA DEFY, WATERPROOF, Can run Android 4.0x, Am not so sure of HD recording, Has > 1GB RAM, Can use 32GB SD Card and is FAST with good battery life and an array of ROMS to play with.

Quote:

I am not looking for anything beyond Samsung or HTC at the moment.

Maybe you should look at the DEFY - Many TBHPians have it! clap:

Quote:

Originally Posted by headers (Post 2779113)

MOTOROLA DEFY, WATERPROOF, Can run Android 4.0x, Am not so sure of HD recording, Has > 1GB RAM, Can use 32GB SD Card and is FAST with good battery life and an array of ROMS to play with.

Good point! I forgot to mention about good battery. I heard Samsung phone battery doesnot last more than day to day and half if used fairly often.

I am checking Motorola Defy now!! Thanks!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Figopian (Post 2779122)

Good point! I forgot to mention about good battery. I heard Samsung phone battery doesnot last more than day to day and half if used fairly often.

I am checking Motorola Defy now!! Thanks!!

Please note, There is no official ICS for Defy, forget ICS, it does not even have Gingerbread (Android 2.3) upgrade. If you do not want to "Tinker" your software this is not for you.

P.S: I own a Defy, Its rooted, Customized, murdered and what not. Its an amazing phone if you are experimental.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bond_bhai (Post 2779135)

Yes, I would not really want to tinker with anything on that phone apart from adding/removing apps :) That is why I mentioned it should have latest OS as far as possible. Gingerbird is still ok, I am not so keen on Ice cream sandwich, though it's a nice to have.

Unfortunately all new OS supported phones comes with lots of added features like quad-core processor, etc which is not really useful for me. 1GB RAM dual core is sufficient. I am not a gaming maniac so won't use much of the gaming functions, once in a while I may use games. Already have iPad which is more than enough.

How is the battery experience on Samsung Galaxy note/SII?

Quote:

Originally Posted by bond_bhai

But a slight mistake.. Defy+ comes with gb. Though it doesn't have 1gb ram last I heard.

And dear figopian, there is no phone which comes with android 3.0

Lol but your homework needs some work. You should realize that your budget is good. Don't go by specs. Please touch, feel the phones in question at a croma first. 1gb ram, dual core is good on paper but for god's sakes - you buy the whole experience not the darned specs. Which is why I love recommending the Omnia w

Quote:

Originally Posted by bond_bhai (Post 2779135)

Please note, There is no official ICS for Defy, forget ICS, it does not even have Gingerbread (Android 2.3) upgrade.

Motorola defy+ comes with android 2.3 out of the box:
Motorola Defy Plus: Price in India, Reviews, Specification: Flipkart.com

Guys I am also in the need of a new android phone! I own a Samsung Galaxy SL i9003 now. The phone is not bad and has not given me any hang issues, but I need 1gb RAM and a better camera than a 5MP which goes blind after sunset!

S2 completely satisfies my requirements but somehow I am in a dilemma because I love the HTC Sense UI and the over all feel of HTC phones and specially the ONE X. The only thing I am doubtful about though, is the battery back up. Can somebody comment?

The HTC ONE S would have been perfect for me, but it's not available in India. So it has to be S2/ONE X. The S3 and Note are definitely ruled out. S3 looks cheap and has useless features and Note, I feel is too big for daily use. Help please:

EDIT: Oh I want a bigger screen than 4" too, but the Note is too big :p

Quote:

Originally Posted by phamilyman (Post 2779204)

And dear figopian, there is no phone which comes with android 3.0

My mistake! agree: Should read 2.3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Added_flavor (Post 2779219)

The only thing I am doubtful about though, is the battery back up. Can somebody comment?

Now that's the dilemma. I am assuming HTC battery would be better than Samsung purely based on what I have heard from my friends.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sups (Post 2779217)

Motorola defy+ comes with android 2.3 out of the box:
Motorola Defy Plus: Price in India, Reviews, Specification: Flipkart.com

Well, I was talking about Defy. Defy+ does have 2.3, Not Defy. And Defy is not available anymore.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Added_flavor

If your budget is for onex as well then don't look at anything other than S3. I am changing my opinion, earlier I was disappointed by it but now I think it is simply the best phone out there. Some of the software features r really cool. Even iPhone5 might not be able to match upto it! Apple is gonna find it extremely hard this time.

I played with onex and XperiaS and Sony feels much much faster than onex. HTC's software is crap. Somehow even at quad core it does not feel fast enough! Disappointing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joslicx

I feel most features/softwares the s3 boasts of are good on paper.

1. Smart eye - for how long will I look at the screen until I don't touch or scroll? In fact this is more load on the battery I feel.

2. S beam - useless until the technology establishes and becomes more common.

3. S voice - GSM already says this feature is disappointing! How frequently do apple users use siri?

Tell me what does samsung bring new to the table? Also, couple with this samsung's crap touch wiz!

It's widely believed and proven that htc sense is the best UI for android! I'm saying this in spite of owning a samsung phone!

EDIT - How could I not mention how classy one x looks and how cheap s3 looks and apparently feels!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pancham (Post 2778472)

Actually I dont like the looks of the Net and build quality is definitely important. Please tell me whether HTC phones actually last a long time or not because I will be keeping it for a minimum 2-3 years.

P.S: I think Tradus offers the lowest price but they may not provide the headphones.

Dude did you decide on which phone you're going to buy?? I am going to buy my new phone next month and will be watching this purchase closely. Please post a review on whatever phone you finally end up buying!!

yaar,

I think we android fan boys need to stop over glamorizing the "horsepower" of the S3/1-X/ top end androids. Android as a system needs far more polish. I mean, take a simple example - the multi touch gestures in OSX Lion or iOS. Now THAT rocks.

Infact, the way to switch between programs is fairly painful in android. iPad owners will know what I am talking about.

There is a price for cleverness and out of the box integration / smooth interface (iOS/WP e.g its glanceability). For all of samsung's hardware wizardry (they are the only ones consistently going one/two up above apple every quarter) their touchwiz is such a pathetic excuse of an OS layer. They really need to up the ante on that account now.