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Hey guys,

My w910i died and i'm on a look out for a nice phone within 15 grands, I'm also smitten by the android bug which makes me look down upon the Symbain, I came across

Samsung i5700 spicia,
SE xperia mini
nokia X6.

Among which liked the Samsung spicia untill i found out that it doesn't have FM :S, Ruled out xperia mini because of its tiny screen, X6 was also ruled out because of the 18th century symbain S60.

I was wondering if i should wait for new android phones or pick up something out there? Or should i increase my budget and buy something else?

Thanks :)

Akshay - why not the Xperia X10 - its being upgraded to android 2.1 - it's by far the best android in the market. Or the xperia mini pro is another good option.

Check out the actual google phone. It comes with some nice circus tricks built in such as live wallpapers.

HTC makes really good android phones and it's sense UI is one of the best around (in fact the google phone i.e. the nexus one is made by HTC) check out the HTC lengend (which looks fantastic) and desire they are really good. Android is really turning out to be great, X10 will be updated to 2.1 in Q3 but 2.2 might take forever, whereas HTC phones (atleast Desire Incredible etc) will get 2.2 in Q3, and Android 2.2 has many worthwhile features that 2.1 doesn't.

Android is evolving fast and version upgradability of existing phones is still a big problem. Meaning you buy a phone now and you cant upgrade to the latest firmware after less than an year.

2.2 Froyo is a worthy upgarde worth waiting for. It might be out in a couple of months.

If you want to buy now, Galaxy Spica 2.1 is more VFM.

If you want to buy the ultimate Android Phone, look no further than the Samsung Galaxy S. It has 4" Super AMOLED screen, 1GHz processor and the best GPU in the market, 5MP camera with HD video recording and plays back Divx format too ( the only android phone that can do this directly ) . It runs Android 2.1 currently and will be updated to 2.2 by the end of the year. It has been recently launched in India and the cost is around 31K. For the features it offers, i think the price is quite reasonable. The only drawback being it doesn't have a flash with the camera
Other phones you could check are the Sony Ericcson Xperia X10. The only drawback being that it currently runs Android 1.6 and sony has said it will be updated to 2.1 only by the end of the year ( no word of 2.2 yet ). Also, no multi touch support and currently displays only 65K colours due to Android 1.6 limitation.
If you want a VFM phone , then the Galaxy Spica is the one for you. The original Galaxy would also have been good but Samsung did not update it to Android 2.1, so it still runs on 1.5 .
Motorola Milestone is another good one, especially if you prefer a physical QWERTY keyboard.

One reason why Android would be good is that you could upgrade software. Now this is not easy currently. Why do you really need Android when you should be looking at features and app availability? Cant wait for Windows Phone?

Thank you all for the suggestions,
I guess haven't notice my max budget, I have 15k in hand and can extend to 1-2k more

Nexus one, awesome phone but sells for 28k in the grey market.

Nexus one, HTC desire will cost more than 25k! My budget is is within 17k

Galaxy X is no doubt the best android phone in the market but as i said i'll try sticking within the budget, Xperia x10 doesn't have radio.
I think the Spica is a nice VFM but this doesn't have FM either, I can sacrifice the FM but availability of this phone is a big issue

Is it difficult to upgrade android software to a newer version?
A windows phone is built for business needs and i don't really require word processor and email and stuff, I'm still a student and i need music, video and photo capability.

My only crib about all the Android phones is their battery life. Very bad esp. HTC. Folks can comment.

I am not sure about the Milestone and Galaxy products.

But if you personally ask me the best VFM under 15K would still be an E71.
Has every thing that you need (if you are OK with a 3MP camera) and has great battery life 1500mAh. All this if you are not a stickler for touch screen. I was hell bent on buying an Android phone 3 weeks back, but the basic feature that I was looking for (Wifi/GPS/Mail (MS-Active Sync) was not available in any phone under 15K. I guess there were some HTC models (Windows based) but I was not interested.

Also Nokia with OVI maps (now available for E71), made me look at them more closely and I finally ended up with an E71. Sold off my previous phone for 3K and got an E71 at an extra 10K! That was real VFM for me.

I take all the points towards Android (Even I wanted one), but still an all-in-one package with good battery is some time in coming.

The problem is that manufacturers install their own UI on top of Android. So most of the phones do not run plain Android. That is the reason we have to wait for the manufacturers to release their updates. This is the reason Samsung Galaxy is still running 1.5 and Xperia is running 1.6 with no news of an update to 2.2 .

However, if you are adventurous you can directly flash your phone with stock Android and you will be able to enjoy the latest version.

I have also heard that Samsung is planning to launch a cheap Android phone based on the Corby platform, so maybe that could be the phone for you :). No idea when it will be launched though.

The question to ask yourself: Do you really need one?

a) 2.1 updates are very well available at Samsung Service Centers

b) Corby Android is to be launched in next quarter.

Check Galaxy-S from Samsung. It is Samsung's latest Android Offering and soon will be available in India too.

It has got wonderful review from all of the world. Check website of GSMArena too

Also check out Samsung S5620 called Monte, this is a good phone with touch screen and every feature you can think of GPS, Wifi, 3.2 MP camera, 3G , FM recording, etc. But this is based on Samsung own BADA OS, but I must say this is not bad either.

My current phone is a 3.5 year old W810i. Still working very fine with good battery backup. My MTNL SIM is 3G connection So need a upgrade immediately. I use to browse using Wify's W760i but at times it end up in fights. I had visited Sony World, Janpath and had real demo on Vivaz and Xperia X10 Mini. Prices are 23000 and 15000 respectively. I liked both handsets. X10 mini is small (I liked it)but it is very very fast. There are lots of free applications to download. Not decided yet on purchasing. I have to check X10 mini Pro before final decision. Both mini and mini pro can be upgraded to Android 2.1 by late October 2010.

Cheers!