Cheap(ish) Android Phone

AnonymousPrime

Hi Guys,

Can anybody recommend a mid to low price android phone?
I'm looking to spend less than €200 on something with:

• Android 2.0 or greater
• stability
• WiFi
• a touch screen that works
• (is 48 hours battery asking too much?)

does such a thing exist or am i being too optimistic?

akamossie

too optimistic

The only phone i can think of is HTC Wildfire

CiaranC

Bought a second hand Hero for 100 quid there. Battery only barely goes 48 hours, has all the rest though.

protosByte

I have a wildfire and I'm very happy with it. Cost me around 250 EUR sim unlocked in Holland.

Would have bought a desire but it's a little too big to fit comfortably into my pockets. Wildfire fits in nicely.

Goodshape

Orange in the UK recently anounced a £99 Android phone on pay as you go. Might be able to grab one in Norn Iron, if that's an option for you.

http://newsroom.orange.co.uk/2010/09/21/orange-brings-android-to-the-masses-with-the-launch-of-san-francisco/

Looks pretty decent! And very very decent for the price!

Unboxing etc. here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka-46iUwAbw

I'd say we can expect to see more of these "entry level" Android phones in the near enough future.

AnonymousPrime

Wildfire is definitely a contender. They don't have it on vodafone though so the price is pretty high. I'm not mad about buying second hand phones too, a phone can be flaky enough as it is.

The san fran looks fantastic for the price though....I'll have to look into that one, cheers.

ronano

Goodshape wrote: »

Orange in the UK recently anounced a £99 Android phone on pay as you go. Might be able to grab one in Norn Iron, if that's an option for you.

http://newsroom.orange.co.uk/2010/09/21/orange-brings-android-to-the-masses-with-the-launch-of-san-francisco/

Looks pretty decent! And very very decent for the price!

Unboxing etc. here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka-46iUwAbw

I'd say we can expect to see more of these "entry level" Android phones in the near enough future.

How does the san fran compare to say a htc g1?

bkelly86

I have the samsung galaxy spica on three prepay for €199, very happy with this phone, it has everything you mentioned there.
http://www.three.ie/shop/samsung-spica-white-prepay.htm

AnonymousPrime

bkelly86 wrote: »

I have the samsung galaxy spica on three prepay for €199, very happy with this phone, it has everything you mentioned there.
http://www.three.ie/shop/samsung-spica-white-prepay.htm

I like, nice processor but not much RAM.
Anyone know if 256MB of RAM is enough for a good android experience?

Trevor451

My friend got a second hand HTC hero from one of those small phone shops in Talbot street for around €200.

meathgal2010

AnonymousPrime wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Can anybody recommend a mid to low price android phone?
I'm looking to spend less than €200 on something with:

• Android 2.0 or greater
• stability
• WiFi
• a touch screen that works
• (is 48 hours battery asking too much?)

does such a thing exist or am i being too optimistic?

Samsung Galaxy Europa 149e prepay

2.1 android
capacitive touch screen
Wifi
1gb memory

The Spica would be higher spec though

Bugzy

i dont see the point of cheap android phones. its like going onto ebay and buying a knock of iPhone...it might look the same but it will never work as good as wont deliver the real experience it can deliver...in most cases making the consumer reluctant of the real deal

Goodshape

Bugzy wrote: »

i dont see the point of cheap android phones. its like going onto ebay and buying a knock of iPhone...it might look the same but it will never work as good as wont deliver the real experience it can deliver...in most cases making the consumer reluctant of the real deal

Wouldn't make that comparison necessarily. The 'San Fran' looks like reasonably good quality -- it stands to reason that these components are getting cheaper for manufacturers to put together -- and an Android device is, to a large extent, going to have the same software and OS support of any other Android device, which is something you wouldn't find on your hiPhones or ePhones or other knockoffs.

Ludo

Bugzy wrote: »

i dont see the point of cheap android phones. its like going onto ebay and buying a knock of iPhone...it might look the same but it will never work as good as wont deliver the real experience it can deliver...in most cases making the consumer reluctant of the real deal

Well I gotta disagree with the above completely. I have been using the HTC Tattoo for a year now. It is (was) a cheap android device. It is absolutely fantastic in every way. If anything it has the exact opposite effect of what you say above. It guarantees my next phone will be an android also.

Bugzy

i dont mean all lower end phones are ****. there are some well manufactured phones for a reasonable price.

but in most cases it is a disappointment. and it cannot reflect the full possibilities that a certain OS would have.

i know some people that bought low end android phones and thanks to that now their scared of ever going near it.

AnonymousPrime

Bugzy wrote: »

i dont mean all lower end phones are ****. there are some well manufactured phones for a reasonable price.

but in most cases it is a disappointment. and it cannot reflect the full possibilities that a certain OS would have.

i know some people that bought low end android phones and thanks to that now their scared of ever going near it.

Half or even a quarter of the possibility is better than some cheap sony erricson OS.
I personally want some control over the software on my phone, I'm not too bothered as to whether it has a windscreen wiper animation or not.

Still haven't got any cash for a cheap one though

siobhan.murphy

vodafone android 845
€119
2 days battery life