Help picking a budget smartphone

goodlad

Hey guys,

Generally im an iphone user but its been robbed so im just looking to get a budget smartphone to keep me going.

The important things to me are wi-fi , responsive touch screen, good quality screen and a fast UI.

I doubt i will be able to get all of those things with a budget smartphone.
But im hoping to get as many as possible.

So far what i found is the Samsung Galaxy Mini and the Sony Ericsson X8.
They are both around the €80 mark.

From what im seeing the Galaxy mini seems the best from both of those.

Can you guys recommend any other phones i should be considering for around the €100 mark?

Ste-

The mini would have a better screen and afaik a newer version of Android.
The x8 runs 2.1 unless you use a custom rom. I think the mIni has 2.3 out of the box.
If I were you I'd go into the shop to test both, but I'd dare say the Mini will be better.

Get In There

I've got the orange san francisco and i love it. Think you can buy it for 80 quid. There's a massive thread about it on here. Another phone worth considering would be orange san francisco 2 which was released recently and comes with a 100 quid price tag. If i lost my phone, that'd be the phone i would get.

kisaragi

I have the x8 and wouldn't recommend it at all. Crashes a lot and slows down a lot.

melekalikimaka

Get In There wrote: »

I've got the orange san francisco and i love it. Think you can buy it for 80 quid. There's a massive thread about it on here. Another phone worth considering would be orange san francisco 2 which was released recently and comes with a 100 quid price tag. If i lost my phone, that'd be the phone i would get.

sanf ran 2? the monte carlo? doesnt seem too great tbh, i have a san fran, regretting it more everyday, slow, buggy, keeps breaking.

Tazz T

The Monte Carlo (HTC Skate) is a different phone albeit a good phone. The San Fran 2 is an updated version of the the original San Fran (much better camera). The Monte Carlo can now be unlocked but the Orange haven't made the same mistake with the 2nd San Fran. I'd say it'll be a while before it's unlocked.

San Fran is an unbelieveable phone still for the money. The only thing wrong with the original was the camera in my opinion.

What ROM you running Melek? An upgrade might fix your probs.

goodlad

Thanks for the replies everyone.
That san fran is a nice phone, but im in need of a smart phone kinda asap so i need to walk into a shop an get one rather than waiting on a delivery.

Looking at the x8 and mini again the mini does seem the best of the two.
The only thing letting the mini down seems to be the screen quality. Im just wondering if its actually terrible or if it would be ok for just reading email and checking facebook.

jgbyr

goodlad wrote: »

Thanks for the replies everyone.
That san fran is a nice phone, but im in need of a smart phone kinda asap so i need to walk into a shop an get one rather than waiting on a delivery.

Looking at the x8 and mini again the mini does seem the best of the two.
The only thing letting the mini down seems to be the screen quality. Im just wondering if its actually terrible or if it would be ok for just reading email and checking facebook.

I have the mini,its my 1st smartphone so didn't want to spend too much. The screen quality is fine, I have no problems reading emails through gmail & yahoo apps. I have some boards.ie threads saved as mobile versions & they too can be read without any difficulty. As the phone isn't the fastest it can take a few seconds for an app to open. The only thing I would say to you though is that there is an ongoing issue with wifi on this phone. About twice a week it does not connect & just has 'error' alongside it. I have to switch off the phone to get rid of it & then it connects to wifi again. It is an known issue. You can read more about it here
http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-mini-s5570/293451-wifi-error-android-2-2-froyo-samsung-galaxy-mini.html