Best Budget Smartphones < INR 10k

Hello Guys! PhReview is back with a new post, and this time it will be the budget smartphones.
Phones for people who are just entering the smartphone world, who are a little skeptical and would like to play safe before going big, pouring in their hard earned cash on a flagship.


So, here are the little fellas...!!




Android


HTC Explorer

                            The Explorer is HTC's idea of a first smartphone or the ideal smartphone for a first time smartphone buyer. The Explorer comes with a decent 3.2" LCD display with an average(readable) resolution @ 180 ppi, a 600 MHz processor, a 512 MB RAM, a 3.15 MP camera, 1230 mAh battery and is also 3G and WiFi/GPS enabled. HTC has sure shown some love to it's most basic offering in the form of SRS surround sound enhancement technology built in to the phone. The phone ships with HTC's famed custom UI, Sense on top of Android Gingerbread. HTC has created a lite version of it's latest Sense 4.0 UI for smooth operation on the Explorer's humble hardware and small screen size.


The Explorer can be purchased at INR 8,000 and comes with an incredible build quality for a phone at this price. Infact the build quality even beats phones from much higher price ranges.


LG Optimus Net

                           The Optimus Net is the improved version of LG's best ever basic Android phone, the Optimus One. The Optimus Net remains almost the same with only a faster processor this time. The Net comes with a 800 MHz processor, a 512 MB RAM, 3.2" LCD display with an average resolution @ 180 ppi, a 3.15 MP Autofocus camera, a large 1500 mAh battery and is also 3G/WiFi/GPS enabled.


The Optimus Net can be bought at INR 9,300 and comes with Gingerbread out of the box.


If you are on a tighter budget, but would still love to try an Android phone from a major manufacturer, then here's your phone.


Samsung Galaxy Y

                               The Galaxy Y is the basic Android phone from Samsung who have sold 20 million of their current flagship, the Galaxy SII in just 10 months. The Galaxy Y is Samsung's way of welcoming the user into the Android world. The Y comes with a 3.0" display with a poor screen resolution @ 133 ppi, a fast 836 MHz processor, a decent 290 MB RAM, 2 MP camera, a 1200 mAh battery and is also 3G/WiFi/GPS enabled.


The build quality of the phone is definetly good but does look cheap when compared to the LG Optimus Net and more so when next to the HTC Explorer. Samsung has also released an interesting version of the Galaxy Y called the Galaxy Y Color Plus which comes with 4 spare back panels, each in a different color.


The Galaxy Y/Galaxy Y Color Plus is currently sold at INR 7,000 and comes with Samsung's TouchWiz interface on top of Android 2.3 Gingerbread out of the box.




Bada OS


Samsung Wave Y

                                   
                                    The Samsung Wave Y is the basic phone from Samsung for it's very own smartphone OS, the Bada. The Bada OS has been there for over 2 years now, existence of which in a highly competitive market filled with Android, iOS, Symbian and Blackberry phones is either due to it's goodness or because of the success of Wave I and Wave II phones from Samsung. The Bada OS is in it's second version now, Bada 2.0


The Wave Y  comes with the same 832 MHz processor as the Galaxy Y, but with a bigger and much better display and looks. The Wave Y has got a 3.2" display with an average(readable) screen resolution of 180 ppi, a 2 MP camera and is also 3G/WiFi/GPS enabled.


The Samsung Wave Y can be purchased at INR 6,900 and comes with a Samsung TouchWiz like interface on top of Bada 2.0 out of the box.




Symbian


Nokia 500

                           The Nokia 500 is the latest basic smartphone along with the trio of recently released Symbian Belle phones - Nokia 603, Nokia 700 and 701. The Nokia 500 comes with a 1 GHz processor, 256 MB of RAM, a 3.2" nHD display with a fine resolution @ 229 ppi, a 5 MP fixed focus camera and is also 3G/WiFi/GPS enabled.


The Nokia 500 is sold at INR 8,800 with Symbian Anna out of the box and a planned upgrade to Symbian Belle. The 500 also comes with free lifetime navigation in the form of Nokia maps similar to all Nokia smartphones these days.


The Bada and Symbian OSes are sure lagging behind in the number of apps when compared to the Android but are surely worthy contenders with the kind of hardware on offer and their price, especially the Nokia 500 with it's 1 Ghz proccessor, Symbian Belle upgrade and a 5 MP camera.


Hope it helps! See you all in the next post.


Cheers....!!




* All prices mentioned in the blogpost are quoted from the best online deals in India. The deal websites will be shared if needed.

Best Smartphones @ INR 10 - 15k

Hey Guys! Here are some best smartphones money can buy. 

The phones have been categorized according to the different Operating systems available at this price range.

Android:

Motorola Defy plus

                           The Defy plus is Motorola's update to it's recent success, the Defy. The Defy plus looks the same as the original Defy with the same characteristics of being water and dust proof, 3.7" LCD display @ 265 ppi, covered by a scratch proof Corning Gorilla glass. The Defy plus comes with a 1 Ghz processor(800 MHz on the old Defy) and a 512 MB RAM, a 5 MP autofocus camera and this time with a larger 1700 mAh battery.

The Defy plus is IP67 certified for being dust and water proof (upto 1m and 30 mins). It is sold @ INR 14,400/- and comes with Gingerbread outta the box.


Unfortunately, Moto has no plans for any ICS upgrade to the Defy plus.

 

Symbian:

                Why Symbian? You may say it is almost extinct now and Nokia will be supporting it only until 2016. Still, the Symbian OS in it's latest form (Symbian Belle) is definitely impressive. The six homescreens, shortcuts, homescreen widgets, the pull down notification bar, improved browser, flat menu structure, etc. All these improved features make the Symbian on par with established players like iOS and Android except when compared to the number of apps on offer. I would still say it would not matter much to be a deal breaker, with all the major apps available on Symbian.

Nokia 603

         

                        

                         The 603 comes with a 1Ghz processor, a 512 MB RAM, 5MP fixed focus camera, support for HD Gaming, DivX/Xvid video codec support, 720p@30fps video recording, FM transmitter, NFC, a great 3.5" ClearBlack IPS -LCD display which is the brightest display on a phone(@ 1000 nits) and also a beautiful design similar to it's Windows Phone cousin, the Nokia Lumia 710. 

Sure the specs aren't earth shattering, but when you consider the price for which Nokia offers this phone, it is definitely a best buy @ INR 11,700/-. Nokia is also offering some interesting color choices with a black/white front panel and interchangeable back covers and a planned upgrade to the next version of Symbian - Symbian Carla.


Update: Nokia has announced an intermediate update to the Nokia Belle on 603, called the Nokia Belle FP1 which brings in sweet updates to the phone like Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Headphone, faster HTML5 capable browser, Microsoft Apps and 20 brand new widgets. 

Bada OS:

Samsung Wave 3:

                            The Wave 3 is Samsung's latest flagship Bada phone after the Wave and Wave 2. The Wave 3 is bigger, slimmer(9.9 mm) and better specced than it's elder brothers, Wave and Wave 2 as any true sucessor should. However, Samsung has managed to maintain the Bada family look for the Wave 3 with it's clean minimalistic design and a brushed aluminium back cover as from the time of the first Wave phone. The Wave 3 comes with a 4" Super AMOLED display @ 223 ppi and covered by Gorilla glass, a 1.4 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, a 5 MP camera with LED flash, a front facing VGA camera, a 1500 mAh battery and with 3G/WiFi/GPS.

The Wave 3 comes with latest version of the OS, Bada OS v2.0.The Bada OS may be short in the number of apps when compared to the Android and iOS but is almost as customizable as Android with multiple home screens and widgets.

The Wave 3 can be purchased @ INR 15,500/- and sure beats all the Android phones hands down in terms of hardware at this price.

Last but not the least, here is the newest major OS in the market -

Windows Phone 7:

Samsung Omnia W

 

                                  The Omnia W is the current best among the 2nd generation windows phones in the market. The Omnia W comes with 3.7" Super AMOLED display, a fast 1.4 GHz processor, a 512 MB RAM, 5MP auto focus camera, a front facing VGA cam, and a great slim profile and professional look which is achieved by the use of brushed metal for the back cover instead of the usual all plastic design (a' la Samsung Wave II/III).

The Omnia W can be yours at INR 14,500/- and ships with Windows phone 7.5 Mango outta the box.

If you are on a tighter budget and would like to try a Windows phone device, here is your only other choice:

Nokia Lumia 710

  

                         The Lumia 710 comes with the same processor, RAM and 5 MP camera as the Omnia W sans the front facing camera and a 3.7" ClearBlack LCD display instead of a Super AMOLED. No comparisons though, since now the Lumia 710 is sold at INR 14,000/- (drastic reduction in the price as compared to the price at the launch @ Rs. 19,999/-) which is INR 1,500 less than the Samsung. The downside being the smaller, 1300 mAh battery which results in almost half the battery life in real life usage when compared to that of the Omnia W.

The Lumia 710 comes with black/white front panels and back panels with a range of colors, much like the Nokia 603.

This brings us to end of our story here in the INR 10 - 15k category, see you all the next time with a different post and until then, here are our personal favorites on PhReview:


Android             - Motorola Defy Plus
Symbian            - Nokia 603
Bada OS            - Samsung Wave 3
Windows Phone  - Samsung Omnia W



Hope it helps...!!

Cheers!!

* All Prices mentioned in the blogpost are quoted from the best online deals in India. The websites for each will be shared if needed.