Best entry level touchscreen phone with Andoid?

3

3gphone

Recruit
Hi
After a very long time I plan to upgrade to a good touchscreen phone.
My requirements:
Touchscreen (Capacitive is better :))
3G
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Android
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Good music quality
GPS is nice to have
Price : Around 10 K (upto 13k if very nice )

After reading some reviews thought Samsung Galaxy Spica 5700 met many of these.
However, I am not sure if this phone is at end of life as most dealers do not sell this anymore.
Also, is a better version of Galaxy coming out? (Even if can get 5700 I'd prefer to get the latest successor). By the way, can the Android OS in these phones updatable by users themselves?
Because ver 2.2 already seems to be out!

My main interest would be touchscreen and trying out android apps.
Samsung Monte seems good too with wifi and 3G but without android and somewhat not so catchy looks.Considering it though.

Please post your suggestions. Thanks
 
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Its very difficult to get an Android within 10k.

Samsung Galaxy I7500 is good specwise but with Android 1.6 @ 12k

Galaxy Spica i.e. I5700 has better specs and comes with Android 2.1 @ 12 k but its difficult to find anywhere.

You can check out Galaxy 3 and Galaxy 5 (i 5800), these are upcoming, not sure about the prices. Plus, the trend with the new cheaper android's is that they offer small res screens which are not good.

HTC Wildfire has the famed Sense UI but still the same problem - low res HVGA screen

Monte is okay, but its not a smartphone, you can go for symbian if you want.. nokia 5800 or c6
 
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Agree with ^^above post^^. Unfortunately, most 'good' android phones cost around or above 20k. I got a second hand HTC Hero a few months back (for 18k), and had a chance to compare it with a Samsung I5700 which a friend bought (new, for a little over 12k). The Samsung phone's materials felt cheap and the interface lagged a lot worse than my HTC (which has a slower clocked processor).

Plus, higher end, more popular phones have a wide selection of Custom ROM-s. Rooting Android phones is a must because of all the added functionality and customizability.

I'd suggest saving up and getting the HTC Legend. Getting it second hand should bring it sort-of close to your max budget.
 
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Thanks for the reply Vortex and Elves.
Checked out the Galaxy 3 and 5 you mentioned.Seems to have been launched in Europe with price around $300.I guess they are headed to india soon.
As for Nokia 5800, well they were the ones that got me initially interested in touchphone as they seemed affordable, but when I actually had a look at a showroom i was disappointed with the display build quality. It seemed like a namesake touchscreen.
I think i'll have to wait a while now.
 
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Do not consider Nokia 5800. A few months and I'm already bored with it. Android is the best and Symbian can't even come close. Get an android phone only. Maybe Spica to start with if available or Galaxy 3. Else save for an HTC Desire or Galaxy S.
 
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Galaxy 3 retails for around Rs 11k. One of my senior Project Managers bought it and had all the config done by me since I own the Spica. :p

Firsthand impressions -

1. The touch is very accurate. Capacitive.

2. Screen resolution is small.

3. The phone is very responsive. Somewhat faster than my Spica.

4. Phone size is small and feels like a model from the lower range. Say around 5-8k.

5. Comes with inbuilt Android 2.1

6. Samsung UI is built on top of Android. Somewhat like Wave. But I think we can install "launcher pro" and get rid of that.

Overall for Rs 11k, I feel it is quite VFM. :)
 
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Wasn't even aware that Videocon has an Android :D

I was checking the LG Optimus or whatever it is called today. The accelerometer was good, and the UI transitions were nice, BUT the touch interface sucked. It is resistive, but even after using my Nokia 5800, I found it tough to use.
 
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Well I don't know about the best but I got my wife an HTC Wildfire for Rs 15,250/- yesterday and it seemed to be a very capable phone. I'm not sure how the low screen resolution impacts users but the screen seemed bright and vibrant to me. I even tilted it horizontally and vertically to determine it's quality and it performed better than my laptop.

I enjoyed browsing, messaging and google maps(pinch to zoom in and out is very nice) . The flashlight app is very handy.

Cons:

1) The speaker quality for music playback is not very great. My dad's E51 was better.

2) The 5 MP camera seems to take okayish pictures.
 
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