spindoctor
Explorer
Hey guys
So I'm looking to buy a cheap phone in the 4-5k range approximately. Filling out the template from the sticky -
1. Q: Budget?
A: 4-5k
2. Q: Preferred Form Factor(flip, bar, slider)?
A: No preference
3. Q: Preferred display type?
A: No preference
4. Q: Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them.
A: Preferably brands like Nokia, Samsung, Sony etc. Would prefer to avoid Karbonn, Micromax and those kinds of brands.
5. Q: Preferred input method (Touchscreen, QWERTY, etc.)?
A: No preference
6. Q: Camera required or not? If required, please specify type like front camera/flash/etc.
A: At least a 2MP camera would be nice.
7. Q: Preferred operating system? (Android, Symbian, iOS, Windows Phone etc).
A: No preference
8. Q: Preferred connectivity options? (3G, Wifi, Edge etc).
A: No hard and fast preference. 3G would be nice but at this price point, who knows if it's possible without compromises.
9. Q: What is your intended use for this phone(internet, camera, multimedia, mails, etc)?
A: Calls, texting, radio, taking photographs of heavy machinery (i.e. not very high resolution images required), basic internet browsing (email etc)
10. Q: Any other requirements?
A: Somewhat sober looking phone. Preferably a solid, base colored body. Multi colored body is fine but no rubbish orange with silver streaks or that kind of stuff. It will be used by my dad, not a 13 year old who likes flashy colors
11. Q: If you have already considered a phone then please mention the model.
Had a look at a few -
Sony Ericsson Cedar
Nokia C2-01
Samsung chat 335 S3353
Nokia X2-01
Samsung Champ C3303
As you can see, I don't have very particular requirements for the phone. My dad is going to use it, and his priority above all is the price. He just doesn't want to spend more than 5k or so.
All the features are negotiable. He does take photographs of stuff at work so a decent camera would be nice, but he's making do with a 2MP camera right now and I don't think he wants/needs more. Obviously a higher resolution camera would be good but it's not a specific requirement. Heck, he's even willing to settle for less, but I don't think he understands just how bad image quality will be if he settles for a 'VGA camera' that we've been seeing in some of the models we look at.
Other than that, an FM radio would be preferable to listen to while he commutes. I think this is standard for all phones now anyway.
Internet access is something he doesn't currently use on his phone, but he is interested in starting. I'd probably go for basic Vodafone GPRS but it would be nice if the phone could have 3G support as well. 3G isn't a priority though. I'm not sure how useful a QWERTY keyboard would be for him but I feel it would be easier than a touchscreen? Not sure about this, your inputs will be appreciated. Odds are I'd just put a bookmark for his mailbox on the phone and that's it.
Big screen, bright colors, large text size, big buttons etc. would be more preferable to him than the 100 other features younger folks like us look for in a phone.
I've been going through some recommendations on this forum and others and frankly, you can get lost in the number of options available in mobile phones these days. I've listed a few that we found interesting, so I'd appreciate any feedback on these particular models. But we're not limited to them at all... if you guys can suggest anything else, we would definitely be willing to look at them.
Thanks guys
So I'm looking to buy a cheap phone in the 4-5k range approximately. Filling out the template from the sticky -
1. Q: Budget?
A: 4-5k
2. Q: Preferred Form Factor(flip, bar, slider)?
A: No preference
3. Q: Preferred display type?
A: No preference
4. Q: Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them.
A: Preferably brands like Nokia, Samsung, Sony etc. Would prefer to avoid Karbonn, Micromax and those kinds of brands.
5. Q: Preferred input method (Touchscreen, QWERTY, etc.)?
A: No preference
6. Q: Camera required or not? If required, please specify type like front camera/flash/etc.
A: At least a 2MP camera would be nice.
7. Q: Preferred operating system? (Android, Symbian, iOS, Windows Phone etc).
A: No preference
8. Q: Preferred connectivity options? (3G, Wifi, Edge etc).
A: No hard and fast preference. 3G would be nice but at this price point, who knows if it's possible without compromises.
9. Q: What is your intended use for this phone(internet, camera, multimedia, mails, etc)?
A: Calls, texting, radio, taking photographs of heavy machinery (i.e. not very high resolution images required), basic internet browsing (email etc)
10. Q: Any other requirements?
A: Somewhat sober looking phone. Preferably a solid, base colored body. Multi colored body is fine but no rubbish orange with silver streaks or that kind of stuff. It will be used by my dad, not a 13 year old who likes flashy colors

11. Q: If you have already considered a phone then please mention the model.
Had a look at a few -
Sony Ericsson Cedar
Nokia C2-01
Samsung chat 335 S3353
Nokia X2-01
Samsung Champ C3303
As you can see, I don't have very particular requirements for the phone. My dad is going to use it, and his priority above all is the price. He just doesn't want to spend more than 5k or so.
All the features are negotiable. He does take photographs of stuff at work so a decent camera would be nice, but he's making do with a 2MP camera right now and I don't think he wants/needs more. Obviously a higher resolution camera would be good but it's not a specific requirement. Heck, he's even willing to settle for less, but I don't think he understands just how bad image quality will be if he settles for a 'VGA camera' that we've been seeing in some of the models we look at.
Other than that, an FM radio would be preferable to listen to while he commutes. I think this is standard for all phones now anyway.
Internet access is something he doesn't currently use on his phone, but he is interested in starting. I'd probably go for basic Vodafone GPRS but it would be nice if the phone could have 3G support as well. 3G isn't a priority though. I'm not sure how useful a QWERTY keyboard would be for him but I feel it would be easier than a touchscreen? Not sure about this, your inputs will be appreciated. Odds are I'd just put a bookmark for his mailbox on the phone and that's it.
Big screen, bright colors, large text size, big buttons etc. would be more preferable to him than the 100 other features younger folks like us look for in a phone.
I've been going through some recommendations on this forum and others and frankly, you can get lost in the number of options available in mobile phones these days. I've listed a few that we found interesting, so I'd appreciate any feedback on these particular models. But we're not limited to them at all... if you guys can suggest anything else, we would definitely be willing to look at them.
Thanks guys