Mid-end mobile for ~15k

soggy316

soggy316

Adept
I am in the market for a new phone. I use the phone mostly for calls/sms, gmail, facebook and some light browsing, and on occasional music and videos. I often go touring on my bike so primarily I am looking for is rugged construction, and decent - good navigation/gps etc.

The Defy+ ~16k seems to check most of these boxes. Are there any alternatives?

I have till date used SE mobiles (W550i and Xperia X8 ) and found them quite abuse resistant, with only my trusty Nokia 1100 beating them.

Doing some research I see that the Xperia active is a direct alternative but with a 20k price tag.

Price-wise the Neo V (seems rugged) and Lumia 710 (extra navigation options) seem nice

Also the SE walkman J8 and Xperia Mini also seem decent options as I am not too much of a power user.

any thoughts?

Budget is as follows - I have made peace with ~15-16k, I can stretch to 20k if it is absloutely worth it, and if I can get something for a much lower price that gives equivalent functions then so be it.
 
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looking at your usage, windows phone 7 will be a decent option. the screen on the 710 isn't good at all. look at the Samsung Omnia W. has a brilliant screen. build quality is also decent and if you put on a a decent quality cover, ruggedness should not be an issue. AFAIK, if you do the equivalent of rooting on wp7, there is a way to get Nokia drive on non nokia phones too.

the defy however would still be more rugged so if that if is an over riding concern, defy should be the de facto choice.
 
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^The xperia x8 has a broken charging pin, and the battery is lost, so the place I buy my mobile from is the one that will lend me a EP500 battery from a display model for 10 mins so i can backup my contacts
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Hows the battery life of the Omnia W? Also I have found samsung mobiles (seen at stores) to be of slightly flimsy, Does it feel solid?

Also where is it available for 13.5k?
 
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I've used 2 of my friend's Omnia W in the past 2 weeks. They are solid, amazing phones. Surfing, apps, usage, all a PLEASURE to use.

Sulekha has it for 13.5k

Street it's selling for 14.5k ish!

Damn, thought I would procure an X8 for ROM experimenting
 
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So, after wasting a lot of company time searching on the web, I have beaten it down to the 710 vs the Defy+

While the Omnia SAMOLED screen is a beauty, the nokia drive app and clear back of the nokia screen swung it the lumia's way.

The 710 is ~13.8k , while the defy+ is ~14.7k (on sulekha)

I will mostly be going with the 710 + a reasonably tough cover.

One last question, other than nokia drive are there any decent gps/navigation apps (free or low cost) available in the wp7 marketplace?
 
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so, after a lot of flip-flopping I have finally decided to go with the Omnia w, and I will probably buy gmaps pro for my GPS/maps need.

If I desperately need a turn by turn nav app in the future, I will palm this off to my sister and buy a 610.

If the reliance digital peeps are kind enough to lend me a battery for data backup from my old phone, I will probably buy it from them even though it is ~600 cheaper on sulekha.
 
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Finally went ahead and bought the Lumia 710 from sulekha for 13.9k, the guys at the sony service centre helped out with a battery for my xperia so all my contacts are backed up.

Will post my experience with the Lumia once I get it.
 
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