20-25K Need a sturdy quad core android

[phunguus]

Im currently of the opinion that top brands grossly overprice their stuff. If I dont get any good phones by the time this thread dies, ill go get the Canvas HD.

1. Budget?
A: ~25k for a good branded phone OR ~13k for a cheap rebranded phone(read canvas hd)

2. Preferred Form Factor(flip, bar, slider)?
A: Bar

3. Preferred display type?
A: Sharp & clear screen(atleast 250ppi) with IPS and a strong glass covering. Size strictly between 4”-5”.

4. Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them.
A: None.

5. Preferred input method (Touchscreen, QWERTY, etc.)?
A: Touchscreen

6. Camera required or not? If required, please specify type like front camera/flash/etc.
A: Not a priority. No of MPs doent matter to me. Just that low light snaps should come out good.

7. Preferred operating system? (Android, Symbian, iOS, Windows Phone etc).
A: Android (as close to 4.2 as possible)

8. Preferred connectivity options? (3G, Wifi, Edge etc).
A: EDGE, wifi, 3G in that order. Don't need 4G.

9. What is your intended use for this phone(internet, camera, multimedia, mails, etc)?
A: Average 1h calling per day. Apart from that music(FM radio included), frequent gaming, videos, some pdfs and regular internet surfing.

10. Any other requirements?
A: Quad core, alteast 1GB RAM, lots of dedicated space for apps (cant put a number but planning to load some heavy apps and games), shouldnt be a problem getting android updates(custom rom works for me), strong battery, should survive occasional falls.
Don't care if its a single SIM/dual SIM.

11. Q: If you have already considered a phone then please mention the model.
A: Had nexus 4 in mind but it doesnt have expandable storage.

12. Current Phone(s)?
A: Nokia 5530 XpressMusic(5800's trimmed version). Using it since april 2010 (thats 3 years 4months). Never been on android before.

Notes:-
1. If i spend 25k, ill expect to stay with it for atleast 2years.
2. As I said, I feel top brands overprice their stuff. Open for debate on this.
3. I know most of the quad cores are 5" but i feel 4.5" is the sweet spot for my palm size.
4. Have a colleague coming from USA in dec 1st week, anything interesting releasing in that time over there? Ready to wait if its worth it.

Thanks.

 

[sarthakk250193]

OP says he can wait till december to buy from US.Next nexus would be released by then.

 

[blr_p]

Either this is wrong, or you are using a strange definition of "updates ", making it very very misleading.

"They " do updates for phones that do not get them. Phones for which the official updates stopped at froyo are happily running custom ROMs based on ICS and sometimes beyond. If this is not "updates", I don't see what is.

Did you read the following sentence after the part you quoted out of context ?

Does every component work on these phones with their updates ? That depends on who rolls the ROM and what phone it is. That's two variables already. Yeah, you get an updated OS.

I'm not talking about bugs here but components that do not work as they used to with the OEM builds. this stems from what i read about S advance and JB.

How difficult was it to go from froyo to ICS in terms of memory & cpu. How well did the updates work. Does that experience give us any indication how easy it will be to go from JB to 5.0 ?

If you think my answer was in any way incomplete, then give us a more comprehensive overview.

 

[eternoMind]

@phunguus


The hard truth that hits all of us as we delve deeper & deeper in searching for the perfect phone that fits our budget. I recently purchased the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 - I am liking everything about this phone (including it's large size); I've fitted it with a 64GB SDXC card...... and then it hit me - I just cannot move any apps to the sdcard [Samsung & Jellybean 4.2.2 limitation]. See my thread - http://www.techenclave.com/communit...an-4-2-2-without-rooting.150941/#post-1852951

I am left with just 5GB of user space for apps. I do not wish to root or change the original ROM based os owing to practical problems & that I do not have the time & energy to waste.

I see guys very easily shooting off - 'just root the device' and like 'eureka' problems solved. This is all right for youngsters n nerds who have all the time in the world to rip-apart their expensive phones and sit on it for hours/days/weeks .... and even then there will always be new & unknown problems & the thrill of finding solutions (if they exist). But all this is an expensive & unproductive nightmare for someone who spends a major part of his day & night too (at times) in providing 'basic-needs' for his family.

So my tuppence advice - Go for a phone that has at least 16GB or more of Internal mem and 1.5 to 2GB RAM..... rest all are cosmetic requirements.

Although I understand your apprehension regarding fiddling around with custom ROMs, your views on just the rooting process are overcooked.

Last i checked on a couple of friends' S4 and S3, there was tons of bloatware/crapware that neither of them ever used. Worse still, the S3 owning friend had installed many more apps on top of that with the end result being an above 20K phone with prolific levels of lag! In fact, when going through the bloatware list for S4 phones on an XDA thread, my friend expressed surprise that he didn't even know that many bloatware apps where installed on his phone OOB. Most of the bloatware is in-house Samsung stuff. Believe you me, most of their apps are useless/replaceable-from-the-play-store and can easily be dispensed with. With regular usage, you can identify the apps that are just occupying your phone's internal storage space without adding any value. You can follow this by rooting your phone (let's not touch custom ROMs even with a 10-feet pole here) and uninstalling/freezing apps of that kind. A rooted phone also helps you use the services of some fantastic and proven resource-friendly apps like Titanium Backup and Greenify. Unrooting an Android phone is even simpler than rooting it so taking care of the same, if ever the need to visit a service center arises, is damn simple. Your time and energy will not be wasted by any means. If anything, you will be able to derive the optimum use of your phone's RAM and storage resources. Now you have accepted that compromises are a part and parcel of owning mid-range Android phones; so it'll do you good to accept that rooting certainly helps in coping with those compromises.

Also, are you absolutely certain that 5GB of app space will fall short of your needs? I use around 80-100 apps on and off and the data for all of them hasn't nudged 1GB mark yet. Although yes, I don't game on the phone, which helps save on app space quite a bit. Also, am using a GNex, which doesn't have a memory card slot!

I previously used a Dell XCD35, which like your previous HTC Explorer, had puny amounts of internal memory for apps (250MB tops). Apps like Move2SD, Link2SD, S2E made a lot of sense back then. However, even then i refrained from moving the app data to the external SD card as it notably slowed down those apps.

 

[blr_p]

I previously used a Dell XCD35, which like your previous HTC Explorer, had puny amounts of internal memory for apps (250MB tops). Apps like Move2SD, Link2SD, S2E made a lot of sense back then. However, even then i refrained from moving the app data to the external SD card as it notably slowed down those apps.

Interesting point. Moving stuff to the SD isn't the panacea we think it is.

I wonder how gamers manage in that case. the apk can be moved but the bulk of the games is in the data.

 

[blr_p]

Also, are you absolutely certain that 5GB of app space will fall short of your needs? I use around 80-100 apps on and off and the data for all of them hasn't nudged 1GB mark yet. Although yes, I don't game on the phone, which helps save on app space quite a bit. Also, am using a GNex, which doesn't have a memory card slot!

That's the other point, he moved from a wildfire S to the mega 5.8.

500MB ->~4GB usable

That's almost an order of magnitude increase in usable space. I'd have thought he might run out of space some time later not just yet.

 

[amitkher]

Did you read the following sentence after the part you quoted out of context ?

Point out the "context" which makes it clear. Actually your further context implies that things don't work AND there are no newer versions in custom ROMs, but sure, go ahead and point out from "context".

Does every component work on these phones with their updates ? That depends on who rolls the ROM and what phone it is. That's two variables already. Yeah, you get an updated OS.
How difficult was it to go from froyo to ICS in terms of memory & cpu. How well did the updates work. Does that experience give us any indication how easy it will be to go from JB to 5.0 ?

Ok, so you know none of these but give an "overview" , considering it doubtful that it could be "incomplete" ? Start a thread about a specific phone, specific ROM, and someone might answer, maybe me. Why do you have to ask questions when proven wrong?

Yeah, you get an updated OS.

Point out one sentence from your earlier post ("context" as you call it) which mentioned this, however indirectly. I pointed one which means exactly the opposite of this.

 

[Nalin]

I think any amatuer can root their device under 5 mins, you can keep on using stock out of the box rom with additional apps like titanium backup, grenify, adaway, stickmount etc like @eternoMind suggested.
For me 16gb internal memory device is better then 4 or 8gb internal memory devices with sd card slot. Even i have installed 100+ apps at the moment in my one xl which doesn't have any card slot. It contains more than 20 games in it.

I still have approx 2 gb left from the 13 gb usable memory, i manage my music needs from cloud so all the memory is used by apps+games only.

 

[blr_p]

Point out the "context" which makes it clear. Actually your further context implies that things don't work

I saw this with the S Advance. Camera works but video does not. see reference to post on XDA.

AND there are no newer versions in custom ROMs, but sure, go ahead and point out from "context".

There ARE newer versions of ROMs but as i said in the s advance with non working video with JB. You consider this acceptable ?

Now I don't know whether one can generalise this 'incomplete' experience to other phones with updated custom roms, but i can equally say you're not guaranteed everything will work either.

Ok, so you know none of these but give an "overview" , considering it doubtful that it could be "incomplete" ? Start a thread about a specific phone, specific ROM, and someone might answer, maybe me. Why do you have to ask questions when proven wrong?

See above

Now tell us how your froyo->ICS custom ROM upgrade went. Which phone were you using ? and did everything work as expected.

 

[amitkher]

I saw this with the S Advance. Camera works but video does not. see reference to post on XDA.

Context. C O N T E X T. You said I quoted you out of context - you tell me from that post's context where you even remotely implied custom ROMs can be of higher versions than available officially.

You clearly stated custom ROMs cannot be of higher versions which is what I quoted, and is very incorrect.
EDIT : I see you are trying to divert the topic.

 

[terence_fdes]

Apologies to @phunguus if you feel that this thread has been hijacked - although the core concerns remain.

There are too many contradictions in your rationalisations to prove a point @blr_p - especially where 'rooting' is concerned. I dunno why you are obsessed with so called inanities with my moving from HTC Wildfire S (a liliputian) to Samsung Mega 5.8 (call it a dinosaur or gargantuan phallic orgy).... as you have re-iterated this point many times.

You also get your facts all wrong.....

That's the other point, he moved from a wildfire S to the mega 5.8.
500MB ->~4GB usable
That's almost an order of magnitude increase in usable space. I'd have thought he might run out of space some time later not just yet.

The wildfire has just 150MB of user space at factory default and NEVER 500MB !!! I was always left with just 2-25MB of actual user space at any given time.

Do you remember the most famous gaffe in the history of computing

....... It was a bold proclamation from the tech world's leading visionary. "640K is more memory than anyone will ever need on a computer," Gates reportedly said at a computer trade show in the early 1980s......

This statement will always be debated for it's authenticity, nevertheless it is a part of history.

I entered the world of computers in 1986-90 & kept shifting from IBM to Macs & even then everyone thought that 20MB HDD was sufficient (it costed 16-20k then). Unsolicited advice was always thrown at the bloke who said 'he was not satisfied with what he got & what he paid for.'

Why do folks always underestimate any individuals 'requirements' or have the gall to ascertain - 'Why is he cribbing!'. I have maintained that I do not have the time or the energies to root my device [especially within it's warranty period] & I do not seek or desire any high thrills from doing so.

@Nalin ... I will not even doubt all that you said or as someone else also claimed ...... any 7th grader's skill

..........I think any amatuer can root their device under 5 mins, you can keep on using stock out of the box rom with additional apps like titanium backup, grenify, adaway, stickmount etc like @eternoMind suggested.
For me 16gb internal memory device is better then 4 or 8gb internal memory devices with sd card slot. Even i have installed 100+ apps at the moment in my one xl which doesn't have any card slot. It contains more than 20 games in it.

I still have approx 2 gb left from the 13 gb usable memory, i manage my music needs from cloud so all the memory is used by apps+games only.....

The things that I have highlighted in bold are all latin n greek to me. I can, if I wish to, expend time and patience to learn all this someday ........ HOWEVER not now or today.

There are also a thousand other things under the Sun (from the esoteric to the practical skills) that I am well versed with and which interest me (and which you guys may never have a clue about)..... So, do I go about the streets shouting - 'Heck it's child's play'! (Whats childs play to you is not the same for me .... or I am not interested at this point of time)

Respect each other's space and also their concerns.

 

[eternoMind]

@terence_fdes

Every piece of advice (or ridicule, as you seem to think of it) here is intended to help you get the most out of your device. As I said before, your apprehension regarding fiddling around with custom ROMs is understandable and hence the suggestion to go no further than rooting. As for those terms being alien, it was the same with everyone of us once! The comparison to a 7th grader was more of an analogy/phrase rather than a slight; at least the way I see it. However, if you are still averse to rooting, then so be it. You do not have to explain your disinterest further and neither do you have to take a few nifty shots at people (or youngsters with all the time in the world), who are only trying to help you make the most of the 23K you spent on that phone of yours!

Good luck![DOUBLEPOST=1374772428][/DOUBLEPOST]@blr_p, I've got not idea how gamers manage that but the difference in apps opening up and the likes was more than just palpable after a move to the SD card.

 

[sarthakk250193]

@terence_fdes
I think the problem began when you went about asking and creating thread to solve your problem.When people try to help you wasting their valuable time,you dismiss them by saying "Its something that youngsters and nerds do."

 

[terence_fdes]

@terence_fdes
I think the problem began when you went about asking and creating thread to solve your problem.When people try to help you wasting their valuable time,you dismiss them by saying "Its something that youngsters and nerds do."

I appreciate always all the help that you guys give. I was not aware at all of JB's drawbacks till I created my thread and you guys shared your inputs. I also stated that I did not want 'rooting' solutions. I also accepted that I would have to settle with this problem. However not everyone was on the same wavelength. Why were cynical doubts raised between my earlier htc & present device... and questions raised as to me making a hue n cry over 'limited internal space' ?

 

[phunguus]

Wow, it's like some other thread has been merged into this one!
Anyways i don't mind the hijacking. Infact the longer the thread remains active, more people will take a look at it and chip in if they have anything to say. Good for me!

Coming back to the topic(for a change),
@terence_fdes if JB doesn't allow moving apps then i agree that 8gb is a bare minimum. Anything more than that is obviously welcome.

@blr_p I don't think i'm ever gonna do that battery swap thing. And AFA the ZR is concerned, i think they should have given gorilla glass a priority rather than wasting time & effort on the phone's underwater capabilities. I(for that matter any sensible being) need a tough display that can handle stress & scratches. I don't need a lame film to hold the glass in place after it breaks.

@blr_p & @amitkher, would be nice if you guys can finally come to a conclusion about what the guys on XDA do?

@sarthakk250193 thanks for noticing the december thing. But it's more like november last week and i don't think google will release the nexus by then. Or will they?

@everyone, i think the international Optimus G E970 fits my requirements perfectly except for the FM radio thing.
It has more or less the same specs as the desi version of E975 except that it has 16GB internal instead of 32GB. But it in turn has microSD slot for cards upto 64GB. Now the Q that i want to ask is is ebay a safe option to get a phone? There are about 8-10 E970 phones listed there at a decent price. But i'm not sure if ebay is a safe option to get a phone from.

 

[acerulz]

EBay is safe dude as long as the trader is trusted with nice repute and all the stuff ..optimus g will be the best IMO considering ur requirements and the market is not so good especially dollar rates up high end phones doesn't differ much in terms of processing power or graphics from optimus g ..
People underestimate LG mobiles , I use optimus g myself and will not be upgrading for atleast this year as just a couple of MHz increase proccesor and full HD doesn't tempt me .. As battery life is important too ..

In optimus g u even have an option of converting into nexus 4 so u can use all the stuff related to nexus 4 for ur optimus G so basically it becomes nexus 4 + sdcard slot , and for radio there is an app spirit FM which is free and works without data connection but the headset should have the antenna for FM if u remember the old phones where headsets need to be connected to phone to listen radio...
Any further info u can always pm me I will be glad to help u out regarding optimus g / nexus 4 as I had both and m well familiar with em ... But sold my n4

 

[sarthakk250193]

@phunguus
Last year Nexus was announced in october and released in november.(although suffered from shortage of stock).
The newly announced Nexus 7-ii yesterday will be available in play store as well as physical stores from 31.Earlier nexus devices were limited to play store at launch.Looks like google learned their lesson.So there is a chance that next Nexus may be available by november end.Worth considering.

 

[amitkher]

@amitkher, would be nice if you guys can finally come to a conclusion about what the guys on XDA do?

They do it openly, so there is not much doubt. Updates are definitely released as custom ROMs even for phones abandoned by their manufacturers, many a times based off higher versions of Android than official firmware.

Some ROMs have issues , whether or not manufacturers have abandoned them, so there is no point mixing the topic of updates with issues in ROMs.

 

[blr_p]

Context. C O N T E X T. You said I quoted you out of context - you tell me from that post's context where you even remotely implied custom ROMs can be of higher versions than available officially.

You clearly stated custom ROMs cannot be of higher versions which is what I quoted, and is very incorrect.
EDIT : I see you are trying to divert the topic.

I have no need to divert anything, either you misunderstood what i said or i was not clear. I have since qualified what i meant.

Video not working, is this acceptable or will you avoid the upgrade ? So yeah upgrade is possible but something might not work. If you opt out then you are SOL.

NOW, are you going to keep asserting that froyo to ICS was a painless upgrade (which ROM) AND on which device btw?) or like i showed, bring out the goods.

I would LOVE for you to show me where i'm wrong. But go beyond semantics.[DOUBLEPOST=1374786779][/DOUBLEPOST]

You also get your facts all wrong.....

The wildfire has just 150MB of user space at factory default and NEVER 500MB !!! I was always left with just 2-25MB of actual user space at any given time.

Good, even better, so you went from 150MB -> 4GB usable

Not tenfold but a thirty fold increase in usable space

What is the problem. Why so soon. You scraped by with thirty times less.

I'd have been over the moon and 6 months later or however longer i'd have gone OH!

 

[blr_p]

Wow, it's like some other thread has been merged into this one!
Anyways i don't mind the hijacking. Infact the longer the thread remains active, more people will take a look at it and chip in if they have anything to say. Good for me!

Good, cos i'm in the same boat as well except the waiting till november part

don't think i'm ever gonna do that battery swap thing. And AFA the ZR is concerned, i think they should have given gorilla glass a priority rather than wasting time & effort on the phone's underwater capabilities. I(for that matter any sensible being) need a tough display that can handle stress & scratches. I don't need a lame film to hold the glass in place after it breaks.

heh, i take it you've seen the various tests that show the xperia isn't as tough as its touted. Gorilla glass is certainly more scratch resistant but its not crack resistant. So slap a good screen protector on either and where is the difference. Only a bumper case can improve your chances here.

@everyone, i think the international Optimus G E970 fits my requirements perfectly except for the FM radio thing.

hmm, yes the E970 does not have it.

If you have till November then that's when you have to decide. Keep any open mind till then and get out and try out different models. I've not heard you say yet that you ACTUALLY held a certain device in your hand and liked it. No croma or reliance store where you live ? There are a number of ergonomic factors to be aware of. You might have likes/dislikes etc.

I've been attracted to many models in the last few weeks. The optimus G is below the radar because LG does not do much advertising. I can't even find a LG showroom in my city, its just third part vendors. No vendor exclusive stores like sony or samsung.

It has more or less the same specs as the desi version of E975 except that it has 16GB internal instead of 32GB. But it in turn has microSD slot for cards upto 64GB.

Then you need to first contact LG support and confirm whether they support intl. warranty and once it expires whether they will be able to repair the E970 in India. Screens etc i think are the same, mainbooards however might have to be imported.

Just realise that even though the optimus G mirrors the nexus 4 in terms of hardware, ROMs that are built for the nexus 4 will not run on the optimus G unless they are specifically built for it. This is the case even between E970 & E975.

 

[blr_p]

People underestimate LG mobiles , I use optimus g myself and will not be upgrading for atleast this year as just a couple of MHz increase proccesor and full HD doesn't tempt me .. As battery life is important too ..

In optimus g u even have an option of converting into nexus 4 so u can use all the stuff related to nexus 4 for ur optimus G so basically it becomes nexus 4 + sdcard slot , and for radio there is an app spirit FM which is free and works without data connection but the headset should have the antenna for FM if u remember the old phones where headsets need to be connected to phone to listen radio...
Any further info u can always pm me I will be glad to help u out regarding optimus g / nexus 4 as I had both and m well familiar with em ... But sold my n4

How do you deal with overheating, is got a glass back and compact like the xperia. S4 runs hot. Does a case help things. How stable is the unit when it gets hot. reboots etc ?

Indoors photos & video.

Has LG pushed a 4.2 update yet. I hear people complain that LG is slow with updates.