15-20K Suggest a good camera phone

[rajshenoy]

1. Budget?
A: ~15k
2. Preferred Form Factor(flip, bar, slider)?
A: Bar
3. Preferred display type?
A: Any, > 4 inches < 5.3 inches
4. Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them.
A: Looking for a smartphone with good optics, I dislike samsung plasticky feel, but ok if no choice
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: Required at least 8MP camera. Flash. Need good optics and low light imaging.
7. Preferred operating system? (Android, Symbian, iOS, Windows Phone etc).
A: Android/Win8
8. Preferred connectivity options? (3G, Wifi, Edge etc).
A: 3G, Wifi,NFC etc. more the better
9. What is your intended use for this phone(internet, camera, multimedia, mails, etc)?
A: Good Camera, bonus if low light imaging is good, Browsing, You tube, Standard gaming, NFC should be good
10. Any other requirements?
A: Battery life should be good, Community support and app support
11. If you have already considered a phone then please mention the model.
A:
Xperia L - suppose to be a smart camera phone
Nokia Lumia 720

I am open for other brands as well.

 

[aka911]

Samsung Galaxy S2/Plus have a great 8 MP camera.you might want to add it to the list...

 

[tutysara]

Xperia L's 8MP cam has a lot of noise, pic quality is not fine. You can have a look at Xperia V if you don't mind getting a device with seller warranty.

 

[rajshenoy]

I would like to stick to manufacturer warranty as i live in south so it will be a big issue for me to ship the device back to seller(mostly located around delhi).
Also my budget does not permit me to go beyond 20K . From what i hear, Xperia L camera is nothing great. Its good though. Need more information on the noise part.

Nokia Lumia 720 seem to be pretty attractive, Camera seems to be much better than that of Xperia L or any other phone south of 20K. But drawback is Windows platform. I did not know that there is not even youtube support on Win8 !! hope it comes soon.

Also what are the upgrade possibilities of Win8 ? to Win9 etc ?

 

[vyral_143]

Also what are the upgrade possibilities of Win8 ? to Win9 etc ?

WP8 devices will get update to next iteration. Lumia 720 is good choice for camera but yeah WP8 apps are lesser than Android. However many apps are coming to WP8, quite a good of them arrived this month only.

 

[aarunn]

IMO if camera is your priority.. In the Given Budget Lumia 720 is the best choice . I'm using it since a month.. Wonderful camera .. great low light performance..
But if you have used Android in the past, you will find W8 bit difficult to use with less no of apps compared to Play store

 

[rajshenoy]

I am really sad that Android community is only focusing on Jazzy flashy effects than the fundamental experience. Camera/Music/Phone are the core features i feel.
Whatever Android phone i pick south of 20K, i only get to hear dual vs quad core / 512 vs 1GB RAM and which version of Android. Everyone now seem to be throwing a 8MP + camera on their phones for the sake of it, In those old days, Sony Ericsson and Nokia phones used to boast of Camera quality only.

I was amazed at the capabilities of phones like Umi X2. poor guys dont have the brand like Samsung. Build quality and performance is as good/bad as any samsung device.

There was a time i felt Nokia designs are so boring and plasticky and Samsung was fresh. Now that Samsung is world leader, they are doing exactly samething like Nokia and one day go down like Nokia

Anyways, Coming to my needs: Camera, good basic apps like PDF,Word/xls/ppt, Browser, Youtube, Navigation maps for India, and Weather/time/alarm clock is what i end up using most of the time. I think there is still no youtube on windows but hopefully it will come soon.

BTW, How is Lumia 620 ? There is a gap of 4K between 620 and 720 and 720 has bigger screen and gorilla glass. anything else ?

 

[vyral_143]

BTW, How is Lumia 620 ? There is a gap of 4K between 620 and 720 and 720 has bigger screen and gorilla glass. anything else ?

L720 has giant battery, good camera performance - specially in low light and will get FM Radio in next update. L620 too have good camera but performance is bit lower than L720. Also L620 wont get Fm Radio activated in next update.

 

[anuragingle]

if you want the best camera phone theres no other choice than the Nokia 808

 

[rajshenoy]

Sorry, I dont want to buy a phone which has a OS which died 3-4 yrs ago.

I went and personally checked all the phones today. But sub 20K android camera i liked only on Samsung galaxy grand. I dont like the plasticky feel of Samsung phones, but this phone Galaxy grand seem to be having best camera among all in below 20K range. Getting it for 17.5 on Ebay. as compared to around 16K for Xperia L and Lumia 720

 

[kkchhetri01]

Save up some more and go for a S III.. HS18 had a deal few days back when the phone was going for 24,200. Else an Xperia SP..

Near 20K you can get a One S/ Xperia Ion. IMHO way better choices than a Galaxy Grand..

 

[rajshenoy]

Save up some more and go for a S III.. HS18 had a deal few days back when the phone was going for 24,200. Else an Xperia SP..

Near 20K you can get a One S/ Xperia Ion. IMHO way better choices than a Galaxy Grand..

I am not an expert on gadget, but isnt the HW of one S and Ion both one generation old now ? I am 30+ so no longer have the time for gaming except things like temple run may be.

One S also does not have extendable memory slot, which is one reason i decided to ditch Nexus 4 which i can source for about 22K

 

[kkchhetri01]

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=5363&idPhone2=4798

Ion will wipe the floor with the options that you are considering. Since you are looking for a phone that has the basics right on a budget, nothing better than a previous year's flagship.

AFAIK, no phone in your budget even has a last gen Krait (except One S). If you follow the recent trends, midrange budget has increased from 15k-20k to 22k-27k, in your budget you will get a "lower" midranger.

 

[rajshenoy]

Thanks for the awesome suggestions guys.

Finally decided to go for Sony Xperia L. Have played with it for a week and was liking it. HS18 superdeals had this listed at 14.2K which i felt was a killer deal. I know this is not the best, but then i need to shell out 3-4K more at least if i need other options. And there are plenty of options like Micromax, Gionee etc. But decided to stick to big brand.

I also did search on the specs and MSM8230 is latest series Qualcomm S4 plus(400 series) and Adreno 305 combo looks new as compared to some of the vintage specs that Samsung is offering us. Even the MediaTek powering sub 15K Desi-China Androids are much powerful.

 

[baccilus]

Have the Sony people sorted out their Service center issue yet? Last I knew they had outsourced it to Accel people who are providing a terrible service. I went there to get my Gigabyte motherboard serviced and saw a que of people waiting for their turn with their Sony handsets. I ended up buying a new motherboard.

 

[Sub]

Anyways, Coming to my needs: Camera, good basic apps like PDF,Word/xls/ppt, Browser, Youtube, Navigation maps for India, and Weather/time/alarm clock is what i end up using most of the time. I think there is still no youtube on windows but hopefully it will come soon.

What made you think that? You can play Youtube just fine on Internet Explorer. Windows Phone also has the best Youtube app on any platform (Metrotube). There is also a superb official app too which is currently suspended due to some legal issues between Google and Microsoft, but is due to be back in a few days in time for BUILD. As for camera, Lumia 720 is easily the best under 20k. Windows Phone of course comes with Office. HERE Maps is awesome and there's no shortage of great Weather apps enabled with live tile and lock screen integration support. It is true that there are some specific apps you won't find on Windows Phone, but I don't see any gaps for your usage. Anyway, I guess I am too late!

 

[Brendon]

I am not an expert on gadget, but isnt the HW of one S and Ion both one generation old now ? I am 30+ so no longer have the time for gaming except things like temple run may be.

One S also does not have extendable memory slot, which is one reason i decided to ditch Nexus 4 which i can source for about 22K

Good you didn't go for Galaxy Grand. Two of my friends have it and they are complaining of its laggy performance once they start loading apps on it.

If you wanted to play Temple run then Temple Run 2 isn't on WP8 and Temple Run 1 doesn't work on any WP8 which has < 1 GB ram which includes Lumia 720.

Basically if you even want to try casual gaming you won't find anything worthwhile on WP8.