Why I'm in a tough spot in buying a phone

comp@ddict

comp@ddict

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First of all, I started a new thread and decided not to continue my old thread because I really need to write a lot in this post, voice my concerns and explain why it's been soo hard for me to buy a phone till now.

I bought my desktop in September 2009. Months after the Athlon II X4 (quad-core) release, and the release month of AMD's formidable HD5800 series graphics card. Desktop hardware quickly gets outdated. Yet even today, July 2012 my desktop remains something formidable. It packs a quad-core, a DX11 class graphics card which can still max out most games and that too at a Full HD resolution. Now you see how future-proof my RIG really looked when I originally bought it? And how much I pat myself for making such a good buying decision.

Down 3 years and I have been researching and researching for that perfect phone to buy. And I will go over some phones:

1. Google Nexus S (13-14k)

Perhaps the best phone according to me in the under-15k budget, this phone got it all. A nice price tag, official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and a HUGE community support. I would have bought it already had it not been for the other reasons.

2. Google Galaxy Nexus (20-25k)

Perhaps the best phone to buy at all, this phone takes the got-it-all of Nexus and adds more to that too. The price tag is tad high, but hardly too much considering how good the phone is. The only sad part is that a phone of this cost should have warranty too. It's simply a big risk having a 20k+ phone which might go kaput followed by your brains frying.

3. Windows Phone 8 (?? k)

Nokia is hosting Nokia World from September 5. It is rumored that Nokia will announce 2 WP8 phone on September 5, followed by a global launch on September 7. If that is the case, I simply cannot bring myself to buy another phone if WP8 phones are soo close. I have become a fan ever since I saw Microsoft's WP8 keynote, and I have been dying to buy it. Sadly it cannot launch soon enough. WP8 is something I want. And if it indeed launches in the next 2 months, I would not be able to bring myself to it not waiting enough to buy it. I have an Android device, and it's not as appealing as Windows Phone honestly.

4. Why not other DROIDS?

Xperia Sola - A 18.5k phone which hasn't received its ICS upgrade yet. Add to that nearly ZERO community support. I'm sorry but I simply DON'T see a future in this phone. None at all. Same goes for the Galaxy Ace 2 and the Samsung Galaxy S Advance. It seems the Novathor U8500 chipset based phones are somewhat doomed.

LG Optimus 2X - There was a deal for 14.6k on the LG O2X today. I was really tempted to buy this phone. I probably would have bought it. BUT! I checked really hard on whether this phone is worth it. A phone with no ICS, some ICS ports, no future of Jelly Bean port and terrible support from nVidia in the form of Tegra 2 drivers. This phone would be outdated the moment I buy it. And I refuse to do that.

Karbonn Smart A24 - A much promised phone. To have nearly everything. A big and good display, dual core and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, launching next month. Almost too good to be true. I HAVE to wait and see what happens with this phone, or if it's some flop.

Conclusion

Believe me, I have no intention of waiting. Especially till the end of the year. But the next 2 months seem so exciting and jam-packed, that my curious side simply refuses to let me do anything else. Coin in your opinions. Add phones you believe can make it to the TO-BE-CONSIDERED list or some recent launches which YOU FEEL don't deserve to be considered.
 
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Get the GNex if you care for updates.
I bought GS2 last year and suffered 10 months with it.
If I ever go back to Android,it will surely be a Nexus.
Being slave of two masters(Google plus Samsung/htc)is very difficult!
 
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If your priority is software update then go for it 14k is good deal.

AFA Optimus 2x or tmob g2x , h/w wise its strong but no s/w update.
It took one year to get OFFICIAL GB update to my g2x i.e. 2.3.3 & next update i.e. 2.3.4 came in Q1 2012. (all devices were moving to ICS by then :p) , LG promised ICS update in Q2 but it got delayed it might avail in Q4.

For custom rom ICS is available but there are some bugs like,(its due to not providing drivers sourcecode blame LG/NVIDIA for that)
No Video Recording, Choppy Video Playback, Occasional data drop, no Chrome support, Browser crash when turning from landscape to portrait etc.
 
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@mathrisk, I have been using the CM versions of ICS and JB on the DHD and do not experience any noticeable lag. I don't play games though, however, Angry Birds and Temple Run work fine.
 
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comp@ddict said:
Okay this is is. Found a NEXUS S deal at ebay.

NEW Samsung Google Nexus S Android 4.0 ICS Updated Unlocked | eBay

Using ICICIEOSS2 code, price comes to 14k.

I'm seriously considering now.
Click to expand...
Its purely a compromise on the hardware front for the sake of software, in the time of quadcores and dual cores you are going for a single core with 512mb of RAM and without expandable memory slot (only 16GB), I'd still suggest you go for a used 2nd hand SGS II (I9100) which has nice specification compared to this and already on official ICS and will get JB. what do you think how long will google support the Nexus S (or will the phone be capable of running the latest OS) so think it over.
 
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Although deal is fascinating, we should wait till this month end .. JB phones are coming ....

and as this phone was launched in 2010 don't expect that it will enjoy continuous support for long from google itself ...
 
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The Nexus S has already received 2 major updates (ICS, JB) since its launch and I really doubt it will receive Key Lime Pie officially. The Nexus One had received 2 updates (Froyo, GB) as it was launched on Eclair and was then deemed to be not good enough from a hardware point of view for ICS. Also, as @paarkhi said, 512MB does not feel enough for ICS/JB. I can confirm this due to my Blade which seems to force close background apps on a regular basis due to the lack of free RAM. My SGS2, however, has enough RAM for the same tasks. I know that you are on a tight budget, but if you're planning on sticking to this phone for at least 2 years, you should probably get a dual core phone with a sizeable community behind it..
 
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@comp@ddict, If you ask others then you will get different opinions which will not help you in deciding, as of now you have 3 options as I understand,
1. Go for Nexus (which you have made up your mind)
2. Wait for new phones which are going to be released by the end of August (as said by @vivekb)
3. Take some 2nd hand beast which has great community support on XDA (Phones like SGS2 I9100 or some HTC Dual Core)
I think you should do what you feel the best.
 
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Well. my budget is under 15k.

- I won't get a powerful 2nd hand dual core in 15k
- LG Optimus 2X doesn't even have official ICS so the specs are pretty much redundant to me
- SGS2 can't be had for less than 20k. Believe me I've looked.
- At 15k the dual core options are Sola and Xperia U. Both have 512 MB RAM. THe issue isn't with the processor. 1 GB RAM is optimum. But there isn't any option anyways.
- I'll be happy with Official Jelly Bean on the Nexus S for the next 6-8 months till Key Lime Pie. I have a feeling there will be a port for it. And it's not like the rest of the world will get Key Lime Pie for another 6 months, so I'm not really losing out on anything.
- I won't be playing games. Angry Birds runs on a single core and the SGX 540 GPU easy.
- 4" display is optimum for me. Nexus gives me that too.

EDIT:

I'm probably like the unluckiest guy in the phones department. I was finally going to place the order. All units have been sold. I can't believe this...

This is depressing.

EDIT 2:

There is one seller here. But he's NEVER sold anything before. 0 feedback. Price is Rs. 13,499.

http://www.ebay.in/itm/140816273927#ht_2262wt_1139
 
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You can get the HTC Rezound, though will have to settle for a used one in that budget. Dual core 1.5GHz same as the Galaxy S II of the US. 4.3 inch 720p display and 8 MP camera which is better than the S II's camera in my opinion.
Works both on CDMA and GSM flawlessly.
 
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comp@ddict said:
Well. my budget is under 15k.

- I won't get a powerful 2nd hand dual core in 15k
- LG Optimus 2X doesn't even have official ICS so the specs are pretty much redundant to me
- SGS2 can't be had for less than 20k. Believe me I've looked.
- At 15k the dual core options are Sola and Xperia U. Both have 512 MB RAM. THe issue isn't with the processor. 1 GB RAM is optimum. But there isn't any option anyways.
- I'll be happy with Official Jelly Bean on the Nexus S for the next 6-8 months till Key Lime Pie. I have a feeling there will be a port for it. And it's not like the rest of the world will get Key Lime Pie for another 6 months, so I'm not really losing out on anything.
- I won't be playing games. Angry Birds runs on a single core and the SGX 540 GPU easy.
- 4" display is optimum for me. Nexus gives me that too.
Click to expand...

Valid points. If you're okay with 512MB RAM, then you should go ahead with the Nexus S. Yes, it will most probably get an unofficial Key Lime Pie ROM unless Google decides to have radical changes in terms of hardware requirements for the next iteration of Android. Also, I haven't checked the ebay links that you've been posting, but I hope you're looking for the international sAMOLED version and not the Indian SLCD one as the Indian one probably has almost no modding scene.


Off topic: What will they call Key Lime Pie Development sub forums on XDA? KLPD? :p
 
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