Pls suggest a mobile in 25k

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anm

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I am looking for a good phone in max 25k budget. Since prices fall all the time, I am not sure which all phone would fall in the 25k budget.

I am looking for

1. an excellent pocketable camera, with LED flash
2. excellent sound quality - not sure what all phones offer line out/ digital out - except iphone 3GS in this price range.
3. very good battery life. Should last at least 1 day with moderate use, and 2 days if only some phone calls, SMS is used.
4. features/ app - don't care much. A very good browser should be good. A remote control app would be perfect.
5. FM is a plus for free content, but these days I abhor the ads+rj blabber.
6. Good GPS/ A-GPS or whatever. I am not much familiar with the tech. but want to explore.
7. Ability to share 3G connection with other devices.
8. If android, then a Icrecream sandwich upgradable.

I guess these days 6,7 are very common.

I saw Samsung Omnia W - which is much cheaper at ~15k. It has very good screen and UI. But as usual, M$ has cheated the customer by not providing windows 8 upgrade to any phone. A 7.8 would be available though it seems.
 
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anm

A couple of months ago I spent 3-4 days scanning gsmarena and several other similar websites. I was looking for a sub 20K smart phone. My initial preference was for an Apple or Blackberry, but after a few comparisons I ruled out both of them, as the features which they were offering seemed less than those being offered by the competition. Samsung seems to have surged forward as a brand but I don't like the look of their phones. Sony seemed interesting, dealers were offering bigger discounts on their phones, but there did not seem to be many takers for their phones. I finally narrowed the choice down to HTC One which was on the verge of being released and the Nokia Lumia 7. I waited for a few days for the HTC One, but since it was still not available, I bought Lumia 7 on an impulse. I have used 6-7 Nokia's in the past with varying degrees of pleasure. I sold all of them after 12-18 months of use. My honeymoon with Lumia 7 lasted barely 24 hours :sad: It was just too plain looking and similar to all the Nokia phones I had used in the past. And using Windows reminds me being forced to drink milk by mother as a child even though I hated it. Ugh! I paid 14K for the Lumia. I went back after two days to return it. The dealer initially refused but finally accepted it back for 12K. Meanwhile HTC One had arrived and I paid 17.5K for the same with a 4 GB card. It's a nice phone with a good interface, decent (beats) audio and a good camera. The camera has options for setting ISO and WB manually and it renders colors very nicely.

Htc one v - a set on Flickr

But...

A month later my wife wanted to upgrade her phone. She was looking for a small and neat smart phone in the 10-12K range. She finallybought a Sony Experia mini for 10.5K. Having used both my HTC and her Sony I feel that I made a mistake when I bought HTC. Sony Experia grows on you and the whole experience of using it is better than that of using the HTC One. Even with a lower resolution its screen quality and colors seem nicer. Better audio. Better interface despite the fact that it runs on Gingerbread 2.3 (upgradable?) while the HTC runs on Ice Cream Sandwich 4. The camera on the Sony phone is in a different league. It offers single point, multi and macro focus modes. Exposure compensation and white balance. Centre, Spot and Matrix metering! Surprisingly it does not offer manual ISO. But on the whole I find the Sony camera much more exciting than the one on HTC.

To cut a long story short I would recommend only one phone to you. It has superb looks and I believe it would be a great performer. I would love to turn in my HTC and buy it but I don't want to take another loss so quickly.

http://www.buzzparas.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Sony-Ericsson-Xperia-neo-v-photos.jpg
 
Have a look at the Omnia W. I really liked its looks - much different than android galaxies. UI seemed quite good too but user experience on extended use is something that you know only over time. Camera, though 5MP, wasn't bad. I took a shot in office light, and there wasn't much noise compared to some other camera phone I tried few months back.
How are you finding the sound quality of the sony?
I hate nokia. My experience has been very unreliable, BAD design, dying in 6 months kind of phone. I once purchased decently high end "non smart" phone from nokia. Whenever I used to talk on it, it literally had me in tears - why? My hair would get stuck in it and when I pulled away the phone, it pulled my hair out. But it soon died in 3-4 months like my 2 earlier nokia phones and I never bothered to take it to a service center. I thought the earlier phones died because they were "cheap" in ~5k range, but it is a common problem. I am glad to see Nokia where it is today.
 
anm

I don't agree with anything that Hindustan Times says :)

The current price of both HTC One and Sony Experia Neo would be around 16.5K. I suggest you audition both with a dealer. HTC has good build quality and a slim, tough, masculine feel in your hands. Sony Mini is small, pretty, chunky and more feminine. Better for carrying in a handbag than in a pocket. I have not used the Experia Neo but I think it has a nice, well built, unisexual look!
 
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Why dont you go for Galaxy S2 new ICS edition with 16gb on board memory and expandable to 32. It sure has all features you need and comes little more to your budget.

The beats audio in htc one is a gimmik and it needs a headset costing 5k. :mad:
 
anm, If going the HTC route, do look at the HTC One S. You could also check out Galaxy s2 and Galaxy Nexus. The new Sony Experia S is a very good option too.

If going with Wp7, I suggest you wait for the new set of phones with the newer OS to roll out. As of now, Omnia W( I think it has Tango) seems the best bet, pukka VFM, good battery life, and a front cam( which is a rarity in the price bracket).

An iPhone 4s would be excellent and would meet all your requirement, but at quite a premium.
 
the price limit is imposed by my company, as the company would buy the phone for me ;) actually the hard limit is 20k, but I am looking upto 25k and hoping deal sites can give me some good deal.
 
i have been using the nokia lumia 710 (bot for 15k) since 6-7 months. though the windows 7.5 mango is new and exciting, its got a long way to go before it comes on par with iOS or Android (ginger bread or ICS). plus the windows os works more like iOS in terms of media sharing. you need the PC software for transferring media files. does not work on bluetooth like android or the tried and tested symbian.

I would suggest the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus (with stock ICS) @ arnd 24.5 k. excellent handset with all the top features: Samsung Galaxy Nexus - Full phone specifications

I guess its not yet officially available in India, but most sellers offer 1 yr seller warranty:

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Smartphone - price in India : Rediff Shopping

Its available locally in Mumbai at most places for 24.5 k.

all the best
 
Read the gsmarena comparo between the Galaxy S2 & 3.

GAlaxy S2, should be what you might end up with.
 
Samsung Galaxy SII is one of the best around. I would say no to the Sony. My friends have it and seriously not impressed. The video playback is very good but for performance and features the SII is more capable.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
 
anm

No I have not compared the Sony phones. While buying a hand held device like a mobile or DSLR it's ergonomics, design and feel are the primary factors in my decision making. Specs come into the picture later. Personally I don't like the ergonomics and design of Samsung phones and Canon DSLR's therefore their specs become irrelevant.

You should gather all the information/opinions you are getting on the thread. Check out all the specs on GSMArena. But finally only buy the phone after holding and playing around with an actual model instead of a dummy. A lot of dealers are reluctant to open the box and show you the phone. Ideally you should borrow the phone from a friend, relative or colleague for a short while and satisfy yourself before buying.
 
new xperia S, P phones have very sharp corners and pierce into one's hand. I went to croma yesterday and held a few phones in my hand. I liked Galaxy S2 more than the sony phones when it comes to fitting in my hand.
New Sony Xperia S and P have a new sensor from Sony which is supposed to be much better, but few things that are bad about sony

- very sharp corners piercing into your palm
- non user replaceable battery
- no SD card.
 
my efforts to extend the budget have failed, so back down to 20k.

Is anyone using xperia sola? It is dual core and a recent offering from Sony.
 
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