Android phone around $200

LKendrite13 on 05/10/2012 - 20:16

Hi all.

Looking to buy a new mobile but it's been so long since I've upgraded or researched so am really out of the loop. I know $200 is very tight budget but ideally I'd like something that can:

  1. Run Android ICS minimum. All my past phones have had no or minimal updates so would rather start with ICS than keep fingers crossed for a future update to it.

  2. Is unlocked.

  3. Old phone has 3.6 inch screen, I couldn't have smaller than this.

  4. Not sure if all Android phones can but it'll have to be able to work as a wifi hotspot.

So far my top two for consideration are HTC One V or the LG Optimus L7 (though a smaller screen I'm strongly inclined to get the HTC which I've found for $199 not including delivery).

I'm just putting this here encase anyone has seen one of these phones super cheap or can recommend another phone for me to consider.

Many thanks.

Mobile

Comments

  • sane on 05/10/2012 - 20:51
    +2

    Huawei G300, or its soon to be replacement, the G330

    All the above, for $150 (well OK, you have to get it unlocked, but its cheap and easily available.)

    Beats out the One V and the L7 - particular the G330 (when it final hits the street)

  • Kendrite13 on 05/10/2012 - 21:25

    Thnx Sane.

    I'd not looked at the G300 and while I agree it looks great value I really have my heart set on something that can run ICS. I upgrade phones rarely and to be stuck on Gingerbread for the next 2-3 years seems very limiting for me.

    That being said the G330 looks promising (very). Perhaps I'll wait till it's released in November, just for clarification do these details look accurate as to what you were recommending: http://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_ascend_g330-4966.php

    Hope the price is reasonable, duel core is nice too.

    Damn I get excited about gadgets too easily.

    • sane on 05/10/2012 - 22:35

      G300 has ICS available - not the best, but available.

      G330 will launch with it, or better.

  • OZJet on 05/10/2012 - 23:18

    OP point 4 any Android 2.2+ can be used as wifi hotspot so ICS 4.0 no problems at all :)

  • OZJet on 05/10/2012 - 23:30
    +1

    Sony Sola should be looked at it's $50 above your budget new from MobiCiti but can be had on ebay almost new for within your budget. I know a Whirlpool member that sold his on ebay in the last f/n less than 2 weeks old & perfect nic for $190. It's better spec phone than the one's in your OP IMHO.
    (basic run down below but it is on GB 2.3 out of the box so wifi hotspot/tether all good & very easy to update to ICS jump on the Sony forum at Whirpool & we will step you through it in a breeze if you decide on this phone screen not for me a tad small but it's a whole 0.1 of an inch up from what you have atm:)

    The Sony Xperia Sola is equipped with a 3.7 inch TFT display with resolution of 480 x 854. Pixel density is 265 ppi. Under the hood is a dual-core 1GHz NovaThor U8500 processor and runs

    • scrimshaw on 05/10/2012 - 23:41

      The Sola is the next best thing, next to the G330/G300. I recommend this.

      • OZJet on 06/10/2012 - 00:17

        Things I think rock about Sola for price is quality has 8GB internal memory 5GB usuable vs 2.5GB useable G330. Yes both can have micro SD but some applications can only be stored on internal memory. But best of all IMO is is quad band so best of any network as OP did not mention his carrier & you dont want a phone without 850 band 3G I'm talking if your on Vodafone or Telstra nextG. Sony also does an awesome camera. If only had upto $200 to spend on a droid I would get this basically as new from ebay on your budget or maybe a little less.

        If you could find around another $50 bucks I would get it new.

  • zelda707 on 06/10/2012 - 10:45
    +1

    The One V that you mentioned for $199 doesn't include delivery. I suspect that you saw it on becextech- http://www.becextech.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?product….

    The shipping is $129 so it comes out at $328.

    You'll struggle to find the Optimus L7 under $200 and the phone is very laggy. Its not worth the money. I would recommend the Sony Xperia U, Xperia Sola or Huawei G300

  • Kendrite13 on 06/10/2012 - 12:20

    $129 shipping! That's outrageous and obviously a sneaky way of sucking people in.

    I'll look into the Sola. Do you need to root it in order to upgrade to ICS?

    I know there aren't that many apps that are ICS only right now but I imagine there will be in 2-3 years. Plus I'd really like to try the Chrome browser.

    FYI I'm with Optus at the moment.

    • zelda707 on 06/10/2012 - 12:51

      The Sola is compatible with the optus network. The update for ICS was released just last week so you don't need to root it.

  • Kendrite13 on 06/10/2012 - 19:41

    OK, I'm going to watch out for a cheap Sola. If I haven't found anything by Nov I'll watch out for the G330 too.

    Thanks all for the advice, it's been a huge help.

    May I humbly ask if anyone happens across a cheap Sola to let me know. I'm watching one on eBay at them moment but the bids seem to be going up pretty quick.

  • robotdad on 07/10/2012 - 15:27

    I'm currently trying to track down an android phone, with dual active 3G SIMs (I want to run an amaysim with calls+data in one slot and vodafone for calls in the other slot - maybe dual standby with amaysim in the 3G slot and Vodafone in the second 2G slot would be sufficient in that I could receive calls on Vodafone if I was not currently on a call or using data from amaysim). I would like the phone to have a front camera as well as a rear, have expandable memory, good battery life and with a 1 GHz+ dual core processor. I'm looking at the following phone but really I'd like a more well known manufacturer with good QC but not the price of the Samsung S duos.
    http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/03/blu-products-vivo-4-3-sma…
    http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BLU-VIVO-D910i-Dual-SIM-4-3-Unloc…
    $294 delivered.

    I'd like better processor than:
    http://www.mobicity.com.au/samsung-galaxy-s-duos-s7562.html

    Any suggestions?

    • zelda707 on 07/10/2012 - 17:16

      Also consider this- http://www.mobicity.com.au/htc-desire-v.html, but i'm not sure if it's dual active and it doesn't come with a front facing camera.

      • robotdad on 07/10/2012 - 17:28

        Thanks zelda707. Yes there is no front facing camera for the desire V so I have excluded it from my short list (unless I give up the front camera idea from my specs shopping list). I am trying to come up with phone specs that will not be outdated too quickly. I would think that skype (or similar app) video calls would become more common and the need to have a more current processor capable of running ICS.

        • scrimshaw on 07/10/2012 - 17:57

          You should check out the Huawei G500 (U8836D) Pro Shine then.

          http://www.etotalk.com/huawei-u8836d-ascend-g500-pro-shine-g…

          It's a fairly high end QHD 4.3" dual core device, with support for dual sim.

          Another option is the higher end Huawei G600, also dual sim and 4.3 inch QHD.

          http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/31/huawei-ascend-g600-hands-…

          It's very unlikely you'll see this phone stateside this year, so you might have to import it.

        • robotdad on 07/10/2012 - 18:42

          Thanks scrimshaw. Yes I had been lurking around the Huawei phones above the G330. I was hoping to find my desired specs in a form factor in the 3.5-4 inch range screen rather than going phat (but thin). sigh I guess a phat phone with all the specs is better thank a skinny one with which scrimps.

        • robotdad on 07/10/2012 - 18:59

          Actually there G330D might do it (if the network bands are good for optus (call+data) and vodafone calls) and the price looks good.
          http://www.etotalk.com/huawei-u8825d-ascend-g330d-3g-wcdma-a…

          Dual Sim, supports W+G / G+G
          2G：GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
          3G：WCDMA/HSPA/HSPA+: 2100MHz

          So no HSPA @ 900MHz if these specs are right. I guess this might be an issue but I am still getting my head around the bands and class info I need to meet for my use.

          EDIT: pandawill states different band info:
          2G: GSM 900/1800MHz
          3G: WCDMA 900/2100MHz

          http://www.pandawill.com/huawei-u8825dascend-g330d-smart-pho…

  • batrarobin on 10/10/2012 - 10:27

    Any ideas when exactly GS330 will be available and where to get it from ?

    • Kendrite13 on 10/10/2012 - 10:57
      +1

      I'm keeping an ear out for this information too. So far the best I've been able to find is November.

  • Kendrite13 on 24/10/2012 - 09:04

    Looks like the Huawei Ascend G330 has just been released according to: http://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_ascend_g330-4966.php

    Some available on eBay from Hong Kong, I imagine it'll take a while for them to be distributed and more readily available.

    • Ughhh on 27/10/2012 - 16:53

      512 MB RAM

      Sorry for nooby quesiton, but how important is RAM for an android phone?

      • scrimshaw on 01/11/2012 - 20:02

        Pretty damn important. The more memory you have, the bigger and the more complex applications you can run, and the better the phone will respond when it comes to multi-tasking.

        (Multi-tasking is really a word that needs to be used with care, because Android typically do not support true multi-tasking, but rather, they keep background apps loaded in memory and suspend it while you're working at another app, and re-activate the frozen application when you toggle back)

        On a device with a measly 256 MB of RAM, you can open open 3 browser tabs on the default browser before it crashes. There would be no Adobe flash support, and you might not be able to browse sites that are too complex.

        Or, you could play a game of Angry Birds RIO, but you won't be able to run any background apps at the same time (application crashes, force quits or hangs)

        With 512MB the situation is improved significantly, but when you're talking heavier app usage, more browser tabs opened, and more background services, then you're going to need 1GB as a bare minimum.

        • sane on 02/11/2012 - 09:23

          Nope, Android does true multi-tasking, it's apple that don't. Ongoing processes continue and background services run. Apps can suspend in the background, and can be killed to free up space though.

          http://www.extremetech.com/computing/112013-how-multitasking…

          512MB is workable, but its getting towards suboptimal with Jelly Bean.

  • Kendrite13 on 27/10/2012 - 20:48

    I believe RAM basically works as it would on a PC.

    Too little Ram and things become sluggish because the device has to read the data from the hdd (or sd card in the case of a phone).

    So for example, having lots of apps open and there might be a delay or pause switching from one to the other (only so many can fit in RAM). Big web pages might not scroll smoothly, etc.

    I'm a complete amateur with this so if someone corrects me then they're correct but…that's my understanding of how RAM effects things on a phone.

    The more the better (within reason).

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