What are some mid-range Android phones?

[krm0789]

Seconding the Galaxy Player & dumbphone combination. I just paid $159 for the 4.0. The camera is slightly better than my enV3's camera (GP 3.2 MP, phone 3.0 MP). I'm able to take pictures with the Player, use apps to modify them as I wish, send them via Bluetooth to my phone, & then pix message them to people/email/twitter/etc. It's more limited than a smartphone, but saves me $$$ in not having to pay data.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Cdesja5

Also, OP hasn't said where they live, but I am assuming US because of the Kindle Fire. Doesn't the US have plans/pre-paid offerings that don't require contracts or data plans? I always thought that there was more choice and flexibility outside of Canada. Did I assume incorrectly?
It is also possible here to buy an unlocked GSM smartphone (from wherever, not the telco) and just pop a SIM card into it, keeping your current plan without getting data even with our larger telcos (Bell, Rogers, Telus).
Surely such choices exist in the US?
Just curious! I've spent a lot of time looking into that stuff here for myself and my daughters and I'm wondering how it all works in the States...

More flexible choices in other parts of the globe but not really in the US.

In the US, there's only one major nationwide carrier (T-Mobile) that doesn't force you into a data plan if you get a smartphone on postpaid regardless of whether or not you got your phone subsidized or paid full price for it. Too bad T-Mobile appears to have the worst coverage of the bunch. T-Mo has pretty good coverage in urban areas but if you move away from the cities, then it's usually bye-bye signal.

Basically, T-Mo is pretty great when it comes to plans (both postpaid and prepaid) but they suffer when it comes to coverage. Verizon, AT&T and Sprint all require a data plan with a smartphone on postpaid. With AT&T, you can get a prepaid plan and forgo data. There are also MVNO's that operate on AT&T and T-Mobile's networks which offer better tariffs. You could pretty much get your pick of phones with AT&T, T-Mobile (once they've rolled out 3G on the 1900 band instead of AWS 1700/2100 to more areas) and MVNO's piggybacking on their networks. With CDMA carriers, you're pretty much stuck with whatever phones the carrier carries (pun not intended).

Originally Posted by krm0789

Seconding the Galaxy Player & dumbphone combination. I just paid $159 for the 4.0. The camera is slightly better than my enV3's camera (GP 3.2 MP, phone 3.0 MP). I'm able to take pictures with the Player, use apps to modify them as I wish, send them via Bluetooth to my phone, & then pix message them to people/email/twitter/etc. It's more limited than a smartphone, but saves me $$$ in not having to pay data.

OP doesn't need to pay for data if he/she doesn't want to. If he/she just wants data for one hour or one day, that's doable on Philippine carriers. Both prepaid and postpaid options in the Philippines are very flexible so there really aren't the same ramifications to using a smartphone as you'd find in the US. You can generally mix and match features to suit your needs. Carriers there actually compete on pricing. If one carrier comes out with a promo you usually find other carriers following suit. Pay per use text messaging rates are actually reasonable (~$0.02/message) but there are plenty of promotions available for even cheaper texting.

@wyndslash
What type of usage are you looking at? I just checked Greenhills' website and I'm not seeing any good Android phones in your price range (guessing PhP5,000-8,000?). Not sure what other phones are available and what kind of deals you can get. For decent performance, I'd say minimum you want to get is 800MHz ARMv7 (1GHz minimum is better) and 512MB RAM. You'd also want something with at least 480x800 resolution. Ones with lower resolution just aren't nice to look at (unless you've got a positively diminutive screen like the Sony Xperia Mini).

Check out the phones with MSM7225A, MSM7227A, MSM7230, MSM8255 and MSM8255T from the following links. Those are the most likely phones to fit in your price range.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdra...#Snapdragon_S2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdra...#Snapdragon_S3

[Teknikal]

I bought a Galaxy S Advance a month ago it's in my opinion a brilliant mid range device it's basicly the Galaxy S but dual core 1ghz and a curved screen. It has ran everything I've thrown at it easily including mkv videos, games like Grand Theft Auto 3 and Max Payne and the internet is very fast, it even feels a bit faster than my cable.

Only downside is gingerbread but that doesn't bother me at all and it's definitely got the specs to run ICS in the future.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Teknikal

I bought a Galaxy S Advance a month ago it's in my opinion a brilliant mid range device it's basicly the Galaxy S but dual core 1ghz and a curved screen.

Unfortunately, while the Galaxy S Advance is a nice mid-range Android smartphone (probably costs around $250-350), the OP's budget is leaning more towards the entry-level ($100-150).

[Teknikal]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Unfortunately, while the Galaxy S Advance is a nice mid-range Android smartphone (probably costs around $250-350), the OP's budget is leaning more towards the entry-level ($100-150).

Well there are other Entry level Samsungs like the galaxy mini, galaxy y and the ace, My dad has a HTC wildfire S which I think isn't at all bad for the price although he always seems to be charging it so maybe the battery isn't that great.

What I would actually do is look at a local phone store's site and compare what's available for the budget, then read up a bit on any handsets that toook my interest.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Teknikal

What I would actually do is look at a local phone store's site and compare what's available for the budget, then read up a bit on any handsets that toook my interest.

I'm not even sure that's possible. Phone prices tend to fluctuate a lot and website advertised prices (if the store even had a website) tend to be inaccurate. There are a lot of phone choices available at a local mall or tiangge and prices tend to vary from seller to seller (it's pretty cutthroat). It's better to whittle down the choices to just a few models before going to the mall.

The problem with entry level Android smartphones is they usually have smaller screens with 320x480 resolution or lower. They definitely wouldn't qualify for the nice display part:

Originally Posted by wyndslash

hmmm...my limit would be around $100-$150. i really do need the phone part since i already have a tablet (kindle fire). one of my main wants is to have a decent phone camera and wifi and a nice display to view it all in.

[Teknikal]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

I'm not even sure that's possible. Phone prices tend to fluctuate a lot and website advertised prices (if the store even had a website) tend to be inaccurate. There are a lot of phone choices available at a local mall or tiangge and prices tend to vary from seller to seller (it's pretty cutthroat). It's better to whittle down the choices to just a few models before going to the mall.

The problem with entry level Android smartphones is they usually have smaller screens with 320x480 resolution or lower. They definitely wouldn't qualify for the nice display part:

Must be different there because I was able to do just that here in the UK before making a decision, basicly taking into account which phones I was interested in and the prices from different networks.

Have to admit I can't think of a phone with a good camera in that price range and most are more like 3 inch screens, might just be a case of going then and seeing what is on any kind of offer.

[Cdesja5]

I guess almost any smartphone display is nicer than a dumb phone display... It's always all relative and depends on what the OP's expectations are. They may not be as high as someone who's had a smartphone before...

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Teknikal

Must be different there because I was able to do just that here in the UK before making a decision, basicly taking into account which phones I was interested in and the prices from different networks.

In the Philippines, buying phones tend to be separate from buying service. You can buy practically any phone unlocked and just slap in your existing SIM card. You generally don't buy directly from the networks as it's usually cheaper to go to a local mall or tiangge and buy phones from 3rd party sellers. Granted, unlocked phones do carry a slight premium over carrier-locked ones. One thing I like over there is while there are carrier-locked phones, they're not carrier-branded and full of bloatware like the ones in the US are.

There are also postpaid plans with phone subsidies but in general, more people tend to use prepaid. I also know several folk who carry multiple phones or use dual SIM phones and have service from two of the major carriers for best coverage and rates.

[wyndslash]

we do tend to have more choices here when it comes to phones and plans, particularly because the majority are not financially well-off.

*sigh* i really can't decide. the irrational part of me wants an S3 (in other thread i mentioned i joined a contest which i didn't win :P), so i guess i might just put the buying off until....until...i win one, i guess

[doonasmith]

Look the at the Samsung smart phones section. You will get wide options to choose smart phones at affordable price with all latest features.

[covfam]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

we do tend to have more choices here when it comes to phones and plans, particularly because the majority are not financially well-off.

*sigh* i really can't decide. the irrational part of me wants an S3 (in other thread i mentioned i joined a contest which i didn't win :P), so i guess i might just put the buying off until....until...i win one, i guess

While an S3 is NOT a mid ranged phone , it will ast you quite a while. if you rather save some money a God s2 will do ya great for a lil less, but if you get an s2 wait till july when everyone s3 is out and you can fine the s2 for cheaper.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

*sigh* i really can't decide. the irrational part of me wants an S3 (in other thread i mentioned i joined a contest which i didn't win :P), so i guess i might just put the buying off until....until...i win one, i guess

Curious, was that with Smart? You could just ask for cash instead of gifts for Christmas. That should help with the cellphone fund.

My recommendation, don't go for low-end. Wait a few months and go for mid-range or basically, last year's high end (PhP 10,000-15,000). In a couple of months, that should net you a phone with a dual-core CPU and a nice display. With single-core Android phones still being released, it'll be a while (in tech terms, anyway) before it becomes obsolete.

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Curious, was that with Smart? You could just ask for cash instead of gifts for Christmas. That should help with the cellphone fund.

My recommendation, don't go for low-end. Wait a few months and go for mid-range or basically, last year's high end (PhP 10,000-15,000). In a couple of months, that should net you a phone with a dual-core CPU and a nice display. With single-core Android phones still being released, it'll be a while (in tech terms, anyway) before it becomes obsolete.

yes, it was with smart, but the winner posted over a hundred entries i didn't even know you could enter more than once

what i usually ask for christmas are amazon gift cards they last me the whole year what with amazon's discounts

@covfam: that's a thought :O

i went by the samsung store earlier while i was at the mall with family. gorgeous phones. played with the galaxy note for a bit

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

what i usually ask for christmas are amazon gift cards they last me the whole year what with amazon's discounts

You know you can buy unlocked smartphones from Amazon and pricing is pretty good. I'm not sure how accurate the prices quoted on the Greenhills website is but I've been able to find better deals on Amazon. If you've got a friend or relative going on vacation or something who can send you a phone, that can be an option.