iGyaan Holiday Guide : Best Phones for 15,000
So many questions, so little time. Its the time for holiday cheer and we are literally getting bombarded with hundreds of emails asking us what phones to buy. So here is our guide for the best options in the Rs. 15000 price.
(In order of preference)
Android Phones
1. Micromax A85 SuperFone : (Rs. 15290) The price drop has already been announced, and at this price it is the best spec’d phone. A dual core Nvidia Tegra 2, 3.8 inch touchscreen, 5 MP camera and gesture control make this the best bet at the price. But sadly it ships with Android 2.2.
2. Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro Sk17i: (Rs 15,000) One of the most recommended devices by iGyaan in 2011 our extensive review will tell you why this device is an excellent purchase.
3. Motorola Defy (Rs 14,000) : The original defy is still an awesome phone, with Android a brilliant rugged construction that resists water and dust. The design is also shock proof. Check out our Review.
4. HTC ChaCha (Rs. 14500): A brilliant form factor with excellent build, the only touch and type phone with this design from HTC. Also the first phone with a dedicated FB button on the Android platform, a Social king. Our Review Covers it.
5. Samsung Galaxy Ace (Rs 13000): One of the most loved phones of 2011 the ace has a nice display along with impressive looks, a good processor and Touchwiz on top of Android 2.3. The device is well supported in the developer community and will get ICS courtesy Root and Custom CM9 rom. Check out our Review
6. HTC Wildfire S (Rs 12,500): Not our last option but an alternative to the Galaxy Ace, the build is far superior also is the quality of materials used. The device features HTC Sense on top of Android 2.3 and is arguably the best built phone of this bracket. The camera in some aspects is better than the Ace and pulls out great images. The processor is only a 600MHz compared to the 800MHz on the Ace. We reviewed it Here
Blackberry
Blackberry Curve 3G 9300 (Rs. 14,450): The only berry in this range, you also get the CDMA version of the curve 8520 (called: 8530) which is not worth mentioning. What is to say this is an old outdated berry running on the older OS6 but features a great and responsive OS. It is a great upgrade for some one on a Blackberry high . We however say, spend more and get the Curve 9380 : we covered here.
Nokia Symbian
Nokia 700 (Rs 15299) : Younger version of the 701, this device is available in the market in select locations, features new Symbian Belle and a 3.2 inch Capacitive Amoled Clear Black display. A 5 Mp camera and 720p video capabilities make it a good competitor. Another add-on is the tough gorilla glass front. The price seems a bit high for this old-school Operating System. The phone also has a 2Gb internal storage and is a grab option for those who refuse to abandon the legendary OS in its dying days.
Nokia 500 (Rs 11,000): Then there is the 500, its the only other Nokia phone in this bracket apart from the discontinued C6-01. This features a 1GHz processor along with a 3.2-inch TFT nHD Capacitive Touchscreen. The phone features Symbian Anna and has great 5MP camera, which is fixed focus. Again price is a bit of a pinch especially because the device is unable to offer the freedom that say an Android device would offer, But on the upside it does have a 1GHz processor.
Windows Phone
Samsung Focus (Rs 14000) : The device was never announced in India, but New and unlocked US versions can be bought on Ebay. The device features a nice 4.0 Inch Super Amoled Display with a native 480 x 800 px resolution. Already updated to Mango this device offers all the new features of Windows Phone 7.5 at a bargain, everything of course except a front facing camera. The Focus also has 8GB of memory and 512MB Ram and 512MB Rom
