43 replies to this topic 1 votes

[Glassed Silver]

Heya guys,

I want to buy a secondary phone (unlocked, or netlocked to O2 Germany) for experimenting, playing around with Android, keeping up with the system to give better support to users of Android (I do some pc and general tech help on the side), play some games maybe (nothing necessarily intensive though), etc etc...

All I really care about is a device that's halfway decent specs wise to be able to run most apps.
I want to be able to use cyanogenmod ROMs, run at least JB, and if possible have some room left for more versions (4.2 and whatever comes after that).

I don't really care too much about the manufacturer, Samsung would be awesome though, I'd be glad to know my "best pick" isn't an LG device though haha. (not hating)

First and foremost, this is going to be tinkering's sake, but I want a buttery smooth experience at least for the OS, the regular apps and maybe some games (racing and anything extensive is iOS territory, so no need to cover that).
I'm on a budget here, yes, that's where all those beautiful decisions of Nexus 4, Galaxy S3 and Co drop out. Shi*e, I know!

Used phones in proper condition are fine with me.

I'd like to buy the device around next month - possibly after Christmas (or in early 2013) for around 100€, up to 150€ (>___<) if that really boosts the bang for buck ratio (I'm a geek at heart after all and not opposing spending some "unnecessary money" per se hence )

Screen size not less than 3.8" or 4".


So, any suggestions?

Glassed Silver:mac


edit: / addition:
Need to clear this up: the price range I projected is OFF CONTRACT.
I have the iPhone 5 on my contract already.
My Android will get a prepaid card.

[flynempire]

Stay away from the T-Mobile comet. This is my first and only smart phone for now.

i love android but I am stuck on 2.2 which blows and is too slow but it also has to do with my device specs which are also not good. Next month the wife and I will switch to a Samsung with dual core CPU over 1Ghz and more memory, better camera, etc.. It may be Galaxy 2 or 3 but have you looked at phone like the Samsung Blaze? That is what we may upgrade to.

[Glassed Silver]

flynempire, on 26 November 2012 - 21:24, said:

Stay away from the T-Mobile comet. This is my first and only smart phone for now. i love android but I am stuck on 2.2 which blows and is too slow but it also has to do with my device specs which are also not good. Next month the wife and I will switch to a Samsung with dual core CPU over 1Ghz and more memory, better camera, etc.. It may be Galaxy 2 or 3 but have you looked at phone like the Samsung Blaze? That is what we may upgrade to.

Apart from the Comet, not really budget phones you listed there.

Glassed Silver:mac

[+Phouchg]

Don't go for a budget Android. They're crap. I oftimes have a feeling that it is physically impossible for you to be disappointed, but budget Android might very well change that.

[tsupersonic]

Do NOT get a budget Android phone - these cheap devices are what's wrong with Android. They don't offer a very good Android experience, and it will put you off Android.

[Jason Stillion]

Consider the Nexus 4?

I prefer Galaxy Nexus, but it's a Nexus Phone, can always use Google official images to revert the phone to original state, and should be easily modded / custom android rom's out for it in the future.

[Slammers]

How budget we talking? Sony Erricson has some nice cheap phones with 1ghz CPU's.

[yowanvista]

Xperia Ray, Sola, Go.

The Xperia Ray has a working CM10 build, it's won't perform that well under full load but it fits the budget.

[freak180]

First of all forget about cyanogenmod ROMs
Use AOKP roms

[+Brando212]

freak180, on 26 November 2012 - 21:39, said:

First of all forget about cyanogenmod ROMs
Use AOKP roms

yeah AOKP is a great rom been using it for awhile myself

[flynempire]

Well you are correct the ones I mentioned are not budget phone but here in the states the Blaze at least with t-Mobile is under 99.00. They have these specials now for the holidays. My Comet was free with the contract so I cannot complain to much.

[Arceles]

I bought a used (but perfect condition, not even one single scratch) RAZRi (180 pounds) unlocked, it's very new and already has root (allows you to do some awesome things if you are into tweaking your phone) and CWM Recovery (Flash Rooms from SD, backup your current installation...etc), so I basically have mine rooted and with a very light ROM on it, Cyanogen it should be about to come as long as jelly bean is ready (it is already ready but as far I know they are still working on it since this is an x86 phone, not arm), what makes this phone special is that it rocks an intel processor rather than ARM with very little compatibility problems and it's extremely fast, i.e. I've run a lot of intensive 3d games and so far the one that doesn't seem to work is chaos rings, other curious thing is that there is an arch distro that already runs on this phone, I however haven't tested it yet.

[ir0nw0lf]

For those pushing CM or AOKP ROMs, how 'bout giving some specific reasons to the OP as to why the ROM you are pushing is the one to use? I'm genuinely curious myself, having only experienced Serendipity on my old Captivate and CM on my Galaxy S II.

[Glassed Silver]

yowanvista, on 26 November 2012 - 21:37, said:

Xperia Ray, Sola, Go.

The Xperia Ray has a working CM10 build, it's won't perform that well under full load but it fits the budget.

That sounds promising, how are they performing on JB?

freak180, on 26 November 2012 - 21:39, said:

First of all forget about cyanogenmod ROMs
Use AOKP roms

I heard good things about both, nothing in particular though.
Care to give me a crash course?

tsupersonic, on 26 November 2012 - 21:35, said:

Do NOT get a budget Android phone - these cheap devices are what's wrong with Android. They don't offer a very good Android experience, and it will put you off Android.

I know man, I mainly mean once mid-class used phones here that still have some potential for say the next main release or so...
I don't really want to do a lot here, just dip into Android and use it to receive calls on an O2 prepaid card that I got so my best friend can call me for free until she gets unlimited minuted to T-Mo (my carrier).
Mainly it's just about a smooth OS experience and running the important apps well.

If it takes more than what I projected, proceed to the nearest price and suggest models there.

edit: / addition:
Need to clear this up: the price range I projected is OFF CONTRACT.
I have the iPhone 5 on my contract already.
My Android will get a prepaid card.

Glassed Silver:mac

[+Brando212]

I use AOKP because it has most of the great features of CM plus some extra useful ones, but the biggest reason is AOKP has given me the best battery life out of any rom i've used including stock