Help me getting started with Android! (on a budget)

[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! :p

Used phones in proper condition are fine with me. (Y)

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 :p)

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. (Y)

[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]

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. :p

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.

[+Eternal Tempest MVC]

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 ;)

[Brandon H Supervisor]

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 Subscriber²]

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]

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?

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? :)

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. (Y)

Glassed Silver:mac

[Brandon H Supervisor]

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 :)

[Luis Mazza]

That sounds promising, how are they performing on JB?

I heard good things about both, nothing in particular though.

Care to give me a crash course? :)

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. (Y)

Glassed Silver:mac

Well, I think it'll be hard for you to get a great phone like you're asking for with this budget. Unless you get an used Galaxy SII, but it is not guaranteed it will get an update for... say... Android 5.0. :/

[Arceles]

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. (Y)

Glassed Silver:mac

Opla... well 180 pounds is off contract but I doubt you will see it at 150?, still, one of the best android phones that I've tested and flashed, 4+ days battery (2g networks) and I'm also "bei o2" :D

[Glassed Silver]

Well, I think it'll be hard for you to get a great phone like you're asking for with this budget. Unless you get an used Galaxy SII, but it is not guaranteed it will get an update for... say... Android 5.0. :/

Well, make this a bonus then, not a requirement.

Does a S2 sell for ?150?

*le check on le ebay*

Opla... well 180 pounds is off contract but I doubt you will see it at 150?, still, one of the best android phones that I've tested and flashed, 4+ days battery (2g networks) and I'm also "bei o2" :D

180 pounds off contract for the RAZR i?

Really?

Need to check on that, too, sounds great, but won't buy it, as it's way out of my budget.

Fun fact though. (Y)

Glassed Silver:mac

[Noir Angel]

I'd personally avoid Motorola phones, more locked down than normal. if you want developer friendly and reasonable power, the Galaxy S2 is now available at very reasonable prices, and should be very simple to root. I wouldn't worry about Samsung pushing official updates, the development community usually get new Android versions working on Samsung phones pretty quickly as Samsung has provided a lot of support to the developers of custom software, in fact I think they donated Galaxy SII's to the CM development team so they could ensure it worked on their phones.

[Luis Mazza]

Well, make this a bonus then, not a requirement.

Does a S2 sell for ?150?

*le check on le ebay*

Glassed Silver:mac

I saw on Germany's eBay around $160 euros, but not sure if that was a fixed price. I didn't translate the page, as I missed the Google Translation Bar. :p

Anyway... Get a Galaxy Note 2 by dumping your boring iPhone 5 :cry:

Trust me, you won't regret :D

[Arceles]

180 pounds off contract for the RAZR i?

Really?

Need to check on that, too, sounds great, but won't buy it, as it's way out of my budget.

Fun fact though. (Y)

Glassed Silver:mac

It was a demo phone in a store, then the store decided to sell it (this was more or less one month after it just got relased) decided that from 350 pounds to 180 pounds the risk was well worth of it since I needed to reemplace my dated G1 (battery doesn't works anymore so had to have it connected all day) the phone arrived with a "demo" on the box, but damn... it was neat :D best purchases that I ever made, funny thing is that still was on warranty by motorola, but unlocked the bootloader and then.... booom, bye bye warranty jaja (Unlocked bootloader is needed to flash new roms into phones, I'm not sure if other companies do the same)

[Glassed Silver]

I'd personally avoid Motorola phones, more locked down than normal. if you want developer friendly and reasonable power, the Galaxy S2 is now available at very reasonable prices, and should be very simple to root. I wouldn't worry about Samsung pushing official updates, the development community usually get new Android versions working on Samsung phones pretty quickly as Samsung has provided a lot of support to the developers of custom software, in fact I think they donated Galaxy SII's to the CM development team so they could ensure it worked on their phones.

Yea, Samsung definitely is my favorite to go for followed by Sony and HTC.

I saw on Germany's eBay around $160 euros, but not sure if that was a fixed price. I didn't translate the page, as I missed the Google Translation Bar. :p

Anyway... Get a Galaxy Note 2 by dumping your boring iPhone 5 :cry:

Trust me, you won't regret :D

Not gonna happen, bro.

Not gonna detail why, because that's a) off-topic and b) prone to flamebait, no matter what I say. :p (all in good spirit guys!)

Glassed Silver:mac

[yowanvista]

That sounds promising, how are they performing on JB?

Quite good, the interface is quite smooth (project butter and vsync), I have a phone with the same chipset (MSM8255T) as those SE2011 devices and it performs fairly well with Android 4.1.2.

P.S I would recommend avoiding Samsung devices with the Exynos SoC, Custom ROMs for those devices lack some features like TV-out, FM radio and other proprietary features, the full butter experience doesn't even work on the S2 due to lack of documentation regarding the Exynos platform for mobile devices, most issues are centered around hwcomposer (A features responsible for project butter).

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1925709

[Glassed Silver]

Quite good, the interface is quite smooth (project butter and vsync), I have a phone with the same chipset (MSM8255T) as those SE2011 devices and it performs fairly well with Android 4.1.2.

Just watched a Youtube video of an Xperia S with Cyanogen 10... Boy... JB runs quite nice on it. (Y)

Glassed Silver:mac

[Arceles]

Now that I think about it... why you don't just look into a phone you like, consult it on xda to check wheter or not is activelly supported and at the end just put it on a shortcut on the browser? that way I found this offer... the phone appeared exactly at 9 am, and I bought it shortly after :D