Buying My First Android Phone. Need Advice/Help

[yowanvista]

I read that sonys software was meant to be alright. Guess I read wrong. I get your argument and I know they are different OS's but WP8 runs all the above apps I mentioned as smooth a butter on 512MB RAM. I just thought by now android would too. I guess I was wrong. Its making think should I stick with WP8

Actually no, WP8 devices with 512MB of RAM will not run any modern apps which require quite a lot of memory, that includes new games from Gameloft (e.g MC4) or even things like Temple Run.

Im not to fussed about future updates if I am honest. I just wanted a phone that runs android 4.0 smoothly, to use simple apps on 512MB RAM with a screen size no bigger than 4". Because I wanted to try the OS. I guess what I've learned is that's impossible with android which is strange to me.

Android 4.0 ICS is also not that smooth compared to Jelly Bean with Project Butter (vsync & triple buffering) which results in an overall smoother feel across the user interface. The fact is that most cheap Android devices are considered budget smartphones which will deliver acceptable performance in most basic tasks, they were not designed to even run modern versions of Android (512MB is a terrible amount).

piece of crap that have under powered specs that don't even allow you a smooth experience when doing a simple task like facebook (which is a pretty simple task for a smartphone).

The official FB App for Android is bloated to death, it uses 50MB+ of RAM and will slow down any phone with 512MB of RAM.

And on a side note to the other phones you mentioned like the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, while the specs meet my requirements I think they look horrible and the UI is just terrible. I like stoke android the most out of them all.

You can always install another launcher like Holo

Rule of thumb: Get something decent if you're willing to enter the Android ecosystem. ;)

[RichieC]

Actually no, WP8 devices with 512MB of RAM will not run any modern apps which require quite a lot of memory, that includes new games from Gameloft (e.g MC4) or even things like Temple Run.

Android 4.0 ICS is also not that smooth compared to Jelly Bean with Project Butter (vsync & triple buffering) which results in an overall smoother feel across the user interface. The fact is that most cheap Android devices are considered budget smartphones which will deliver acceptable performance in most basic tasks, they were not designed to even run modern versions of Android (512MB is a terrible amount).

The official FB App for Android is bloated to death, it uses 50MB+ of RAM and will slow down any phone with 512MB of RAM.

You can always install another launcher like Holo

Rule of thumb: Get something decent if you're willing to enter the Android ecosystem. ;)

Thanks for the info. In regards to games I don't care for them so that doesn't really bother me. I think I will try the Xperia P which has 1GB RAM and is expected to get updated to JB which you say runs smoother. Also that phone has a 4" screen which is great for me. I just hope there is a store that stocks it in the UK for me to try it out. I will have a look at other phones that meet the specs you mentioned. I really like that launcher you linked too.

[ashpowell]

512mb probably isn't enough, I loved my Galaxy S.. it ran fast, but it would eventually start to slow down after time.

If it doesn't come with JellyBean, you can still install the rom yourself, it's really quite simple. Custom roms are also great for keeping upto date with the latest android, Cyanogenmod is a popular one.

[RichieC]

So Ive been looking and think Ill go for the Xperia P. It has a 4" screen, comes with 1GB RAM and has just got the Jelly Bean update. I think I may have a winner. All the videos on youtube seem to show it running smoothly.

[MidnightDevil]

You always have the alternative of rooting it and shove a custom firmware on it, if you decide to go that way tho :)

Why not HTC? They have lot's of pleasing designs, I own a HTC Sensation XE and I'm pretty happy with it, aside the fact HTC won't update it to JB.

It has 768mb of RAM, 4mb of internal ROM, the adreno 220 graphics driver seems to handle most games that I play pretty good.