Android phone below 20k, confused because of Nexus 4.

[cyanide911]

1. Budget?
20k max
2. Display type and size?
More than 4 inches touch screen
3. Form Factor? bar, slider, flip?
Bar
4. Preferred choice of brand?
None
5. Preferred input method (QWERTY, touchscreen, numpad, touch-n-type).
Touch
6. What camera option you want? Please specify need for flash, autofocus, front facing camera.
No preference, I don't use camera much
7. Preferred operating system? (Android, Symbian, iOS, Windows Phone etc).
Android
8. Preferred connectivity options (3G, Wifi etc)Please specify clearly.
3G,Wifi
9. Preferred applications (Flash, Swype, GPS, etc)?
Regular applications, nothing specific
10. Primary use of handset (multimedia, camera, mails, internet, gaming etc)?
Multimedia, Gaming
11. Any specific mobile phones in consideration?
See below!


First of all, my motivation for buying a new phone is the Nexus 4. At $299, it's easily, EASILY the best option for just 16.5k. But the issue is, when/if it's sold in India by LG, it's price will definitely not be 16.5k, it'll be over 25k since LG can't keep the sort of margins Google can afford to. So, buying it in India is out of question. So now I have 3 options:


1. Buy some other good (but not as good as the Nexus 4) phone like the Xperia S or something else you guys recommend.
2. Buy the Nexus from the grey market in Delhi (whenever it's available)
3. Wait for a friend from the US to come to India and tell him to get it.


Option 2 and 3 won't get me warranty but it'll get me a much much superior phone. But I'm not sure if it'll be worth the loss of warranty. What do you guys think? Option 3 will be my last resort since my friend will come to india very very late, around May. And waiting that long will be tough.


And how much do you think the Nexus 4 will cost in the Grey market in India? Consider the fact that the Galaxy Nexus is available for 19k on Amazon and 20-21k in the grey market.

 

[rider]

Don't forget taxes and shipping charges. For 16GB Nexus 4 the price would not be $350 as in play store US from 13 Nov
$350 + 30$ taxes + $10 shipping charges = Final is $390 (21k)
If he further ships to India add $20 more as international courier service. And please don't compare Xperia S type phone with Google Nexus 4. It is like comparing some poor African country with some Arab country.

 

[cyanide911]

Don't forget taxes and shipping charges. For 16GB Nexus 4 the price would not be $350 as in play store US from 13 Nov
$350 + 30$ taxes + $10 shipping charges = Final is $390 (21k)
If he further ships to India add $20 more as international courier service. .

Hmm, so looking at the 8GB Nexus 4, it's 299+30+10=339 USD in the US, plus 20 as shipping charges to india=359USD=19.5k. Which is STILL an absolute steal.

And please don't compare Xperia S type phone with Google Nexus 4. It is like comparing some poor African country with some Arab country

Haha yeah, this is why I'm completely turned off of the idea of buying a 20k phone from India


EDIT: Damn, forgot about duties and other such charges.

 

[Makx]

LG NEXUS 4 for 23499 on ebay

 

[cyanide911]

That's a bit out of my budget. Hopefully in the greymarket it'll be around 20k. In that case I'll pounce.


Does anyone have a good estimate how much would it cost to ship a 17k phone from US to India? Including shipping and duty.

 

[jiteshbhimani]

Get a quote from shopandship.com. I guess duty on mobile is 16%, not sure.

 

[Ihthisham]

Dude you want the phone for multimedia and gaming purpose then Nexus4 is a good choice but 8gb is not enough and you can't add sd card.You can go for Lg Optimus l7 or you can go to Xperia P you'll get it at 22k if you are purchasing from showroom.

 

[vipul619]

I'd vote for waiting for an official Nexus 4 release. It will be launched at 23.5k but should be available for 21-22k in 1-2 months.
Else you can settle for Galaxy S Advance or Xperia P.
Also since you are spending upto 2k, why not chip in 1-2k more and get the best!

 

[Nighthawk12]

Xperia P

 

[cacklebolt]

LG nexus 4 only if you import it.
if i am not wrong a nexus 7 is levied ~100% duty while importing because in the states it costs $199 (16 gb) ~ 11k and here it costs 19k
so while the nexus 4 is supposed to be excellent you should have it imported.

And wait a minute,HTC Windows Phone 8S retails for 19k!! (someone confirm plz) Excellent phone with a beautiful OS

Confusing you a bit more
HTC desire X/ desire SV

 

[cyanide911]

Everything seems bland in front of the Nexus 4 for that price .
I'll probably wait for grey market to have it / my friend to return from the US / a good Group Order.

BTW, is 8GB really going to be such a problem? I never store any videos on my mobile, it'll mostly have a few (2-3 gigs) of music and a few games, that's all.