Advice on mobile with best cam for about 15 k. Neo V? Ray? Desire S?

[Raccoon]

Guys, looking to buy a mobile in the range of 10 - 15 k. The most important requirement is a good cam. One that is good with low light is a big plus.

In this budget, the following seem the best options:

Xperia Ray
Xperia Neo V
Xperia Neo
HTC Desire S

Xperia Ray - Will have to buy with dealer warranty. This will be the least expensive one with probably amongst the best cams (excluding the Neo). I am more inclined towards this one due to the price and Exmor R. However the narrow screen is my biggest concern. While better cam is important, I can't have it at the cost of irritating text input or difficult browsing or ebook reading. Will these activities be really irritating? Will Swype (or equivalent) on this screen size help in rapid text input?

Neo V - No Exmor R which is a huge minus for me as low light performance is also imp. How does its cam compare with the Rays? Will have to buy with dealer warranty. However text input wont be an issue due to screen size.

Neo - Best cam but again with dealer warranty; and price is high. Don't feel like spending so much on a phone which will have no warranty.

Desire S - HUGE plus will be manufacturer warranty. However, how would the cam performance compare with Xperia Ray And Neo V? Esp. low light performance?

Was seriously considering the Omnia W due to its hardware and price but backed off after finding out that it does not support stuff like USSD, etc. Goes without saying fewer apps esp. for navigation etc., are a huge drawback.

Would really appreciate any comments. Any other options besides the ones given above are also more than welcome.

Lastly, how good an idea would it be to buy handsets with no warranty? Any experiences anybody?

 

[aroraanant]

Choose anyone among Neo V and Desire S, both are equally good.
I suggest you to get your hands on both the devices in a local store near you and choose the one which you look the post.
No for Ray because of its small screen size.
BTW check the link in my signature, hope it helps

And get a phone with manufacture warranty only

If you can extend your budget a lil bit then you have Incredible S and One V also which you can consider

 

[Raccoon]

But between Neo V and Desire S which one has the better cam? Isn't the Desire S a pretty old model? All the stores I checked in said its discontinued and they exhausted stocks long ago.

Was seriously considering HTC One V but it has no compass. That makes navigation useless, which is very imp. for me. So HTC One V is eliminated from my list.

 

[aroraanant]

Desire S is less than a year old(or may be a year), it has not been discontinued by the company.
And I have not compared the camera of both but recently I was playing with my friend's Neo V and it has got a good cam.
How about getting Incredible S for 16.8k, that would be the best option for you

 

[Raccoon]

Finally settled for Xperia Ray because I got a very good deal. First impressions is that the stock keyboard is INFURIATING! Horrible at predicting and simply awful design. Replaced it, and now its more usable. Otherwise a very good phone. Its amazing what all it packs in such a small form factor. Great pocketability, but not too happy with the screen size for browsing either. But then it rocks in other areas. Videos look really great and you'll forget the small screen size while you are watching. Can't get everything in one package, so can't be helped. Maybe will sell it after sometime, when something better comes out at a sane price.

Meanwhile, whilt it isn't exactly terrible, I wouldn't really recommend this phone for people who text a lot or surf a lot.

 

[dashing.sujay]

^Small screen obviously hinders qwerty texting. But I found okish. Anyways, for how much did you got it?

 

[Raccoon]

^^^You have one too? Which keyboard are you using? I got it for 12.3k (with manufacturer warranty).

 

[raj_in]

12.3k frm whr?

 

[coderunknown]

^^^You have one too? Which keyboard are you using? I got it for 12.3k (with manufacturer warranty).

congrats but 12.3k for Ray? Where?

and Sujay doesn't have one but 3.3" is small. Most mobiles with 3.2" have this problem too.

 

[Raccoon]

Well, a seller gave it at that price. Don't ask me how/why. I myself don't know. All I know is that I got a company sealed box with warranty and that too April import. Bought it only because of the price... else I wasn't confident about the screen size. Was on the verge of buying the Incredible S. Only after you use it (Ray) you realize how irritating it is for texting at least.

And btw, 3.2" screen is not that bad. In fact I'd call it borderline usable esp. with something like Swype. 3.3 screen is narrower than 3.2 which makes 'normal' keyboard a nightmare in portrait mode... definitely worse than 3.2.

 

[the.one]

Facing similar confusion.

Getting good deals for the
Ray @ 12.8k
Neo V @ 13.8k
Desire S @ 15k approx.
Samsung Aces(Ace, Ace Plus, Ace 2) @ 12.5 - 15k

Ray is gr8, if only it could have a 3.5" display.
Neo V is good too, but seems to be a bit large to hold(same with Desire S).

There's also news of the Desire C(yet to be released, maybe a month/two), which seems to have near perfect specs im looking for, 3.5"(HVGA though)/1GHz/512MB/5MP/LedFlash/FFcam/ICS(out of the box)/4gigs internal storage, maybe no more than 12-13k.

Which one to go for out of these? as I'm looking for decent to good cam, and a good display(prefer upto 3.5", as phones beyond this size are less pocket-able).

Also is the Ray good enough for web-browsing & video playback, or is there a considerable diff when compared to other 3.2"-3.5"-3.7" displays?

 

[aroraanant]

Facing similar confusion.

Getting good deals for the
Ray @ 12.8k
Neo V @ 13.8k
Desire S @ 15k approx.
Samsung Aces(Ace, Ace Plus, Ace 2) @ 12.5 - 15k

Ray is gr8, if only it could have a 3.5" display.
Neo V is good too, but seems to be a bit large to hold(same with Desire S).

There's also news of the Desire C(yet to be released, maybe a month/two), which seems to have near perfect specs im looking for, 3.5"(HVGA though)/1GHz/512MB/5MP/LedFlash/FFcam/ICS(out of the box)/4gigs internal storage, maybe no more than 12-13k.

Which one to go for out of these? as I'm looking for decent to good cam, and a good display(prefer upto 3.5", as phones beyond this size are less pocket-able).

Also is the Ray good enough for web-browsing & video playback, or is there a considerable diff when compared to other 3.2"-3.5"-3.7" displays?

I think the price you have mentioned for Ray and Neo V are with seller and not with manufacturer, I am right na?
And why do you think a phone with a >3.5" screen is not pocketable.I have Incredible S with 4" display and it gets into my jeans pocket very easilty without giving me any trouble even while driving a bike.
I suggest you to get 3.7" screen atleast, android is best experienced on a big screen.
And don't consider Samsung Ace series, its just piece of a crap.
Desire C is not gonna come in market soon, for that you have to wait atleast for a month or so.
Neo V and Desire S both are good phones. you can consider anyone of them which you particularly like the most.
But apart from them I would suggest you to get One V.

 

[Raccoon]

@the.one - Ray has the best cam of the lot. Choose Ray only if you want the best cam and pocket-ability. Else you may regret it. Neo V or Desire S are your best bets. But build quality of Neo V is worst in the lot. As Aroraanant said, delete the Ace of crap from your list, lol. However, personally, I too find anything bigger than 3.5 - 3.7 a pain to carry, esp. in tight fitting jeans esp. on a bike.

As for video playback, it looks really good on the Ray because of the screen quality. You may forgive and forget the small size if you look at the quality. The real problem comes when you have to browse/read, play games and text. Then it can get irritating.