Android or Symbian belle ?

[AndroidFan]

Contrary to all in this forum, I'd suggest you to go with Nokia 701 with Symbian Belle. The basic reasons being the call quality, battery life and the premium hardware, no android in this price range can match them. Ok, what else? USB OTG, yes it connects to a flash drive and plays divx (720p only) videos without any glitches. The brightest screen(with ambient light sensor, of course) is a joy to use on a full sunny day. NFC, despite being so much new, it's a joy to use with bluetooth enabled headset, just tap the phone's back and headset is paired. FM Transmitter. The only advantage I see on the Androids part is availability of huge number of third party apps, Nokia has been providing all the top 100 apps on Ovi. Games are just awesome(with broadcom 2763 2d/3d GPU). one of the best music players out there(with headphones wh-701 attached) The only disadvatage is the fixed focus camera. Now you think what do 'you want to do? Please let me know.

Good comment.

But I still don't think Symbian can compete with Android in terms of features, ecosystem or performance. If Symbian was any good, Nokia would not have dumped it in favour of Wp7...

Android is excellent. I browse the internet all day on my phone. I am writing this comment on my Optimus One... Its so east and powerful...

Bella is just copying Android with its Widgets and drop down notifications panel.

 

[vishurocks]

Get xperia neo v. available for 18k on letsbuy. best suited for ur requirements

 

[rajsujayks]

Good comment.

But I still don't think Symbian can compete with Android in terms of features, ecosystem or performance. If Symbian was any good, Nokia would not have dumped it in favour of Wp7...

Android is excellent. I browse the internet all day on my phone. I am writing this comment on my Optimus One... Its so east and powerful...

Bella is just copying Android with its Widgets and drop down notifications panel.

Symbian is NOT dumped... WP7 is just another platform.. I'd suggest the Nokia 701... At it's basic, a phone is a phone... And nothing beats a Nokia here..! Let's see your Android surviving 4 five+ feet falls! [Hell! It won't even survive 2 of those!] My nokia 6681 has taken all the beating it has to.. And still the damage was only a ripped chrome side insert!

 

[sygeek]

Symbian is NOT dumped... WP7 is just another platform.. I'd suggest the Nokia 701... At it's basic, a phone is a phone... And nothing beats a Nokia here..! Let's see your Android surviving 4 five+ feet falls! [Hell! It won't even survive 2 of those!] My nokia 6681 has taken all the beating it has to.. And still the damage was only a ripped chrome side insert!

Symbian is dead actually. For now, you may see some Symbian phones but it has no future path. Nokia will most probably release a WP phone soon, while at the same time create some Meego-based phones which will again get dumped eventually. Nokia will then be dedicated to WP.

Let's see your Android surviving 4 five+ feet falls! [Hell! It won't even survive 2 of those!] My nokia 6681 has taken all the beating it has to.. And still the damage was only a ripped chrome side insert!

I own a Nokia 6681, it's quite bulky and will most probably survive such a fall. But it did not survive a feet under water.

Android phones are manufactured by different companies and it's quality varies from these companies. Motorola Defy will not only survive such a fall but MAY also survive under rough and harsh conditions, and under water, to a certain limit.

You're most probably a fan of Symbian, nuff said.

 

[power_8383]

Digit has given 'Best Buy' award to Acer Liquid metal in this month's issue.

 

[neo7585]

Good comment.

But I still don't think Symbian can compete with Android in terms of features, ecosystem or performance. If Symbian was any good, Nokia would not have dumped it in favour of Wp7...

Android is excellent. I browse the internet all day on my phone. I am writing this comment on my Optimus One... Its so east and powerful...

Bella is just copying Android with its Widgets and drop down notifications panel.

Ok. I accept the fact that Symbian Belle is not on par with Android but it's not meant to be believe me. Symbian Belle has the capabilities of standing and emerging on its own. It feels zippy all the time(unlike older Symbians). The browser on symbian Belle is also very much improved in terms of functionality(Not as fluid as on the androids though the best Nokia has ever had). So I don't see any problem there too. The new UI plays a vital part in the overall usage of the phone. And I want you to know(you can rather google) that Symbian Belle has not copied android(I'm the only one to say this here?) instead Android has copied(consider the popular notification bar too) from Maemo powered Nokia N900.
For those who believe(rather very firmly) that Symbian is dead, Nokia has promised to support Symbian until 2016(r u gonna use your(any) phone till then, nope). so, hopefully there'll be as many apps on Ovi store as android before you'd dump your phone.(considering the facts that most of symbian belle phones have identical specs e.g. nHD screen resolution and qt based encoding now enabled). And when Nokia promises you something, they really mean that. So I find this entire-symbian-is-dead kind of thing funny rather than even near to serious.
As far as Edof camera goes, the results are quite impressive. But shots taken within the range of 20 cm are forgettable. HD recording(@30 fps) is awesome. I still can forgive camera on this unit as I don't take as many as close-ups as some might be fond-of of doing.(I own a digital camera as well). So this really goes to the personal preference rather than experts' comments.
Ultimately I don't want to state that Android is bad and Symbian Belle is good rather I'd say Nokia 701 is as good a phone or better than many androids(Consider INR 17000 range) out there.

 

[skeletor]

Let's see your Android surviving 4 five+ feet falls! [Hell! It won't even survive 2 of those!]

when did build quality became a function of the mobile platform? All companies have decent build quality these days.

Nokia 701 is a good phone and tbf Symbian Belle is promising. Nothing wrong if you choose it. At the end of the day you are going to use same/similar 9-10 apps on all platforms.

But personally, I'd go the Android way.

 

[sygeek]

Ok. I accept the fact that Symbian Belle is not on par with Android but it's not meant to be believe me. Symbian Belle has the capabilities of standing and emerging on its own. It feels zippy all the time(unlike older Symbians). The browser on symbian Belle is also very much improved in terms of functionality(Not as fluid as on the androids though the best Nokia has ever had). So I don't see any problem there too. The new UI plays a vital part in the overall usage of the phone. And I want you to know(you can rather google) that Symbian Belle has not copied android(I'm the only one to say this here?) instead Android has copied(consider the popular notification bar too) from Maemo powered Nokia N900.
For those who believe(rather very firmly) that Symbian is dead, Nokia has promised to support Symbian until 2016(r u gonna use your(any) phone till then, nope). so, hopefully there'll be as many apps on Ovi store as android before you'd dump your phone.(considering the facts that most of symbian belle phones have identical specs e.g. nHD screen resolution and qt based encoding now enabled). And when Nokia promises you something, they really mean that. So I find this entire-symbian-is-dead kind of thing funny rather than even near to serious.
As far as Edof camera goes, the results are quite impressive. But shots taken within the range of 20 cm are forgettable. HD recording(@30 fps) is awesome. I still can forgive camera on this unit as I don't take as many as close-ups as some might be fond-of of doing.(I own a digital camera as well). So this really goes to the personal preference rather than experts' comments.
Ultimately I don't want to state that Android is bad and Symbian Belle is good rather I'd say Nokia 701 is as good a phone or better than many androids(Consider INR 17000 range) out there.

Comparatively, keeping the price factor in mind, Nokia phones don't give enough VFM. Symbian is dead in the sense that is no longer accepted by a majority of the power users (the one with some sense stuffed into them) and won't be used by Nokia in the future. No one would want a phone a company is no longer dedicated to.

No one gives a damn for features being copied by companies. Not that android actually copied them. Android actually IMPROVED them.

For the apps, Android has more (useful and sensible) apps than the Ovi Store. I never had a good experience with Ovi store.
Hardware-wise and software-wise Android pwns Symbian in every SINGLE way [Keeping the price factor in mind].

Android > Symbian. That's a fact, not even a personal preference.

Actually if you prefer Nokia 701 over any other phone near 17K range, than it's your personal preference and not necessarily accepted widely.

 

[neo7585]

Comparatively, keeping the price factor in mind, Nokia phones don't give enough VFM. Symbian is dead in the sense that is no longer accepted by a majority of the power users (the one with some sense stuffed into them) and won't be used by Nokia in the future. No one would want a phone a company is no longer dedicated to.

No one gives a damn for features being copied by companies. Not that android actually copied them. Android actually IMPROVED them.

For the apps, Android has more (useful and sensible) apps than the Ovi Store. I never had a good experience with Ovi store.
Hardware-wise and software-wise Android pwns Symbian in every SINGLE way [Keeping the price factor in mind].

Android > Symbian. That's a fact, not even a personal preference.

Actually if you prefer Nokia 701 over any other phone near 17K range, than it's your personal preference and not necessarily accepted widely.

How on just basis of ecosystem can you call android a better option? You only know. As I told you earlier Symbian still is there until 2016. So far as the VFM goes, you better can explain how android does that(may be your point here is only the eco-system or fancy UI). oh C'mone man, which Android provides you with such a brilliant video player(720p Divx, Xvid) with a flash drive. Or say which android phone in 17000INR has FM transmitter. Or better battery life than Nokia 701 has had. Or The IPS lcd with 1000 nits of brightness(you'd say who cares abt brightness? Huh!) If all these things are provided in an Android within 17000 INR, I'd say Android is more value for money. Wake up please and compare the specs. It's not about symbian-is-dead, it's about VFM. How can you rule out an OS without even experiencing just because other OSes are fancy and have better eco-system(that said not everyone needs millions when thousands are enough). Peace.

 

[sygeek]

How on just basis of ecosystem can you call android a better option? You only know. As I told you earlier Symbian still is there until 2016. So far as the VFM goes, you better can explain how android does that(may be your point here is only the eco-system or fancy UI). oh C'mone man, which Android provides you with such a brilliant video player(720p Divx, Xvid) with a flash drive. Or say which android phone in 17000INR has FM transmitter. Or better battery life than Nokia 701 has had. Or The IPS lcd with 1000 nits of brightness(you'd say who cares abt brightness? Huh!) If all these things are provided in an Android within 17000 INR, I'd say Android is more value for money. Wake up please and compare the specs. It's not about symbian-is-dead, it's about VFM. How can you rule out an OS without even experiencing just because other OSes are fancy and have better eco-system(that said not everyone needs millions when thousands are enough). Peace.

Camera, FM and..Brightness? Just that. I would have written a whole page about it, but I couldn't bother much. Here's a comparison, nuff said.

I always wanted to say this BTW, software-wise Nokia is way below Android. I'm clarifying things comparatively, not that I mean Nokia phones are bad as a whole (they are just decent).

 

[AndroidFan]

Imagine... the hardware if Nokia 701 but preloaded with WP7.5 or Android Gingerbread... now that would be really awesome...

Nokia hardware is excellent, no question about that. Its the software which leaves much to be desired.

I saw a video of Steve Jobs today. Apple's philosophy is so different. They start with customer satisfaction first, and then figure out what technologies to use to get to that result. All other companies start with the best cutting edge tech, which is still immature and half-baked, and then make a product around it... Two very different philosophies...

 

[sygeek]

Imagine... the hardware if Nokia 701 but preloaded with WP7.5 or Android Gingerbread... now that would be really awesome...

Nokia hardware is excellent, no question about that. Its the software which leaves much to be desired..

this.

 

[neo7585]

Camera, FM and..Brightness? Just that. I would have written a whole page about it, but I couldn't bother much. Here's a comparison, nuff said.

I always wanted to say this BTW, software-wise Nokia is way below Android. I'm clarifying things comparatively, not that I mean Nokia phones are bad as a whole (they are just decent).

Don't you even read my post completely and reply to it? I'm not talking about FM, instead FM Transmitter i.e. You can set your own radio station on the frequency that's not used by any other and play your music. The Camera I said is not AF and hence is a bit on the lower side. And yet you're not responding to some main features I've mentioned in the earlier posts that are USB OTG, Battery life(relatively far far better than Android), Call quality and endurance. And you just stick to one point Android vs. Symbian. Why? In the previous post you raised the questions about Nokia's VFM and I replied you back with some extra ordinary features that provide best VFM. Now you seem to be flabbergasted not to have any of the features in any Android phone near this rrange.

 

[Soumik]

At the 17K pricepoint, 701 would have unique features like NFC support, FM Tramsmitter, USB OTG, and the brightest display on a mobile unit. You probably missed pointing out Nokia's excellent map system, which i feel is more powerful than Google Maps.
Symbian does have an app store and any app store would provide the basic apps needed for day to day usage.
I would stil suggest Android over it. UI the first thing that one notices in a phone and in that, Symbian sucks. Belle looks alarmingly simlar to Anna trying to become Android. So, any android user would say its a direct copy. My friends(N8 and C7 users) openly say it.. they cant use Ovi Store properly and that it 's*cks'. Compared to my Defy, their displays are great, and it just gets better with 701. But if without the personalization options of eye candy of Android, its an utter waste. Seriously, how much time of the day(rather month) would u spend watching movies on a 3.5" mobile device? BTW, no matter how bright it gets, Super Amoleds are a lot better than CB IPS panels.
As for NFC, waiting for NFC support to be common in India would outlast your device. You cannot pair any bluetooth device using NFC, both devices have to be NFC enabled, thereby seriously reducing its usage in India. Buying a costly BT headset just to show off NFC, is utter waste of money.
USB OTG... seriously.. would be carrying around a pendrive full of movies to watch while you're travelling on a 3.5" screen? I doubt its usability. Its a good thing to have... but not at all a deciding factor.. for me atleast.
FM transmitter is certainly useful and fun to use. I would give a thumbs up for that... I would definitely use that while travelling a car in a state where the language is foreign to me.
As for battery life, try standing in the sun and talking through your nfc bluetooth headset for 2 hrs... i doubt it would last that long. The main reason Androids have less battery is the display(battery stats clearly shows that), and the powerful OS that runs inside it. Compared to Android, Symbian is really a lite version. Hence the proclaimed longer battery life. But be sure that churning out such high energy through your display, even a 3.5" one, would drastically reduce your battery life. With screen off, it might give u a better talk time than Androids, but, with screen on(the major use of smartphones is with screens on), that brightness in a 1300mAH battery is too much.

Lastly, as sygeek mentioned, ecosystem of Android is far better than of Symbian. The freedom and power that you get with an Android smartphone, can never be matched with a Symbian device, al because of the difference in the ecosystem and Market.

Nokia 701 is still a great device.. but hardware wise. Other than the navigation system, Symbian Belle is a faaaaar shot from Android. And unless you want a device just show off some cool features to your friends(which till now doesnt have a very practical use), i would suggest you stay away from Symbian. If only camera and multimedia is imp, get N8. I wouldnt recommend any other Nokia device to a "smartphone" enthusiast.

 

[neo7585]

And yeah one more thing Nokia 701 has the most capable GPU in this range with OpenGL support, 2D/3D rendering.(Broadcom 2773 which is miles ahead of Adreno 205(or 200) in Htc Desire S, Lg Optimus Black, Motorola Defy and Xperia Ray), that doesn't only makes the HD games run smooth, but also makes it play most video codecs(out of the box, rather than looking for the appropriate player in the market) without any frame drops. And you talk about VFM, what an irony!

At the 17K pricepoint, 701 would have unique features like NFC support, FM Tramsmitter, USB OTG, and the brightest display on a mobile unit. You probably missed pointing out Nokia's excellent map system, which i feel is more powerful than Google Maps.
Symbian does have an app store and any app store would provide the basic apps needed for day to day usage.
I would stil suggest Android over it. UI the first thing that one notices in a phone and in that, Symbian sucks. Belle looks alarmingly simlar to Anna trying to become Android. So, any android user would say its a direct copy. My friends(N8 and C7 users) openly say it.. they cant use Ovi Store properly and that it 's*cks'. Compared to my Defy, their displays are great, and it just gets better with 701. But if without the personalization options of eye candy of Android, its an utter waste. Seriously, how much time of the day(rather month) would u spend watching movies on a 3.5" mobile device? BTW, no matter how bright it gets, Super Amoleds are a lot better than CB IPS panels.
As for NFC, waiting for NFC support to be common in India would outlast your device. You cannot pair any bluetooth device using NFC, both devices have to be NFC enabled, thereby seriously reducing its usage in India. Buying a costly BT headset just to show off NFC, is utter waste of money.
USB OTG... seriously.. would be carrying around a pendrive full of movies to watch while you're travelling on a 3.5" screen? I doubt its usability. Its a good thing to have... but not at all a deciding factor.. for me atleast.
FM transmitter is certainly useful and fun to use. I would give a thumbs up for that... I would definitely use that while travelling a car in a state where the language is foreign to me.
As for battery life, try standing in the sun and talking through your nfc bluetooth headset for 2 hrs... i doubt it would last that long. The main reason Androids have less battery is the display(battery stats clearly shows that), and the powerful OS that runs inside it. Compared to Android, Symbian is really a lite version. Hence the proclaimed longer battery life. But be sure that churning out such high energy through your display, even a 3.5" one, would drastically reduce your battery life. With screen off, it might give u a better talk time than Androids, but, with screen on(the major use of smartphones is with screens on), that brightness in a 1300mAH battery is too much.

Lastly, as sygeek mentioned, ecosystem of Android is far better than of Symbian. The freedom and power that you get with an Android smartphone, can never be matched with a Symbian device, al because of the difference in the ecosystem and Market.

Nokia 701 is still a great device.. but hardware wise. Other than the navigation system, Symbian Belle is a faaaaar shot from Android. And unless you want a device just show off some cool features to your friends(which till now doesnt have a very practical use), i would suggest you stay away from Symbian. If only camera and multimedia is imp, get N8. I wouldnt recommend any other Nokia device to a "smartphone" enthusiast.

Ok first thanx for the relevant answer unlike sygik. Second you could better point out any android device(in this price range) with amoled display(Galaxy s costs 2k more and all plasticky, without flash). As far as the display concerned I'd tell you it's Clear black technology(enhances battery life keeping all the blacks as they are). And yeah NFC based bluetooth devices are available here in India. I'd tell you many people like to watch movies(and what's the weight of a pen drive?) or at least like to have that feature included, Imagine the ones who don't have a pc.(you don't use all the apps on the market, still you boast having a better ecosystem, it's just like that.) and yeah UI, now Nokia at least boasts of having a good UI, I'd agree though it's not on par with the android but still is usable than previous generations of symbian.

 

[sygeek]

Don't you even read my post completely and reply to it? I'm not talking about FM, instead FM Transmitter i.e. You can set your own radio station on the frequency that's not used by any other and play your music. The Camera I said is not AF and hence is a bit on the lower side. And yet you're not responding to some main features I've mentioned in the earlier posts that are USB OTG, Battery life(relatively far far better than Android), Call quality and endurance. And you just stick to one point Android vs. Symbian. Why? In the previous post you raised the questions about Nokia's VFM and I replied you back with some extra ordinary features that provide best VFM. Now you seem to be flabbergasted not to have any of the features in any Android phone near this rrange.

Okay, dude, look. Nokia's is known for is excellent hardware quality and it's got a class. Hardware-wise, being honest, 701 is really good. But all those features you mentioned, they are practically useless without a decent software to base it on, i.e., Symbian.

Nokia's trying to get back on its track, and it's great. But, I don't think they can really succeed with Symbian. Symbian has failed. It is dead, maybe not in India, but it is dead. Power users no longer recommend it, it has failed in MANY countries, it has started lagging behind (comparatively) day-by-day. Even Nokia has moved on, leaving Symbian, but seeing such a huge market in countries like India and Europe, they've slowed down this process. "Average" users are still used to Nokia, blinded by the class Nokia used to have. Nokia can't dump this market all together.

They're trying to keep moving forward in these country. But in this market, where iPhone and Android-based phones are slowly going up the charts, Nokia cannot compete with Symbian. So, what Nokia is doing, is that, it is trying to continue with Symbian for a little longer, while releasing other phones in the market. This will start with Nokia N9 and Nokia's new Windows Phone, Nokia Sun. Meego & WP7 being way better than Symbian, people will move on to these platform, sooner or later. Those who'll prefer Symbian will get its support till 2016.

Coming back to Nokia 701, I still say that it's a great phone hardware-wise, but it is the Symbian that is a turn off. Yes, I agree that Symbian Belle is better than its predecessor. But, it still lacks software-wise than Android, iOS and even WP. Nokia has made a bad impression in the past, and I don't think anything is going to change that. What I'm seeing is, Symbian is slowly becoming Android, copying the notifications, widgets, multiple homescreens. Why should not any user go for Android instead, other than if you're a Symbian fan, or a hardware freak. Thing is, it is never about the hardware.

Even iPhone might fail if you compete it with Nokia's phone (higher-end models). Do you get what I'm trying to say? There are even super cheap Chinese models that provide ALL the features hardware-wise. It still sucks though, why? Because, software, that's why.

Now, let's move on to those features you mentioned. Yes, Nokia's 701 is not a VFM for money, because Symbian, i.e., it's not VFM software-wise, at least to my preference.

Battery life, yes, I agree with this. Battery life in Nokia phones is better than many high-end Android phones (with stock ROMs).

FM transmitter, again I agree, useful feature. I probably wish for this feature in Android-based phones.

USB OTG, not really necessary, at least for me. Although this may convince average users, who would never use it. The only good part is, it is just another new feature.

Camera, well it is decent, for its price. Video quality is pretty good and the photos are just decent. It performs well in only accurate light conditions. But it fails under low-light conditions.

NFC, it is a new technology, and Nokia has future-proofed this device by providing this feature. But at the moment, I don't think NFC will widely available used in India. Like Soumik said, by the time NFC is available widely, your device will be old enough like the current dumbphones in the market. Even Nexus S has this feature, and it's pretty great. NFC technology is still in its infancy. But yet, it's good to have it.

 

[power_8383]

Thanks for having a great discussion guys.

So if I do not use many apps (except a file manager, a web browser, a media player, a call recorder), will you suggest me Nokia 600 ?

 

[skeletor]

Thanks for having a great discussion guys.

So if I do not use many apps (except a file manager, a web browser, a media player, a call recorder), will you suggest me Nokia 600 ?

I'll suggest Sony Ericsson Neo V or Motorola Defy (if you want to save a few bucks)

 

[sygeek]

Thanks for having a great discussion guys.

So if I do not use many apps (except a file manager, a web browser, a media player, a call recorder), will you suggest me Nokia 600 ?

Nokia Cindy does seem like a nice phone for around 12k. If you're comfortable with Symbian, you may go with this phone as well.

Though, I recommend you Motorola Defy (with a custom ROM). It should cost you around 15-16k

 

[Soumik]

And yeah one more thing Nokia 701 has the most capable GPU in this range with OpenGL support, 2D/3D rendering.(Broadcom 2773 which is miles ahead of Adreno 205(or 200) in Htc Desire S, Lg Optimus Black, Motorola Defy and Xperia Ray), that doesn't only makes the HD games run smooth, but also makes it play most video codecs(out of the box, rather than looking for the appropriate player in the market) without any frame drops. And you talk about VFM, what an irony!

Where did you get that information? :O
HTC Desire S and Xperia Ray have Adreno 205
LG Optimus Black and Motorola Defy have PowerVR SGX 530
Nokia 701 has Broadcom 2763. (I dont think 2773 exists)
And all of them support Open GL ES 2.0. The broadcom is a just released, while the other 2 have been there since a looong time. The 530 on my defy was announced back in 2005. So, broadcom uses a new tech to produce the chips, resulting in lower power consumption (probably) than the others. On GPU power, they are all evenly matched(again.. probably cant say without actual benchmarks).
But the big difference comes in the CPU. Broadcom CPU is based on ARM11, while all the others mentioned here use ARMv7 architecture. Obviously it would be far less powerful (though the lite Symbian OS wont need that much power). Your claim of irony... is actually the other way around.
One bright thing about the Broadcom chipset is that it claims to be able to decode as we as record at 1080p. Nokia 701 should have added that feature. Not sure y they are restricting it to only 720p.

Ok first thanx for the relevant answer unlike sygik. Second you could better point out any android device(in this price range) with amoled display(Galaxy s costs 2k more and all plasticky, without flash). As far as the display concerned I'd tell you it's Clear black technology(enhances battery life keeping all the blacks as they are). And yeah NFC based bluetooth devices are available here in India. I'd tell you many people like to watch movies(and what's the weight of a pen drive?) or at least like to have that feature included, Imagine the ones who don't have a pc.(you don't use all the apps on the market, still you boast having a better ecosystem, it's just like that.) and yeah UI, now Nokia at least boasts of having a good UI, I'd agree though it's not on par with the android but still is usable than previous generations of symbian.

You are welcome. True.. Super Amoled screens are present on higher end devices. One thing you missed to notice is that Nokia CB on 701 is not AMOLED(as on C7 or N8). Its an IPS panel. Its blacks are certainly not true blacks. Its blacks are brighter than the ones on Motorola Atrix... which doesnt have anything in its display to highlight. It definitely will consume a lot of battery. (Check preview at GSMAmrena... Its got the exact numbers). Its the brightest no doubt. And sunlight legibility is among the best, but it will not be very power efficient.
For NFC, USB OTG, may be its personal preference, but for me its quite useless. NFC is the future and its gonna change our lives in a big way... but its a far off future for India. As you said, some ppl might use its USB OTG with pendrives on trains or other places... Its a good thing to have. Just personally its not something i would have used a lot.

Motorola Defy comes at around 14K now. So i would suggest it over Nokia 600 at 12K. (unless u would be using the unique features that only Nokia provides)
If you do... you can try and get C7. Its priced below 15K i guess. Though that lacks NFC.