L520 or Xperia M

[prehistoricgamer]

I've done quite a bit of reading and planning on buying a new phone this month end. This will be my first ever smartphone. My budget is within 13k. I want to stay away from unpopular brands due to poor after sales services.

As from the info I've collected from reading a few articles online, I think the safe options here are Nokia L520 and Xperia M. (Not dual).

I'm slightly inclined towards Xperia M as it overcomes the inabilities of L520 like full featured Whatsapp & front camera.
But I do not know much about the smoothness of the Xperia M. I've never used Android much to know the pros and cons of it.
Also, I like to customise my phone screen and UI. Since WP doesn't allow you to do it, Xperia M is my choice here again.

I do not care much for camera quality, video recording quality. I might do a bit of gaming, but nothing hardcore on it.
Skype & Whatsapp support are a must with all features enabled. (including vid calling)
Good audio output via headphones is a must as I'd be listening to music most of the time.
Web surfing is another priority with a good browser support.
I will be texting a lot on this phone.

So, my question is, do I settle with a more affordable L520 with faster performance / storage or an Xperia M with android and lots of features?

Also, If you still think that tier 2 brands like Xolo is good, then please do tell me why I should opt it over these 2 abovementioned phones.

 

[lywyre]

From GSMArena: In this price range and level of equipment, you get low-power chipsets, no 720p video capture (not that the Xperia M is a star in this category, but still), mostly no NFC (besides the Lumia 620 and the LTE version of the Ace 3) and better specs like LTE, 8MP cameras or bigger batteries are rare.

Also, the competition are either expensive or lack some features when compared to XM.
Again from GSMArena:

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and dual or quad-band HSPA support
• Also available in a dual-SIM variant, called Xperia M dual
• 21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 4" 16M-color TFT capacitive touchscreen of FWVGA resolution (480 x 854 pixels) at 245ppi
• Android OS v4.1.2 Jelly Bean
• Dual-core 1 GHz Krait CPU, Adreno 305 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8227 Snapdragon chipset
• 1 GB of RAM
• 4 GB of built-in storage (2 GB user available)
• microSD slot (cards up to 32GB supported)
• 5 MP autofocus camera, single LED flashlight, geo-tagging, touch focus, HDR, hardware shutter key; VGA front-facing camera
• 720p @ 30fps video capture
• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
• Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP
• NFC support
• ANT+ support for connecting low-power wireless sports accessories
• GPS with A-GPS; GLONASS
• PlayStation certified
• Accelerometer, ambient light and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack; Walkman music player with many audio enhancements
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• microUSB port (charging)
• Built-in LED strip provides a breathing light and notification light
• 1,750mAh Li-Ion battery, user-replaceable

Main disadvantages

• Still and video camera quality not great
• No Mobile BRAVIA engine for the screen
• Screen has sub-par viewing angles
• Poor video codec support out of the box
• Limited internal storage for installing apps

Do read the link above (conclusion) and if you can afford XM go for it. I would not recommend Tier 2 phones, but if are ready to risk after sales services, Xolo or Karbonn have good (in context of Tier 2) options.

EDIT: Also, The microUSB port supports MHL so you can use it as a TV-out with an appropriate adapter to HDMI.

 

[Minion]

I've done quite a bit of reading and planning on buying a new phone this month end. This will be my first ever smartphone. My budget is within 13k. I want to stay away from unpopular brands due to poor after sales services.

As from the info I've collected from reading a few articles online, I think the safe options here are Nokia L520 and Xperia M. (Not dual).

I'm slightly inclined towards Xperia M as it overcomes the inabilities of L520 like full featured Whatsapp & front camera.
But I do not know much about the smoothness of the Xperia M. I've never used Android much to know the pros and cons of it.
Also, I like to customise my phone screen and UI. Since WP doesn't allow you to do it, Xperia M is my choice here again.

I do not care much for camera quality, video recording quality. I might do a bit of gaming, but nothing hardcore on it.
Skype & Whatsapp support are a must with all features enabled. (including vid calling)
Good audio output via headphones is a must as I'd be listening to music most of the time.
Web surfing is another priority with a good browser support.
I will be texting a lot on this phone.

So, my question is, do I settle with a more affordable L520 with faster performance / storage or an Xperia M with android and lots of features?

Also, If you still think that tier 2 brands like Xolo is good, then please do tell me why I should opt it over these 2 abovementioned phones.

For your budget Huwaie P1 much better XM.

 

[prehistoricgamer]

I would consider Huawaie P1. But what if I run into problems 1 month into using it? The ASS isn't as good as other reputed brands right? Since this would be my 1st smart phone, I want it to be trust-able and last for long. The reason why I narrowed down to Nokia & Sony are because of the reputation over Huawaei / Lava / MMX.

I do not have the time, money & patience for RMA / numerous travels to the Service Centre / arguing with service center folks.

If you still can convince me that P1 is a better buy, please do. I'm open for all kind of suggestions.

 

[sushovan]

Huawei is much larger brand than Indian rebranded sellers like MMX, Lava etc. I have an Huawei U8800 Pro myself for past 1 year and till date the need to hunt for service centers hasnt arised. Not to mention The amount of dev support Huawei phones have compared to those tier 2 brands. I rooted my phone the day I bought and now im on Cyanogenmod 10.2(Android 4.3 )

P.S- If ASS is a big priority then I would suggest to wait/increase budget and get LG optimus L9 or Xperia L or Lenovo P780. Those are much better handset than Xperia M and come around 16K.

 

[prehistoricgamer]

From where did you get the U8800? Online or local shop? You've sort of convinced me. But I guess I will do a little more research on servicing facilities of Huawei just in case something takes a turn for the worse.

On a side note, love your dp

And if any of you can provide me with a link to the cheapest online store of Huawei P1, i'd be very happy. Flipkart has currently priced it at 20500. Must be some kind of Halloween prank.

Can I get this phone in a local store in Bangalore? Like sangeetha or other known mobile shops?

 

[sushovan]

looks like its out of stock everywhere. The following ebay seller was selling it at 12k even 5 days ago.

*BRAND NEW* HUAWEI ASCEND P1 8MP 1.5Ghz DUAL CORE ANDROID 5.1 DOLBY SOUND MOBILE | eBay

This seller is located at Bangalore so You can just phone him and ask his location
I got it from one Huawei Showroom at Kolkata (only showroom in the city ).

 

[prehistoricgamer]

Sigh. The prices are supposed to lesser than normal since its festive season. Looks like I will have to wait for another month if I cannot find it at 12k.