Need advice on a new Smartphone budget around 25k

capsic

Right off the assembly line
1. Budget?
Around 25k

2. Display type and size?
4-4.5"

3. Form Factor? bar, slider, flip?
Bar

4. Preferred choice of brand?
Sony/HTC/Nokia/Samsung/LG/Any other mobile brand that makes reliable, high quality products

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.
Don't require a front cam but the rear cam must be capable of recording FULL HD 1080p video at 30 FPS with HIGH QUALITY. This is the Primary function I am looking for in the phone. Flash would be nice but not necessary. Ditto for autofocus.

7. Preferred operating system? (Android, Symbian, iOS, Windows Phone etc).
Android JB out of the box (not ICS upgradeable to JB)/WP 8

8. Preferred connectivity options (3G, Wifi etc)Please specify clearly.
No preference

9. Preferred applications (Flash, Swype, GPS, etc)?
No preference

10. Primary use of handset (multimedia, camera, mails, internet, gaming etc)?
Primary use as a Video camera with decent quality stills and good quality Full HD Video cap at 30 FPS

11. Any specific mobile phones in consideration?
No

12. Any other info that you want to share
My original phone budget was around 10k and I was considering the Lumia 520 (supports 720p HD Video capture). I had also budgeted 15k for a separate dedicated HD camcorder. Then I figured maybe I should just club both the budgets and buy a phone with good quality FULL HD (1080p) video recording quality (and decent stills) rather than have two separate devices.

I understand that a dedicated HD Camcorder will (most likely) provide superior quality full HD video cap but I am willing to compromise a bit provide a smartphone can achieve Full HD 1080p video cap quality that's approx 70-80% equivalent of a "budget" 15k HD Camcorder.

The device should also have 1 GB of RAM (no 512MB phones please) and should have at least 32GB (by default if not expandable) or support 32GB (or higher) via Micro-SD (or equivalent).

I'm aware that the Lumia 520 has only 512MB but that's fine for that budget (10k) segment. If however, I'm going to be paying around 25k then I want the phone to have at least 1 GB. Another reason is game (in)compatibility with 512MB phones as I might decide to play some games on it as well.

Am I making a mistake here by expecting too much for a 25k smartphone to support good quality Full HD video cap at 30FPS?

If so, please let me know and I will dump the idea of clubbing the two devices and buy the Lumia 520 and a separate dedicated HD Camcorder instead.

This will be my very first smartphone purchase/experience and I honestly don't know what to expect. Any advice appreciated. :)
 
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RohanM

Cyborg Agent
htc one x or one x plus - as the prices are slashed today...:lol:
HTC One X and One X+ receive India price cuts | NDTV Gadgets
 
OP
C

capsic

Right off the assembly line
Hi RohanM.
Doesn't meet the requirements I listed above as I want a device that supports JB out of the box.

I have heard too many stories about people who "upgraded" their ICS phones/tablets to JB only to encounter all sorts of problems. As this is my first smartphone, I want to avoid "upgrading" it and potentially running into issues. I do however, want the benefits of Project Butter over ICS which is why the device has to support JB out of the box...

I noticed that some phones (ie. Sony Xperia SL) seem to have what I want even though it comes with 32GB and is not expandable per se. This is fine so I have changed that bit of my requirement above...
 

RohanM

Cyborg Agent
Hi RohanM.
Doesn't meet the requirements I listed above as I want a device that supports JB out of the box.

I have heard too many stories about people who "upgraded" their ICS phones/tablets to JB only to encounter all sorts of problems. As this is my first smartphone, I want to avoid "upgrading" it and potentially running into issues. I do however, want the benefits of Project Butter over ICS which is why the device has to support JB out of the box...

I noticed that some phones (ie. Sony Xperia SL) seem to have what I want even though it comes with 32GB and is not expandable per se. This is fine so I have changed that bit of my requirement above...

Hi,
U can wait for xperia sp it will be best droid & it blows out galaxy s3 & optimus 4x hd in nearly all benchmarks.
update - htc one x plus comes with JB out of the box but might exceed ur budget.
 
HTC One X is a great phone but battery backup is just average (as said by my friend). He didn't encounter any problems after updating to JB 4.1
 
OP
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capsic

Right off the assembly line
Thanks for the replies and advice guys. Greatly appreciated...

Hi,
U can wait for xperia sp it will be best droid & it blows out galaxy s3 & optimus 4x hd in nearly all benchmarks.
update - htc one x plus comes with JB out of the box but might exceed ur budget.

I saw a quick review on the Xperia SP that states the camera isn't really that good. As a good camera is my primary requirement I am somewhat wary of the SP.

Link for the article in question -

*www.expertreviews.co.uk/smartphones/1299037/sony-xperia-sp-review-hands-on/2

Quote from the above article -

"We only managed to take a handful of indoor test shots with the Xperia SP, but we weren't very impressed with the results. Despite its backlit technology, the 8-megapixel sensor still showed plenty of noise, along with a lack of detail and washed-out colours. We'll need to give the camera a proper test before we reach any definite conclusions, but first impressions aren’t brilliant."
 
OP
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capsic

Right off the assembly line
What about Lumia 820?

Same problem - as the Xperia SP, ie. Poor quality camera. This is from GSMArena regarding the 820's camera -

"The Nokia Lumia 820 doesn't do too well when it comes to actual image quality. Photos are grainy and noise reduction smears away fine detail. Photos have a yellowish tint, other than that colors are reasonably accurate. Overall, photo quality is average."

Flipkart listed Xperia SP

Yep, but no price mentioned. In any case, I'm a bit wary of the quality of the SP's camera based on the review I linked above.

keep an eye out for HomeShop 18's super deals. Optimus G at ~27-28k will be a great buy.

Need some clarification here. On GSMarena I see several models listed as LG Optimus G. What is the LG Optimus G model you refer to?
 

aroraanant

Explorer
One X+ would be the best option for you considering it is easily available for 29k everywhere.

But make one thing sure that you can't even compare a phone's video to that of the video taken by a camcorder, there will be a lot of difference in the quality.
 

guru_urug

iGoogle
Get the Nexus 4. I got mine for 25k from Alfa, Mumbai. Nothing beats it!!! :)
Its got everything, it looks brilliant, very good crisp display, amazing specs for the price(2GB RAM,S4 pro quad), direct updates from Google(future proof), and most of all(and I can vouch for this) the interface just glides on it :-D I've used many of my friends high end phones, most recently used a Xperia Z and I'd choose the nexus over it.
 

RohanM

Cyborg Agent
Get the Nexus 4. I got mine for 25k from Alfa, Mumbai. Nothing beats it!!! :)
Its got everything, it looks brilliant, very good crisp display, amazing specs for the price(2GB RAM,S4 pro quad), direct updates from Google(future proof), and most of all(and I can vouch for this) the interface just glides on it :-D I've used many of my friends high end phones, most recently used a Xperia Z and I'd choose the nexus over it.

I do agree with that but the only issue will be warranty then. (I also created thread here for my self asking best droid for 30 k. because i sold my plastic(sgs3).) - tough choice.
also nexus camera is not that good. then best option will be one x plus.

xperia sp launched in India

*timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/personal-tech/gadgets-special/Sony-launches-Xperia-SP-in-India-at-Rs-27490/articleshow/19477438.cms
 
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