Smartphone within Rs 25000

[The Incinerator]

Want to buy a android smartphone within Rs 25000 having a great camera and full hd video recording and a crisp display.Preferably a 5 incher. Till now have shortlisted two phones the Lenovo K900 and the Sony Xperia ZL. Was interested about the LG Nexus 5 too but the bad press about its camera is a deterrent. Please help me out if you guys have better options in mind.Budget can be stretched a bit if its worth it.

 

[RohanM]

ZL is good but the screen is washed out.. low contrast..

 

[The Incinerator]

Ok any other better option? How about the Nexus 5 ?

 

[ZTR]

N5 is a great phone but the camera is at best average.

 

[The Incinerator]

So what do you suggest? The S3 and Note 2 are also an added option now.How are they?

 

[ZTR]

So what do you suggest? The S3 and Note 2 are also an added option now.How are they?

Camera and screen wise great but software and hardware wise,well that's personal opinion.
If you are not gonna flash custom ROMs then go with Note 2 as it same as S3 but with 2gb ram and with S-Pen

 

[ankush28]

Nexus 5 too has good camera performence after latest update
+1 for N5

 

[sushovan]

any one from LG E975/Optimus G Pro/Note 2

P.S: Note II has Wolfson DAC if it counts

 

[ZTR]

Also check out Huawei Ascend P6 which also has a good camera and screen and is quite slim too lol

 

[rakesh_ic]

I think you should go for N5 for its one hand usability if you are not so fond of Note II's huge display. S-pen usage is pretty subjective and so do not consider it as a "feature". Overall, N5 now is a wiser choice of phone.

 

[The Incinerator]

any one from LG E975/Optimus G Pro/Note 2

P.S: Note II has Wolfson DAC if it counts

Woah it definitely counts brother!

Camera and screen wise great but software and hardware wise,well that's personal opinion.
If you are not gonna flash custom ROMs then go with Note 2 as it same as S3 but with 2gb ram and with S-Pen

Two votes for Note 2 then. Im not too much in to phones so ROM flashing or rooting not for me,will stay stock. Hence I will stick with your suggestion of Note 2. Im a very Sony person when its Phones . How is the ZR or should I stretch and go for the Z,but those screen crack issues do scare me.

Nexus 5 too has good camera performence after latest update
+1 for N5

Thanks for the information.

I think you should go for N5 for its one hand usability if you are not so fond of Note II's huge display. S-pen usage is pretty subjective and so do not consider it as a "feature". Overall, N5 now is a wiser choice of phone.

Really looking at it in a big way,but at Rs 28K the ZR and the Z are equally tempting,bit of a Sony/HTC fanboy,but not blindly though.N5 is really tempting except for the absence of the memory card slot.

 

[rakesh_ic]

Really looking at it in a big way,but at Rs 28K the ZR and the Z are equally tempting,bit of a Sony/HTC fanboy,but not blindly though.N5 is really tempting except for the absence of the memory card slot.

The screen on ZR is a let down for such a price. Having said that there is no comparison to the SAMOLED's samsung supplies and they are the best in class.

But do consider what i said about the huge size factor of Note II. Not all can manage it. And if u are a high time user of mobiles outside home, its always a factor to be considered.

Apart from that, the expandable slot on Note II can be of use if you click a lot of pics and videos and put a dump of songs on your mobile. N5 has a 32 GB version too for 5K more (I know it goes above your budget).

 

[ZTR]

If you can live with average screen quality then you can go for ZR or Z
Or perhaps wait for Z1 mini but that will be above 30k I think

 

[The Incinerator]

The screen on ZR is a let down for such a price. Having said that there is no comparison to the SAMOLED's samsung supplies and they are the best in class.

But do consider what i said about the huge size factor of Note II. Not all can manage it. And if u are a high time user of mobiles outside home, its always a factor to be considered.

Apart from that, the expandable slot on Note II can be of use if you click a lot of pics and videos and put a dump of songs on your mobile. N5 has a 32 GB version too for 5K more (I know it goes above your budget).

Yes the size ia an issue and coming from the construction industry I am mostly moving around visiting sites and suppliers.Thats way yest the N5 is more convenient sure.N5 is great hardware wise too.But is the Battery issue and Camera solved?

If you can live with average screen quality then you can go for ZR or Z
Or perhaps wait for Z1 mini but that will be above 30k I think

I find the ZR s screen bit neutral and at the cooler side of things and not as vibrant as a amoled,thats true the ZR fails to excite. Im really confused,Rs 25K is really a confusing budget



Had it been below 20 I would have gone for the Xperia C and made things easy for me. I Really dont wann go above 30K,but want great video and camera,if I do that I know I will be temted to cross 40K and end up buy HTC One,which Im restricting myself from! I have to save to get a GPU and A pair of Dali or Heco FLRS. God Help me!

 

[rakesh_ic]

Yes the size ia an issue and coming from the construction industry I am mostly moving around visiting sites and suppliers.Thats way yest the N5 is more convenient sure.N5 is great hardware wise too.But is the Battery issue and Camera solved?




I find the ZR s screen bit neutral and at the cooler side of things and not as vibrant as a amoled,thats true the ZR fails to excite. Im really confused,Rs 25K is really a confusing budget



Had it been below 20 I would have gone for the Xperia C and made things easy for me. I Really dont wann go above 30K,but want great video and camera,if I do that I know I will be temted to cross 40K and end up buy HTC One,which Im restricting myself from! I have to save to get a GPU and A pair of Dali or Heco FLRS. God Help me!

Well said. 25K is on a tricky side. But I think if your start ruling out from your options, you will get a better picture. Keep your options open as per your requirement and not as per what a phone can offer.

Having said so, the battery issue is not because of any major challenge in the S/W side of the release but the hardware itself. They have packed a 2300mah battery which is on the lower side considering the huge 5" screen. The history with android states that manufacturers (in N5's case, it must be google themselves) has gone to tweaking their OS patches so that battery usage of the background processes are put under check to get a better backup. I am not sure if google does this for N5. But for now its just 11 - 12hrs ish backup is wat that you can expect.
Camera issues are said to be solved with the latest patch. I am not a first hand user to comment on it much though.

 

[omega44-xt]

I won't recommend N5 as a camera phone. Xperia ZR would be better for photography, my opinion or Xperia ZL(better screen than ZR). Another good option would be Note II if you can handle a phablet(check its live model in Samsung smartphone cafe). Note that Xperia ZL has worse battery life among the 3. ZR & Note II have better battery life..........

Nexus phones are not for general public, who would love the features given by other manufacturers.....
I suggested S4 Mini to my friend recently, over Xperia SP due to Samsung's software features & great battery life of S4 mini

 

[Hrishi]

Nexus 5 will not be that useful for you buddy. Its more suited for people who love to fiddle and play with the dev stuff on the phone.
Not saying that it can't be used by public but its just that the beauty of nexus 5 lies in a different world , not camera.

You can go with Note II. The only disadvantage being the huge size. Other than that its okay.
I hate the look of samsung phones though.
In my opinion Sony Z should be a good buy too.

 

[sushovan]

Nexus 5 will not be that useful for you buddy. Its more suited for people who love to fiddle and play with the dev stuff on the phone.
Not saying that it can't be used by public but its just that the beauty of nexus 5 lies in a different world , not camera.

You can go with Note II. The only disadvantage being the huge size. Other than that its okay.
I hate the look of samsung phones though.
In my opinion Sony Z should be a good buy too.

+1 to this.

 

[The Incinerator]

Even I absolutely hate the way Samsung looks. The Note 2 is going dated too when pitted against the N5 and the size is a deterrent also comparatively.
The ZL which I completely missed is so tempting but again the battery is not great as pointed out by our friend here.

So filtering out how is the S3, though dated? Or are there any other option that would be great for my requirement?

Hows LG G Pro?

 

[ZTR]

G Pro might be perfect for you as it has a great screen and a great camera and its not a Samsung lol
Also a shootout between Note 2 and G Pro:
*www.gsmarena.com/lg_optimus_g_pro_vs_samsung_galaxy_note_ii-review-911.php