Mar 22, 2013 10:42 PM
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(Updated Mar 22, 2013 10:45 PM)
After many compulsions, when my 5 year old Nokia 7210s was finally choking to give in and I was still inclined to opt for a non-touch Bar phone, enlightenment struck upon me. Well sort of… I decided to go for a Smartphone!
The Research
The last time I bought a touch phone was 2 years ago and it didn’t work out well. Nokia 5233 which I did not use much over the years developed quite some defects over the long run. Hence this time I planned to do some serious research before buying a smart phone. With a budget of around Rs.15000 the brands that I considered were:
1. Samsung
Sony
Blackberry
4.Nokia
Yeah, Nokia was the last in my list since I did not want to buy another make from this brand - simply because I was bored with it, no hard feelings…
Samsung: Wide range of Smart phones to choose from. Looks promising but every people I find is using a Samsung. Has to be the super after sales support from Samsung and definitely their feature packed phones in budget prices. Phones considered: Samsung Galaxy S Duos – Rs.13100, Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus – Rs.15500. I was not convinced on buying a Dual Sim phone, simply because I don’t need it and Galaxy Ace’s design did not amaze me either. Hence Samsung ruled out.
Blackberry: Limited Choices. Lacks features at this price. But of course, the phone is definitely not made for playing games and clicking high-end pictures. It does what it is made for – serve the business purpose (checking mails, syncing with Outlook) which it does brilliantly. I loved the sleek design of the phone and the Qwerty keypad is very attractive and easy to use. I was almost inclined to get myself one if it hadn’t been for @sydbarret’s review on Blackberry 9220 and other negative feedbacks on different sites that I thought otherwise. Therefore ruled it out from my Cart.
Sony: I always had a soft corner for Sony, since the second phone I used was a Sony Ericsson J230. What I liked about the phone was the excellent sound output – it just amazed me. Since then, I was always longing to buy a Sony phone. With the current palette of Xperia phones, I decided to check it out. Visited Reliance Digital and flagged Xperia U, Xperia Miro and Xperia J in my wishlist. Xperia Miro had minor display issues – grains appear while browsing through screens. Xperia J did not have HD recording. Xperia U had a smart transparent light band at the bottom and the Bravia display driver pumps out some serious picture quality and mirror resolution. Fantastic Looks, easy to hold, impressive design – it was love at first sight!
Nokia: Not interested with another Windows OS, I was more inclined in exploring out an Android! Hence de-scoped!
Features:
I will discuss the Cons first and then would shift to Pros:
The Bad Ones:
The phone has no expandable memory slot. You have to be contended with its 4GB of internal usage. Maybe a big con to others but not in my case, since I won’t be storing many movies and songs in my phone. I already possess an iPod for that… ;)
Phone is preloaded with Gingerbread 2.3 which is a bit outdated. Not my concern, since I am not a tech freak and the present OS will suffice all my purposes.
The Good Ones:
Loaded with a Brilliant display and intuitive UI, Sony has done a fantastic job in tweaking Gingerbread 2.3 to the ultimate. UI is very easy to use and managing files and folders can be simply a flick of finger.
Sound output is loud and clear. Stock headphones are not that good and you may buy a pair of Bose to get the best music. Can be a good upgrade.
Camera does a decent job. A 5 Megapixel at the Rear does a sleek job in capturing clear pictures during the morning but fails at night. Inbuilt flash is kind of ok but not excellent. Well does the job somehow.
Internet Browsing is lucrative – browsing through webpages is fun. Loading of webpages is fast and clean.
Connecting to Wi Fi is easy and speeds are decent.
Best part is the Qwerty keypad – it is so easy to type messages. Alphabets are well spaced out.
The Lighting Band is a hate or like feature. In my case, I just love it.
Battery well lasts for 2 days on moderate usage.
With a RAM of 512MB, mostly utilized by bogus apps which comes preinstalled with Sony, the phone does not hang or lag at anytime, which is a good sign of course.
Overall, a good package if you do not have memory constraints. Would surely recommend to others. The phone is priced at Rs.12990 and can be a good option for those who are opting to buy smart phone at this price. Pick your poison.
~Somjeet~
