mid range/170-200e smartphone?

minterno

hi guys,Im looking at getting a midrange smartphone and am looking for opinions on whats half decent at the price im looking at,i like the look of the galaxy ace but am a smartphone virgin and could do with some advice from someone who has positive views on what they think is best at that price range,cheers

Jarren

I hope that it does not have to be an Android phone...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B006WM4N76/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

minterno

Thanks for the reply jarren,dont know much about any of the os but from what i read i would have been leaning towards an android phone of some sort,cant justfy spending 400-500 for a phone so will have to keep it at or below 200 and also buy instore and not online,im with vodafone if that makes any difference,im off to canada for a few months so i need it to be quad band,i have the samsung b2100 and its served its purpose but i went swimming a few times with it (unintentionally) and it was ok after,no drying out but lately im getting bad sound from the speaker and it must be water damage so im in the market for a phone again,one of the htc phones i was reviewing seemed to be ok,not sure which model now but it was 176 euro or thereabouts and im hoping some one who has any midrange might let me know what to avoid and whats ok,regards

TBi

minterno wrote: »

Thanks for the reply jarren,dont know much about any of the os but from what i read i would have been leaning towards an android phone of some sort,cant justfy spending 400-500 for a phone so will have to keep it at or below 200 and also buy instore and not online

<SNIP>

He just posted a WP7 phone for under 200 euro... android phones at the 200 euro price are not the best. I definitely wouldn't buy one for less than 200.

Why can't you buy online? Any phone you buy in a shop in Ireland will be carrier locked so you won't be able to use a Canadian card in it, quad band or not.

Anyway i thought quad band was only needed for Japan.

Do-more

Well they have the Lumia 710 on Nokia's Canadian website but to be sure you could email Nokia support to check that the European version is compatible.

I don't think you will find a better smartphone in this price bracket, Windows phone is now an excellent operating system and very easy to get used to for someone who hasn't had a smartphone before, one feature which will be great for you in Canada is Nokia Drive the navigation system which is included free with this phone and doesn't need a data connection whilst navigating as the maps are all downloaded to the phone.

Downside is that Skype isn't fully integrated with the OS yet so your status only shows you as online when you open up the app but at least that will save you from people forgetting the time difference and calling you while you're asleep!

Also storage capacity on the phone is pretty small if you want a lot of music with you.

I just ordered this phone yesterday for my wife from Amazon.co.uk at £145 but despatch isn't due for a few weeks.

Jarren

If this really have to be an Android then I would highly recommend those handsets

http://www.amazon.de/gp/offer-listing/B00429TJ0W/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=all

http://www.amazon.de/gp/offer-listing/B005BN1Z1E/ref=sr_1_1_olp?s=ce-de&ie=UTF8&qid=1337009498&sr=1-1&condition=new

Do-more

Do-more wrote: »

I just ordered this phone yesterday for my wife from Amazon.co.uk at £145 but despatch isn't due for a few weeks.

I just had an update from Amazon:

We are pleased to report that the following item will dispatch sooner than expected:

"Nokia Lumia 710 Sim Free Windows Phone - Black"
Previous estimated arrival date: May 31 2012 - June 19 2012
New estimated arrival date: May 23 2012 - May 25 2012

Do-more

The Nokia Lumia 710 for the wife arrived today.

First impressions are very good, I was expecting it to be much thicker than my LG Optimus 7 and it's not. Just marginally thicker at the hump in it's back but overall it doesn't feel as chunky at all.

There is a much more plastic feel to it than the metal case of the Optimus 7 but it feels lighter in the hand so there is some benefit to that at least. It came with both Black and Cyan rear covers.

OS is silky smooth as I expected and the free Nokia navigation software is a big plus.

I haven't had a chance to try out the camera or anything else yet but so far so good.

If my Optimus 7 calved in the morning I would definitely get a 710 as a great value phone to replace it with.

Do-more

Just a quick update.

The wife has been using the phone since Sunday and is very happy with it.

This is her first smartphone and she freely admits that she never reads the instructions for anything.

Windows phone has therefore been ideal for her, easy to use and once shown how to do one thing it's been easy for her to figure out how to do other things applying the same logic.

I upgraded her email to IMAP and it was easy to set up for her on the phone and she is happy out.

I still need to uninstall a lot of the apps that it came with like ESPN which she will never use and sit down and show her things like Nokia Drive but so far so good.