Buying a new smartphone

[Crosswind]

So its the time of the year again when Crosswind goes mobile phone shopping and has no clue what to buy. Need help from you young techie millennials...

What I need is:

Dual SIM - a must

Android OS - a must

5-inch screen - not a must but a little +/- is fine

Good battery life - would be nice

What I use it for - call, lots of web browsing, office e-mail, couple of apps related to office work, few sms a day

Brand - any decent brand is fine - Samsung, LG, Sony, Huawei should be ok. There's also this chinese brand called Shiromi or something and another brand that's a simple mathematical calculation (1+1 or 1+2???) should also be alright. I don't want brands like Micromax, Karbon etc.

Budget - as cheap as possible. Will be happy if its in the range of LKR 15-20K

Note: I've been using a Lumia 535 and I'm extremely happy with the phone but some of my work-related apps are not available on Windows and hence the change... If the phone is of comparable performance to 535, it will be great.

[NRX]

So its the time of the year again when Crosswind goes mobile phone shopping and has no clue what to buy. Need help from you young techie millennials...

What I need is:

Dual SIM - a must

Android OS - a must

5-inch screen - not a must but a little +/- is fine

Good battery life - would be nice

What I use it for - call, lots of web browsing, office e-mail, couple of apps related to office work, few sms a day

Brand - any decent brand is fine - Samsung, LG, Sony, Huawei should be ok. There's also this chinese brand called Shiromi or something and another brand that's a simple mathematical calculation (1+1 or 1+2???) should also be alright. I don't want brands like Micromax, Karbon etc.

Budget - as cheap as possible. Will be happy if its in the range of LKR 15-20K

Note: I've been using a Lumia 535 and I'm extremely happy with the phone but some of my work-related apps are not available on Windows and hence the change... If the phone is of comparable performance to 535, it will be great.

Shiromi. LMAO

Xiaomi

[Seeker LK]

Budget - as cheap as possible. Will be happy if its in the range of LKR 15-20K

With that budget you gonna stuck with entry levell phones. Such as Samsung Galaxy Y. If you can stretch your budget to 30K then you can get your hands on mid range phones.

I recently bought Galaxy A3 for my wife (approx 33K as I remember). It a solid phone with dual sim. Works just fine. She's been using it for about 4 months now without any issues.

Another option would be HTC phones. Most of the HTC's new arrivals are good in quality and much more robust. I've been using HTC M7 for about an year without any issues. There is a popular 5 inches screen model at shops these days. I can't remember the model number. Visit the stores at MC you can figure out the price and products.

Also Huawei honor 4C worth consideration too.

[Crosswind]

Budget is not firm. It's flexible but I would rather spend the extra money on the car or on a watch

BTW any idea how much a Shiromi or a 1+2+3+4... will cost?

Edited September 15, 2015 by Crosswind

[pug306xsi]

Google - one plus 2

one of my friends bought and its well worth the price.

[Magnum]

Budget is not firm. It's flexible but I would rather spend the extra money on the car or on a watch

BTW any idea how much a Shiromi or a 1+2+3+4... will cost?

Is that a name of a phone or girl?

[fiat fan]

I can remmoned the Huawei Honor holly. 20k. Has all main features,cool cam, 16 gigs of memory,quad core,1 gb ram, 5 inch screen, flat and slim,black has fake leatherish feel on the back... my cousin sis uses one, after 5 months still it looks brand new(which is a big thing given the beating it takes)... hundreds of selfies,instagram,fb,viber etc etc later still no lag

[nadisha]

don't know about xiaomi. but have used huawei ascend mate 7(bit pricey) but fit's to your requirements. currently using huawei P8, there is P8 lite. which is around 30k. You might like that.

[Davy]

Been using a OnePlus One for over an year now and I have no complaints and I love it!

The OnePlus Two is out and...

Dual Sim: Yes

Android: Yes, 5.1.1

Screen: 5.5 inches

Cost: 329 dollars onwards

You will have to order and ship it to a US address by using a service like ComGateway and then have them ship it to Sri Lanka.

You'll also need to get hold of an invite to be eligible to buy the phone. More info at OnePlus.net.

If you just want to get hold of a phone without all the hassle, then this is probably not the one for you although this is the cheapest one with the specs that can be compared with other flagship phones.

[kush]

I can remmoned the Huawei Honor holly. 20k. Has all main features,cool cam, 16 gigs of memory,quad core,1 gb ram, 5 inch screen, flat and slim,black has fake leatherish feel on the back... my cousin sis uses one, after 5 months still it looks brand new(which is a big thing given the beating it takes)... hundreds of selfies,instagram,fb,viber etc etc later still no lag

had one for over 6 months, good audio over head phones, HD screen (have not seen this sub 20k range)

can be abused as well as a Nokia

[Crosswind]

After reading some of the options, I am inclined towards Huawei Honor Holly. Any idea how its battery life is?

[Schiffer]

Check out the "Xiaomi Redmi 2"

There phones are pretty nice.

Personally i dont like The non app drawer UI of Xiomi, Huawei and lenovo. But you can always use a launcher

Also check out the HTC 620G

Edited September 15, 2015 by Schiffer

[kmeeg]

If any one is looking at the Samsung Note 5. On the plus side the camera is much better than iPhone 6 plus. Note camera app comes with a Pro mode where you can select ISO, Shutter speed, WB, Focus Auto or manual, etc..

On a down side is battery life is not sufficient if you listen to music youtube / mp3 and check FB and other stuff. And keep WiFi, Bluetooth, Location (GPS+WiFi+Mobile) full time.

I also like the size unlike iphone 6 plus it fits regular size cup holder on your car with flip cover case. Regular Toyota car audio system allow you to read text (including listening to the text) and reply. Same rejecting a call with a text.

Wireless charger is not bad but the phone gets a bit heated. But can be charged wireless with the flip cover on.

Gear 2 is also a handy item to have. Notifications given almost instant. Taking and receiving calls via gear 2 on a noisy environment is impossible. Display is not bad but looking at it in direct sunlight you need to bring up the brightness up to level 5 or 6. To use the heart-rate monitor you need to have it bit tight to your hand but that is not comfortable to have all day tight to your hand. Kind of not practicle much.

S-Pen is also a handy tool, you can just take it out write something on screen and put the pen back in phone, the note will be saved. Pretty easy to take screenshots of web pages, highlight and write something and save.

Stock headset is not good to my taste. But i'm using sennheiser momentum earbuds for Galaxy and the quality is good enough for listening at office.

I looked at the Edge+ too. Size is same as Note 5. But with the curved screen i wasn't comfortable with my little one. I don't think edge+ is kids friendly. It might shatter the glass even if it drops on a side. Looks to me camera and display performance is same as Note5.

Bottom line, I've used it just under a month and so far did not crash any app. Not having micro SD card and a good battery life is bad. Hope this helps if any one looking for Note 5.

Edited September 15, 2015 by kmeeg

[Crosswind]

Guys, one last question... is there a recommended place to buy a Shiromi or a Honor Holly?

[NRX]

Guys, one last question... is there a recommended place to buy a Shiromi or a Honor Holly?

I have bought phones from these guys since 2008. Never had any issue with them up to now.

http://mymobile.lk/contact.php

Edited September 16, 2015 by NRX

[The Stig]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Crosswind" data-cid="282878" data-time="1442397073"><p>

Guys, one last question... is there a recommended place to buy a Shiromi or a Honor Holly?</p></blockquote>

Xiaomi is only available at dialcom AFAIK. Singer is the agent for huawei. But i would also recommend my mobile (Also goes as gt mobile in MC) if you buying any other brand.

[ferrarif50]

Meets your requirements and its a sony under 20K http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/phones/xperia-c/

[Schiffer]

Meets your requirements and its a sony under 20K http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/phones/xperia-c/

Thats a good phone but a ancient OS now though. The latest OS it has is Jelly Beans

[Seeker LK]

Meets your requirements and its a sony under 20K http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/phones/xperia-c/

Never sony.. especially if you are looking forward to run some apps. Sony idiots are well known to mess up the core of Android OS as the result many apps developed by third party developers will fail pathetically. If you like keep meeting the error message "Sorry xxx app has unfortunately crashed".. then go ahead with Sony

[Schiffer]

Never sony.. especially if you are looking forward to run some apps. Sony idiots are well known to mess up the core of Android OS as the result many apps developed by third party developers will fail pathetically. If you like keep meeting the error message "Sorry xxx app has unfortunately crashed".. then go ahead with Sony

erm... i am using sony for the past 3 years and never ever encountered a message like that O.o all the apps that work in my samsung, htc and micromax devices works fine with the sony

[fiat fan]

the holly lasts a day with data on. U can get it from singer, or mc

[Crosswind]

the holly lasts a day with data on. U can get it from singer, or mc

Damn... thats all?

I need data on 24x7 and my 535 lasts close to 2 days... bloody windows OS

[NRX]

Never sony.. especially if you are looking forward to run some apps. Sony idiots are well known to mess up the core of Android OS as the result many apps developed by third party developers will fail pathetically. If you like keep meeting the error message "Sorry xxx app has unfortunately crashed".. then go ahead with Sony

Load of bollocks mate. 5 years strong with Sony since donut days, and it's my 4th Android Sony/SE phone.

[NRX]

Damn... thats all? I need data on 24x7 and my 535 lasts close to 2 days... bloody windows OS

Do you really use data 24x7 or or keep data switched on 24x7. I guess it's the latter. No phone would last 2 days if you keep poking the screen.

http://www.gsmarena.com/microsoft_lumia_535_dual_sim-review-1177p3.php

That's a pretty low web browsing endurance.

[The Stig]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Seeker LK" data-cid="282905" data-time="1442418286"><p>

Never sony.. especially if you are looking forward to run some apps. Sony idiots are well known to mess up the core of Android OS as the result many apps developed by third party developers will fail pathetically. If you like keep meeting the error message "Sorry xxx app has unfortunately crashed".. then go ahead with Sony </p></blockquote>

As someone who has used sony for more than 3 years with xperia s, xperia z and currently xperia z3 I can tell you that this is absolute rubbish advice. I have been using the z3 for about 9 months and so far I didn't have even 3 apps crash on me.

Sony has the nearest stock Android experience of all major manufacturers, they only mess with the visual side of things. Plus sony is among the few manufacturers who actually let you officialy unlock the bootloader and install custom roms. If you actually bothered to look at xda forum you will see what I'm on about.

These app crashes you are talking about im guessing happend during the kit Kat to lollipop transition period, which happend cause of the change in runtime from dalvik to ART. this was a common problem in all lollipop devices since the developers took a good time to update their apps to support art.

Oh but one thing to note is that Sony doesn't natively support sinhala fonts.

Edited September 17, 2015 by The Stig