30k+ Smartphones : Q1 2012

Lets have a look at deserving candidates ...

# Samsung Galaxy S II

# Motorola Razr

# Samsung Galaxy Note

# (Upcoming) Samsung Galaxy Nexus

#  Apple iPhone 4S

# HTC Sensation XE

All the above phones are available in the market for more or less 30k INR except iPhone 4S which ridiculously starts at 44k INR...  

Galaxy Nexus is not launched yet here in India, but it would cost around 30k initially, unless Samsung decides to go Apple way which is highly unlikely... 

Lets sum up the important points about each phone: 

Galaxy S II : Superb SAMOLED+ Display, Huge Developer support at XDA, Powerful Exynos Chipset.                              But build quality is bit plasticky and may not appeal to all. Screen resolution is standard 480x800 while others have qHD or 720p resolution.

Motorola Razr: Fantastic Build quality, Crisp display and Design. OMAP 4430 chipset is in its midlife and its GPU PowerVR SGX540 is the same as of Galaxy S... All in all chipsetwise it falls short to S II's Exynos...

Galaxy Note: For those who are blessed with Large Palms. Its gorgeous 5.3" SAMOLD display at 800x1280 will appeal to you. Once you own this devide, you wont be able to go to lower screen size phones again. Its powerful Exynos chipset will take care of your demanding tasks.

Galaxy Nexus: 3rd Vanilla Google Experience phone, with its 720p HD Display and Ice Cream Sandwich Android version, you'll not go wrong with this handset. Its powered by descent OMAP 4460 chipset, which does the job well. But camera is just 5MP, so if your looking for good cameraphone, steer clear...

Apple iPhone 4S: Ridiculously Priced in India... 44k for 16GB version and goes upto 60k for 64GB version. If you are ok with closed apple ecosystem, android feels too geeky to you and if you've got a lot of moolah then go for this. Good thing about it is its superb camera and easy to use interface...

HTC Sensation XE: This Qualcomm Dual Core beast offers good performance close to Exynos. Its bundled with good pair of headphones and HTC marketed it as musicphone. Camera is OKish and Screen is descent especially all other phones pack SAMOLED or Retina Display. Battery backup is poor...Get it only if you are a HTC Fan...

Summing it up, If I were you to buy a phone in the range of 30k my choices would be ... (In that order)

1. Salsung Galaxy Note (I'm Comfortable with its size :) ) 
2. Samsung Galaxy Nexus
3. Samsung Galaxy S II
4. Motorola Razr
5. Apple iPhone 4S
6. HTC Sensation XE 

Few phones which were not included in this list for the reasons:

Nokia Lumia 800 : Although its descent package, but 25k price for windows phone having old gen chipset is little too much.

SonyEricsson Arc S: Single core chipset, overpriced.

LG Optimus 3D / HTC Evo 3D: Poor Battery Life and 3D is just a gimmick ...

If I have missed any phone, let me know :) ... 

Image Courtesy: Google Images

Where to Purchase Biking Gear in India ...

If you are a true biker, you wouldn't mind investing in Biking Gear for yourself... In India although we have a lot less options, following are the few websites/stores where you can purchase a good and reliable biking gear for your own safety...

# Dream Sporting Gear

# Cramster

# Performance Racing Store

# BachooMotors

# Adventure OnTheRocks

# Ultimate Auto Impex

These are the few websites/stores which sell quality Riding Gear in India...

Click on the respective images to go to respective website...

Images taken from respective websites.

Wanna buy Computer Stuff ? Check out these websites from India.

Indian websites from where you can buy Computer Hardware at competitive rates or just for the price check :) ...

Midrange Mobile Phone, Budget ~15k ...

Got 15k in hand and cant decide which phone to choose ?? Lets have a look at our options ...

For that budget following are the worthy contenders in market as of today (Feb,2012)

# Motorola DEFY+

# SonyEricsson Neo V

# Nokia Lumia 710

# Samsung Omnia W

If you want an Android phone in that budget, it boils down to what you want:

SE Neo V scores over Defy+ : Better GPU, Confirmed ICS Update, Better Camera.

Defy+ Scores over Neo V: Ruggedness, Lots of Custom Roms.

So SE Neo V is the best pic of the lot if your primary concern is not the ruggedness of the phone, since its overall a better phone. And its loe internal memory is not a downer since you can move apps to SD card barring few system apps.

Compare their Specs here ...

Between WP7 Phones, its the Omnia W you should choose,

Reasons: AMOLED Screen, Front Cam, Better Battery Performance. 

Also refer to this shootout on Gsmarena: 

Although UI of WP7 feels smoother than Android, But there are few limitations like no SD card support, no Bluetooth File Transfer, Compulsory use of Zune Software for smaller tasks like drag and drop of file etc.

So If I would want to purchase a phone ~ 15k , my pick would be SE Neo V. 

Few Phones which were not considered here, viz

SE Live With Walkman: Low resolution, smaller screen.

Samsung Galaxy ACE: Low resolution, old gen gfx chip, no ICS Update.

Image Courtesy: Google Images.

Starting Off ...

This is test run...

Exploring the blogging features ...

I'll be writing about mobile phones, computer hardware and other stuff ... :)