Phone for 14k - Android or Windows Phone

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greg

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So I have to buy a new phone and I have short listed the Motorola Defy plus and the Samsung Omnia W. Both are for around 14k online and equally good phones.
Now I have the dilemma that every India kid faces which one to pick ?? I can't decide between these two so I need your help in choosing between these two. I need your view on either phone or OS to help me decide.

My needs are a good App collection, high def games to spend my time, and camera in mostly normal lighted areas.

PS - I am also open to other phones if you know of something better.
 
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When you mention the hi def games part and the camera, i think there and then itself the Omnia W will take the honors.
However, i havent seen both the phones personally, so i ll refrain from making any conclusive statement or entering the poll. Hopefully more experienced members will lend a hand here.
 
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I think you need to list out your needs with some more metrics .. Answer this from 1-5; 1 means you are least concerned and 5 means that it is most important to you.

Apps -
Camera -
UI Customization -
Games -
Battery Life -
Custom ROMs -
E-Mail integration -
Social integration -
Multitasking -
 
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greg said:
Apps - 5
Camera -4
UI Customization -2
Games -5
Battery Life -3
Custom ROMs -2
E-Mail integration -1
Social integration -1
Multitasking -3.5
Click to expand...

Alrighty. I'll answer them one by one.

Apps - While there are loads of apps on Windows Phone and I am content with the apps available (I'm using all free apps since I've kept a US account for the sake of podcasts) but developers don't exactly feel this way. Any new snazzy app will be released on iOS and Android first. So there might be some specific apps that you will not find on Windows Phone. But the plus point here is that most apps will not crash or behave in an unexpected manner. Even the ones which have a very bland UI (referring to inexperienced developers) don't crash at all. Android gives too much of a free rein so there are lot of unstable apps there. Also, the apps which utilize the Metro UI (a very good example is the IMDB app and the Prime TV app ) are really, really beautiful with slick interfaces.

UI Customization - Windows Phone suits your need since the only customization you can do is change colors.Which is not a bad thing. :p

Games - Again, similar to apps, some games do not make it to Windows Phone. And the good ones that do, are paid and expensive. So, Android does have kind of an upper hand here.

Battery Life - My HD7 with constant email sync for 5 accounts and light 2G usage lasts me 24 hours. With 2G off, it lasts nearly 2 days. Omnia W has an even better battery life. My friend's Omnia W lasts 1.5-2 days with email sync enabled. Better than Android

Custom ROMs - Options very, very limited for Windows Phone 7 as you would expect. Not at all needed here since performance is superb but it's not there.

E-Mail integration - Linked inboxes in Windows Phone 7 are awesome. All mails in one screen with threaded conversations in glorious Metro UI. Really seamless.

Social integration - Excellent in Windows Phone 7. Post and check updates for all social networks simultaneously. Though FB contacts are present in Android phone too, the presence of FB chat integrated into Messages so that they exist alongside SMS messages is too good. I've started using FB chat a lot now. The chat comes as text messages and maintains threaded conversation view.

Multitasking - Implemented as App freeze, not true multitasking. 5 recent apps are frozen. Works really good with native Windows apps, but 3rd party apps are a hit and miss. But, the positive side of this is that apps never take over your phone. The performance of the phone never drops. I prefer it this way rather than always looking over the Task Manager and switching off apps. Again, it's a personal preference.

Phew, so there I've mentioned the points according to my time spent with Android (1.5 years) and Windows Phone 7 (10 months). Feel free to ask if I missed anything.
 
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^^ You Gave an Great explanation.I recently switched from android(1.5 Years) to WP7(Omnia W),i would recommend wp7 over android for your needs.As for the apps there are enough apps in the market that would suffice for the most common uses of an smart Phone.
 
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This is so confusing. Ok so from your info I can conclude that both of them are neck to neck. Which one do you personally thing has better games ?

---------- Post added at 07:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:33 PM ----------

In Android you have tons of free games through jailbreak but in windows you have to pay even for angry birds let alone assasin's creed. correct me if i am wrong.
 
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Umm, firstly, saying that they are neck to neck is not what I really meant. :)

I just gave you a breakdown of how the usage feels for both of the OSs

The 2nd part is true. Like I said earlier, most of the good games are paid in Windows and more expensive than their Android/iOS counterparts.. even if you decided to buy. I, for one, never found mobile games interesting (yeah, even Angry Birds ) so this was never a big issue for me. But, if it is quite important for you, then it is better to keep it in mind.
 
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The email and messaging experience in windows phone 7 is the best I have seen on any phone and I have used them all (android,iOS, blackberry, bada). The OS offers a very tight social integration(FB, Linked In, twitter) and again is the best I have seen on any device. If you message,email and are into facebook then this is the phone you want.

Lack of Apps is one thing you might want to seriously look at. Although , there are some good applications none of them are as polished as android or iOS. I did this mistake once with samsung wave once and dont want anyone to suffer the same fate. Although the app support in windows phone is much better than bada. Many of the good applications are paid and more expensive than the android and iOS counterparts.

I also dont like the way samsung supports their device for upgrades and new releases. You might want to consider this while buying an Samsung Omnia W.

Also, there are rumors that when windows phone 8 OS releases, all the current generation devices (windows phone 7) will not be upgradeable to the latest OS.

Overall, the OS looks incomplete in parts and sometimes I see call related problems on my device (Nokia lumia 710).

BTW, I use a Nokia lumia 710 and am quite happy with it. I use it only for messaging, office mail and sometimes facebook. The OS overall is smooth and fluid. All my favorite apps on my iPad are not available or are very expensive on windows phone 7.If microsoft could somehow fix this and improve certain features in the OS , I am sure it will be a force to reckon with.
 
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