Budget Android Smartphones

While it’s easy to only pay attention to the flagship Android smartphones, the massive market share that Android have gained over the last year has largely been down to the budget smartphones that are available with Android, offering a much cheaper alternative to the iPhone. I’ve been looking into getting a budget Android handset to play around with, so I thought this was a good opportunity to have a look at what’s available.

I’ll be looking for phones that are cheap (obviously), feature-filled (GPS, camera, accelerometer, etc) and of at least decent build quality. Here are the results of my search into the perfect budget Android phone.

The Top Three

Orange San Francisco (ZTE Blade)

The Orange San Francisco was the first popular budget Android phone. Also known as the ZTE Blade, the San Francisco was well-loved by smartphone enthusiasts for its extremely potent feature set and low cost. The San Francisco offers a suitable 3.7″ screen at the smartphone standard 480×800 resolution, a moderate 600MHz single core CPU and runs Android 2 without problems.

The Blade does have a few disadvantages though. The camera is poor, and the video camera worse, producing very grainy unreliable pictures. The screen is also not the brightest, making it hard to see in direct sunlight. The build quality is also not the highest, so an Orange San Francisco case is probably a worthwhile investment.

The San Francisco is available from Orange or independent retailers for just over £100, and is an excellent started phone or second phone for enthusiasts that want something to hack on.

Orange Monte Carlo (ZTE Skate)

The sim-free Monte Carlo, also branded as the sim-free ZTE Skate, is the direct successor to the San Francisco and came out earlier this week. The Monte Carlo has a bigger screen than the San Francisco at 4.3″ and a higher price tag to match. The camera is also reputedly better, and the processor is 800 MHz (with reports of a 1GHz CPU coming later) meaning that the whole experience should be a good deal quicker, and comparable to the iPhone 4’s 1 GHz A4 CPU.

 

It’ll be interesting to see whether the Monte Carlo will replace the San Francisco as the weapon of choice for enthusiasts, as the display has been changed from the fancier OLED to a more basic TFT and the price has been increased by 50%. Still, the San Francisco’s extra features and massive screen may do well to increase happy hackers to pay the premium.

HTC Wildfire S

The HTC Wildfire S sim-free  is perhaps the upper limit for a budget Android smarpthone. Marketed as the little brother to the then-flagship Desire, the Wildfire and its more recent iteration the Wildfire S are available for between £200 and £250. While this is more the middle ground of the smartphone market, the Wildfire still presents decent value for money, particularly when taking into account the industry-leading Sense UI and excellent build quality… this is one phone that won’t fall apart, particularly when protected by a Wildfire S case.

Still, with tempting offerings at lower prices, the Wildfire is only a realistic choice for hardcore HTC fans, as ZTE’s cheaper offerings have proved to be both feature filled and of quite high build quality, something that many in the Android community did not expect when the budget handset provider first launched.

Phones to Watch

ZTE Libra

The Sim Free ZTE Libra is yet another incoming ZTE phone, seemingly at the same level of spec as the earlier San Francisco, although worryingly it is at a much higher price (at least on Amazon). The phone is set to be released early next month, and features Android 2.2, Bluetooth, GPS, a 3.5″ display, and essentially all of the same things as the San Francisco. The only big differences are in the button layout and the addition of an extra 3G channel.

 

As with the ZTE Blade, you’re best of protecting the phone with a sturdy ZTE Libra case, as while the build quality is good it is nowhere near as well regarded as that of HTC (and to a lesser extend, Samsung).

It is worth noting that the phone does support the second-to-latest Android, 2.3.4, and will probably support 2.3.5 from launch. If the Libra’s price comes down (and I expect it will), you can judge this is a nominal upgrade from the original Blade, and hopefully will be just as good for hacking on.

ZTE Tureis

Another upcoming release from ZTE is quite different than the Libra, as it’s the first to come with an integrated, Blackberry-style QWERTY keyboard. The Sim free ZTE Tureis comes with Android 2.2, but this may be upgraded before the Tureis is released on September 10th (the same date as the Libra). To fit in the keyboard, the screen has been reduced to 2.6″ in size, at a resolution of only 320×240.

 

Inside, you’ll find an 800 MHz CPU, the normal complement of Bluetooth, USB and Wifi, as well as a 3.2 camera that should be about as good as the Blade’s (i.e. not very good at all).

I’ll be watching the reviews of this one closely, as if this is essentially the San Francisco in a Blackberry form factor, then it’ll be an incredibly good deal.

Comparison Table

Here’s a table comparing each of the phones listed above, with the best phone for each specification bolded.

	Orange San Francisco	Orange Monte Carlo	HTC Wildfire S	ZTE Libra	ZTE Tureis
Android	2.1	2.3	2.3.3	2.3.4	2.2
CPU	600 MHz	800 MHz	600 MHz	600 MHz	600 MhHz
Memory	512 MB	512 MB	512 MB	512 MB	512 MB
Storage	150 MB, mSD	150 MB, mSD	150 MB, mSD	150 MB, mSD	150 MB, mSD
Display	3.5″ OLED	4.3″ TFT	3.2″ TGT	3.5″ TFT	2.6″ TFT
Resolution	480×800	480×800	320×480	480×800	320×240
Camera	3 MP	5 MP	5 MP	5 MP	3 MP
Battery	1250 mAh	1400 mAh	1230 mAh	1300 mAh	1250 mAh
Weight	110g	120g	105g	118g	115g

Conclusion

So that’s all folks. As you can see, ZTE have done pretty well in the budget handset market, and it will be interesting to see if their success in creating low-cost, feature-filled Android smartphones can continue. With two new models launching on September 10th, it’ll be interesting to see if the manufacturer’s success can continue. Elsewhere, HTC have done well to provide budget phones as well, but the massive success of ZTE will surely prompt other manufacturers to take a greater interest in this emerging space.