Battle of the Budget Smartphones: Email and Web

My unlocked 5230 cost a full 20% less than �100.

That it did, but the barrier of �100 is an important psychological one, hence choosing the smartphones that legitimately reach or drop under this value in the High Street,

...and to be fair the ZTE is only just out... there's a good chance it price will fall in time too.

Saw a high street price of �50 (I think) for a 5230 a week or so ago, but that involved trading in some existing equipment IIRC.

Rafe wrote:...and to be fair the ZTE is only just out... there's a good chance it price will fall in time too.

Saw a high street price of �50 (I think) for a 5230 a week or so ago, but that involved trading in some existing equipment IIRC.

I think that was carphone Warehouse and about �35-�50 for a 5230 if you traded in a GPS unit. Which is an intersting marketing angle as well.

I don't know how long the 5230 has been available but my sub �80 one was purchased way back, I recall it was in the unusually snowy weather that we were having in the UK at the time.

I hate to sound pedantic but I believe it should read "lets websites breathE", not "websites breath".

Nice article overall. Now that touch screens and QWERTY keypads have permeated the bottom end of Nokia's hierarchy (read: S40), can we expect AAS to do a comparo of similar S60 and S40 devices in the future? (example: C3 vs E63/E5 or X3-02 vs 5230/5233)

ewan i'm sorry but i am absolutely unable to believe that you cannot disable the 3G connection on the ZTE Racer ... all android phones can do this as it's part of the core android OS ... when it picks up a wifi signal it automatically shuts off 3G

are you saying that when on wifi the 3G is still going?
you could not find the (stock) widget that allows these things to be switched on and off?
if not, then in networks -> mobile data there is a simple way to switch it on and off

this is standard android ... maybe you didn't find it yet?

I'm intrigued as to why people regularly try Opera Mini.

Its horrible. I was using it for a few months (it is better than the S60 browser on the 5230), and then started with Opera Mobile. Similar look, but a much MUCH better application overall.

Clomult!

Thank you so much for your comment about Opera Mobile vs. Opera Mini. I've been suffering through Mini for several months now and didn't know about Mobile. Just installed Mobile. What a difference!

Thanks!

Re 3G, Ewan means that when out and about away from the city centre, the last thing you want is a power hungry data signal draining your battery all the time. Far better to go online in short bursts so that you limit how much high-power radio work is needed....

clonmult wrote:I'm intrigued as to why people regularly try Opera Mini.

Its horrible. I was using it for a few months (it is better than the S60 browser on the 5230), and then started with Opera Mobile. Similar look, but a much MUCH better application overall.

I am an Opera Mini user, I use it because despite all the lies that the networks tell in their marketing, 3G coverage is not much use, and Opera Mini does a better job of fast loading pages over poor connections than Opera Mobile.

I have an iPhone (along with other phones) and mini is my preferred browser for the same reason.

Turbo mode on Mobile is NOT The same as mini compression. I can tell you from experience that mini is necessary.

_fakefur wrote:ewan i'm sorry but i am absolutely unable to believe that you cannot disable the 3G connection on the ZTE Racer ... all android phones can do this as it's part of the core android OS ... when it picks up a wifi signal it automatically shuts off 3G

are you saying that when on wifi the 3G is still going?
you could not find the (stock) widget that allows these things to be switched on and off?
if not, then in networks -> mobile data there is a simple way to switch it on and off

this is standard android ... maybe you didn't find it yet?

What I want is to have Wifi off AND 3G off at the same time. Yes 3g cuts out when wifi is connected, but when NOT in wifi, the3G is contstantly shouting over the radio circuits to eitehr make or maintain a conenction, it's a HUGE battery drain and I believe it should be part of the OS to have this as a simple switch... relying on thir party apps to pick up a missing piece of the design is a poor show for ANY manufacturer.

_fakefur wrote:ewan i'm sorry but i am absolutely unable to believe that you cannot disable the 3G connection on the ZTE Racer ... all android phones can do this as it's part of the core android OS ... when it picks up a wifi signal it automatically shuts off 3G

are you saying that when on wifi the 3G is still going?
you could not find the (stock) widget that allows these things to be switched on and off?
if not, then in networks -> mobile data there is a simple way to switch it on and off

this is standard android ... maybe you didn't find it yet?

I can confirm this behaviour on Android 1.5 and 1.6, the change over from 3G to WiFi does not happen reliably - I find it is more of a problem on some WiFi APs than others. It's not just the ZTE racer, but the pulse and the X10 mini also do it.

Sometimes they will swap to WiFi but then drop it an go back to 3G again. On the same AP my iPhone is 100% reliable in the same scenario.

@ewan @unregistered - if that's the case with the zte racer then it's a crap phone period and should be banished from any comparison as it would be useless as a phone in the real world

i would be shocked beyond belief if you cannot actually turn off both wifi and 3G through the network settings ... they would have had to remove that functionality from stock android which would be ridiculous

i am not talking about "unreliable" switching etc etc as this can be explained by dodgy signal strengths / dodgy wifi points etc ... i'm talking the basic ability to go into settings and switch off the radios , ie, flight mode

you are abslutely saying that this phone DOES NOT have a setting to switch off the 3G radio and wifi yes?

you still don get it. He doesnt want a flightmode, he wants that the phone only connects to the internet when he wants it, especially when there is no free wifi.

@unregistered - ummmm actually yes i do get it ... i was trying to be polite by asking very carefully if the specific functionality of turning off 3G radio and turning off wif is there as it is stock android and i cannot for the life of me imagine a company purposefully removing such functionality

i have never heard anyone report such a thing with *any* android handset on *any* android (or tech) forums / websites

therefore i am reasonably sure that ewan has simply not found the controls he is looking for and (as i said previously) was just trying to be polite

as opposed to being a jerk like you are being
😊

If you guys REALLY want to review a budget Android phone, you'd be looking at the HTC Wildfire.

Jimmy1 wrote:If you guys REALLY want to review a budget Android phone, you'd be looking at the HTC Wildfire.

HTC Wildfire, pay as you go (Orange and O2)... �229
ZTE Racer, pay as you go (Three)... �100
Nokia 5230, pay as you go (Virgin)... �80

That's why it's the Racer, this is sepcifcially a BUDGET smartphone. �230 is NOT a budget/low tier device.

_fakefur wrote:@unregistered - ummmm actually yes i do get it ... i was trying to be polite by asking very carefully if the specific functionality of turning off 3G radio and turning off wif is there as it is stock android and i cannot for the life of me imagine a company purposefully removing such functionality

i have never heard anyone report such a thing with *any* android handset on *any* android (or tech) forums / websites

therefore i am reasonably sure that ewan has simply not found the controls he is looking for and (as i said previously) was just trying to be polite

as opposed to being a jerk like you are being
😊

Either a) the control is so well hiden after three weeks it's still hiding from me, or b) it's not there. Lets have a look at the quick action bar (no 3g toggle here) or in the Data/network settings...

After that last screen I can disable roaming ant national or international level...switch between GSM and GSM+WCDMA and choose the network operator (in this case Threee 3G).

I'll continue to go with b) but would love to be proved wrong.

Newer devices remain in attached state from the point of view of the 3G network, but are not active. It's sometimes called "fast dormancy" and is a feature that's become popular. This doesn't use much battery and enables a faster bearer set-up (time to connect) when you do want one. iPhone and N900 work like this.

What the ZTE device does I have no idea.

GabeUK, what I do know is that without a 3rd party tweak to disconnect the 3G, the ZTE really eats battery - so even if it is using this low power idle, it still hurst the performance - and battery life is noticed at this end ofthe market - there's no forgiveness as there is with �500 devices because "you're paying for the CPU and GPU" in the battery performance.

Ewan wrote:HTC Wildfire, pay as you go (Orange and O2)... �229
ZTE Racer, pay as you go (Three)... �100
Nokia 5230, pay as you go (Virgin)... �80

That's why it's the Racer, this is sepcifcially a BUDGET smartphone. �230 is NOT a budget/low tier device.

Fair enough, but from a review standpoint, why would you WANT to review the absolute scraping-the-bottom-of-the-barrel-throwaway type devices?

Where's the fun in that?

In the U.S., we also have free phones that carriers give away on contract, usually LG or Samsung cheap, plastic, qwerty slider, dumb-phones that break after three months.

I'd rather just pay a bit more and get something decent that I'll be happy with for, say, 1-2 years.

Sure, I get that the ZTE Racer is sporting Android, and is not a dumbphone, while it's also competing with Symbian phones in its price point, but my point about cheap devices holds. Just pay a bit more and get something nicer. The old adage: you get what you pay for.

@_fakefur: Sorry, I didn't wanted to be unpolite but your questions didn't show that you got it. Flightmode is one completely different thing.

@Jummy1: You have to compare comparable things. You can compare a Wildfire with a Symbian Smartphone but then you would need tot take the C6 f.e.
Thats a whole different comparrison but still: Could you guys do such a comparison please?

Jimmy1,

Short answer, because this is where the next-gen operating system marketshare battle will be won

Discussed in part one here and in a lot of depth here.

Jimmy1 wrote:

In the U.S., we also have free phones that carriers give away on contract, usually LG or Samsung cheap, plastic, qwerty slider, dumb-phones that break after three months.

I'd rather just pay a bit more and get something decent that I'll be happy with for, say, 1-2 years.

Sure, I get that the ZTE Racer is sporting Android, and is not a dumbphone, while it's also competing with Symbian phones in its price point, but my point about cheap devices holds. Just pay a bit more and get something nicer. The old adage: you get what you pay for.

Your point doesn't really hold. If you get what you pay for, the �229 phone wins. You might as well read two seperate reviews and compare them in your own mind.

My iPhone was free on contract. Comparing them because they are free isn't really relevant either.

There is a likely reason why you can't turn off the 3G on the ZTE Racer unlike most other Android phones. Which network is it on and do they have a 2G network? Simples.

Ewan,

I really think that android mail is way better than Nokia�s (stock or Nokia Messaging), BUT the problem with android is if you need Exchange support.

Android fans will tell you that there is no problem or that you can use Touchdown (not free) or Roadsync (not free), the truth is that still there are not Exchange solution reliable for Android. Froyo promised to solve this, but you can easily browse XDA Developers site to find that almost all (high ends also) android phones suffer.

Exchange support and Nokia Maps are why I am still using a symbian device, Exchange mail is crucial for me, so for now Nokia wins there.

Because android is fragmented

Wow, a bit rich coming from a symbian fan! At least android apps run accross all phones running the same os version. With symbian an app working at all is a cause for celebration. That said I think 5230 is the best symbian device to date in terms of value for money and Really defines what anyone should pay for the experience

talhamid wrote:Because android is fragmented

Wow, a bit rich coming from a symbian fan! At least android apps run accross all phones running the same os version. With symbian an app working at all is a cause for celebration. That said I think 5230 is the best symbian device to date in terms of value for money and Really defines what anyone should pay for the experience

As an Android user I can tell you that this notion that apps work across all phones with the same OS version is a plain lie. You can look in the market for yourself and see the app descriptions telling you which phones are excluded - even for same OS version. And I've seen several apps where the display doesn't fit the screen. And even more that just don't work. All from the Android market.

But that's OK, it's Android. It's allowed to be shit.