Best cheap smartphone

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The hope with Windows 10 phone OS, and its supposed advantage/advance over Win Phone 8.1, was supposed to be the ability to run the future so-called universal apps. Those specially designed for Win 10 that could run on a PC the same as on a mobile.

How much that's going to become an actual reality given the hobbled state of Win 10 phone development, I'm not sure.

[heina]

My vote goes to ASUS.

[Gary A]

The more I played with the windows phone, the more I liked it. Both my Android phones are on the shelf and the Windows phone is my daily user. Some things are rather hidden but they are there. It is easy to use and for the price, I don't worry about it prematurely dying, being damaged or losing it. I especially like the reception, call quality and battery life. I rarely use the camera but it too is amazingly good for such a cheap phone.

[taotoo]

The more I played with the windows phone, the more I liked it. Both my Android phones are on the shelf and the Windows phone is my daily user. Some things are rather hidden but they are there. It is easy to use and for the price, I don't worry about it prematurely dying, being damaged or losing it. I especially like the reception, call quality and battery life. I rarely use the camera but it too is amazingly good for such a cheap phone.

AFAIK useless if you're in the Google ecosystem though.

[Lannig]

The more I played with the windows phone, the more I liked it. Both my Android phones are on the shelf and the Windows phone is my daily user. Some things are rather hidden but they are there. It is easy to use and for the price, I don't worry about it prematurely dying, being damaged or losing it. I especially like the reception, call quality and battery life. I rarely use the camera but it too is amazingly good for such a cheap phone.

AFAIK useless if you're in the Google ecosystem though.

What the hell does this mean? My main e-mail is a Gmail account, does this make me "in the Google ecosystem"? if so, then I can use this e-mail account just as easily on my Windows Phone. The built-in e-mail app handles Gmail account perfectly. I can sync my Google contacts and my Google calendar.

I prefer Chrome over IE or Edge but they are quite usable for the kind of browsing I do on a smartphone.

Yes, the Windows App Store is a desert compared to the Google Play Store indeed. So for the ones who want a lot of apps for all kind of things, Android is by far the best choice.

However for the ones who use only the few essential ones, Windows is just as good IMO.

[taotoo]

The more I played with the windows phone, the more I liked it. Both my Android phones are on the shelf and the Windows phone is my daily user. Some things are rather hidden but they are there. It is easy to use and for the price, I don't worry about it prematurely dying, being damaged or losing it. I especially like the reception, call quality and battery life. I rarely use the camera but it too is amazingly good for such a cheap phone.

AFAIK useless if you're in the Google ecosystem though.

What the hell does this mean?

Google it (or Bing it if your phone won't let you).

[Aussie69]

Gary A:

Agree it is a well thought out, functional UI, and the hardware is good, but I wouldn't invest too much time or money into the windows phone as its future is sketchy.

One note re the google ecosystem, Win10 will soon be capable of running android apps

[thai3]

Depends what you want to use the phone for, I never call anyone so only use it for sms, line etc. If you want to listen to music and vids lumina phones, even the cheapest like mine have the best sound I have ever heard on a phone and loud. The cameras though are crap but that does not interest me.

[happy Joe]

I got a Doogee as well best bit of kit ive ever had. 3100 baht looks gorgeous feels gorgeous plenty of storage for apps and best camera ive ever seen on smartphone

I agree with everything but the camera part...decent but not in a league with Xiaomi and Asus

The new Doogee X-5 and the Homtom Ht-7 (Made by Doogee) are less than $60 including shipping on Gearbest.com (and a few others)

Similar specs...1gb/8gb, Android 5.1, 5.5" 720p display, 3000mAh battery...

http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_268418.html

I have bought several Doogee's as gifts over the last 2 years and never a problem One of the best basic phones available.

I agree also.

Doogee X6 from $ 60 on Aliexpress. The best quality / price to my knowledge.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-Original-Doogee-X6-Doogee-X6-Pro-Android-5-1-5-5-HD-1280-720-Quad/32547861292.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.19.9BR2gM&ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_0,searchweb201602_2_10037_10017_10021_507_10022_10032_10009_10020_10008_10018_10019_101,searchweb201603_6&btsid=0e65ed52-d67a-42d3-8cc4-2692a761eb03

[Aussie69]

Depends what you want to use the phone for, I never call anyone so only use it for sms, line etc. If you want to listen to music and vids lumina phones, even the cheapest like mine have the best sound I have ever heard on a phone and loud. The cameras though are crap but that does not interest me.

Agree, however Microsoft just announced yet more (1800) layoffs in the Nokia/Lumia phone division. I think MS is giving up on the whole Lumia line in favour of creating the much rumoured Surface branded phone running Win 10. I wouldnt be surprised if we hear an announcement in coming year that MS will sell off its Nokia holdings (likely at a big loss).

[Gary A]

I have no idea if Windows 10 has any future as a phone operating system. Android does have a lot of advantages and I'm used to it. Whatever the case, I'm seriously impressed with the Microsoft hardware and how it works so smoothly with Windows. I hope they hang on. It may have a future with low priced simpler phones. Unfortunately China makes the competition fierce in the low priced phone range.

[guzzi850m2]

I too got a LTE640 but it's running Win 8.1 (I think), I never managed to update to 10? When I used the update checker, it say's it's up to date, hmm.

I uses my IQ II much more despite it crash often, the lte640 runs more smooth but I find it, well, boring to use.

The IQ get all the Android update as they roll out for 2 years, direct from the Play store, runs curenttly 6.01 and when the 2 years has gone, it's time to bin it anyway.

The battery life is about the same on both phones, good but not excellent.

If you can run addroid aps from the Win phone, that would be very cool.

[guzzi850m2]

Sorry double post, very slow i-net here off-shore Myanmar.

Edited May 29, 2016 by guzzi850m2

[Lannig]

The Android API run-time translator/emulator (whatever that's called, forgot its name) does exist and works fairly well, according to several different trustable sources. The project has been put aside purely as a marketing decision.

Will MS eventually see the light and release it? I have serious doubts.

@Taotoo: Googling "Google ecosystem" gives the exact vague, changing and mostly meaningless definitions that I expected. Tell us what it means exactly for you beyond using Google Mail, Contacts and Calendar (which can all be used transparently from Windows Phone)

[melvinmelvin]

happy with my 2 new phones;

LG Wine Smart, half smart phone, android, touch screen, flip phone (exactly what I need) about 8000 baht/each that is, (bit less)

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

In the ThaiVisa tech forum here lately, there have been two news articles posted -- one on the best budget phones available in Thailand for under 5000b, and the other the best medium price phones available in Thailand for under 10,000b.

Both articles involved summary reviews of about a half dozen different mobiles in each of the two categories. Together, they provide a pretty decent overview of some of the less expensive choices, although strangely, now that I think about it, the IMobile Android One phone for 4,444b wasn't included in the under 5000b list.

http://tech.thaivisa.com/best-budget-android-phones-for-under-5000-baht/15377/

http://tech.thaivisa.com/best-budget-android-phones-for-under-10000-baht/15121/

One thing the under 5000b article didn't do, unfortunately, was clarify for some of the Chinese brand models included in their list whether those models did or did not come with the Google Play Store loaded on the phones.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The Android API run-time translator/emulator (whatever that's called, forgot its name) does exist and works fairly well, according to several different trustable sources. The project has been put aside purely as a marketing decision.

Will MS eventually see the light and release it? I have serious doubts.

From everything I'm hearing, the prior plan to enable Windows Phone OS to run Android apps has apparently been shelved, e.g., dead.

And supposedly, MS has refocused its staff and efforts in that direction on a conversion system that would "easily" allow Android app developers who chose to to port their Android apps to work on the Windows 10 Phone OS.

The original approach, from the customer perspective, would have been much better because it would have opened the Windows 10 Phone OS to pretty much the entire Android app ecosystem.

The current intended approach, which hasn't actually been deployed as yet, is much worse from a customer perspective because it means the only Android apps that will become available to Windows 10 Phone OS users will be from those Android developers who CHOOSE to take the time and effort to port over their Android apps to a Windows 10 OS version.

I was listening to a podcast discussion on this topic recently with Android app developers, and their view of the likelihood of the latter approach going very far was pretty dim, mainly because of 1) the Windows 10 Phone OS's very small and declining market share, and 2) even if it's made relatively easy to port over an Android app, supporting and maintaining a separate version of one's original app becomes an involved and time-consuming process, even after the original conversion.

[sawadee1947]

Can you replace the battery?

[johnnynmonic]

I too got a LTE640 but it's running Win 8.1 (I think), I never managed to update to 10? When I used the update checker, it say's it's up to date, hmm.

I uses my IQ II much more despite it crash often, the lte640 runs more smooth but I find it, well, boring to use.

The IQ get all the Android update as they roll out for 2 years, direct from the Play store, runs curenttly 6.01 and when the 2 years has gone, it's time to bin it anyway.

The battery life is about the same on both phones, good but not excellent.

If you can run addroid aps from the Win phone, that would be very cool.

Use the Insider Preview app to get the upgrade to 10. I did on my lumia 720, but rolled back to 8 after trying it for a few days. Now I get why it's not officially supported. 10 is just too heavy to run well on these phones with only 512mb of RAM. Anyway, 8.1 is good enough for my purposes.

[taotoo]

@Taotoo: Googling "Google ecosystem" gives the exact vague, changing and mostly meaningless definitions that I expected. Tell us what it means exactly for you beyond using Google Mail, Contacts and Calendar (which can all be used transparently from Windows Phone)

Things like being able to save a Gmail attachment to Drive. Or have a date/time in a Gmail message cause an event to automatically show up in Google Now. etc. etc

[Gary A]

Can you replace the battery?

Yes, the battery is replaceable and it also accepts a memory card.

[Gary A]

I too got a LTE640 but it's running Win 8.1 (I think), I never managed to update to 10? When I used the update checker, it say's it's up to date, hmm.

I uses my IQ II much more despite it crash often, the lte640 runs more smooth but I find it, well, boring to use.

The IQ get all the Android update as they roll out for 2 years, direct from the Play store, runs curenttly 6.01 and when the 2 years has gone, it's time to bin it anyway.

The battery life is about the same on both phones, good but not excellent.

If you can run addroid aps from the Win phone, that would be very cool.

Use the Insider Preview app to get the upgrade to 10. I did on my lumia 720, but rolled back to 8 after trying it for a few days. Now I get why it's not officially supported. 10 is just too heavy to run well on these phones with only 512mb of RAM. Anyway, 8.1 is good enough for my purposes.

My phone asked me if I wanted to update. I accepted and other than a very large download, it went very smooth. After it was finished, I really didn't see any difference in speed or function.

[Lannig]

@Taotoo: Googling "Google ecosystem" gives the exact vague, changing and mostly meaningless definitions that I expected. Tell us what it means exactly for you beyond using Google Mail, Contacts and Calendar (which can all be used transparently from Windows Phone)

Things like being able to save a Gmail attachment to Drive. Or have a date/time in a Gmail message cause an event to automatically show up in Google Now. etc. etc

I see. Then I am not in the "Google Ecosystem" I guess. I use more basic things.

@TallGuyJohninBKK : thanks for the informative post.

Side note: I'm kind of a compulsive buyer of (low-cost only, fortunately!) smartphones and tablets and I have three Windows-based phones: a Lumia 535 and two Archos Cesium (40 and 50). They probably are at the very top in terms of performance+stability/price of my whole little collection. They offer significantly more than my Androids in the same price range.

And I'm known to be a Windows basher and old geekish Unix/Linux apologist. As much as I dislike Win 8.1/10 on a desktop, as much as I like it on a smartphone. If only it had a decent app store...

Edited May 29, 2016 by Lannig

[A1Str8]

Umi Touch

[johnnynmonic]

@Taotoo: Googling "Google ecosystem" gives the exact vague, changing and mostly meaningless definitions that I expected. Tell us what it means exactly for you beyond using Google Mail, Contacts and Calendar (which can all be used transparently from Windows Phone)

Things like being able to save a Gmail attachment to Drive. Or have a date/time in a Gmail message cause an event to automatically show up in Google Now. etc. etc

I see. Then I am not in the "Google Ecosystem" I guess. I use more basic things.

@TallGuyJohninBKK : thanks for the informative post.

Side note: I'm kind of a compulsive buyer of (low-cost only, fortunately!) smartphones and tablets and I have three Windows-based phones: a Lumia 535 and two Archos Cesium (40 and 50). They probably are at the very top in terms of performance+stability/price of my whole little collection. They offer significantly more than my Androids in the same price range.

And I'm known to be a Windows basher and old geekish Unix/Linux apologist. As much as I dislike Win 8.1/10 on a desktop, as much as I like it on a smartphone. If only it had a decent app store...

I feel the same way. They have great phones for the price, and I personally like the minimalist GUI. It's just that the app store is practically empty. And it's not getting any better as time goes by. Some apps I used to use are no longer available or no longer maintained, and no good substitutes have come forward in their place.

[dddave]

Early last week, one of the top, if not the top Microsoft executives for Windows went out of his way to try to explain away what he said were mis-interpretations of MS's failing to include the mobile Win-10 platform in a major developers conference earlier this month. Many tech blogs took that exclusion to be a death sentence for Windows Mobile.

The executive stated that MS was still 100% committed to the Win. Mobile OS and that it continues to be an integral part of the unified mobile, tablet, laptop concept MS has been pursuing since the introduction of the Surface series. It's kind of looking like they may try to upscale Win. phones to be a more premium product, targeted more to business users.

So...Maybe not destined for the trash heap just yet.

Sorry, I can not find the article I'm referring to...perhaps a better searcher than I can find it.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Part of the issue re MS's commentary on mobile is that when they use that term, they're not just talking about mobile phones, but mobile computing to include tablets like Surface and other stuff. So while they may say they're committed to mobile, that doesn't necessarily mean much in the way of a commitment to trying to maintain a viable mobile phone OS and hardware-software ecosystem.

After all the backing away MS has done on the mobile phone front, about the most that most observers seem to expect from them is a minimal presence in the mass market mobile phone market, continued push for the Surface tablets line, and business-specific mobile endeavors. Things could go differently, of course, but at this point, there's not much suggesting they will.

Edited May 30, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[JaseTheBass]

I loved my Windows phone but just had to face up to the fact that for business Andriod was a better option. I waited for ages for the 950 to be released but bought a 64Gb S6 Edge instead.

The missus followed soon after upgrading her 650 to Win10 which left her with a keyboard that only used 75% of the screen width. Her Galaxy A7 just does everything better once you've taken the time to set it up better than it comes from the factory.

[Gary A]

My wife was happily using her Samsung S3 until it died. She wanted to buy an iPhone. I told her that it was overpriced and if she wanted to waste her money, it was up to her. I was using a Samsung S5. A great phone but massive overkill for how I used it. I gave her the S5. She is very happy with it and she uses all that social crap that I never used. I mentioned in another post that I was curious about a Windows phone. I bought a Lumina 640 LTE for 3990 baht. The learning curve from Android is irritating but now that I am used to it, it is my everyday driver. It is perfect for how I use a phone. It absolutely does everything I want it to do. The app store is pretty pathetic but It has the few apps that I do use.

The keyboard using Windows 10 is very good, especially in landscape mode. It uses all the screen. Even my clumsy fingers work fine. It also taught me that camera megapixels don't mean a lot. The 8 MP camera is amazing. It takes much better pictures than the IQ 12 MP camera. Both take better photos than the cheap Samsung J1.

Edited June 6, 2016 by Gary A

[Aussie69]

Gary, do you use Windows 10 on your computer? What is the syncing between PC & Phone like?