Best 2012 smartphone that is small

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91 posts

Master Geek

#628978 22-May-2012 14:15

networkn: Motorola Defy+ and the HTC One S. I just went through this with my wife, in the end I got a really good deal with the Galaxy SII and a week on she loves it and doesn't really notice the size, but does notice bigger, better screen, more power, better battery life etc.

But if you place galaxy s2 next to a xperia ray there is no competition in which one looks better form and the screen in my opinion. It has that extra clarity due to the ppi detail. Not knocking the gs2 I had one - great phone but too big and not inspiring in a design aspect. (for me anyway)

networkn

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#628985 22-May-2012 14:31

That's a nice looking phone, but 3.3" yikes. Nice for a high resolution. One day I'd like to get my mits on the Ray for a looksie

jbmoocs

91 posts

Master Geek

#628995 22-May-2012 14:41

networkn: That's a nice looking phone, but 3.3" yikes. Nice for a high resolution. One day I'd like to get my mits on the Ray for a looksie

Its really well built, light but solid at the same time. And the detail in the screen is pure exquisiteness. The screen just makes you just stare at it any chance you get and you really do forget its size immediately. The only one gripe I have is even though it runs android 4.03 it is not as fast as the GS2. Hence I opened this thread up and got some crackingly good comments so far. I want to see the Xperia SX that Dr strangelove first mentioned and others elaborated further on.

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#629001 22-May-2012 14:48

jb: where did you get a hands on with it?

jbmoocs

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Master Geek

#629003 22-May-2012 14:54

networkn: jb: where did you get a hands on with it?

I bought the white version for my wife from Mobicity NZ last week, when she got her mits on it she gave me that smile that I know very well. It arrived in 3 days from Hong Kong and cost under $400. Once I played with it I was sold on the candybar style.

oxnsox

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Uber Geek

#629109 22-May-2012 19:13

I'm one for a compact device. Can't let my Defy go so still have an S-II sealed in it's box.

Thought of the Galaxy Advance (I-9070) with it's 4inch screen and would be very tempted by a Panasonic Eluga if it was available somewhere locally to try in the hand.

Stu

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#629180 22-May-2012 21:29

NZtechfreak: The upcoming Galaxy Ace 2 i8160 might also be worth a look, dual core with the Mali GPU, 768GB RAM

So much RAM for such a small device! ;-)

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DrStrangelove

368 posts

Ultimate Geek

#629258 23-May-2012 03:47

Another Sony phone is the XPERIA U with a 480 x 854 pixels, 3.5 inches (~280 ppi pixel density) screen.
_BUT_ why you'd buy one is beyond me, cause it comes with 4GB. no MicroSD card,no HDMI and you'd need to check for NFC.

The XPERIA Sola reads better with 8GB of internal data and a MicroSD with a 480 x 854 pixels, 3.7 inches (~265 ppi pixel density) screen. _BUT_ no HDMI and only a 1320mAh battery,which is not really the end of the world.

Then there's that Sony XPERIA SX which is only available in the Japanese market at the moment which sport a 3.7" screen

Just a note, none of the Sony phones come with 768GB of RAM, however 768MB of RAM would still be very acceptable in most phones

The mid range Sony generally have 512MB of RAM which is really the minimum unless you want to be restarting programs or reloading web pages.

I read Apple is tooling around with a 3.95", 640 x 1136 pixel (~330 ppi) iPhone out in the back shed.

killerteddy

50 posts

Geek

#629294 23-May-2012 09:01

I personally prefer small phones (<3.5") too. I currently use the Xperia Ray.

It's hard to find a 'powerful' android phone with a screen less than 3.7".
Like others have said, Sony is probably the only one making smaller phones (Xperia U, SX).

If you can look beyond android, maybe the Nokia Lumia 800 would be a good choice?

gjm

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Ultimate Geek

#629299 23-May-2012 09:10

how do you find the ray in daily use? I've been trying to talk myself out of my iPhone and into a ray for a few months now just because of the size. I see Vodafone no longer sell them now so would have to get a parallel imported one most probably :/

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#629309 23-May-2012 09:26

gjm: how do you find the ray in daily use? I've been trying to talk myself out of my iPhone and into a ray for a few months now just because of the size. I see Vodafone no longer sell them now so would have to get a parallel imported one most probably :/

Pretty sure the Skinny network sell them (albeit at an inflated price) and there's nothing wrong with purchasing a parallel imported handset from an online NZ store as you are still covered under NZ Consumer Guarantees Act either way.

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killerteddy

50 posts

Geek

#629310 23-May-2012 09:27

gjm: how do you find the ray in daily use? I've been trying to talk myself out of my iPhone and into a ray for a few months now just because of the size. I see Vodafone no longer sell them now so would have to get a parallel imported one most probably :/

Which iPhone? 4S? If so, then I don't think its worth the change. The Ray isn't much smaller.

I'm running android 4.0 on it, rooted to remove rubbish apps and made small tweaks.
I don't text or call much, mostly just checking social sites and getting the latest news etc.
Games like angry birds space runs perfectly fine. It can run sluggish when transitioning from one app to another, but nothing that bothers me much.

Overall, its fine for moderate use.

Last time I checked, mobicity stock it at less than $380.

jbmoocs

91 posts

Master Geek

#629332 23-May-2012 09:56

killerteddy:
gjm: how do you find the ray in daily use? I've been trying to talk myself out of my iPhone and into a ray for a few months now just because of the size. I see Vodafone no longer sell them now so would have to get a parallel imported one most probably :/

Which iPhone? 4S? If so, then I don't think its worth the change. The Ray isn't much smaller.

I'm running android 4.0 on it, rooted to remove rubbish apps and made small tweaks.
I don't text or call much, mostly just checking social sites and getting the latest news etc.
Games like angry birds space runs perfectly fine. It can run sluggish when transitioning from one app to another, but nothing that bothers me much.

Overall, its fine for moderate use.

Last time I checked, mobicity stock it at less than $380.

I paid about $380. Its not as fast as an iphone 4 or nearly as spec'd up in the gpu dept. but its still in a class of its own for a little phone, like killerT says it is good for moderate use. The SX is the one to look out for, I hope it makes it to our shores ;)

killerteddy

50 posts

Geek

#629343 23-May-2012 10:10

Yea, I'm definitely keeping an eye open for the SX.

But don't you think it kind of looks funny?
There is a rather big gap between the top edge of the screen and the top of the frame.
It looks like it has a 'big forehead' lol.

I think it's there to accommodate both cameras.

jbmoocs

91 posts

Master Geek

#629390 23-May-2012 11:12

killerteddy: Yea, I'm definitely keeping an eye open for the SX.

But don't you think it kind of looks funny?
There is a rather big gap between the top edge of the screen and the top of the frame.
It looks like it has a 'big forehead' lol.

I think it's there to accommodate both cameras.

I think it looks great in white. Slim and well presented with that big SONY on it! I do have a soft spot for Sony because I still have a 90's 'MD walkman' that still works!

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