On A Budget -affordable Mid Range smartphones (UPDATED)

Question -  "I want to buy a decent phone below XX,XXXX  (some moderate amount of cash)  and i hope to use it for at least 3 years,any suggestions ? "

Introduction 

All  of us who live outside the Carrier Network sphere generally  have to  spend a premium to get unlocked devices so most of the time we are unable to change the handsets annually . Although a handful of people buy one phone after another , the majority are really down with tight budgets , monetary problems and even family issues where Mom or Dad wouldn't allow his/her  Son or daughter to get another handset until they grow up to a certain age . so ,if you are unable to get the latest high speed hardware and still wan't some jolly fun while staying under the budget , what are the best phones out there ?

First of all , what is a affordable  Mid -Range phone ?

Phones are generally categorized into 3 main groups with the latest flagship phones going into the top position - these phones generally cost a arm or a leg and when their time comes , they fall down to the Mid range category - this is considered to be the second class ticket to the Smartphone world  , these phones usually have the best specs from the previous year and are priced moderately and below that , we find the low end models which are usually not the best things we can think of . And in each one of these 3 main categories , we find some phones with higher specs than others in the same group . Mid Range smartphones also have this kind of division among handsets with someof the  powerful handsets occupying the top shelves and lower ,budget oriented phones taking the bottom rung which are usually set for attracting the budget oriented crowds  .these Entry level - Mid range smartphones usually have 4" displays and not so blazing fast processors  as their high end peers , but on the upside , they offer a complete smartphone package complete with all the essential hardware you need . 

Ground Rules

These are some of the basic rules you should follow when buying a new handset 

*Hardware- well , unlike the low end smartphones that clutter the market with old software and laggy hardware  , these Budget Mid range phones usually have good respectable specs and great software , so if you plan to buy one , expect to see some sort of a Dual Core processor , atleast 1 GB or RAM  a decent camera and good software with at least a 4" display .

* Software - Currently ,Android has the edge over this category but the new Nokia Lumia 620 brings windows to the masses as well , on Windows Phone you can expect to find only a handful of apps  but if you are a person who is satisfied by the core apps such as -Facebook ,Twitter ,instagram (soon) then windows Phone is also a option for you 

*General usage - A Removable battery is a must , i am sure the sealed battery is not going to be a issue for a user who plans to upgrade their handset frequently , but if you are planning  to use the handset for more than two years , the removable option is a big plus . the reasons - well first off , you can replace it yourself and the second reason is the usual hard reset of the phone in-case if your phone decided to go a bit zombie . 

The Phones ....

This is a bit tricky ,, if you look around the market , there are hundreds of  Smartphones that fall into this category but only a few are really worthy of being added to this list ( lots of Chinese handsets fall in line but rarely do we see them outside China) , so we did a little bit of pricing and specification research and came up with 4 good handsets that you might actually buy ( i'm sure you might have some ideas as well , why don't you drop in a comment below ) , so anyway  here are the top #4  affordable   Mid range smartphones we can think of 

#4   Samsung Google Nexus S 

I know , this is sort of the Old girl in this list but that doesn't mean that this is still a serious contender , being a Nexus device , the Nexus S had some of the best software upgrades since Gingerbread and currently it runs on Android 4.1 Jellybean , and of course you can do some tweaks since this Nexus phone will be supported and loved by developers everywhere  

Basic Specs 

4" AMOLED display , Android 4.1 , 1 Ghz Cortex A8 "hummingbird"  , 512 MB RAM , VGA front facing camera , 5 MP rear with LED flash ,Removable back cover +battery 

The Good 

This is one of the first phones to run on Android 4.1 jellybean , although the specs and the RAM would have made the phone obsolete like the Galaxy S it was based on , the Google partnership and the stock android experience kept the device afloat . The phone is also unique because it features the Woldfon DAC audio processor which is considered to be the best in its class , so it will definetly be a good audio player too . 

The Bad 

Technically , this phone is "dead" and that means that it - like most of the other budget phones ,is now stuck with whatever it's got ( you can pop into Cyanogenmod and install a 4.2 ROM though)  but the hardware and the RAM might be a bit of a issue if you plan to play the latest -core intensive games on this thing 

Will it suit me ?  

Well , this is a brilliant handset to be honest and you can pick one up for less than $350 (off contract ) ($250 on amazon)  or even less , the audio quality is just superb and once i did get a privilege of using one for  a couple of hours and it was really awesome - the sound quality + the Sennheiser headphones were marvelous  , but now with apps requiring better hardware , there might be a issue if you plan to use task intensive apps on this (Heavy Games and stuff) and you also have to remember the fact that this phone only has 16 GB of storage without expand ability , so if you plan to use the phone for a long time , it might be a issue as well . 

#3    Sony Xperia P 

A mid ranger from last year ,but its still a good looking phone with a good Aluminum shell and a good camera 

Basic Specs 

4" LCD display , Android 4.1 (currently on 4.0 )  , 1 Ghz Dual Core   ,1GB  RAM , VGA front facing camera , 8 MP rear with LED flash ,sealed battery 

The Good 

Premium-ness is overloaded on this one , and basically it feels almost solid and gives a rich feeling to the user , the body is designed by a single ingot of Aluminum (like the HTC One ) and it comes with Sony's beautiful TimeScape UI and a fancy transparent disco light array and also features a 8 megapixel Sony Exmor R sensor 

The Bad 

The phone will get its updates soon , but for the time being  it's still stuck on Android 4.0 .next problem is the Sealed battery ,which as we mentioned earlier can be a bit of a burden if you plan to use it for a long time . and finally the Xperia P only has 16 GB of storage so if you plan to use it for a long time , you better delete all the old data 

Will it suit me ?  

Well , this phone is solid as a rock to be honest , the aluminum bodywork and the disco lights will surely attract alot of eyes onto it , and it doesn't cost much now and retails for around $360 (unlocked ) the phone is very capable in the hardware factor  but you also have to remember the fact that this phone only has 16 GB of storage without expand ability , so if you plan to use the phone for a long time , it might be a issue as well . 

#2    Nokia Lumia 620   

If i were to select a phone without judging it from the OS its running on , it will definetly  be the Lumia 620 , the perfect price point and the design  Pizzazz will surely add a bit of glamour to your pocket 

Basic Specs 

3.8" TFT  display , Windows Phone 8  , 1 Ghz Dual Core Snapdragon S4 Plus   ,512 MB  RAM , VGA front facing camera , 5 MP rear with  LED flash , Removable back cover +battery 

The Good 

I have to say , this is probably one of the best looking handsets i have seen , the design , the fluidity of Windows phone and the funky mango/yellow /cyan / white colors are really appetizing  .And also remember that this is the most recent handset yet so it doesn't feel stale and it also features a MicroSD card slot for cards upto 64 GB ..cool or what?

The Bad 

Windows Phone 8 might be the biggest fault here (for some ) but if you are comfortable with the basic -core apps , you can find them here , infact you can get 100,000+ apps ,but sadly its still well below he offerings from Apple and Android .

Will it suit me ?  

This phone is awesome to hold and pocket   it has the best design out of all and has the  best storage options and the  best pricing out of all with the phone costing $220 (more like $260 with taxes  off contract  ) ,but the only reason i didn't make it number one is because of Windows Phone 8 , in theory ,there is nothing wrong with the OS ,but the Lumia 620 is mostly aimed at teenagers who require alot of apps and games which are still not present in with the Windows app store .I can definetly recommend this phone to anyone who will be satisfied with the basic day -to day apps like Facebook ,twitter , instagram etc ,but if you are a heavy user ,you better take a look at #1 

#1    Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini 

Oh no ..its another Samsung ,some might say ..well fortunately or unfortunately Samsung is the only company that has managed to hit the target population with devices that suit their needs correctly .

Basic Specs 

4" S-AMOLED display , Android 4.1  , 1 Ghz Dual Core    ,1GB  RAM , VGA front facing camera , 5 MP rear with  LED flash ,Removable back cover +battery 

The Good 

Samsung usually hits the population with a barrage of devices and they usually gain experience from the ones that sell very well , the Galaxy S3 mini is slightly based on the successful Ace 2 and is not related to the Galaxy S3 except for the looks and the "S3" name .The handset is really compact and it has got almost everything right .This might not be as Entry level as others , but due to Samsungs software restriction on Keeping the device stuck with one last upgrade  Android 4.2.2  the device's high price will eventually drop in a few weeks time 

The Bad 

Only biggest complain we can find is the high price point , but if you are lucky you can find one for $400 or less ( currently the price is $306 on Amazon and it's dropping fast )  , other problems - nope ...

Will it suit me ?  

This is one of those handsets that has got everything right , usually manufacturers ,when dealing with budget handsets usually omit something here and there ,but this device got everything you need ,the storage options are also superb and you can pick the S3 mini with 16/32 Gb onboard storage along with a 32 GB micro SD card slot , so if you plan on using a phone for a long time , this is probably the best to go for , but on the downside , this is the most expensive of all 4 here ,but if you have to option of stretching your budget a bit , then look no further.


UPDATE - Prices have been updated , the term Entry-level - mid range smartphones was changed to "affordable mid range smartphones " to avoid confusion 

Got any Questions or suggestions , feel free to leave a comment