Is Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V worth the buck?

[pankajramnani]

I have been looking to buy an Android Smartphone, and have short-listed a few phones. I want y'all to suggest a phone for me in a budget of around Rs.17000. But one factor is inevitable for me. The phone's got to be upgradeable to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Thanks in advance! ;)

[ritwick]

If it were me, then I'd go for Motorola Defy Plus even though Neo V has got better specs like HD recording, upcoming ICS etc.

It's because I like the form factor of Defy Plus very much and the interface is better than timescape in my opinion. It would probably get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as it is launched with Gingerbread. It's a lifeproof phone and will go along with all your rough uses very well especially, if you plan to use it for a very looooong time.

Otherwise the Neo V is a good phone as proven by some reviews around the web and you can go for it. The Samsung Galaxy SL can also be another option for you if you do not mind not having a camera flash.
I'm planning to get myself the Motorola Defy Plus in January (when the price decreases to a satisfactory value).

Tell me what you buy in the end. Bye.

[hatZim]

I would second ritwick's suggestion. I think the Motorola Defy+ would get my love too.

[pankajramnani]

I'll keep that in mind.. But I want your views on another handset now! How this sony ericsson xperia ray?

[Aniket]

Does Neo V play AVI, XVid, DivX MKV videos? If no, can I download and install the respective players from Android market?

Also, SE phones are known for battery-guzzling, hanging and auto-restarting. Is Neo V an exception?

[hatZim]

Does Neo V play AVI, XVid, DivX MKV videos? If no, can I download and install the respective players from Android market?

Also, SE phones are known for battery-guzzling, hanging and auto-restarting. Is Neo V an exception?

The native Sony Ericsson Neo V player does not play the formats you've mentioned. But that should hardly be a reason for you to not consider buying the phone, you'll find a whole bunch of absolutely free apps on the android market that will allow you to play anything under the sun. So inability to play file formats is a non-issue.

As for the battery life, here's an excerpt from tech2's review: http://tech2.in.com/reviews/smartpho...-review/261772

Battery Life
Unfortunately the Xperia Neo V’s 1500mAh battery isn't its biggest asset. In our video drain test with no running apps or connections in the background, the handset clocked in 6 hours and 10 minutes, which is not too bad, but nothing to get too excited about, either. In our tech2 Loop test we played music, videos and streamed music audio online for 2 hours in each set with 1.5 hours of talktime thrown in for the first loop. That’s 7 hours and 30 minutes worth of non-stop usage. The handset was unable to even complete 20 minutes, when we started the second loop giving us a grand total of 7 hours and 50 minutes at a stretch with EDGE services switched on for mails.

Real time usage worked out to just about a day with normal mail, messages, chatting and music usage. It should have been much more. Battery optimization seemed to be an issue...

[vinay_g_shah]

U must be knowing its features so not writing them again. Straight to disadvantages so that u can compare features with them and decide for ur self.
•Display has poor viewing angles
•The competition phones have dual-core CPUs & 1GB RAM(this ones got 512RAM) with 1080p video recording and playback.
•No smart dialing
•Loudspeaker has below average performance
•No DivX/XviD support
•Memory card slot under the battery cover so not hot swapable.

[pankajramnani]

Please give me names of other phones as options! This is a request people!

[DeegoMeego]

Please give me names of other phones as options! This is a request people!

One phone I would suggest to you if your budget is low and you still want a gig of processor with nice features,, then go for SE Xperia Mini.

It has a 5MP cam, 720p video recording, 1GHz processor and yes, it has a 3 inch screen. It's a lot better than the 3.2 inch HTC, Samsung and Moto phones in terms of resolution and viewing angles.

If you want a handy compact yet a robust phone for nearly Rs. 13,500, I would say you should go for the Mini. Other phones would be the HTC Wildfire S and Moto Fire XT. They have a bigger screen but SE screens are the best. Bravia engine rocks...