[Q] Would you recommend to buy this phone? Why or why not?

[daas88]

My brother is looking for an unlocked (no carrier), cheap yet decent android phone, and we saw this one in Amazon for about $195 new, ~$140 used, and as it has a 1,5 Ghz dual core processor, 1GB ram, standard 8MPx camera, good screen size, we are considering to buy it.

But I'd like to know the opinion of people who own it, I've read it has some software issues, but are they still there with cyanogen mod roms? I checked and it has cm10.1, does it work well with it? Help us decide please.

 

[mattman86]

I would never recommend buying any phone for more than $20 or $30. But that's because I'm cheap and the "free" phone are just as good as the expensive ones nowadays.

Anyway, I would say no unless you don't plan on rooting and you buy the extended battery.

Sent from my LG-P930 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

 

[daas88]

I would never recommend buying any phone for more than $20 or $30. But that's because I'm cheap and the "free" phone are just as good as the expensive ones nowadays.
Anyway, I would say no unless you don't plan on rooting and you buy the extended battery.

I forgot to say that I'm looking for an unlocked phone, since I'm not residing in the US and can't get one of those that are "free" with a contract.

 

[audit13]

I really like my phone but the battery life isn't that good. With the avatar ROM, wind kernel, and pure performance, I get very little drain while the phone is sleeping. Once I start using WiFi or data, it seems to drain quickly.

Screen is nice, it's light, and has a nice feel.

 

[Namuna]

First, the Nitro for $200 off-contract is GOOD!

You're getting:

• Dual-Core 1.5GHz Scorpion
• 4.5", 720x1280 pixels LCD screen
• 4g LTE
• WiFi and DLNA
• Bluetooth 3.0
• GPS
• Accelerometer
• Compass (Hope this isn't something you'd really use, since the Nitro's compass is notorious for being BAD)

The main battery drain on this phone is the kickass screen and LTE. If you're in an area without LTE service and turn it off, that alone will increase the battery longevity by a BIG margin. As for the screen, set the brightness a bit lower when you don't need it and that too will help greatly.

This phone has its' hiccups, but so does any other phone, but for $200 and being off-contract for it, that's a good deal on this phone. I think your Bro would enjoy it.

 

[daas88]

First, the Nitro for $200 off-contract is GOOD!

You're getting:

• Dual-Core 1.5GHz Scorpion
• 4.5", 720x1280 pixels LCD screen
• 4g LTE
• WiFi and DLNA
• Bluetooth 3.0
• GPS
• Accelerometer
• Compass (Hope this isn't something you'd really use, since the Nitro's compass is notorious for being BAD)

The main battery drain on this phone is the kickass screen and LTE. If you're in an area without LTE service and turn it off, that alone will increase the battery longevity by a BIG margin. As for the screen, set the brightness a bit lower when you don't need it and that too will help greatly.

This phone has its' hiccups, but so does any other phone, but for $200 and being off-contract for it, that's a good deal on this phone. I think your Bro would enjoy it.

Well there's no LTE around here so he could turn it off, and he previously had a Xperia U (lost it), so it should be an improvement. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[mattman86]

First, the Nitro for $200 off-contract is GOOD!

You're getting:

• Dual-Core 1.5GHz Scorpion
• 4.5", 720x1280 pixels LCD screen
• 4g LTE
• WiFi and DLNA
• Bluetooth 3.0
• GPS
• Accelerometer
• Compass (Hope this isn't something you'd really use, since the Nitro's compass is notorious for being BAD)

The main battery drain on this phone is the kickass screen and LTE. If you're in an area without LTE service and turn it off, that alone will increase the battery longevity by a BIG margin. As for the screen, set the brightness a bit lower when you don't need it and that too will help greatly.

This phone has its' hiccups, but so does any other phone, but for $200 and being off-contract for it, that's a good deal on this phone. I think your Bro would enjoy it.

Even used... Considering that the person selling it most likely got it for around $30 from AT&T or Rogers?

 

[SeriousGeorge]

$200 isn't bad, but if you could stretch it to $300 and get a nexus 4 that's what I would do. A lot newer hardware, direct updates from google, and more radio bands supported if you decide to switch to tmobile or one of their mvno's in the future.

 

[SeriousGeorge]

Nexus 4 just dropped to $200 today, probably in preparation for the new one in a month or two. I'd definitely go with the nexus for that price.

Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 4

 

[Swetnes]

Nexus 4 just dropped to $200 today, probably in preparation for the new one in a month or two. I'd definitely go with the nexus for that price.

Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 4

Just make sure you get one made in Korea, the ones from China are garbage for some reason. So if the seller can verify that would be best. Also the Nexus 4 does not have an lte radio, if that's important. A very similar phone is LG's Optimus G (unlocked for $350) but has lte and 32gb built in (upgradeable) vs 8 or 16gb (not upgradeable) & quad core processor vs dual core. Just something to keep in mind. IMHO for $200 I would stay with the lg nitro. LTE + upgradeable memory, better ui. If that isn't important then stay with the Nexus, as long as its the Korean made and its not the 8 GB model.

Sent from my LG-P930 using xda app-developers app

 

[gd999]

Because of the high cost performance

 

[daas88]

Nexus 4 just dropped to $200 today, probably in preparation for the new one in a month or two. I'd definitely go with the nexus for that price.

Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 4

AFAIK, Google Play won't sell you phones if you're not a resident of the very few countries were they sell (US, UK, Australia, Spain, etc), but I'll tell him to give it a try, thanks for the heads up. Living on a 3rd world country sucks, btw.