Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 v Galaxy Y: You Know... For Kids!

Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 contract deals

Is your child badgering you to get them a smart phone, but you don't want to spend too much?  Then the Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 or Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 might be just the phone you're looking for. They're both small (good for tiny fingers), with a solid design should stand up to a bit of rough and tumble. While neither are all that powerful, their simplicity is appealing, making them good entry-level smart phones. There are also some very good phone deals available for these budget Androids. But which one is better?

Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 v Samsung Galaxy Y

If you want to go for a phone which has been designed specifically with children in mind then the Galaxy Y is the one to go for. The “Y” literally stands for “Young”. It has a tiny screen, just 3 inches at the diagonal, and will fit very nicely in to smaller pockets (it's about the height and length of a bank card, although much bulkier of course). The truth is though that the Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 meets these standards as well. Its screen is a little larger, at 3.27 inches and it has a better resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. The Galaxy Y only has a dismal 240 x 320 pixels, meaning that graphics and text are fuzzy.

The good thing about the small screens with low resolutions, however, is that they make the battery last longer. With light use, the Galaxy Y could last a few days without a recharge, which is practically unheard of with a smart phone. The Mini 2 is also pretty good on its battery.

Another reason for the longer battery life than usual is the smaller processor. In this case the Galaxy Y actually has the slightly larger processor, at 832MHz. The Mini 2 is only just behind at 800MHz though, and it is in good company as a couple of other excellent budget Androids, the Orange San Francisco II and T-Mobile Vivacity, also have that sized chip. In fact when it comes to budget Androids, the only one that really beats it is the Huawei Ascend G300 with a 1GHz processor.

Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 deals

Of course you are always going to have to make compromises when it comes to budget smart phones, and the screen of the Galaxy Y has certainly been sacrificed to make it as cheap as possible. Not only is it low-res but there is often a noticeable lag when swiping your finger across homescreens. Plus if you give anything but the lightest of touches, the screen will flex. Not a good sign. The buttons on the phone are not always the most responsive either.

While the Galaxy Mini 2 is a bit more expensive then, you do get a better screen as well as more internal storage (4GB to the Galaxy Y's 160MB) although in both cases these can be expanded with a microSD card, which usually come with the phone.

They both run Android Gingerbread, which is not the latest but does make just about every app at Google Play usable. Neither phone has a great camera, the Galaxy Y's 2 megapixel device producing quality a bit above what you would expect, but the Mini 2's 3MP camera does beat it.

All in all, there really isn't a huge difference between the phones. The Mini 2 is probably a bit better than the Galaxy Y on specs, but then on the other hand it's also a bit more expensive and doesn't have as good battery life. So it is really very much a judgement call. To compare the two in more detail though you can find the full specifications of the Mini 2 and the Galaxy Y on the Samsung website.

Google Play

Both phones serve as a very good stepping stone from a feature phone to a smart phone. They're basic and simple, and not overly powerful, but that's okay. They make for a nice transition if you're not accustomed to smart phones, especially for younger users.

So what's the biggest benefit of a smart phone over a regular feature phone? Well there are a few but for most people the main one is the amount of downloadable apps that there are available. For Android users these come at the Android Marketplace, now called Google Play. There are plenty of free apps available to download, and cover everything from iconic games such as Angry Birds to applications that let you point your phone at the night sky and will identify the constellations visible to you. There are social networking apps, ebook readers, apps for news and sports and just about anything else you can think of.

You can also browse the web of course and watch videos, listen to music and edit documents. The smart phone constitutes a revolution in phone design, so that we will never again think of them as simply allowing us to connect to people through voice and test. A phone can now be a computer that you can carry around in your pocket, and it's well worth getting involved in this relatively recent advance.

If you're already on the smart-phone ladder, however, then the San Francisco II, Vivacity or Ascend G300 are probably going to be more appealing budget Androids. If you're new to smart phones though, especially if you're young, then it's definitely worth checking out the Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 monthly contract deals and Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 deals available online.  You can also check out Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 white deals and Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 pink contract deals.

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Budget Music Phones: Nokia X3 Vs Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman

Nokia X3 Red

The Nokia X3 Red and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman are both marketed as music phones, but in all fairness we're taking a bit of a liberty by comparing the two. The Nokia X3 is a budget slider phone without 3G or wi-fi whereas the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman is an Android with a 1 GHz processor. They're in totally different leagues really, but they are both marketed as budget music phones so we'll compare them on that basis.

Specifications

Nokia X3 red

Size (HxWxD): 96 x 49.3 x 14.1 mm

Weight: 103 g

Screen Size: 2.2 in.

Screen Resolution: 240 x 320 pixels

Connectivity: Bluetooth, Edge, GPRS

Full specs at the Nokia website.

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman

Size (HxWxD): 106 x 56.5 x 14.1 mm

Weight: 115 g

Screen Size: 3.2 in.

Screen Resolution: 320 x 480 pixels (180ppi)

Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G

Full specs at the Sony website.

They're No iPhones

The first thing to consider, when talking about music phones, is how they compare to the iPhone. Which is in a way the most unfair comparison of all. If you have the budget to get an iPhone and you're looking for a good music playing phone then check out the latest iPhone deals or a high end Android phone. 

These phones we're consdierting here are for folks on a budget, so don't be expecting the best. Now, having said that, what do we get?

Budget Music Phones

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman

It's been quite some time since the brand “Walkman” had any cache with hip music listeners, in fact if you're old enough to remember them then you're probably too old to be truly hip anymore. For those of you who are not old enough to remember them, you see in the old days you needed a physical thing called a CD or cassette tape, and they only held about an hour and a half's worth of music at most. If you wanted to listen to them on the go then the Sony Walkman was one of the best devices you could get.

Of course nowadays that kind of hardware is practically obsolete and you can listen to music on just about any mobile phone, so what do these self-proclaimed music phones have that others don't? Well the Noika X3 boasts dedicated music buttons to the left of the display, allowing you to pause, play, stop, wind, etc. at the press of a button. There's also a 3.5mm headphone jack, but again that's actually pretty standard.

When it comes to the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman, its music playing capabilities are actually one of the most disappointing things about it, considering that it's been given the Walkman brand and is classed as a music phone. There are no easy to use buttons that enable you to control the music any easier than you would on any other phone, the supplied headphones are poor and perhaps worst of all it only comes with a 2GB micro SD card which, for anything but the most meagre music collection, is going to be far from sufficient. It can handle up to a 32GB SD card though and if you intend to use the phone for music primarily you'll probably want to make that investment.

As it stands then, when it comes to being a dedicated music phone, the older and more basic Nokia X3 actually is better in a way. At the very least it makes it easier to control the music tracks than the Sony Ericsson does. But there is of course more to a phone, even a music phone, than the music.

Other Features

The Nokia X3 is only two years old but you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a lot older. It's design is clunky, it doesn't support 3G or wi-fi and it has a small screen with a very narrow viewing range. What's more it's camera only uses a disappointing 3.2 megapixels and there is no auto focus function. Also, the call quality, usually excellent on Nokia's, is lacking in this model, even in areas with a strong signal.

On the other hand, when you forget about the supposed music superiority of the Sony Ericsson then you will find that it stands up very well to other budget Android phones. The 1 GHz processor makes it powerful, it's compact, there's a good build qulity and Sony's Timescape 4.0 user interface is excellent. For Androids the screen is rather low in resolution, making web browsing a bit tough; you're going to need to do a lot of zooming. On the plus side though it has Adobe Flash capabilities so watching videos on the net is perfectly fine.

Overall

If you're looking for a cheap music phone then check out the Nokia X3 red deals available because, although it is lacking in many places, it does stand up well as a budget music phone. On the other hand, if you're new to Android and you're looking for a good quality entry level device then it's worth looking at the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman black contract deals or Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman white deals. If you're looking for an alternative to the iPhone then neither of these phones are it, but if you're on a budget and you know exactly what you want from a phone, these are worth checking out.

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