Latest smart phones (as of November 2012)

Hey guys, 

Lot of you checked my previous post on smart phones. But as of now, they have become history and new giants have stepped in. Apple introduced new Iphone 5 (little old now) and started war with samsung while samsung played their xxl giant, NOTE 2. For some time apple was gaining lot and now things seem awkward. At the same time HTC is "quietly" rising from Taiwan. One X series is huge success. (This is a superb phone really.) Nokia is trying to keep up with the Lumia series and Microsoft gaming but still seems to be left behind. Google is paving another benchmark and released Jellybean 4.2. Phew. loads of stuff happening. Lets get to the game by checking out few points I discussed earlier also.

The mobile market is rocking these days. And changing nonetheless. Every month a hot shot is coming out and "goldies" become "oldies". (like poor S 2)  So which phone you should go for? What do you look in a phone? precisely speaking in a SMART PHONE.  These are some of the stuff we all like to check in a phone.

• first and best : LOOKS 
• processor
• ram
• camera
• video (1080p@30fps)
• wifi (hotspot) / GPS / HDMI
• thick or thin 
• good touch

Now these are the "Hottest" names dominating the mobile market these days. 

01. SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE II

Size             : 5.5 inch (Corning Gorilla Glass 2)
Storage       : 16/32/64 GB
Ram            : 2 GB
Camera       : 8 mp ( video 1080p@30fps) / 1.9 mp front

Processor  : Quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A9 (Chipset Exynos 4412 Quad)

OS               : Android OS, v4.1.1 (Jelly Bean)

Battery        : Li-Ion 3100 mAh
Price           : 110,000 (Sri Lankan rupees) / 2600 (Qatar riyal)

Check full specifications here (From GSM Arena)

This is a huge guy from South Korea with 2 GB ram. with 5.5 inch screen and clarity, Note 2 stands out in the list. Galaxy Note series started with a resounding quality. With brand new s-pen qualities, this guy continues to be within the best. But some people argue the size is quite too much. But this is a phablet. So this is what we get. Anyway a superb experience to have. 

02. SONY XPERIA ION
Size           : 4.55 inch ( Scratch-resistant glass )
Storage     : 16 GB (Microsd upto 32 GB)
Ram          : 1 GB
Camera     : 12 mp ( video 1080p@30fps) / 1.3 mp front
Processor  : Dual-core 1.5 GHz

OS            : Android OS, v2.3, 4.0, planned upgrade to v4.1

Battery      : Li-Ion 1900 mAh
Price         : 65,000 (Sri Lankan rupees) / 1900 (Qatar riyal) 

Check full specifications here (from GSMArena)

Here comes the first LTE version for SONY. Even though the mobile was announced in the beginning of 2012, this took few months to come out. So it faces severe competition with giants like Galaxy S3 and HTC One X. Even though the camera boasts for 12 MP, the quality lies beneath it. But a good, solid made phone.

03. APPLE IPHONE 5
Size           : 4 inch (  Corning Gorilla Glass, oleophobic coating )
Storage     :  16/32/64 GB storage  (No card Slot)
Ram          : 512 MB
Camera     : 8 mp ( video 1080p@30fps) / 1.2 mp front
Processor  : Dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9

OS            : iOS 6

Battery      : Li-Po 1440 mAh
Price         : 145,000 (Sri Lankan rupees) / 4000 (Qatar riyal) 

Check full specifications here (from GSMArena)

This is the long awaited and anticipated big thing form apple. By far, this is the thinnest of the family and has a great looking aluminium body. Apple has increased the performance well and the battery life also said to be quite good. But is it worth all the cost? (Honestly I'm not apple fan) There are much more powerful and worth Droids on the market such HTC one x and Galaxy S3. Also Iphone 4S users should be thinking is this worth the upgrade with only 0.5" screen size increase and no difference of camera. Anyway this showed massive sales numbers within the first weekend. But right now Apple does not show to be satisfies with new IOS 6 and IPAD 3 mini. 

04. HTC ONE X+
Size           : 4.7 inch (Corning Gorilla Glass 2)
Storage     :  32/64 GB storage  (No card Slot)
Ram          : 1 GB
Camera     : 8 mp ( video 1080p@30fps) / 1.6 mp front
Processor  : Quad-core 1.7 GHz

OS            : Android OS, v4.1.1 (Jelly Bean)

Battery      : Li-Po 2100 mAh
Price         : 90,000 (Sri Lankan rupees) / 2500 (Qatar riyal) 

Check full specifications (from GSMArena)

HTC one X+ came just following its predecessor one X. The mobile is superb with all 4.7 screen, fully equipped Jelly Bean, Beats audio enhancements, etc. But this was not able grasp the market like Galaxy S3 did which recently boasted to have sold 30 million devices. But I personally prefer HTC one X series. Rather than glossy back of the galaxy, matt finish of this droid feels more comfortable. Web browsing also amazing. And if you check true color effects of the camera, this stands out. Overall this a leading droids at this time. 

05. MOTOROLA RAZR HD XT925
Size           : 4.7 inch (Corning Gorilla Glass)
Storage     :  16GB storage (microSD upto 32 GB)  
Ram          : 1 GB
Camera     : 8 mp ( video 1080p@30fps) / 1.3 mp front
Processor  : Dual-core 1.2 GHz

OS            : Android OS, v4.0, upgradable to v4.1 (Jelly Bean)

Battery      : Li-Ion 2500 mAh
Price         : ----- (Sri Lankan rupees) / 2300 (Qatar riyal) 

Check full specifications here (fom GSMArena)

Again Motorola came up with a droid equipped with acceptable performance and good battery life. All in all this is a good experience, but not one of the best. The camera and the chipset do not stand out of the crowd. Here also battery is not user accessible. 

06. NOKIA LUMIA 920 
Size           : 4.5 inch (Corning Gorilla Glass 2)
Storage     :  32 GB storage ( No microSD slot)  
Ram          : 1 GB
Camera     : 8 mp ( video 1080p@30fps) / 1.3 mp front
Processor  : Dual core 1.5 GHz Krait

OS            : Microsoft Windows phone 8

Battery      : Li-Ion 2000 mAh
Price         :  (Sri Lankan rupees) / over 2500 (Qatar riyal)

Check full specifications here (from GSMArena)

Nokia released this new mobile after huge advertising and hope it is worth it. This just came into the market. There are giant droids and Iphone 5 waiting to battle against this guy. As per reviews, windows 8 seems to be quite an experience. Lets wait and see what it delivers.

07. BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9981
 
Size           : 2.8 inch touch with qwerty keypad  
Storage     :  8 GB storage  
Ram          : 768 MB
Camera     : 5 mp ( video 1080p@30fps) / NO front camera
Processor  : 1.2 GHz 

OS              : BlackBerry OS 7.0

Battery      : Li-Ion 1230 mAh
Price         : ----- (Sri Lankan rupees) / 6500 (Qatar riyal) 

Check full specification here ( from GSMArena)

Nothing new from Blackberry for quite sometime. This year the company was fully quite. Rumors are going around for Blackberry 10 but still it's not official released.

Google released Nexus 7 tablet sometime back. It's a stable device but short on camera. But LG Nexus 4 is on the market just few days back. with 2 gig ram and out of the box android 4.2 jelly bean, lots of people are waiting to hear about this. 

Anyway this is not going to be THE END. This is a hugely dynamic market and it's at the blossom. We will wait and see. May the better one wins.