What is a good, GSM android phone?

July 22, 2011 9:25 PM

Can you recommend me an inexpensive GSM android phone?

I'm looking to buy a second hand android phone, that uses GSM so I can use it while abroad. I intend on rooting, and unlocking it myself.

Buyable on e-bay please.

I want something with good value, under $100 used.

similar questions have been asked, but none recently

posted by Patrick Leo to technology (5 answers total)

If you want to go the knockoff route, have a look at Deal Extreme. Caveat: shipping from Hong Kong takes a few weeks.
posted by Horselover Phattie at 10:53 PM on July 22, 2011

Thanks for the suggestion, but i tried a knockoff available on that website before (cost me 100 usd) , and it was of very inferior quality, very laggy (a few seconds to load a message), very pixilated, and you had to pound the touch screen for the phone to realize you were touching it.
posted by Patrick Leo at 11:00 PM on July 22, 2011

The ZTE Blade (otherwise known as the Orange San Francisco) is well regarded and very cheap.
posted by mr_silver at 12:51 AM on July 23, 2011

Hm, I just went to read up on the ZTE Blade, and ran across this article on cheap Android phones.
posted by hattifattener at 1:05 AM on July 23, 2011

I'm using the Huawei Ideos right now. I don't have data so if you want that check to make sure its compatible. The touchscreen was almost too sensitive. The change from vertical to horizontal is laggy. Battery life isn't amazing but it works. Call quality is good. Wifi is blazing fast. I haven't played any serious games or rooted it. For me its primarily a PDA but it works just fine for that. Its perfectly functional and I'm pretty happy at 150 off contract.
posted by Rubbstone at 5:06 AM on July 23, 2011