I've saved up enough for a galaxy nexus which is what I want because I want an unlocked phone running stock Android 4.0 that gets regular updates. My current phone is a Nexus One and that's what I love about that phone.
Then I realised that the version of the Galaxy Nexus that is available online is the 16GB version. I wanted the 32GB version. That's the only way I could stand the Galaxy Nexus not having a micro sd card slot.
So I'd be willing to forgo getting the Nexus for a phone in the same neighbourhood, that has a micro sd card slot and which has or will get Android 4.0, preferably over the air.
I don't want to be forced to manually flash my phone to get updates, unless the phone is no longer supported by the manufacturer. I don't know how it works with unlocked phones. Do they get official updates from the manufacturer over the air or off their website directly? I don't mind doing official updates from off a website. (To be honest I want to be able to manually flash the phone with ROMs but I would prefer an official fallback whenever possible)
I would also forgo stock for one of the skins in the name of having officially provided updates and a micro sd card slot.
The Samsung Galaxy SII International Version seems to meet these needs, but I don't know if or how Samsung provides updates since it ships with 2.3 on Amazon. The HTC One X looks good too if I save up a bit more. But again I don't know how HTC provides updates for their unlocked phones. In the name of future proofing, I'd be willing to save that extra $300 for the Samsung Galaxy SIII also. Would that be worth it though? And again, how do the updates work?
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What's the best unlocked android phone for $400 dollars?
Shame you are not on Sprint or Verizon, because they sell the 32GB version for $549
The tricky thing is all other Android phones will probably come locked. If you are willing to save, I would, and then see what new groundbreaking phone comes out in the future!
The tricky thing is all other Android phones will probably come locked. If you are willing to save, I would, and then see what new groundbreaking phone comes out in the future!
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For 400 dollars un-subsidized, you're not going to get any better than the GNex straight from the play store. Unlocked phones will get OTA updates with few exceptions. If an update does not come over the air it will probably come as a signed zip to flash through stock recovery, or flash through fastboot usb from your pc.
The international GS2 got its ICS update over the air, so you don't have to worry about that. Flagship handsets always get updates OTA though to be honest, downloading an update from your pc is safer and faster. I've had one case where an OTA download was corrupt and bricked my phone.
Personally, I'd do whatever I could to get a galaxy s3. International version will have a quad core exynos and a huge screen. I prefer stock ICS so I would replace the rom as soon as I got it (There's already cm9 nightly builds for the gs3).
The international GS2 got its ICS update over the air, so you don't have to worry about that. Flagship handsets always get updates OTA though to be honest, downloading an update from your pc is safer and faster. I've had one case where an OTA download was corrupt and bricked my phone.
Personally, I'd do whatever I could to get a galaxy s3. International version will have a quad core exynos and a huge screen. I prefer stock ICS so I would replace the rom as soon as I got it (There's already cm9 nightly builds for the gs3).
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