

Ask HN: Recommended Android phone for dev/testing - dan1234

I work for an agency and part of that involves making iOS and, more recently, Android apps. We&#x27;ve got the iOS side of things covered but what hardware would people recommend testing Android apps on?<p>I don&#x27;t have a huge budget but could afford one 2.3.x &amp; one 4.x device.
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bigiain
Don't make the mistake I did a few years back, of buying the latest/greatest
Android device (A Galaxy SII at the time), do all your testing on it, then
find your app performs _miserably_ on the _far_ more common lower powered
handsets. (Some of the early jQuery Mobile betas were _glacial_ on a typical
"low end ~$50 on a plan" handset…)

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LarryMade2
Yeah - Buy the most popular phone for your target audience, if that's general
public, get it at a Wal Mart, Best Buy or some other place. Not only will you
have a good sense of hardware and platform limitations but also any issues
that might arise from the more common phone providers out there.

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jefflinwood
If you don't have a huge budget, get a used Nexus One off of Craigslist for
2.3 compatibility, and either a Nexus 4 ($299) or a Nexus 7 ($229) for 4.3
compatibility. That will depend whether you need to test your app on tablets.

Another option for 2.3 if you want something new is the Samsung Galaxy Player
- there's a whole line of these, but they have no phone functionality.

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nighthawk24
I suggest using a Samsung 4.x device (S3/4) and for 2.3.x: a Sony/Old Nexus S
if you can find it! [http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Advance-Unlocked-Phone--U-S-
Warra...](http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Advance-Unlocked-Phone--U-S-
Warranty/dp/B0093HKLVE/ref=sr_1_5?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1359131394&sr=1-5&keywords=Sony+Xperia+go)

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rubeh
Take a look on [http://swappa.com/](http://swappa.com/). It's an online
marketplace to buy and sell used mobile phones. Swappa is the official XDA
Developer marketplace and only allows to sell phones in excellent condition.

I would go for a Nexus device (Galaxy Nexus perhaps).

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tubbzor
I was in a similar situation in that I needed a cheap Android device to test
on with my college budget and I ended up going with a Nexus 7 for $200. You
can also easily find a used 2.x phone for cheap on craigslist or ebay. Hope
this helps.

