Spec Sheet: Symphony W12 vs W15 – What’s Best for Lowest Budget

Symphony W12.

Gone are the days when you had to save up a large chunk of cash in order to get a smartphone. If you mean iPhone by an smartphone, well, you still need to save money. But if you’re looking for an Android phone, you may get one for as low as BDT 3,990. Though this price point does not guarantee you superb performance out of Google’s Android operating system, you can still taste the OS and use apps that are not available on feature phones.

Let’s take a look at the specifications of Symphony W12 and Symphoony W15 priced at BDT 4,350 and BDT 3,990 respectively. We’ll see which is a better option for the money you’re going to spend. Let’s start our Symphony W12 vs W15 comparison.

A Bangla edition of this article is published on Android Kothon main.

Hardware

Symphony W12

Both Symphony W12 and W15 offer 1 GHz processor with Mali-300 graphics processing unit. Both of them sport only 512 ROM  (internal memory, which can be increased given that you can root these phones) and even less RAM of 256. None of these specs are ideal for today’s Android ecosystem. Many might think that these phones run Android 2.3 Gingerbread so you shouldn’t have a problem with that low hardware. You might be right, unless you want to go to Google Play Store and install apps.

Developers update applications regularly to make sure they run on Android’s latest versions. Most of the apps on Google Play will not run on Android version below 4.x. Even if they do, the hardware limitation will significantly impact the performance on your device. So, you will be left out with an Android where you can only install apps but never get to enjoy a smooth performance.

So, while 1 GHz processor may be satisfying for the price point, the RAM and ROM is nowhere near what you should have for an optimum Android performance.

Display

Symphony W15

Display on your phone is what you’ll be most interacting with every day. Both Symphony W15 and W12 offers a 3.5-inch TFT display with a native resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. Now, there used to be Android phones with far worse display resolution. On a 3-inch phone, this resolution is totally fine. But on a 3.5-inch phone, you might feel the display being a bit washed-off white. But you can’t complain since the price is significantly low. So, both Symphony W15 and Symphony W12 offers a good display and touch panel for the money.

Camera

Neither Symphony W12 nor Symphony W15 offers a front camera. So, shoot down your hope to video chat on Skype. Symphony W12 has a 0.3 MP back camera while W15 has a VGA camera. As you can guess, they are pretty basic, lower-than-average cameras that you might want to use when capturing evidence of your friend pick-pocketing another friend. You obviously aren’t going to do much photography with these cameras.

Internet and Others

With the rise of 3G network in Bangladesh, everyone’s looking for phones and tablets that support 3G natively. Unfortunately, for this money, none of these Symphony phones offer you a 3G capability. 2G or EDGE is as good as it gets. Both phones have WiFi connections for your download and streaming needs, however.

On the sensor end, both phones have basic bluetooth compatibility and Symphony W12 has G-Sensor, which W15 lacks. Neither of them have GPS. But you shouldn’t worry, because for that amount of ROM and RAM, Google Maps isn’t going to be much usable beyond the basic navigation.

Battery

Always remember that your first priority when buying an Android phone should be the battery capacity. Because even if your phone has superb performance, it won’t be of much use if it doesn’t last long with a single charge.

Symphony W12 has a nasty 1,100 mAh battery while Symphony W15 sports a 1,400 mAh battery. You may think that this extra 300 mAh is not a big deal, but when it comes to Android phone, you want every hundred of mAh that you can get.

Symphony W12 vs W15 – Verdict

It’s not a hard decision to make between Symphony W12 and W15. The upside with W12 is that it has a G-Sensor. The upside of W15 is that it has a bigger battery. And we won’t think twice or take any more seconds to advise you to go with Symphony W15. Symphony W12 costs BDT 4,350. On the other hand, Symphony W15 is available for just BDT 3,990. It’s no-brainer that the one that costs more is better. But between these two, that’s not necessarily the case.

We don’t suggest anyone to go for an Android phone this low-end. It will ruin your Android experience especially if you’re a first time Android user. But not everyone can afford to get a mid-range Android phone. And between these two, because Symphony W15 has a bigger battery, our choice is Symphony W15. You will not regret the extra 300 mAh in your phone’s battery.

So, what have you been thinking? Let us know your thoughts and decision in the comments.

A Bangla edition of this article is published on Android Kothon main.