Bye Bye G300

[Guest Sonny Atwal]

The G300 was my first venture into android and probably my 4th smartphone after a Nokia N8, N96 and some Sony Ericsson from 5 years back. It was also the first phone I had decided to use "data" with because I switched to giffgaff and had no need for data before because Nokia Sat Nav's do not require it.

What can I say, it was a huge leap forward, having both data and android. I now possibly could not live without either. But the G300 for me was lacking multitasking power. As previously stated, I have bluetooth in my car, and I also use the phone as a sat nav. If I tried doing this on the G300, it lagged extremely badly, it was basically impossible to do both at the same time.

So I purchased a HTC One X for £249 (Grade A) from smartfonestore, unlocked it last night for £1.99 (ebay). Will play about with it for a month, before putting a custom ROM in it (with the power it has, it does not need it) but it should help improve battery life.

It came in perfect condition being a Grade A device and the price difference between Grade A, B and C is £10 each, therefore worth paying the little bit extra. The only thing is though, I had to constantly check the website every day for over a week before a Grade A device appeared, and it was on orange but decided it was best to just take it rather than wait any longer. Unlocking was a easy painless process. Sent IMEI and got code back 5 hours later for £2 an awesome service.

Because it is a lot more expensive than my G300 rather than spending just a couple of quid on a cover like i did for my G300 I spent £35 on an otterbox defender (beast of a case). Although it makes the phone chunky, it eases my mind that the phone is safe if dropped.

My wife still has her G300 and rather than sell mine, I will be giving it to a family member, who has never had an android phone so they can experience it for themselves.

The G300 is a brilliant phone, I would of kept it, had it been able to multitask better, but £251 for an unlocked HTX One X in perfect condition was too good to refuse. It still retails for £350+ brand new sim free. I'm loving the bigger screen, will test out it's power later on today.

If anyone else needs a more powerful phone, do take a look at smartfonestore, i can vouch for their service being very good. Although I did get the USB cable for the phone, I did not get a charging plug, luckily I already have my wifes, and one for my nexus 7 tablet as well.

I will still regularly venture in here, to update the wifes phone from time to time, so you may still see some posts from me. Now I just need to decide on whether I put ARHD or Viper on my HOX, but keeping it stock for now, until I can gauge battery life on stock.

[Guest toge64]

it is true, the g300 is not the multitasking beast i thought it would be at 100 quid. the lack of ram really hinders its performance in ics.

[Guest Rico_89]

Good luck, the HTC One x is a great phone and in a totally different category to the G300, however I don't like the fact that you can't use micro sd cards, so you're stuck with the internal memory that the phone comes with. But apart from that it is one powerful smartphone that should serve you well for at least a couple of years.

Edited October 6, 2012 by Rico_89

[Guest xZaratustrAx]

Many people buy a G300 thinking they'll get a S3 performance. G300 is the best device, but for it's price range.

Edited October 6, 2012 by xZaratustrAx

[Guest Curlie]

thats true

you cant compare a 160 euro device with a 500 euro device

[Guest b4da55]

Agree.there's no point comparing them

[Guest Davidoff59]

but it should work better than a zte blade.

[Guest MrPuddington]

but it should work better than a zte blade.

Yes, and on Gingerbread it does, but on ICS not so much. That is the real disappointment with the G300.

[Guest emu123]

i just upgraded to a samsung galaxy s3 from the g300

still think for the 72 pounds i paid for my g300 its a great little device

[Guest Ludak021]

would have been cheaper to buy some of the Chinese 5"-6" dedicated GPS devices with iGo maps for ~100 bucks and keep your g300...but oh well, to each his own.

[Guest fr0do]

Yes, and on Gingerbread it does, but on ICS not so much. That is the real disappointment with the G300.

we also have no where near the developer community yet so that comparison isn't fair.

And we may never get it as the landscape has changed... There are more devices to spread those devs out.

Daz does a great job on the crescent, but as a blade overclocked at 800mhz it practically catches fire in your hand when you push it. The G300 delivers on hardware, dogged by design maybe, but suffers from lack of support. You could easily compare that with early days of the blade.

Edited October 6, 2012 by fr0do

[Guest Daum]

So you bought a new phone... i don't see the point of this thread. Are you trying to say goodbye? o_O

[Guest Hogweed]

I find giffgaff is next to useless with the Google built-in Sat-Nav as it expects to be able to continually update over 3g and giff-gaff coverage just drops out too often for me. Not to mention the underlying O2 network 3g coverage is non-existent in many places I might actually want to go to. When I'm thrown back to 2g on giffgaff the data trickles in at a pathetic rate even for 2g.

Put my Vodafone SIM back in though and Google Say Nav works perfectly on my G300.

Edited October 6, 2012 by Hogweed

[Guest tillaz]

arhhh, i cant wait to get my new phone... feels like i'v been waiting forever for the thing to release lol

i think huawei could of made the g300 better with software to be honest... but for £100 we really cant expect the best :(

[Guest Sonny Atwal]

I find giffgaff is next to useless with the Google built-in Sat-Nav as it expects to be able to continually update over 3g and giff-gaff coverage just drops out too often for me. Not to mention the underlying O2 network 3g coverage is non-existent in many places I might actually want to go to. When I'm thrown back to 2g on giffgaff the data trickles in at a pathetic rate even for 2g.

Put my Vodafone SIM back in though and Google Say Nav works perfectly on my G300.

you obviously do not know that google navigation pre-caches your route and saves the map tiles temporarily. therefore theoretically, you could use your home wi-fi connection, leave your front door and get to your destination without even having data on your mobile. i personally have never ever had a problem with using google nav, even in places with no signal at all, because of the cache.

[Guest Sonny Atwal]

arhhh, i cant wait to get my new phone... feels like i'v been waiting forever for the thing to release lol

i think huawei could of made the g300 better with software to be honest... but for £100 we really cant expect the best

what phone you going for? because £250 for the HTC One X is a bargain, I know the G300 is only a £100 phone, but technology moves so fast, in 5 years time £100 will buy you a Quad Core no doubt. I just think the best bargain phone currently is the San Diego, pity it came completely locked down so it cannot be unlocked, otherwise I would of went for that originally.

[Guest tillaz]

what phone you going for? because £250 for the HTC One X is a bargain, I know the G300 is only a £100 phone, but technology moves so fast, in 5 years time £100 will buy you a Quad Core no doubt. I just think the best bargain phone currently is the San Diego, pity it came completely locked down so it cannot be unlocked, otherwise I would of went for that originally.

i'm getting the zte grand era,

• quad core tegra 3 (4 +1 battery saving core) 1.5 GHz
  
• 12 core GPU
  
• 4.5 inch 720P display (IPS)
  
• 1GB RAM
  
• worlds thinnest qaud core (7.6mm)
  
• USB-OTG support / hdmi via HML
  

the Chinese version is already available (U985) for 1999 Yuan = £199.99 LINK

WCDMA (European) version v985 releases this month for £230 to £250

[Guest Hogweed]

you obviously do not know that google navigation pre-caches your route and saves the map tiles temporarily. therefore theoretically, you could use your home wi-fi connection, leave your front door and get to your destination without even having data on your mobile. i personally have never ever had a problem with using google nav, even in places with no signal at all, because of the cache.

Oh yes it pre-caches the route as long as I've given it the route beforehand when I am in an area with good signal (like my house on wifi). If I put in a destination while out and about or go on a diversion on route it will often get completely lost with giffgaff but virtually never with Vodafone in my experience. The satellite view option isn't pre-cached either.

Edited October 6, 2012 by Hogweed

[Guest belmet]

to be fair despite the software shortcomings the g300 is a decent budget phone. i am a mechanic and go through phones for fun but this one has stood up very well to being covered in oil/grease, getting wet and generally surviving being in the pocket of someone who spends some time rolling on the floor. (under a car of course - not for fun :P ). i have owned much dearer phones that could not stand up to that kind of abuse but this one is still going strong. i was planning on upgrading myself but i am not sure ill find something as cheap and durable that when it does inevitably break i wont mind so much.

[Guest sedj]

G300 Works perfectly well with iGo Primo and My Way with no problems as the map is pre installed, all is available on the internet. The phone is losing it's momentum as there are few devs willing to tinker into making JB work, and as always new phones come along which detracts other people to jump to another platform.

Question is whats the next bang for buck phone?

I'm not arsed this does what i want and an s3 would just do things a little but quicker.

[Guest Al_1604]

G300 does what I want, aequately, at a very fair price. If the HWA issues are solved in the next ICS update then it just makes it even better value.

I know Huawei & Vodphone could have 'got their corporate fingers out a bit quicker' but it still leaves me with a great value phone that might just become even better in time.

I'd love an S3, Grand Era, HTC One X, etc. but I only had <£100 to spend and I still think I got the best phone for that money.

Those that managed to get one from Tesco at £80, £65 or less are really laughing (Lucky Ba****ds!). ;)

[Guest psionandy]

Personally i'm taking my g300 back. Its disgraceful that i spent £100 on an android device and it doesn't do a 0-60mph time anywhere near a and Audi S3. In fact Huawei even refused me details about any plans for the new turbocharged 2.0-litre direct injection engine upgrade.

I also found that the phone book didn't have any numbers in for celebrities and the calendar wasn't populated with winning lottery numbers for the next year. And don't get me started about Vodafone, as the man in the shop laughed at me when I suggested that a modern smartphone should have roaming capabilities that extended to the magical kingdom of Narnia.

I generally find its very poor at making coffee, has virtually no nutritional content and doesn't even have a stylus that tastes of peppermint.

There are all sorts of things that you can compare it to, fairly and unfairly... but as far as sub £100 smartphones go I'm very happy with it. I still can't think of anything in that price bracket that I'd consider traiding it for.

Edited October 7, 2012 by psionandy

[Guest Sonny Atwal]

to be fair despite the software shortcomings the g300 is a decent budget phone. i am a mechanic and go through phones for fun but this one has stood up very well to being covered in oil/grease, getting wet and generally surviving being in the pocket of someone who spends some time rolling on the floor. (under a car of course - not for fun ). i have owned much dearer phones that could not stand up to that kind of abuse but this one is still going strong. i was planning on upgrading myself but i am not sure ill find something as cheap and durable that when it does inevitably break i wont mind so much.

you wanna look at otterbox cases mate. i could throw my HTC One X at a brick wall full force and it would come out unscathed. or even the ballistic cases. it does add a bit of chunk to the phone but at least it guarantee's it is protected.

for all the people thinking this is a comparison between the g300 and the HOX you are mistaken. as said in the OP i would of kept the G300 could it multitask better, but it cannot. I require bluetooth whilst driving so I am not breaking the law, and I am in complete control of the vehicle whilst taking calls. i also require sat nav in my vehicle because i am regularly going to places i have never been before or from places i have never been before. the g300 cannot do these at the same time.

for the people saying why not just buy a seperate GPS? because I do not want to have to look after 2 different devices. some cars have been broken into, just to steal the GPS, etc. therefore i wanted a phone that could do bluetooth and GPS at the same time. also with 2 seperate devices, if you take a call on your phone, the GPS will still continue to speak, interrupting the conversation. also the same reason why ipod's are not so popular anymore is because people stick their songs on their phones. what is the point in having 2/3/4 devices, when your phone can do them all?

the G300 is a great phone, so long as you do not need to multitask on it.

[Guest unaszplodrmann]

for all the people thinking this is a comparison between the g300 and the HOX you are mistaken.

An easy mistake to make, given that half the opening post is dedicated to discussing the G300 in relation to the One X, almost as if it were... erm... a comparison. :lol:

Yes, a device with a single core processor, limited L2 and only 512Mb is not going to multitask as well an mid/premium budget phone, but it should be able to perform a single 'task' (i.e. run one interactive application) that requires both bluetooth and GPS. Are you discussing multitasking as most people understand it, I wonder?

[Guest Sonny Atwal]

An easy mistake to make, given that half the opening post is dedicated to discussing the G300 in relation to the One X, almost as if it were... erm... a comparison.

Yes, a device with a single core processor, limited L2 and only 512Mb is not going to multitask as well an mid/premium budget phone, but it should be able to perform a single 'task' (i.e. run one interactive application) that requires both bluetooth and GPS. Are you discussing multitasking as most people understand it, I wonder?

well i connect to the head unit through bluetooth (not through an application but using the settings menu).

i use navigation by google as a sat nav.

so the phone has, gps, data, bluetooth and a google app running nothing else.

if a call is received, it will come through my car speakers and i talk through the microphone located in front of the speedometer.

but it laggs horribly, and is unusable when trying to do this. if i turn navigation off, it is fine, if i turn bluetooth off it is fine, so it can do 1 job but not both, therefore the phone is unsuitable for me because i require bluetooth to be running always and i require navigation from time to time.