On Tue, 3 Jun 2014, Avi Miller <avi.miller@gmail.com> wrote:
We are currently building new mobile applications for the community radio station at which I volunteer. In order to test the Android application, I need an Android device (obviously), so I’m looking for recommendations for a cheap device that will only really be used for development purposes. I’m not looking to replace my existing phone, so an Android tablet would be adequate.
Kogan has lots of cheap Android devices on offer. They might not have the ideal device for your purposes but it's a good place to start comparing. http://etbe.coker.com.au/2012/12/05/cheap-android-tablet-aldi/ http://etbe.coker.com.au/2012/12/10/returning-aldi-tablet/ Some people have suggested really cheap tablets. I'm dubious of that advice, some of the really cheap ones have reliability problems and lack features. I returned the really cheap tablet I bought a couple of years ago with Wifi range and battery life being two of the problems I found with it. A friend gave up on getting an Agora phone to be fixed properly under warranty after a few tries and accepted a phone that works for everything but GPS. For development purposes you want a device that's reasonably fast, you will probably end up repeating the same operation many times and don't want to wait for it each time. An older high-end phone like a Samsung Galaxy S3 will probably outperform some of the cheap newer devices that have the same price (when comparing an S3 on ebay with a new tablet or phone). As you need a device for a non-profit organisation it might be a good strategy to call for donations of damaged devices. A few cracks in the screen or damage to a significant component (such as MicroSD socket, camera, or GPS) can be enough to make people not want to use an older phone like a Galaxy S3. But such a slightly damaged S3 will be great for your purposes. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/