Which Android phone to use for development...?

Question

Hi,

I'm planning to port a couple of games from iPhone/Windows Mobile to the Android platform. The games are written in C++ so I plan to use the NDK with a thin java wrapper.

I'm new to the Android platform and need some advice on which phone to buy for development. I suspect like Windows Mobile there is a level of fragmentation with different phones supporting different features (keyboard/ rotation/ screen size/ capacitive touch screen/ etc).

What are the best device(s) for development on the Android platform...?

They also have to be available in the UK/Europe.

Thank you in advance. Nikos.

Answer 1

If you want to support all versions of the OS I'd recommend a Hero, because this has the oldest OS version in the wild (1.5) which can be problematic. It is also hugely popular.

The two slowest devices that are out there in any significant numbers are the G1 and the Tattoo, but they are both on 1.6 which complicates matters.

If you want to support the state-of-the-art and aren't so bothered about a large install base, go for the N1 (2.1) or Droid/Milestone (2.0).

Answer 2

What are the best device(s) for development on the Android platform...?

Pick up any with 2.1 onboard and you will be fine. Android is only starting to get momentum right about this time, so the user base to come will largely possess >= 2.1 OS.

As for the best, it doesn't exist. Customers are waiting through years for a perfect device and never find it. In fact, that is what is powering the industry, a quest for the best device. It doesn't exist.

Answer 3

I currently develop on a HTC Hero (or G2 Touch as T-Mobile have dubbed it). It unfortunately does not feature a hardware keyboard, but is a powerful little phone. With custom firmwares about rooting one of these phones is a piece of cake (see http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=512)

In the UK we are still stuck with the 1.5 O/S - so bare this in mind when developing for the Android. We have been promised the newer 2.1 O/S later this year.

My opinion may not be the best, as this is infact my first Android device, but I have found developing on it pretty much pain free.

Good luck!

Answer 4

The emulators available with the SDK are actually quite good. That said it's always best to test things on real phones. I think the two main things you'll have to deal with in terms of device fragmentation are screen sizes and processor speeds. As far as I know nearly all devices have capacitive screens and support rotation, so those aren't issues.

In terms of speed, the two main things are the 'old generation' phones with approx 500MHz processors such as the Hero, G1, etc and then the new generation with 1GHz processors like the Nexus One.

Screen sizes, again you've got 320x480 on most older phones, and either 480x800 or 480x854 on newer phones. Android has an easy system for handling different screens densities and sizes within the same application, so the issue is more "How good does it look?" when dealing with graphics. There unfortunately, you may just have to either rely on the emulator for the size you don't have, or get access to a second phone somehow.

Edit: I didn't actually recommend a phone. I'd vote for the Hero or G1 now as well, simply because they're the older phones with smaller screens and slower processors. If your game is compatible with them, it's likely to be compatible with most other devices. (Yes, screens even smaller than the 320x480 exist, e.g. notably the 240x320 on the Tattoo, but I don't think they're very common.)

Answer 5

I think the Android Developer Phone 1 is still the best for development, if you install Android 1.5 on it. 1.5 still has a large enough user base that it's important to develop for them if you want to make any sort of splash in the Market (usage statistics). Also, it's one of the oldest Android devices with the least power both in terms of CPU and RAM, so you know if your app runs well on the ADP1 it'll run well on just about any other Android phone.

Answer 6

According to me, if you want to develop an application for android and you want to test it on the device i means real device then the best option is Android Dev Phone 2. You get more detail information about that phone from the following link.

This phone is specially for the developers. It provide all the required features and also the services.

Even I am using the same for testing the application I am developing.

Androi Developer Phone 2

Also this device model is not too costly in compare to other latest device models. You can get this device with Android OS v1.5 and later version.