Samsung Galaxy Spica is the cheapest Android available in India [Reviews]

Samsung i5700 Spica was launched in February for Rs. 14,750, making it the lowest priced among the 10 Android phones officially launched in India. We're going by official launch prices here. In the grey market, the Spica works out even cheaper, to around Rs 13,000. What's even more promising is that the Spica is officially confirmed to get a 2.1 update from v1.5 soon.

A quick rundown of the specs, from GSMArena: 800 MHz processor, 3.2” HVGA TFT full touch-screen, 3G and WiFi connectivity. 180 MB memory, expandable to 32 GB vis MicroSD, 3 MP camera, 3.5 mm ear jack, Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor and a Digital Compass. Current Android OS Version: v1.5 (Cupcake)

So what's the catch? I wanted to find out, but haven't been able to source a unit for review. This would be a total value for money Android, especially if the Android v2.1 eclair update gets rolled over to India. As of March 17'th, it's official: The upgrade will be available from March 2010 in Germany and gradually rolled out to other European markets, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Asia, Africa and rest of the world.

The Spica has been launched in the UK as the Portal, we looked around for reviews abroad, and here's what we found.

Gary Cutlack, Techradar.com: "It's bright and big enough, and if you haven't yet used a modern smartphone you'll be staggered by the HVGA resolution. The tables have been turned here, with the Samsung Galaxy Portal's regular LCD screen somehow staying alive for a full day of in-bed, on-train, in-office, on-train then in-bed-again casual Twitter and web action. Battery enthusiasts will know there's a good scientific reason for all this - the Samsung Galaxy Portal has a 1500mAh battery, slightly larger than the usual 1400mAh versions or lower you find in other phones. Every little helps."

Clare Hopping, knowyourmobile.com: "Firstly, battery life is the best we've probably seen on an Android device. Although it packs the same 1500mAh battery as the Galaxy, its standby and talktime are dramatically improved. We left the Galaxy Portal on standby for two days and it was still displaying as full. When in use, the device lasted for more than 24 hours, and that included making a couple of calls in the period, listening to music for an hour and turning on push email. We even used Layar for a good half an hour, browsed Android Market and surfed the web."

Victor Philip Ortiz, PC Magazine M&NE: "Phone calls made through the Galaxy Spica were generally good. Though it has support for 3G, the Spica unfortunately does not have any support for video calling. Battery lasted for around a week after a full charge, much thanks to its 1500mAh battery."

Phonearena team, phonearena.com: "The Samsung Galaxy Spica i5700 sports a snappy 800MHz processor, but in reality, the presence of the mighty hardware is almost undetectable, because the phone doesn’t feel noticeably faster than the T-Mobile G1 or Magic... or the first Galaxy. The CPU, however, makes the quality Xvid and DivX playback possible at relatively high resolution. Moreover, the handset offers good sound quality when you listen to music and performs very well in terms of in-call quality (8/10). Voices sound loud and clear on both ends of the line and our only gripe relates to their sharpness."