The year is almost over and December is finally here, YEAH!

We know how difficult it is doing your Christmas gift shopping for that special someone in your life or even for yourself. We at the Money Academy want to take the load off your back and make your gift shopping much easier. Why don't you get yourself or loved one a smartphone? there's a wide range of smartphones available in the Kenya market and guess what, they are all going at competitive prices.

Every Friday for the next three weeks we'll do a comparison of the wide range of smartphones available in the Kenyan market. We'll give you there pro's and con's plus prices so that you can make a sound decision while shopping for that ideal smart-phone over this festive season.

Lets set the ball rolling:

Android Phones

The Android mobile platform is becoming more and more popular. There are so many models out now it can be tough to find the right one for you. This Android phone round up should help you out a great deal.

So, Why Get an Android?

Well 2011 has certainly been a good year for Android. Some of the best smartphones released are running the Android operating system. With thousands of apps and games available and a great range of functionality the Android platform is a good choice. So why should you get an Android cell phone?

The Android platform is often praised for being open and because it allows for loads of customization and functionality. It is generally considered the best mobile platform for tech fans, casual and business users.

An explosion in app and game development has driven smartphone sales recently and Android is at the forefront when it comes to comes to apps development. Android indeed has the largest app market in the world, On 21 May 2011, Google announced that the number of apps on Android Market increased by 28,000 in April 2011, making a total of 200,000 apps. Isn't that incredible?

Many cell-phone manufacturers have been releasing Android cell phones and there are now options to suit the majority of budgets. Whether you need a high end powerhouse or just a basic Android cell phone you’ll find an option here.

Android Smartphones Available in Kenya

Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray

Features and Specifications

*Android Operating System
*2.31 GHz proccessor
*LED-backlit capacitive touchscreen
*Sony Mobile BRAVIA EngineMulti-touch input method
*Touch sensitive controls
*3G internet
*Email alert support
*8 Megapixel Camera
*HD Video Camera
*Wi-Fi Enabled
*FM Radio

Pro's

*It works through Android 2.3 Gingerbread a recent android upgrade. Therefore it can be good for users who have not used Android phones so far.
*The battery power of this model is good. It contains Li-Ion 1500 mAh standard battery. The standby time is up to 430h in 2G and up to 440h in 3G. Talktime is up to 6.50hrs in 2G and up to 7h in 3G.
*Camera quality is also good. It contains 8MP of camera with the resolution of 3264*2448 pixels. This level is sufficient enough to give you high-quality pictures. Furthermore Xperia models are highly popular due to the stunning camera quality. It has various other facilities like autofocus, Geotagging, LED flash, image stabilization, and face detection facility. These can give you full value to your money.
*The model contains 1GHz scorpion processor which is among the latest processors existing in the market.

Con's

*Internal memory is one of the main things. The model may not be a good choice for some people as it contains 300MB of memory. However it is expandable to 32GB with external slots but it can slow down the overall performance. The model contains 512MB of RAM.
*The size of the screen is 3.3 inches. Although it is not less yet most of the people may not prefer it. There are a number of models in the market which have 4.3 inches of screen. You can watch videos and play games more easily in a 4.3 inch screen in comparison to 3.3 inches of screen.
*Most of the functions are very similar to other Xperia models. Therefore do you think that a person using a previous Xperia model will go and buy it?

Currently this phone retails for about 39,999 Kshs

Sony Ecrisson Xperia Arc

The world’s thinnest phones

Features and Specifications

*Android Operating System
*2.31 GHz proccessor
*LED-backlit capacitive touchscreen
*Sony Mobile BRAVIA EngineMulti-touch input method
*3G internet
*Email alert support
*8 Megapixel Camera
*HD Video Camera
*Mobile Wi-Fi transmitter
*HDMI port
*FM Radio

Pro's

*As already mentioned the phone’s dimensions are the major attraction factors as far as the device is concerned. With a sleek design of 125x63x8.7 mm and weighing just about 117g, the phone has a crystal clear LED backlit LCD touchscreen measuring 4.2”. The phone is really light for this screen size.

*The camera of the device is an excellent 8MP point and shoot which is fitted with a number of welcome add-ons such as autofocus, LED flash, touch-focus, image stabilization, geo-tagging, etc. Additionally the camera is also capable of recording videos at 720p and 30fps. The image and video quality, both are excellent and given the plethora of editing options, one can add a touch of beauty to the already amazing pics.

*It is one of the very few XPERIA devices to have a Gingerbread OS, and boy-oh-boy we love the thing! With an 1GHz Scorpion processor and an Adreno 205 GPU, embedded in a Snapdragon chipset, the phone runs very smoothly and the interface is almost flawless.

*The battery is extremely strong and agile.

Cons

*The biggest flaw is its internal memory. With a mere 320 MB ROM and a 512 MB RAM, the phone is simply not worth its money. It comes nowhere near the likes of the Galaxy S-II and other phones. Of course, there is the microSD expansion option but we are not sure how fast that will fill up given the power of the camera and the greed of people for apps, having Android phones.

*GPRS and EDGE are also not very good as they have an upper limit of 86kbps and 237kbps respectively. 3G is decent but even that is not up to the mark.

*Though the display is clear, the screen lacks the powerful Gorilla Glass display which is very crucial because it adds an extra layer of protection to the screen as such.

This phone retails for around 55,999 Kshs

Sony Ericsson Xperia X8

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 is a mid-range entry that birdges the gap between the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini and the Xperia X10.

Features and Specifications

*Android Operating System
*Capacitive Touchscreen
*3G Internet
*3.2 Megapixel camera
*Accelerometer for auto-rotation
*Memory card support
*Wi-fi enabled

Pro's
*It's actually pritty good for web surfing,

Con's

*Battery is not the best - lasts about a day and a half with moderate use
*3.2mp, no flash and no auto focus
*You can NOT use the phone to connect your pc/laptop to the internet.
*Kinda think in width for a smartphone

This phone is retailing for around 17,499 Kshs

Sony Ericsson X10

Features and Specifications

*Android Operating System
*1 GHz Snapdragon processor
*Capacitive Touchscreen
*8 Megapixel camera, face & smile detection
*Accelerometer for auto-rotation
*Memory card support
*3G Enabled
*Wi-Fi Enabled

Pro's

*The phone looks awesome and feels even better.
*As long as you love blue, you are going to love the UX interface. It exudes style and beauty without feeling over the top.
*The WVGA resolution display is both bright and crisp. Its holds on fairly well even under bright sunlight.
*As long as your social networking needs are modest, you will be satisfied with this phone

Con's
*The volume is low all around. While the volume of the music player is passable, the call volume is too low for comfort.
*This premium device lacks a music equaliser or a playlist editor.Even more surprising is the omission of Divx support.
*Eats up a hell of a lot of battery, even while idle
*Run's on an older version of Android OS.

This phone retails for around 37,999 Kshs

Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro

Features and Specifications
*Android Operating System
*Capacitive touch screen Qwerty keyboard
*3G Internet
*5MP camera
*Wi-Fi enabled
*Bluetooth Enabled
*FM Radio

Pro's
*Has a slide-out Qwerty keyboard for those who find it difficult using the touch screen.
*Browsing, composing texts and email and making notes is an absolute breeze
*The keyboard itself is well designed and easy to use, the keys are slightly raised and well spaced.
*The X10 Mini Pro’s 5-megapixel camera is fairly decent, having both a flash and auto-focus.
*For a little device, you can actually fit quite a lot into the X10 Mini Pro, which can handle up to 16GB via its microSD
*A good performer with 600MHz Qualcomm processor.

Con's
*The phone is extremely tiny but thick with 90 x 52 x 17 mm dimensions
*Its small screen makes it difficult to web browsing, you can’t watch videos and play games
*It is slightly thicker and, inevitably heavier, on account of the slide-out Qwerty keyboard
*the text preview window is absolutely tiny which is very annoying.
*it uses Android 1.6, which is now, well, practically ancient.

This phone retails for around 23,999 Kshs

Sony Ericsson X10 Mini

Features and Specifications

*Android Operating System
*Capacitive Touchscreen
*3G Internet
*5 Megapixel camera
*Wi-fi Enabled
*Bluetooth Enabled
*FM Radio

Pro's
*Its a very stable phone. The 600mhz processor does a great job keeping up with the custom UI that is overlayed on top of Android 1.6.
*its touch sensitivity is very accurate.
*Equipped with an extremely loud speaker, it is easy to hear your caller even in noisy environments.

Con's
*This device was created with the idea of single-handed operation in mind, thus you can't multi task as much with this phone.
*It comes with the Android 1.6 OS which is currently out dated.
*The smaller 2.5” screen does take some getting used to
*loading "busy" websites and longer YouTube videos seemed to take ages
*Users rated it as having a weak battery thus not ideal for heavy user who makes many phone calls per day while possibly sending text messages, checking email, and using applications.
*Low screen resolution

This phone retails at around 15,999 Kshs

Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S plus i9001

Features and Specifications
*Android Operating System
*Capacitive Touchscreen
*1.4 GHz Scorpion processor
*3G Internet
*5 Megapixel camera
*HD Video camera
*Email alert support
*8 GB Internal Memory
*Memory card support
*Wi-Fi enabled
*FM radio

Pro's
*Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 480 x 800 pixels, 4.0 inches, Gorilla Glass displays
*Camera: 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, 720p video @ 30fps; plus has a secondary VGA camera
*Memory: 8 GB storage, 512 MB RAM, 2GB ROM, microSD up to 32GB;
*Runs on the latest Android OS
*It is thinner than the average bar phone
*Has reliable battery life

Con's
*No HDMI plug port, an essential aspect of a HD phone
*Has a smaller resolution as compared to the iPhone 4 which both happen to be in the same price bracket
*Not that physically attractive

This phone retails for around 47,000 Ksh

Samsung Galaxy II i9000

*5 MP camera
*4,0 inches touchscreen display
*Audio Playback
*Expandable memory upto 32GB
*Bluetooth
*Wi-Fi
*Android 2.2 Operating System

Pro's
*AMOLED display of 4 inch screen
*camera of 5 megapixels that has autofocus and video recording of 720p capability with 30 fps frame rate.
*Has the ability to play videos of format DivX and Xvid

Con's
*Run on a earlier version of Android OS as compared to the Galaxy S plus i9001

This phone retails for about 41,999 Kshs

Samsung Galaxy Pro B7510

Features and Specifications
*Android Operating System
*QWERTY Keyboard
*Capacitive Touchscreen
*3G Internet
*3.2 Megapixel camera
*Email alert support
*Memory card support
*Wi-Fi enabled
*FM radio

Pro's
*I deal for the business users
*Has qwerty keyboard thus ideal for business users

Con's
*In spite of having a qwerty Keyboard one has to touch the screen to make a call
*The touch screen isn't user friendly
*Low battery life
*Comes with no secondary camera

This phone retails for around 25,800 Kshs

Samsung Galaxy Ace

*Android Operating System
*Capacitive Touchscreen
*Multi-touch input method
*3G Internet
*5 Megapixel camera
*Email alert
*Support Memory card
*Wi-Fi enabled
*FM radio

Pro's
*The handset has an expensive look about it.
*Has a good battery life
*The external plastics used are of a good quality

Con's
*The display quality is quite disappointing and does not have an auto-brightness mode (TFT Screen)
*Considering that the Ace is only 59.9mm wide, the keyboard in question may turn out to be narrower than other texting phones.
*has a camcorder but its top recording rate of 20 frames per second (fps) is rather low.

This phone retails for around 30,999 Kshs

Samsung Galaxy SII

Features and Specifications
*Android Operating System
*v2.3Dual-core 1.2GHz processor
*Super AMOLED Plus Touchscreen
*Multi-touch input method
*3G internet
*Email alert support
*8 Megapixel Camera
*Full HD Video Camera
*16 GB Internal Memory
*Document Editor
*Wi-Fi Enabled
*FM Radio

Pro's
*Runs on the latest version of Android OS
*Runs on a 1GB Ram with internal memory of 16/32 GB with the option of expandable battery.
*Its 8 MP camera shoots photo's in excellent resolutions and can also record high quality videos
*Excellent display on its super AMOLED 4.3" touch screen

Con's
* Samsung Galaxy S2 gets hot very fast – when you use internet ,and GPS services heavily
* The screen can easily get scratches
*Poor battery life
*No hardware key for camera – It really sucks ,If you want to use camera you have to go through the software menu
*Can become slow at times

This phone retails for around 60,000 Kshs

Samsung Galaxy S

*Android Operating System
*Super AMOLED touchscreen
*1GHz processor
*3G Internet
*5 Megapixel camera
*Multi-touch input method
*Memory card support, up to 32GB
*Wi-Fi enabled
*Email alert support
*FM radio

Pro's
*Stunning 4" Super-AMOLED display @ 800 x 480px
*Runs a current generation high end 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU by Samsung (Hummingbird).

Con's
*No camera flash.
*Terrible GPS performance
*No dedicated Camera button.

This phone retails for about 44,399 Kshs

Samsung Galaxy Mini S5571

*Android Operating System
*3G Internet
*Full touch screen
*E-mail alerts
*3.2 MP Camera
*Wi-fi enabled
*FM radio

Pro's
*Having a good performance at an affordable price
*Using the Android OS 2.2 (Froyo)
*The screen is large on its class and it support multi-touch

Con's
*The camera is not auto focus and video can only record at 15 fps
*Although it is already using the Android OS Froyo, but this phone does not support Adobe Flash on its browser.
*There is no dedicated button for the camera

This phone retails for about 13,999 Kshs

ZTE San Francisco

Features and Specifications

*3.15 MP camera
*3.5 inches touchscreen display
*Audio Playback
*Expandable memory upto 32GB
*Bluetooth
*Wi-Fi
*3G
*Android Operating system

Pro's
*Very high resolution screen
*Sharp display of text, images and video
*Very thin and slick
*Fast data transfer: HSDPA (7.2 mbps)

Con's
*Comes locked to Orange network
*Lack assisted GPS
*Short battery life
*Poor camera
This phone retails at around 12,299 Kshs

Huawei U8180 Gaga

Features and Specifications
*3.15 MP camera
*3.5 inches touchscreen display
*Audio Playback
*Expandable memory upto 32GB
*Bluetooth
*Wi-Fi
*3G
*Android 2.2.2 Operating System

Pro's
*Very affordable
*Runs on a resent Android OS
*Average battery life

Con's
*Its not super-fast
*The tiny 2.8 inch screen is too small for a touch screen phone
*No camera flash

This phone retails at around Kshs 10,000

Huawei VF 845

Features and Specifications
*Android Operating System
*Full touch screen
*3.2 Megapixel Camera
*3G enabled
*Expandable Memory
*Wi-Fi Enabled
*Bluetooth

Pro's
*Small compact phone for those who love small phones
*Increased the number of home screens to seven and added a number of widgets, including a calendar, clock and photo viewer
*It supports HSDPA for fast data access on the move
*Its battery life isn't too bad either

Con's
*71mm (2.8-inch) resistive touchscreen, so it doesn't support multi-touch zooming
*Its resolution isn't great either, at just 320x240 pixels
*Doesn't exactly offer lightning-fast performance, and it can sometimes seem positively sluggish.
*The 3-megapixel camera is not ideal

This phone retails for around 12,999 Kshs

Huawei U8800 x5

Features and Specifications
*Android Operating System 2.2
*3G Internet
*Full Touchscreen
*Fingerprint resistant surface
*E-mail alert support
*5 MegaPixel Camera
*HD Video Camera
*Mobile Wi-fi transmitter

Pro's
*Has a clear, sharp display
*A decent camera
*HD 720p video capture
*A touch of premium styling.
* Manageable battery life

Con's
*There's no camera shutter button
*The microSD card is behind the back cover
*Call quality is variable

This phone retails for around 24,999 Kshs

Huawei ideos

Features and Specifications
*Android Operating System 2.2
*3G Internet
*Full touch screen
*3.2 Megapixel Camera
*E-mail alert support
*Memory card support
*Mobile Wi-fi transmitter
*FM Radio

Pro's
*Capacitive touch, android froyo
*Good music sound AND call quality

Con's
*low battery life especialy in 3G.
*Very small keyboard, obviusly due to 320x 240 screen
*no equalizer but music player with equlizer can be installed
*The phone lags at times
*Low quality standard and video camera

This phone retails for about 8,999 Kshs

LG

LG Optimus Black P970

Features and Specifications
*Android Operating System
*1 GHz proccessor
*LCD capacitive touchscreen
*Multi-touch input method
*3G internet
*Email alert support
*5 Megapixel Camera
*HD Video Camera
*2GB Internal Memory
*Wi-Fi Enabled
*FM Radio

Pro's
*The screen is made up of nova display with 720 nits. This phone is known to be the brightest in the world. Even iPhone is just around 450 nits. Awesome screen display.
*The screen is 4" big thus you can enjoy watching videos on it
* It comes with a 5 MP pixel camera which takes awesome shots and the video quality is also very decent it records HD videos at 720p @ 25 frames per second.
*Looks wise this Phone is just hot. Its very slim less than 9 mm, slimmer than iPhone and weighs only around 100 plus grams. Super light and super cool looking and ultra slim.
*Comes with of 1 GHz capacity processor meaning that you can run around 10 plus apps simultaneously and they run without any problems or hiccups.

Con's
* The battery drains like the energy in a human body when he visits office on a Monday morning. Poor battery life.
*it comes in pre installed with Android Version 2.2 Froyo which is up gradable to Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It would have been great if the phone had 2.3 preinstalled.
*The screen looks good but when you touch the Screen sometimes it lags in response which is very annoying some times.

This phone retails for about 39,999 Kshs

LG Optimus Me P350

Features and Specifications
*Android Operating System
*Full touch screen
*3G Internet
*3.2 Megapixel camera
*E-mail alert support
*Memory card support
*Wi-fi Enabled
*FM radio

Pro's
*Its small, compact and light
*The battery cover is rounded, with a slightly rubberised texture, preventing the phone from slipping from your grasp
*LG has made some rather subtle tweaks to the Android operating system, with altered menus, exclusive widgets and time-saving enhancements. Our favourite is the bank of toggle buttons that appear when you drag down the notifications bar. These allow you to quickly control elements such as wireless connectivity, Bluetooth and GPS functionality.

Con's
*The 2.8-inch, capacitive touchscreen is arguably the Me's weak spot. It's smaller than the display on the Optimus One and has a lower resolution, which can cause issues when reading text or browsing detailed websites.
*The phone's 3-megapixel snapper is very similar to that of the Optimus One, offering mediocre snaps and standard-definition VGA video recording. As with most budget phones.
*The phone's 1,250mAh battery is pretty average. With careful power management, you can eke out just over a day's worth of use before you need to recharge.

This phone retails for about 14,999 Kshs

LG P500 Optimus One

Features and Specifications
*Android Operating System
*Full touch screen
*3G Internet
*3.2 Megapixel camera
*E-mail alert support
*Accelerometer for auto-rotation
*Wi-fi & Bluetooth Enabled
*FM radio

Pro's
*The phone feels solid, pleasantly heavy and well made, with a slightly rubbery snap-on back cover giving you a little extra grip.
*Has neat 3.2" screen
*The phone is ideal for those who love small compact phones

Con's
*Has a plastic screen thus prone to scratches
*Poor camera quality and video quality
*Doesn't have the best screen quality

This phone retails for about 22,699 Kshs

Motorola

Motorola XT701

Features and Specifications
*5 MP camera
*3.7 inches touchscreen display
*Audio Playback
*Expandable memory upto 32GB
*Bluetooth
*Wi-Fi
*3G
*Android Operating system

Pro's
*Has a HD video recording and a Xenon flash to a lighter, more attractive form factor.
*Has a 3.7in capacitive touchscreen
*It is slightly larger than the iPhone 3GS' 3.5in screen but is brighter and text is much crisper. The display also supports multitouch, but it isn't as kind to fingerprints as the iPhone, requiring constant wiping to keep free of grubby marks.
*Despite running a modest 600MHz processor we experienced little to no lag, so performance is adequate

Con's
*The phone looks a little thicker than it actually is due to the two-toned, flat design

This phone retails for about Ksh 29,999

Next week we'll tackle all the Nokia smartphones on the Kenya market