Resistive Androids: Stay Away From These

[rajanmehta 4,056]

With hordes of inexpensive Android phones coming our way each day, I think it is my duty to inform the uninformed about the perils of a resistive touchscreen - the kinds that some of those cheap Android phones are employing these days. Long story short - Resistive screens were a thing of the past where input on a touchscreen was performed using a thick tooth-pick like object called stylus. The popularity of capacitive screens soared after its use in the iPhone in 2007. Capacitive screens are designed to work well with fingers, not pointy sticks. They also support multi-touch gestures. Since then, all the phone makers have either been trying to do two things - still make resistive screened phones with a tweaked UI that works better with fingers (classic example: the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic). But now most makers have moved on to using capacitive screens in their phones as well.

Resistive screens are now finding their way into cheaper phones under Rs. 10,000. While we're not arguing that resistive screens are horrible and absolutely unusable with fingers, the smoothness offered by the capacitive ones is quite noticeable. Don't believe us? Walk into any big electronic store where they let you demo cell-phones (like a Croma or E-Zone), and try out say...the LG Optimus GT540 and the LG Optimus One P500. Make sure that you swipe between home-screens and do other stuff like typing out a long text message. I bet my life (no wait, my helmet) that you are bound to find a superior experience with the capacitive-screen driven Optimus P500. Lastly, Android, as a mobile operating system, was designed with finger usage in mind, not a stylus.

Some might argue that resistive screens offer great value for money since they're cheaper. But when the difference is barely of Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000 at most, I believe paying the extra is absolutely worth it. For example, the Micromax Andro A60 sells for Rs. 6,700 while the Samsung Galaxy 5 is for Rs. 8,900. No prizes for guessing which has what kind of screens. As of now, there a couple of such rotten eggs in the market that we have no other option but to bring out to the firing squad:

• Micromax Andro A60
• Dell XCD28
• LG Optimus GT540
• LG GW620
• Acer beTouch E110
• HTC Tattoo

Source: Techtree

[confused_follower 12]

Good Info for the uninitiated. +1 for helping others.

Any quick checks to identify if the screen is capacitive or resistive?

Edited December 15, 2010 by confused_follower

[piyushj 16]

in summary-

resistive -- pressure sensitive (slight touch won't work), cheap

capacitive - touch sensitive, costly (worth the cost though),better for gesture, multi-touch etc.

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

Yes above all, these resistive screened phones may give bad impression about ANDROID to newbies as say "Android is slow, low responsive, etc..." while the fault is on cheap phone makers.. Also the processors <= 500MHz used in such phones may force its users to mistakely think as "Android is slow or buggy"

To get first class experience on Android is to get phones of screen size >= 3.5" capacitive touch (ofcourse SuperAMOLED will be best) with minimum resolution of HVGA on Eclair or more.. Well, such phone will be very very costly and not in reach of masses.. But that is the best way to enjoy Android to full extend (for the time being atleast), imho..

Edited December 15, 2010 by KanagaDeepan

[mihirf2003 7]

very true mate..... good info for newbies....

[commonman 228]

Presently the only capacitative touchscreen @ 10K is Spice Mi300 with 3.2 inch HVGA Screen, 5MP camera with flash and Android 2.1

Around Diwali they were also offering a 2.5 K QWERTY Dual SIM Handset (QT-50) free with it. Don't know whether the offer is still there.

[raccoon 53]

You forgot the Samsung Galaxy 5?

The worst amongst the biggies, in this respect too, is Nokia. They are doggedly sticking to resistive screens. Only now they have come out with their 1st capacitive screen... and that too only for the premium slot. In fact some new models yet to hit the market still have resistive screens! Seems everything moves slowest with Nokia...

No doubt that capacitive screens rule over resistive, when you want to operate using fingers. However, reports say resistive screens have longer life and are more durable (though more scratch prone). Have read reports that the life of a capacitive screen is only 2 years! If true, this is just way too less, esp. considering the prices of upper end Android phones.

Since touch screen phones (esp. capacitive) have recently started proliferating the market, I know its bit too early to comment on their life. But do any really early users comment on how long their touch screens have lasted?

Edited December 15, 2010 by raccoon

[neerajayshree 36]

The best Part in the Above post was

I bet my life (no wait, my helmet)

The rest was the real part thanks Rajan ji

[satishdave 2]

Thanks for such useful info.. infact ..i was going to try one android with resistive screens, cos of lowcost..now kept that aside.

Thanks

[shadaabsharik 10]

thanx for the information buddy,+1 for u

Have a Blessed day

[dkaile 1,051]

But at a cost difference of nearly double; e.g. Andro costs just 6800 bucks while LG Optimus One is 12.5K; and I have handled andro, though the screen lacks compared to O1 but it aint a bad deal otherwise...