Sometimes i love to read dis thread. And i found dat mostly people recommend sony xperia ray or same with it. May i noe does those fon good? Xperia ray xperia arc and the family of se xperia.
We usually recommend those for the camera since no other decent phones with good camera below 1k. Lumia 800 and N8 got good camera also but nowadays most people want Android.
Because RM800 is on the sweet spot for most budget phone buyers.
Entry level of high end phone.
Xperia ray is fine if you can live with the small screen, otherwise go for Xperia Neo. Ah yes, I go no problem with my xperia ray, everything goes smooth. The recent release of ICS caused performance slow down. If you are a gamer, don't update to Sony's ICS, it got bad gaming performance. The user interface is as smooth as gingerbread after some modding.
However, the Xperia U is replacing ray/neo already.
Ray/Neo remains as a good choice if you are willing to trade the dual core processor for a better camera.
As for Samsung, decide yourself...
Example :
Galaxy Y - RM450+-
Xperia Mini overhelms the war without any hiccups.
Galaxy Ace - RM700+-
I rather get Xperia ray ap set. The CPU and GPU is a generation ahead.
Galaxy W - RM900+-
Xperia U eats it alive, with it's dual core.
Galaxy Ace Plus - RM900+-
Xperia U again leads with it's dual core.
Galaxy S Advance - RM1100+-
Xperia sola is just RM999, comes with similar spec.
The most important part, Xperia phones have official ICS update, while Samsung's offerings just don't.
I wonder why people are still willing to pour out extras. Due to marketing gimmick?

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Galaxy ace no more edi, replaced by ace plus which only costs RM6xx ori set. S advance costs below RM950 now.