Samsung Galaxy Y vs. Netphone 701

A lot of people are asking me why the Netphone 701 (ZTE Blade) is more expensive than the Samsung Galaxy Y Netphone Edition. So I looked a little closer and wondered the same. Here’s a quick comparison to give you a better overview of the two Netphone variants.

Aside from the fact that the Samsung Galaxy Y is the newer handset (released October 2011) compared to the Netphone 701 (released October 2010 as ZTE Blade), the latter is twice as expensive as the former.

Here’s a comparative chart of the two:

The big advantage of the Netphone 701 over the Galaxy Y is the bigger screen and the amount of RAM. However, memory management has been improved since Android 2.2 so this isn’t a big disadvantage by the Galaxy Y in terms of performance.

The faster processor and Gingerbread flavor on the Galaxy Y would certainly break even the differences between the two.

With this in mind, it certainly is a puzzle why the Galaxy Y Netphone Edition is much, much cheaper than the Netphone 701. That, plus the fact the it’s a Samsung handset versus a ZTE handset.

IMO, the Galaxy Y seems to give the better bang for the buck if it’s just the Netphone ecosystem you are after. There’s also the danger that the Galaxy Y will eat into the market of the Netphone 701. My guess is Smart is going to correct this price discrepancy soon.