Deal: The Best iPod Touch Alternative in the Virgin Mobile HTC One V Is Now $149
Humberto Saabedra
Android based iPod Touch alternatives have been the definition of hit hit-or-miss, with the misses outnumbering the hits. Since the launch of the Galaxy Player series by Samsung in 2010, many have been wondering where the Android manufacturers are focusing development on since Samsung’s Galaxy Player series isn’t very compelling and are generally overpriced in context to their specifications, with older hardware and lower build quality compared to the manufacturer’s own Galaxy smartphones.
In fact, so poor are the current choices for Android based iPod Touch alternatives that many enthusiasts simply resort to buying older Android smartphones to use as media players, owing to better hardware and relatively lower cost compared to the current wave of dedicated Android-based media players. Enter the HTC One V as released by Virgin Mobile, quietly released earlier this year as the entry-level model in HTC’s celebrated but slow selling flagship One smartphone series.
While considered the entry-level model, the phone’s actual specifications nearly match the last-gen iPod Touch and improve upon certain others, with a 3.7 inch touch display at WVGA resolution, Android 4.0, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, system-level Beats Audio integration and a 5.0 megapixel camera with HTC’s camera enhancements which include capturing still images while recording video without disturbing the video capture process via HTC’s Video Pic functionality, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and aGPS radios, along with crucial support for microSD cards, a feature that many manufacturers are moving away from and that many enthusiasts lament the increasing lack of in flagship devices.
With both Amazon and Walmart both selling the One V for $149.99, the $50 savings can be put towards a 64GB microSD card, and voila, instant iPod Touch alternative with more flexibility in terms of system and personal customization. You could spend more for a dedicated player, but why would you want to?
