Question

I want to begin development for mobile and android seems like a good choice (with iphone requiring a mac and WP7 not being that popular).
I have a question regarding the testing platform, I’m pretty low on cash and have been wondering if using a mid range phone would hinder my development? I have the ability to buy either a LG Optimus One, a Motorola Milestone or a Nexus One, all representing different segments of the market and each one costing more than the previous.
two concerns I had were screen resolution and CPU power, how much does these two variables matter to development?

Answer 1

Well:

1. Resolution – there are 3 main groups:

   • ldpi – Low Density – devices with screens 240 x 320,
   • mdpi – Medium Density – 320 x 480,
   • hdpi – High Density – 480 x 800, or 480 x 854.

Of course the bigger screen == the more expensive phone.

2 . CPU power – all currently available CPUs (besides a few low-end phones) will propably serve you well (of course, it depends on what do you really want to do)

I, as a developer, would like to add here a third element – which API level (version of Android) are you targeting? Nowadays, 2.1 – 2.3 rocks, and 3+ if the device is a tablet.

Keep in mind, that if you buy a great phone, you may develop application which will be running quite fast on it, but it will not on other low-end devices. Btw, you can always check if all elements will properly layout on the lower screen using built-in emulator(s). So, in my opinion, there is good to have mid-end phone, just to check sth(s).

PS : Nexus one – AFAIK this phone is a debug version (means you can do a little more than with a standard retail phone 🙂 ).