Best budget smartphone?

@MascaratumB, the Doogee X5 was known to be the dodgiest phone from Doogee to have ever been sold.

Personally, for budget phones, I would recommend these companies from my experience(and have headphones jacks :D):

- Xiaomi (mostly the Mi Max/Mi A1/Redmi Note series)

- Nubia

- Umidigi (they have slowly been getting better over the years. Slowly, but surely.)

- Nokia (specifically, the Nokia 7 Plus and Nokia 6.1 2018)

  • ZTE (only the Axon 7, their best phone, as you could get it for 200$ once)

That is about it. Oneplus is getting too expensive to be called budget, Huawei phones can’t be rooted/install custom ROMs anymore, etc.

Too bad I only knew that after buying and using it :frowning:
I only use it now when my Nexus 5 is “out”.
I have to start thinking about a new one, though, so I’m looking to the suggestions on the thread :wink: Thanks for those :+1:

The Xiaomi Mi A2 (and A2 Lite) was finally announced today. It looks amazing, but as always, appears to be lacking dominant US bands.

i’m living in asia, so i’m quite familiar with cheap chinese phone
here is some advices
1: buy phone with decent brands( like xiaomi, vivo, oppo, huawei, etc), they are respectable brands here, their hardware is above OK, build quality is good for thier price, but most important is they support old phones, unlike some other cheap ass china phones
2: buy global version, some chinnese phones is only sold in China, so no Google store, no youtube app, and Chinese is default language, i know that you can install all of those easily, but sometime it’s kind of annoying
3: do your research carefully, some chinese phones are advertised to have dual cam( like DOGGEE), but the fact is the secondary cam is fake and have no effect
4: DO NOT buy fake phones, like 199$ iphone X or samsung S9, they are the worst, no OS update, full of malware and the performance is the worst of the worst, you will waste money on these

Doesn’t matter for us Canadian folks.

It has B7 and B4, so plenty for LTE :slight_smile:

@mrherosuper, people actually buy these as a daily driver? I thought they bought it for the wow factor.

I’m using a Samsung S4mini with Lineage OS to get the latest Androind

Is there any phone of this size with a modern display and stuff that I don’t have to charge every day which is not an iPhone SE?

I especially hate those super slim glass phones. Put a cover on it so it won’t break on the first day and it’s as fat as my old Nokia N8.

Only that that N8 has 2 weeks standby and is sturdy without any case around it so I can attach a NiteIze pocket clip.

I still use it as my alarm clock :wink:

I had a Leagoo and hated it, tons of malware and it sent data to random servers in China.

Samsung, Motorola, LG, Sony, and Nokia all offer dual SIM phones. Most of the phones sold in the US are meant for only one network. Even though the hardware is exactly the same, some phones have frequencies that are disabled by the software.

Some phones from Google and Apple work on any US network’s LTE. Some manufacturers allow you to connect to CDMA and GSM, which is almost as good as dual SIM if you are in the US. Unfortunately, there aren’t many discounts for that kind of cross-functionality.

Samsung Z4, Xperia XZ1, Nokia 1. Check gsmarena’s phone finder for more models.

Every time I see this thread pop up to the top, I hope Krono is back.

Alas, he is not :weary:

I’m using Redmi 5A from Xiaomi, got it for about $100.
Camera is good, best for outdoor.

Add few dollar to get 32GB version instead of 16GB because it will full in no time.

Well, the XZ1 or 2 in the Compact form factor could come close, anything else is either not pocket friendly or comes with really dated camera and display
5mp and 480x800px is not really up to date, battery life is rather poor and everything’s made of soft plastic

Well, as long as my S4mini is working I’ll use it, then maybe I have to bite into the SE Apple

…or just gimme a phone with a body smaller than 5” good battery, usable cam, modern display and other hardware, not falling appart right away
When I need a big screen I can use a tablet, never understood those phablets anyways…

My mom got sick of her Windows Phone (finally!)

She wanted to get an Android phone in the U.S. for under $100.

There are not many good smart phones for under $100.

I did a reasonable amount of research and picked for her the Moto E5 Play.

She got it yesterday and it looks pretty good.

The upcoming Xiaomi Redmi 7. Or the current Xiaomi Redmi 6.
I’m using Redmi 3S Prime (3GB RAM + 32GB ROm, octacore 1.4GHz) for almost 2 years now and it’s a good phone. A workhorse.

In my opinion - Moto X-Force / Droid 2 Turbo - you can get refurbished version for 150$….

In Australia.
I just use Samsung mid range. $160/200. Does me fine.
Used as a phpne mainly. Have Tablet and Laptop for Internet.

I buy through Telstra, get all/any servicing done for free.
Instant exchange over the local shop counter, if faulty
and loan ph if it held for anything.

Anybody wanting to know opinions about near everything. Go to “WHIRLPOOL Forums”.
They cover 90% of electronics, solar, etc. with tradies and users.
Just ignore the internal arguments that pop up at times.

I have the Moto Droid 2 Turbo, as does my wife. My daughter has an older Moto Droid passed down from my wife. I’m a big fan of Motorola phones. :wink:

I have just bought my second Oppo phone here in Australia. They are great phones for the money.
We don’t have a huge choice of phones in stores here.
The first one still works well, but the battery has just about died after 2 and a half years.
I hate it that all the new phones don’t have removable batteries, as I used to buy replacements on eBay for about $5.
It’s not worth taking a cheaper phone to a phone shop to have a new battery fitted, as they sting you and it’s hardly worth the money.
I looked at few other brands, and Moto get very good reviews.
I believe that the Xiaomi brand is very good, and I wanted to get one, but they are not available in stores here.
If you buy online from China you may have issues with warranty if something goes wrong.
It was easier for me to walk into a store and buy the Oppo.
The Huawei phones are good value as well.

Just got the Sony XZ1c 2 weeks ago after my Samsung S4mini suddenly died.

I certainly like the phone but I’m really waiting for the 2 (!) cases that I’ve ordered in China as the aluminum back of the phone is just too slippery.

I just got a Moto G6 and I like it a lot. The case I got for it made it feel much better in my hand as it gave it a little more heft and also less slippery.