It’s a long thread….and a short life.
Up here, you can get gouged by the three sisters or you go to a discount company. I did so from the beginning of their existence so now I’m grandfathered to a fantastic rate. Unlimited North America wide talk/text and 5gb for 26 USD. Beat that if you can.
Downside, their phones are ridiculous expensive and they have their own band that I must match. Close to the TMobile bands in the USA. Luckily, Samsung makes universal phones with their band inside. I tried the A-8 and pretty decent phone but wanted better. Right now, if someone can hold off, the Samsung A-9 is going to hit the discount market and it’s my next phone. Will pick one up at Black Friday probably in the 300 USD range on my next 2 year cycle.
The way I buy is I wait and pick up at the tail of 2 generation back flagship phone. Just before the next generation is introduced and they want to get rid of the old phones. That’s what I did with my last three phones. S2 when there were S4 on the market and just before the S5, S4 when there was S6 just before the S7, S6 when the S8 just before the S9. Always in the upper $300 USD range. The hand me down goes to the wife. So any given phone gets used for 4 years and more when I travel. The older generation goes to back-up mode.
All the Samsung phones work and I never had any problems other then the usual battery replacement every year two years. The S2 is now 7 years old and still works fine. What I am afraid off is the batteries may not be available much longer for decade old phones.