Best budget smartphone?

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.

Pity, that MOTO is just Lenovo crap.
Mike

LoL :-D sp5it, I am using a Zuk Z2 Pro (Z2121) and so far very happy with it. With a custom ROM, of course.

^:)

I have started looking at these phones after seeing the price of the current generation Samsung Galaxy (S10). Up here they are asking over 2k!!

The one that looks really promising is the new Redmi Note 7 and Note 7 Pro. Very impressive specs for the price.

Very satisfied with my Moto G6. As is my father with the G5 that I bought him a couple of years ago.

Purchased the twin-sim expanded memory Amazon UK special (4gig RAM, 64 gig main memory, nfc, has a magnetometer, great GPS performance, not using e.g. some iffy MTK chipset.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/motorola-5-7-Inch-Android-Sim-Free-Smartphone-Deep-Indigo/dp/B079SQF4BD

Dual standby, so second SIM only gets GSM, but they can be quickly swapped over in the menu. Suits me, second SIM is only for back-up where my primary 3G/4G network is unavailable.

US network costs surprise me. Here I pay £18 for unlimited calls, texts, 30 gig data including tethering, no roaming call or data charges anywhere in EU and many many other countries including US. I could have totally unlimited data (over 1 terabyte/month) for another £2, and it is extremely fast.

PAYG can cost as little as 3p/min, 2p/text, 1p/megabyte.

Good camera, battery life, RF sensitivity, Amazon warranty, no questions asked. Clean Android 8, update to 9 promised by the summer. Decent silicone cover and basic screen protector in the box.

Finger print sensor extremely useful.

£180 including UK 20% VAT.

Considered the G7, on pre-order then, but it offered little more, bigger, and they moved the fingerprint sensor to the back. Accessories not then available, but by now suppliers should be tooling up.

No, they are not “Lenovo crap”. They are very decent, always have been.

After asking the same question on another forum (for my teenage daughter), there was only 1 clear choice/answer - Xiaomi A2 lite dual sim. Currently it’s in transit.
Most reviews seem to give it the edge over everything else in the price bracket - £130 for the 4/64gb from eglobal central.

Check out the Pocophone F1. It’s a monster flagship and a flagship killer. Pretty useless for me (or TMobile users) but if the reception specs suit you, it’s a heck of a phone for the money. About $270 USD.

Kimvoli is a great site too. Scroll down and check out the reception area because Chinese phones are not universal. Check that you have ALL the bands from your carrier match.

Less popular brands have solid prodcuts but PLEASE check what cell bands your provider uses. I would have loved a Huawei or Nokia but only the most expensive options have all the bands for T-Mobile’s network. I am not willing to trade coverage for talk or data for a slightly better screen or camera.

Excellent shock and waterproofing is a big plus for someone as clumsy as me too, some of the budget options make big concessions in these areas.

TMobile is like Freedom up here. If you don’t have all the bands, you land up with 3g and spotty reception.

BTW….you have the Samsung S8 active. Heck of a phone for rough service.

That’s what I chose for my gf too. Its size is acceptable even for women, good specs for general use (4/64GB, 4000mAh battery), AndroidOne etc.
It’s quite ridiculous that nowadays it’s almost impossible to find a normal sized phone because everything is similar to a pizza-peel in size. 3.5 audio jacks and notification LEDs are also getting rare.

I picked up Moto G6. So far so good. Poetic Justice case. I like the double chop to turn the light on.

I got my Moto G6.

I sent this message to the seller:

"I received the phone today.

The phone is not new.

There are a bunch of deep scratches, or rather gouges, on the left side of the phone."

Beer opener phone? Lol

Honor 8X. Smooth and very fast. Amazing display compared to any Xiaomi phone.

I’m still using a Moto G4. Purchased unlocked and will work with any carrier. When the time comes, it will be another Moto.

Try twist for the camera.

Other camera apps are available to get the best from it. It is quite good.

Fingerprint sensor very good. One of the few accepted by by online banking people here. As well as NFC for cardless payments. Not that I trust it that far yet, passwords still for me. Meanwhile it unlocks or locks the phone instantly. Very useful.

People really need to be careful about saying this. I nearly purchased a phone for T-Mobile prepaid that would have left me on 3G data in most of the US because it didn’t have the majority of their bands. It was not even a very old or a “budget product line phone.

There is a significant difference in what frequencies are supported from some brands since although there phones can usually be unlocked they are intended for certain service providers.

I like the twist for the camera. But don’t use the fingerprint thing.

Absolutely!

I think Freedom up here and TMobile have the same frequencies. If you are missing one of them, you got problems.

Samsung tends to throw all the frequencies in their universal phones like the A5, A8 and now, the A9. Chinese phones are hit and miss at the best of times.