True, there are exceptions, but the Mi Mix phones from the Mix 2 up are $400-$550. Those were ones I investigated. I also looked at Umidigis and Honor 10 phones. You get a lot for that money, but that’s getting closer to OnePlus 6t territory that is a much more recognized phone with US carrier support plus stock Android and unlocked with all US and global GSM bands.
I would recommend a well sold Android One device:
Guaranteed updates for 2 to 3 years.
If they sold a lot you have a good chance to get a replacement battery after 2 years and a custom ROM.
Xiaomi A2 Lite is a bit cheaper.
Off course it depends what you want from your phone.
Some friends got one coming from and an iPhone and are happy with it.
I only brought the $500 in comparison to the current oneplus.
$500 is a lot of money, but it is a high quality flagship that will probably last for many years. My 2011 S2 is still a good phone. Actually, non of my samsung phones had/have any issues.
The battery issue is a valid one. The S2 was hugely popular, but I bet that batteries are going to be scarce in a few years. I’m pretty sure after a year or two, battrried won’t be available for some obscure brand or low volume models.
The beauty of capitalism….we all have the ability to gather information and choose.
Just upgraded my Tracfone LG22C to their Moto G6. Got it at HSN for $199 with 1200minutes & texts & 1.2 data plus 365days service($95 value alone). And I can port my phone number and remaining credits from my LG. I have twice those amounts still in my account other than service only until 7/19/2019. Not much on social media, just want communication when needed. Tracfone has been all I have needed so far. Connected from Alaska/Canada/Italy/Greece so far, maybe China this fall.
Bought a Galaxy S9 over a year ago on a discount deal for $379. Pre-ordered the unlocked Galaxy S10. They gave me a $550 trade-in for the S9, and a free set of wireless ear buds. Net cost was $349
Am I the only one who misses the days of picking up a prepaid Nokia candybar phone for 10-20bux… with sim card and free 10bux worth of airtime (and charger and all the other accoutrements)?
US carriers used to do that too, but T-Mobile pretty much changed the environment of the market and everyone else shifted their service plans to unsubsidized post paid plans (aka. No contracts). I was on T- Mobile when they did that and I thought it was great. Of course that meant your phone wasn’t included in your contact price anymore, so you had to buy your phone outright for big $$$ or pay in installments added to you bill. Expensive phones added $30 to your bill, but cheaper ones only 10-15. Without a contract they essentially locked you down with the penalty of the full balance of that phone coming due if you canceled your service before it was paid off (24 months) so that was how they kept you. Of course you could opt to have another carrier buy your phone off if your switched to them.
That’s exactly what it is. They had to find a way to keep their customers from defecting. If you get an unlocked phone, all you needed is a SIM card to use it. Otherwise any phone you bought were locked to that network.
We had the government step in and reduce the the stranglehold of the service providers. Worse still, there wasn’t the wide open competition up here that was available in the US.
As far as I’m concerned, make the cell towers public property and then let the service providers fight for service. As it stands, they use the stranglehold of putting up towers to control areas.
Capitalism never works if there is some element of exclusivity. Worse still if governments won’t let anybody and everybody compete for market share.