Can't choose a smartphone

[Beginner Macro Device]

I cut to the chase: a friend of mine is in need of a non-Apple smartphone. And neither of us has a smartphone expert degree. He lives in the US.

Preferences:
• Display: 6.5" to 6.9"; 6.7" is ideal. Colour precision, refresh rate, resolution, and all these fancy things don't really matter. OLED is unnecessary. Shock resistance matters. This dude isn't your average careful one.
• Battery: matters but not to the extent of a billion years without recharge. Wireless charge is a must.
• Camera: should be at least comparable with iPhone 6. 60 FPS at 720p is a must. The more the merrier.
• Performance: at least on par with Huawei Nova 5T. The more the merrier.
• Storage space: mostly irrelevant, he keeps his stuff on his PC anyway.
• NFC is a must.
• Ability to use a SIM card of any existing in the US cellular provider is a must.
• eSIM is unnecessary but won't hurt.
• The heavier the phone the better.
• Colour doesn't matter.

Other features don't matter much. His earphones are wireless so 3.5 mm jack is unnecessary as well.

Phone will mostly be used for messaging and amateur photo shooting/video recording. Gaming is irrelevant.

Budget: about $300 but will be happy to spend less if possible. Only considers BNIB.

What do we choose? Thanks in advance.

 

[Readlight]

look in GSM Arena, china made phones brands POCO, xiaomi note, early bird discounts, coupons. Or used phones.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

Check out CEX if you have one where you are. A grade B phone will be good condition with warranty, and you will get a better phone for the same price than you would new.

 

[Beginner Macro Device]

Check out CEX if you have one where you are. A grade B phone will be good condition with warranty, and you will get a better phone for the same price than you would new.

No idea what it is, I've never been to States. And my mate doesn't wanna deal with used phones anyway. Only BNIB.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

No idea what it is, I've never been to States. And my mate doesn't wanna deal with used phones anyway. Only BNIB.

For new, I would say some sort of Samsung galaxy A series would do for $300 ish. An iphone would cost much more new, and not sure if you could even buy a older model new now anyway.

 

[Beginner Macro Device]

For new, I would say some sort of Samsung galaxy A series would do for $300 ish. An iphone would cost much more new, and not sure if you could even buy a older model new now anyway.

Iphones are outta question, this guy wants only droids.

Samsung A series is kinda broad. What models are more worth consideration?

 

[bug]

Afaik, in the US it's more expensive to buy an unlocked phone, most people buy from the carriers. And carriers preload those phones with all sorts of crapware
His best bet would be a Pixel. Or maybe some Moto.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

Afaik, in the US it's more expensive to buy an unlocked phone, most people buy from the carriers. And carriers preload those phones with all sorts of crapware
His best bet would be a Pixel. Or maybe some Moto.

He might get a pixel 6 for $300 new, though not sure.

Samsung A series
https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/phones/galaxy-a/

 

[Denver]

I think that in this price range and excluding Chinese brands, the Moto G84/MotoG82 is one of the most decent devices you can get.

 

[de.das.dude]

Samsung A54 would be good. I had the A51 and used it for many many years before moving onto a S22. A51 is now my work phone.

EDIT: forgot to mention, A51 and A series is plastic, so it is pretty good. I have used it without a screen protector or cover. just a vinyl wrap because i hate getting scratchs on shiny plastic.
has fallen many many times.

 

[R0H1T]

If you are looking for long(er) term software support then there's really no alternative to Samsung, except that fruit seller, otherwise pretty much all Chinese brands/rebrands are on par IMO

Shock resistance matters. This dude isn't your average careful one.

Get an armored case!

 

[FoulOnWhite]

I think that in this price range and excluding Chinese brands, the Moto G84/MotoG82 is one of the most decent devices you can get.

The G84 might be over budget at around $390. the G82 would do it though around $229, that G84 looks pretty decent.

 

[Deleted member 185088]

Go to gsmarena, set your preferences (you are limited to 70 phones).
Then check the list, Chinese phones tend to be the best in every segment while being cheaper. Not sure how many are available in the US though.

 

[de.das.dude]

I think that in this price range and excluding Chinese brands, the Moto G84/MotoG82 is one of the most decent devices you can get.

motorola has extremely flaky quality and durability. my moto g4 plus died after 13 months right after warranty ended. they were asking half the cost of the phone to repair it. the mobo had blown because the fast charge IC malfunctioned.

Go to gsmarena, set your preferences (you are limited to 70 phones).
Then check the list, Chinese phones tend to be the best in every segment while being cheaper. Not sure how many are available in the US though.

there is a reason for that. My parents use Xiaomi phones, and even xiaomi got into a lot of legal trouble for collecting data, and had to release custom roms else they were banned here in india.

and still, the load of crap that they force u to install and the amount of data collection forced onto users, i would never trust that. its only okay for my parents because they dont have any thing risky on their phones.

 

[Denver]

motorola has extremely flaky quality and durability. my moto g4 plus died after 13 months right after warranty ended. they were asking half the cost of the phone to repair it. the mobo had blown because the fast charge IC malfunctioned.


there is a reason for that. My parents use Xiaomi phones, and even xiaomi got into a lot of legal trouble for collecting data, and had to release custom roms else they were banned here in india.

and still, the load of crap that they force u to install and the amount of data collection forced onto users, i would never trust that. its only okay for my parents because they dont have any thing risky on their phones.

It is important not to use isolated experiences to deduce the quality of a product. All electronics are subject to failure.

All the Motorola devices I had are still working, the same goes for the Samsung ones, some are over 5-6 years old. They're all here lost somewhere in my drawer, lost but working.

I have some contacts in third-party technical assistance that serve multiple brands, while Motorola is one of the brands that sells the most locally and is also the one with the lowest percentage of failures. You can buy an additional 2 years of warranty very cheaply if that concerns you.

 

[de.das.dude]

It is important not to use isolated experiences to deduce the quality of a product. All electronics are subject to failure.

All the Motorola devices I had are still working, the same goes for the Samsung ones, some are over 5-6 years old. They're all here lost somewhere in my drawer, lost but working.

I have some contacts in third-party technical assistance that serve multiple brands, while Motorola is one of the brands that sells the most locally and is also the one with the lowest percentage of failures. You can buy an additional 2 years of warranty very cheaply if that concerns you.

not a single experience. my motorola G first gen is still alive. but me and a 5 more of my friends got the moto G4 all at the same time since it was such a good phone. all our phones died withing 2 years.

not to mention we had to get the camera glass replaced in 6months because the coating came off (lenovo used cheap quality and a poor design). All my experiences with any thing lenovo, tablets, phones, laptops have been piss poor and so i steer clear off them and advice anyone to do so.

Xiaomi makes much more hardy durable phones than motorola/lenovo. But there are other issues.

i went from using nokia devices -> motorola -> lenovo (very brief) and now stuck with samsung. even my lenovo shitpad given from work has the power button broken in a year and i havent even used it! i use my desktop except when i am away from home/city!

speaking of phones i too had a bad experience with my samsung j7 pro 2019 and it died suddenly. They took a week to give me a new phone, but they gave me a spare to use. this was after 10 months of using. but overall exp b/w my friends who use samsung have been pretty solid. Same for after sales support with Xiaomi. Lenovo/motorola have been shit. THey refused to fix my friends phone even in warranty because the chrome finish on the plastic had worn off and so apparently it has been "damaged" lmao. all it needed was a software reinstall.

 

[bug]

not a single experience. my motorola G first gen is still alive. but me and a 5 more of my friends got the moto G4 all at the same time since it was such a good phone. all our phones died withing 2 years.

I've used several Moto phones over the years, none of them had any hardware malfunction. I even had an original Moto G that I used, left it in a drawer for a couple of years, then gave it to my father (as a replacement) and he used it until it got stolen. A G5 S Plus is still in a drawer, because I dropped it and cracked the protection glass (the screen is perfectly fine, yet fixing it would have cost half the price of the new phone).
I don't like Moto as much since they started lagging with software updates, but I still think they're a far better choice than Samsung with all their preinstalled, unremovable crapware.
My current driver is a Nokia, but even they have started to drop the ball on software updates and have shifted to Unisoc and other crap.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

not a single experience. my motorola G first gen is still alive. but me and a 5 more of my friends got the moto G4 all at the same time since it was such a good phone. all our phones died withing 2 years.

not to mention we had to get the camera glass replaced in 6months because the coating came off (lenovo used cheap quality and a poor design). All my experiences with any thing lenovo, tablets, phones, laptops have been piss poor and so i steer clear off them and advice anyone to do so.

Xiaomi makes much more hardy durable phones than motorola/lenovo. But there are other issues.

i went from using nokia devices -> motorola -> lenovo (very brief) and now stuck with samsung. even my lenovo shitpad given from work has the power button broken in a year and i havent even used it! i use my desktop except when i am away from home/city!

speaking of phones i too had a bad experience with my samsung j7 pro 2019 and it died suddenly. They took a week to give me a new phone, but they gave me a spare to use. this was after 10 months of using. but overall exp b/w my friends who use samsung have been pretty solid. Same for after sales support with Xiaomi. Lenovo/motorola have been shit. THey refused to fix my friends phone even in warranty because the chrome finish on the plastic had worn off and so apparently it has been "damaged" lmao. all it needed was a software reinstall.

For Android, i stick to Samsung, had Sony in the past and was ok, but stuck to Samsung whenever i have had a Android device.

As to the Samsung crapware, as long as i have enough storage, i don't care about it. Just disable it and it does not run in the background.

 

[Deleted member 185088]

motorola has extremely flaky quality and durability. my moto g4 plus died after 13 months right after warranty ended. they were asking half the cost of the phone to repair it. the mobo had blown because the fast charge IC malfunctioned.


there is a reason for that. My parents use Xiaomi phones, and even xiaomi got into a lot of legal trouble for collecting data, and had to release custom roms else they were banned here in india.

and still, the load of crap that they force u to install and the amount of data collection forced onto users, i would never trust that. its only okay for my parents because they dont have any thing risky on their phones.

By this logic one shouldn't buy any phone and disconnect from the internet, especially anything Apple or American based.

Xiaomi actually are great, they allow the bootloader to be opened and you can install whatever you want, only Google and few others allow you to do that, making their phones the best for people caring about their privacy.

 

[de.das.dude]

By this logic one shouldn't buy any phone and disconnect from the internet, especially anything Apple or American based.

Xiaomi actually are great, they allow the bootloader to be opened and you can install whatever you want, only Google and few others allow you to do that, making their phones the best for people caring about their privacy.

literally almost everyone lets you do that. and you are being "pot calling the kettle black" situation. clearly you are biased.

I've used several Moto phones over the years, none of them had any hardware malfunction. I even had an original Moto G that I used, left it in a drawer for a couple of years, then gave it to my father (as a replacement) and he used it until it got stolen. A G5 S Plus is still in a drawer, because I dropped it and cracked the protection glass (the screen is perfectly fine, yet fixing it would have cost half the price of the new phone).
I don't like Moto as much since they started lagging with software updates, but I still think they're a far better choice than Samsung with all their preinstalled, unremovable crapware.
My current driver is a Nokia, but even they have started to drop the ball on software updates and have shifted to Unisoc and other crap.

i dont know how you get your samsung devices from, but my S22 doesnt come with unremoveable crapware. i think you probably get them more often when u buy them locked in with a carrier.

apart from the usefull tools i can always disable everything else. also i have noticed the cheaper phones come with more crapware, including ones that sneakily install if you dont untick them during the software updates.

you can even control the permissions on all their software, so i always remove them all.

I've used several Moto phones over the years, none of them had any hardware malfunction. I even had an original Moto G that I used, left it in a drawer for a couple of years, then gave it to my father (as a replacement) and he used it until it got stolen. A G5 S Plus is still in a drawer, because I dropped it and cracked the protection glass (the screen is perfectly fine, yet fixing it would have cost half the price of the new phone).
I don't like Moto as much since they started lagging with software updates, but I still think they're a far better choice than Samsung with all their preinstalled, unremovable crapware.
My current driver is a Nokia, but even they have started to drop the ball on software updates and have shifted to Unisoc and other crap.

as i said, the only moto g was the original that was great. because that was made and designed when motorola was part of google. after that lenovo took over.
maybe they have better QA over there, but here where people buy phones in literally the 100s of thousands, they arent too bothered with image i guess. they make them quite cheap and so a lot of people buy them anyhow.

 

[bug]

i dont know how you get your samsung devices from, but my S22 doesnt come with unremoveable crapware. i think you probably get them more often when u buy them locked in with a carrier.

apart from the usefull tools i can always disable everything else. also i have noticed the cheaper phones come with more crapware, including ones that sneakily install if you dont untick them during the software updates.

you can even control the permissions on all their software, so i always remove them all.

I mean all the Samsung-braded apps that duplicate apps that come with Android: calendar, camera, web browser... everything. And while you can disable that, you can't uninstall it, which is why you should scratch 32GB off the advertised storage of any Samsung phone.

 

[Fizban]

I cut to the chase: a friend of mine is in need of a non-Apple smartphone. And neither of us has a smartphone expert degree. He lives in the US.

Preferences:
• Display: 6.5" to 6.9"; 6.7" is ideal. Colour precision, refresh rate, resolution, and all these fancy things don't really matter. OLED is unnecessary. Shock resistance matters. This dude isn't your average careful one.
• Battery: matters but not to the extent of a billion years without recharge. Wireless charge is a must.
• Camera: should be at least comparable with iPhone 6. 60 FPS at 720p is a must. The more the merrier.
• Performance: at least on par with Huawei Nova 5T. The more the merrier.
• Storage space: mostly irrelevant, he keeps his stuff on his PC anyway.
• NFC is a must.
• Ability to use a SIM card of any existing in the US cellular provider is a must.
• eSIM is unnecessary but won't hurt.
• The heavier the phone the better.
• Colour doesn't matter.

Other features don't matter much. His earphones are wireless so 3.5 mm jack is unnecessary as well.

Phone will mostly be used for messaging and amateur photo shooting/video recording. Gaming is irrelevant.

Budget: about $300 but will be happy to spend less if possible. Only considers BNIB.

What do we choose? Thanks in advance.

I think cheap Chinese phones are the only option. Samsung phones at this price don't have wireless charging. Neither do Pixel phones (they're also smaller at this budget, the bigger Pixels cost a fair bit more). Motorola phones at this budget don't have wireless charging OR NFC.

 

[Double-Click]

^ I think you mean older Pixels and A series phones, 7A has wireless charging now.
Me personally - I'd rather sacrifice a feature or two and not get a phone that's a cheap Chinese one.

 

[Fizban]

motorola has extremely flaky quality and durability. my moto g4 plus died after 13 months right after warranty ended. they were asking half the cost of the phone to repair it. the mobo had blown because the fast charge IC malfunctioned.

This isn't my experience at all. I used a Moto G Play for 4 years, from 2016-2020, it still works actually, I just don't use it anymore. I wouldn't recommend Motorola phones, but the reasons have nothing to do with durability. They have to do with their software support, or more accurately - the lack thereof, and their lack of common features, like NFC, OLED displays.

What's a budget Pixel or Samsung device look like? 60 Hz OLED. What's a budget Motorola device likely to have instead? 120 Hz LCD and a SoC so slow that everything stutters and makes virtually no use of said 120 Hz display.

^ I think you mean Pixel A series phones, regular Pixels have wireless charging.
Me personally - I'd rather sacrifice a feature or two and not get a phone that's not a cheap Chinese one.

I was saying Pixel phones at this budget lack wireless charging, not that all Pixel phones do. I have a Pixel 7 Pro, I'm aware it has both wireless, and even reverse wireless charging. I can use it to charge both my watch and earbuds.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Pixel 6 or 6a is not a bad choice. They can be had for around $300, if you look around for a deal.

IDK about your country's pricing though.