I need one for general purposes only, NOT for gaming, so I don’t really care about gaming-related features.
I’m going to buy it in Asia, as that’s where I live (Vietnam specifically), and would appreciate any advice. 🙂
A general rule of thumb is to get a year or two old flagship instead of a budget new one. One can usually find a great deal on something like S21 Ultra or similar.
100% - also try and budget to get the battery replaced with this method though, most modern smartphone batteries start showing significant wear after 2 years
What’s the best way to find actually good flagships of the past? I mean, to learn of which model was good.
Read reviews in GSMArena.
I’d personally recommend the second hand market depending on what your budget is.
I’ve been thinking about it but Amazon here is not an option and other local shops are not very trustworthy. The warranty they give is about 3 months on average, or none at all.
I’ve bought phones on Lazada in Vietnam and everything went fine. And I’ve bought phones from some of the bigger chain phone shops here and it’s usually a one year warranty.
Yes, I’ve been thinking of going the online shopping path, too.
What phone would you recommend?
I know younsa8d somewhere you cant use amazon but something like this is perfect. A colleague at work uses a cheap moto phone and they are great considering they are ridiculously cheep. This on is £70 (about 2m vnd) compared to a current flagship phone that can cost over £1000
Moto g series is excellent value for money.
Try Swappa, they test the phones before they’re resent to you, and you have some opportunity for a refund.
I’d get a generation or two old pixel, can get fully unlocked ones on Amazon for pretty cheap. Just replaced my mother’s pixel 2 with a pixel 5 for less than $200
What does fully unlocked mean? Can such phones be sold at official retailers? And if not, why would I want it unlocked? Plus, is it easy to do so?
Unlocked means it’s not tied to a carrier (mobile phone provider).
Not too sure about the rest of the world, but North America has a huge problem with carrier-locked devices. You buy a phone from YourCellProvider, and you’re stuck using the phone only with YourCellProvider.
Ah, we don’t have anything like that here.
What a pain. They finally ended this in Canada at the end of 2017. All phones sold since then have to be sold unlocked. Any phone sold before that time is likely still locked to a carrier, but that carrier must provide the unlock code for free upon request. Feels like they did this one right, and it is great to be able to keep an old flagship device for 5+ years and travel with it or move services around as needed.
You’ve had that for 6 years? Holy damn, I’m envious. It’s OEM or get fucked over here.
In australia we have it too and really bad. Basically all phones are locked to the former nationalized carrier Telstra.
It’s free and instant to unlock, you just have to ask.
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That’s illegal now.
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Word of advice, pixel is good for software, camera but that’s it. Don’t take it I less you can use esim with physical sim, as it has NO double SIM slot , that’s a must have feature for me. So quite useless in most of ASIA.
Finally upgraded my MIL’s Pixel 2 to a Pixel 4 5G for $150 on Amazon. It supports Android 14.
I can not recommend pixels anymore after owning my 7 pro for a year (been using google phones since the nexus 5x). Their own tensor chip is behind the competition by 2 years, but importantly they use a shitty modem which causes issues for a large portion of users.
Also pixels used to have a significantly better camera than others, but I feel that gap is so small now that it doesn’t matter at the high end, they’re trading blows now.
The only edge compared to the competition is getting access to google app features earlier than others, like magic eraser. Ain’t what it used to be anymore…Agreed. I’m about to update to the new (to me) Google Pixel, probably the 6a. (I think they’re on the 8 now?) The battery on my current pixel is not holding up. My last two phones were pixels and probably my next couple will be as well
My whole family is on pixels, very reliable phones. My mother’s pixel 2 was 6 years old and only failed because the battery began to swell.
I checked GSMarena for the most popular <$200 Android phones with decent specifications.
The top results are:-
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Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 (6GB RAM, 128GB HD, Snapdragon 4 Gen 1, 48MP camera)
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Samsung Galaxy A14 (6GB RAM, 128GB HD, Mediatek MT6769, 50MP camera)
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Realme C53 (6GB RAM, 128GB HD, Unisoc Tiger T612, 50MP camera)
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Tecno Spark 10 Pro (8GB RAM, 256GB HD, Mediatek Helio G88, 50MP camera)
Personally I’d go for the Redmi Note 12 because of the better processor.
Edit: Also, here is GSMarena’s buyer guide for <€200 phones:- https://www.gsmarena.com/best_midrange_allrounders_buyers_guide-review-2032.php
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Redmi Note… Something.
Poco F something.
Depends on how you define good budget.
To me, the Samsung galaxy a phones and the pixel a phones are good. They strike the balance between value and having an actually usable phone.
Definitely not more than 200usd. Thanks for the advice!
I would echo what OP said there, I had to get a temporary replacement phone while my main one was getting a screen repair, and I was amazed at how good a Galaxy A was for the price. Think it was about £120 or so, and it’s a great phone.
Which model specifically?
As a fellow Vietnamese, I would like to recommend a used Pixel. 6th gen Pixels are pretty cheap right now. Last I checked a used 6 Pro used was around 7m VND. They have flagship hardware and 3 years of updates left. And they’re open to custom ROMs unlike Samsung or Xiaomi. Honestly can’t beat them for the price.
Don’t have more than 4 mil. Is Pixel 5 a great choice as well?
Pixel 5 is already end of life according to this. I don’t think it’s a good choice any more. Might be better to look towards Chinese brands then.
For example?
If you want to install a custom ROM you should check what phones your future ROM supports
I believe for GrapheneOS it’s pixel 6
Look at the budget Moto G series. Model designations might be different where you are. They start around $110 unlocked in US.
Second motorola moto G. Imo they just work, not a lot of bloatware and a somewhat decent camera. I just dont get their model numbering anymore…
Get a flagship phone from a generation or two ago, I’m still using my Pixel 5 and I love this phone and they’re dirt cheap at the moment, both new and refurbished, because it’s 3 generations behind
Thanks! But what newest features are missing there? Does Pixel 5 have anything useful the newer models don’t?
Well, in my opinion the fingerprint sensor is far superior for one. Other than that it’s a little smaller than current generation phones but I think it’s a more manageable size than the current generation
Realme phones are pretty good for the price. You may need to remove a couple of bloat applications and tune some settings after getting it though.
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I would also look into getting a flagship phone from a couple years ago, I find that they can be a lot nicer than a budget or mid range phone.
I’m using a Sony Xperia 1 III and I love it to bits. Bought it brand new for over 1000$ and 2 years after its release you can find it for 500$, refurbished with warranty, in excellent condition.
Cheap pixel a is like 300ish
OnePlus is typically a great value.
