Decent/good smartphone?

[53' Stude]

Hello folks. Pondering going to either a Motorola smartphone or keeping my IPhone. Few coworkers have Motorolas on Crickett phone service.

What’s everyone’s thoughts on a good, budget smartphone and recommendation? I don’t use mine much at work to be honest. Use my IPad when home also.

 

[dishdude]

For value, it's really tough to beat Motorola. The Stylus 5G is a great device that feels and runs like it costs hundreds more.

 

[hemioiler]

I'm a fan of samsung. They make budget and high end phones. I've been using the galaxy lineup for years, my current s22 has 120hz screen refresh and I cannot go back to plain 60hz. Performance is excellent, battery life is quite good. Price reflects all this. But they make cheaper samsungs which are also good.

The only motorola I have experience with is a moto g power, and to put it bluntly; performance is sub optimal. Screen refreshs are slow, apps open slow and pages scroll jerky.

I'd never use an iphone, apple's walled garden (vendor lock in) is a major turn off.

Just depends on what you're looking for, many people would be happy with the g power.

 

[Furious]

What Iphone do you have?

I personally am an Android person, however when it comes to long term software updates Apple does an amazing job at that. If you are really set on switching to Android for a entry level phone I would say the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G, for an excellent mid-range phone go for the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G.

The A54 5G is a beast of a phone for the price and also gives you that more premium feel since it is a Galaxy S23 based design.

But I highly recommend you look into the Google Pixel 7a it is an amazing phone for the money.

 

[dishdude]

But I highly recommend you look into the Google Pixel 7a it is an amazing phone for the money.

That's a solid recommendation as well.

 

[PimTac]

I guess it comes down to what do you want from your iPhone that it’s not doing for you now?

Another option is, another iPhone. Trade yours in for cash value towards another one. Apple has the program.

Apple Trade In

Trade in your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch, or any other device for credit toward a new one, or recycle it responsibly for free with Apple Trade In.

www.apple.com

 

[atikovi]

Bought this Motorola E two years ago for $75. Great looking display and long battery life. Just don't like the large size. Inconvenient to carry in a pocket. Not sure if people paying $200 or $300 for a phone get something much better.

Robot or human?

 

[2010Civic]

I'd buy a 1-3 year old flagship Samsung galaxy. I still have my S10 and love it.

 

[Furious]

I'd buy a 1-3 year old flagship Samsung galaxy. I still have my S10 and love it.

Samsung's only get about 3 years of OS updates, your S10 is outdated and stuck on Android 12 while currently we are on Android 13 with Android 14 about to release.

I do not recommend buying older Samsung phones.

 

[JavierH19]

What iphone do you have and what's your carrier. It's not a bad idea to buy the verizon or att prepaid version if you have that service, i know they sell the iphone 11 for cheap. I've used vz post paid on a vz prepaid phone. Walmart shows the 2022 iphone se3 for as little as 150 full price depending on the carrier. They're great and i loved that form factor, still miss the front button.

 

[2010Civic]

Samsung's only get about 3 years of OS updates, your S10 is outdated and stuck on Android 12 while currently we are on Android 13 with Android 14 about to release.

I do not recommend buying older Samsung phones.

Who cares. Certainly not someone considering buying a $70 smartphone.

 

[JavierH19]

Samsung's only get about 3 years of OS updates, your S10 is outdated and stuck on Android 12 while currently we are on Android 13 with Android 14 about to release.

I do not recommend buying older Samsung phones.

Honestly i find that it doesn't matter that much. For the most part the highest OS requirement i've ever seen an app need is android 9 for it to download and install it. I'd rather be on android 11 than 13 as i liked 11 a lot more more on my Samsung.

 

[dishdude]

Honestly i find that it doesn't matter that much. For the most part the highest OS requirement i've ever seen an app need is android 9 for it to download and install it. I'd rather be on android 11 than 13 as i liked 11 a lot more more on my Samsung.

Android is a lot different than iOS, a lot of apps such as Safari, iMessage, even the calculator are tied to iOS upgrades. With Android these are all updated separately.

 

[53' Stude]

For value, it's really tough to beat Motorola. The Stylus 5G is a great device that feels and runs like it costs hundreds more.

Thank You sir . What’s the battery life like? Co worker has a stylus and loves it. I had a older Motorola before joining here. At Crickett this is reasonable $$ wise

 

[Furious]

Who cares. Certainly not someone considering buying a $70 smartphone.

Well no offense to you but this just shows you don't take stability, security and app support seriously. And nowhere did OP says he was considering buying a $70 phone he said a budget phone, there is plenty of good up to date budget phones out there.

Keep in mind Android is the most targeted OS and is known to have more vulnerabilities compared to iOS I could go down a huge list in regards to this, if someone is really that bad off financially which many of us are they would be better to buy a $99 Iphone 11 from Cricket which will likely receive updates for multiple more years and is set to receive iOS 17 then buy an outdated Android.

 

[dishdude]

Thank You sir . What’s the battery life like? Co worker has a stylus and loves it. I had a older Motorola before joining here. At Crickett this is reasonable $$ wise

It has a 5000 mAh battery, you can easily get 2 days of moderate use out of it.

 

[SHOZ]

I've been using the cheap Moto G7 power line. On my second one over 4 years. Good battery for sure and otherwise is what a phone does nowadays.

 

[AutoMechanic]

I’d stick with iPhone but that’s just my opinion. If yours is older maybe see if you can get a good price on one that’s a couple models up. Personally I’m buying the 15 Pro when they release it but I can understand not wanting to spend a lot on a phone so that’s why I suggested looking at a few models before this one. Currently I’ve got the 12 Pro which is great it’s definitely one I’d consider if yours is older than that.

 

[53' Stude]

I’d stick with iPhone but that’s just my opinion. If yours is older maybe see if you can get a good price on one that’s a couple models up. Personally I’m buying the 15 Pro when they release it but I can understand not wanting to spend a lot on a phone so that’s why I suggested looking at a few models before this one. Currently I’ve got the 12 Pro which is great it’s definitely one I’d consider if yours is older than that.

Good info Blake, Thank You

 

[Skippy722]

I’d go with a “lower end” iPhone. You’re already familiar with the OS, you have another apple device already, that way you don’t have to re learn everything.

Or pay for the latest (iPhone 15 announcement later this week) and use it till it’s completely dead. iOS 17 will support back to the Xr/XS models from 2018, so you should get ~6 years out of it before apple stops supporting it if you go this route.