• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Have to buy a new phone for the first time in seven years, need suggestions.

poodaddy

poodaddy

Member
The wife wants a new phone, and has decided that we can afford it now....not sure I agree with her, but it is what it is, she's gotta have it, so we gotta get it. Here's the question then, what're the best options for phones in terms of feature set and performance for the dollar amount. 5G would be nice, as it seems like a good idea to future proof the phone, particularly as I, as you can probably tell, don't buy phones very often.

So, with that said, hit me with your suggestions. I don't really wanna spend all my money, but that being said I don't really buy cheap shit as I believe you get what you pay for. If you were gonna buy a new phone, which would you buy? Thanks for suggestions.
 
L

Later Alligator

Member
ive got the galaxy s20+ as my 1 year old scratched the shit out of my old phone.

i was not much of a phone guy before, i would just grab whatever the latest iPhone was when my contract was up, but i like it much better

it's fairly pricey, but you could always just pay like $30/month or whatever
 
Last edited:
Nymphae

Nymphae

Banned
I've went LG for my last two phones almost exclusively for the tap on feature which turns the phone on and off with a double tap of the touch screen.

I got tired of hardware buttons breaking on my iphones, so I switched to android years ago because other than the power on button everything was accessible from the screen itself, then once I found LG I completely eliminated the need to use the physical buttons.
 
Last edited:
TaySan

TaySan

Banned
Do you have a specific budget you would like to stick too? LG flagships can be had for pretty cheap. The only problem with their phones is lack of software updates so if that is important to you i would recommend a Pixel phone or Samsung.
 
N

nbcjr

Member
Nymphae said:
I've went LG for my last two phones almost exclusively for the tap on feature which turns the phone on and off with a double tap of the touch screen.

I got tired of hardware buttons breaking on my iphones, so I switched to android years ago because other than the power on button everything was accessible from the screen itself, then once I found LG I completely eliminated the need to use the physical buttons.
Click to expand...
All the latest phones I've had have this feature (xiaomi). I'm pretty sure any Android can have this if you have the right rom.
 
Stilton Disco

Stilton Disco

Member
If you want an android set, then last years Galaxy S10 Lite, or if you want to go with Apple, the 2020 iPhone SE.

You're getting near flagship performance and features for both, long term software support due to their sharing hardware with the top of the line models, in a smaller form factor you'll be a bit more used to and is easier to deal with, for about 400 bucks.

I can vouch for the S10 line as I have the Lites sister set, the S10e, while I bought my with an iPhone SE just this past weekend to replace her iphone 8.

Both have been fantastic so far, with the SE just being a faster 8 with a better camera, which was already an excellent handset.
 
Last edited:
H

HeLurks

Banned
I love buying used flagships from 1-2 years ago. Currently running a Sony Xperia XZ Premium. Yeah, it is bulkier and a tad slower than current flagships. But I have a great display, solid speakers, good performance, long battery life, great camera and all that for around 150 bucks - instead 800 when it launched. :-D

Edit: Not that I would recommend said model. It has aged too much since. But have a look at the good shit from late 2018 and see if you can get a bargain by buying used. Imho old flagships are still better than new midrange. Usually better price/performance. Just like Computer-Hardware.
 
Last edited:
belmarduk

belmarduk

Member
What phone did you have for seven years?
As someone has already said, the iPhone SE really can't be beat for budget phones at US$399. You should look into that one.
 
T8SC

T8SC

Member
If money is an issue, maybe go for something a little cheaper, with 5g for future proofing and 2-3 years of security patches - Nokia 8.3 5G.

Been out a few month now so there should be some good deals on it too.
 
Irobot82

Irobot82

Member
Motorolla Edge. Has 5G, headphone jack, powerfull but not "top end", stock android and has expandable sd card. I think they are on pre-order sale right now for $499.
 
Robot Carnival

Robot Carnival

Member
kinda depends on what phone your wife had been using and what ecosystem she's in. if she's been using iPhone and has everything all setup in the Apple ecosystem, then keep going with that. other wise thou, go with an Android phone, especially one that can add in a memory card. I imagine your wife would like to take some pictures and having the ability to plug in a memory card to expand the capacity would really help. as some had mentioned the Samsung flagship phones like S or Note series are always nice, the latest ones would support 5G of course. thou they usually are pretty expensive. I've been using a Note 8 since it's release and it's still pretty good, but I'm leaning towards switch to one that supports 5G in the near future also.
 
diffusionx

diffusionx

Gold Member
If I were you I would just buy the best phone I could afford, over 7 years it is worth it. At the top of the heap is Apple and Samsung, same as it was 7 years ago, and below that you have stuff like Google and OnePlus and then below that a morass of OEMs.
 
GAMETA

GAMETA

Banned
I like them Samsung Galaxies, I always get the low-end third world entry level ones, but you know, they last... been using mine for 5 years now, cheap and usefull, although very bare bones...

I bet you can get a mid/high-end good version of the newest one for a decent price, they're usually pretty good.
 
MilkyJoe

MilkyJoe

Member
poodaddy said:
The wife wants a new phone, and has decided that we can afford it now....not sure I agree with her, but it is what it is, she's gotta have it, so we gotta get it. Here's the question then, what're the best options for phones in terms of feature set and performance for the dollar amount. 5G would be nice, as it seems like a good idea to future proof the phone, particularly as I, as you can probably tell, don't buy phones very often.

So, with that said, hit me with your suggestions. I don't really wanna spend all my money, but that being said I don't really buy cheap shit as I believe you get what you pay for. If you were gonna buy a new phone, which would you buy? Thanks for suggestions.
Click to expand...

The moto edge is the cheapest 5G phone, but do you really need 5G.

If money is tight get a Moto G. Usually the best cheap phone.
 
H

hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
There’s honestly no option better than the iPhone SE. It’s brilliant - performance is rock solid and the camera is excellent (I need a good camera for my black cat). The only caveat is that getting content in and out of an iPhone is a ballache due to the horror that is iTunes. I don’t use it because I have a plex server and Dropbox but if your workflow doesn’t look like mine you may need an android.
 
Ballthyrm

Ballthyrm

Member
I would go either the OnePlus Nord or the Google Pixel 4a.
Google support their phones very well and they stay pretty fast longer.

I say go for the 4a.
 
H

HawksWinStanley

Member
V4skunk said:
Get a Samsung because it is very high quality and not made in China like Apple.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure they're made in China too.

hariseldon said:
There’s honestly no option better than the iPhone SE. It’s brilliant - performance is rock solid and the camera is excellent (I need a good camera for my black cat). The only caveat is that getting content in and out of an iPhone is a ballache due to the horror that is iTunes. I don’t use it because I have a plex server and Dropbox but if your workflow doesn’t look like mine you may need an android.
Click to expand...

I really like mine but was disappointed with the battery life. It's not terrible, and powering a phone like that is going to take a lot of juice from that tiny battery, but I was still hoping for a couple more hours.
 
Last edited:
H

hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
HawksWinStanley said:
Pretty sure they're made in China too.



I really like mine but was disappointed with the battery life. It's not terrible, and powering a phone like that is going to take a lot of juice from that tiny battery, but I was still hoping for a couple more hours.
Click to expand...
Battery life hasn’t bothered me too much though I guess during lockdown I’m always near a power supply so it’s less of an issue for me than it might otherwise be.

The big thing for me though is just how smoothly everything just works. I’ve had android phones and even the expensive ones are just constant hassle.

Only downer is lack of emulators on the iPhone.
 
Phase

Phase

Member
If you want longevity I would recommend a phone you can replace the battery on. I'm currently using an LG v20 and since you can remove the battery easily it's lasted me a long time (since it's release like 5yrs ago). I'm on my third battery, ~ $15 each.

I'm going to go small, cheap, and durable once my v20 dies though. I want to be able to throw it down without caring. Might even get a "dumb" phone.
 
Last edited:
Ulysses 31

Ulysses 31

Member
Also 5G is you don't mind the radiation. :p

maxresdefault.jpg


There's also a cheaper Strix version with 256GB storage and 8GB Ram.
 
H

HawksWinStanley

Member
hariseldon said:
Battery life hasn’t bothered me too much though I guess during lockdown I’m always near a power supply so it’s less of an issue for me than it might otherwise be.

The big thing for me though is just how smoothly everything just works. I’ve had android phones and even the expensive ones are just constant hassle.

Only downer is lack of emulators on the iPhone.
Click to expand...

Can't agree more with the performance. I was coming off an iPhone 6 that chuuuuuugged when opening apps and browsing online, so being able to do the same tasks in a tiny fraction of the time has been a massive step up for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Do you have close friends? When's the last time you made one?
2
81
2K
Coconutt replied
Will Nintendo triple dip on the new switch and will you buy it?
31
1K
deriks replied
What 3 things would you urge Sony to remember if they return to the portable market?
Opinion 2
94
3K
Heimdall_Xtreme replied
[NY Times] Video Games Can’t Afford to Look This Good
Opinion Analysis 2 3 4
156
9K
Dr. Samuel Hayden replied
Once and for all, is it OK to buy AMD for a mid-high range gaming PC?
2
83
4K
killatopak replied
Top Bottom