Cheap Android Phone Suggestion

I'm planning to upgrade from my Nokia N86 brick soon. As you'd expect from a brick owner, I'm not very informed about the different smartphones out there. At first I was just going to get a flagship phone but I figured it'd be wasted on me.

What I want out of the phone:

  • Reasonably long battery life. Should last a day with ease. It'll probably be on standby most of the time, only ~2hrs max SOT a day.
  • Reasonable call quality and reception. Didn't even know this was a thing that people rated. Shouldn't it be given that call quality and reception would be better than the times of bricks?
  • To not feel sluggish. I don't know much about apps but the main one I'll use is probably Ankidroid (which will have 10k+ flash cards on it). At the very least, it shouldn't lag while navigating the interface.
  • A reasonable reputation when it comes to build quality. It'll be in a pocket or on a desk most of the time. There should be no reason to randomly fail on me.

A quick google suggests Motorola Moto G 2014 2nd Gen. The reviews seem to quote the price at around $180 USD which makes the $270 AUD price tag less appealing. Should I just grab it anyway or is there a cheaper phone that will match my needs?

Comments

  • +4

    The MotoG 2014 was on sale for $229
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/180396

    but it's still worth getting even if you have to pay $250+ for it.

    There are few other devices you can get locally which has equivalent specs in the same price range. Most other options from LG, Sony and Samsung are fairly dull, slow performing devices which will probably never get software updates past Kit Kat.

  • What about a Samsung S3 for about $250?

    • I would rather buy a second hand S4 from ebay for around the same price.
      Actually I did a few months ago.

  • +1

    The motorola Moto g is $239 this weekend at dick smith. Is this good value?
    http://www.dicksmith.com.au/unlocked-mobile-phones/motorola-…

  • +3

    You can try Windows 530 at $39.90 at Woolworths from the deal https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/180707.

  • As an Android newbie you will probably want a phone running Android 4.1 (a.k.a. Jelly Bean) or newer. It will ensure that any application you purchase in the Google Play store will run on your phone:
    https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html

    A cheaper option to the Moto G and Samsung S3 is an unlocked Vodafone prepaid Huawei G526. I bought my Huawei G526 for $89.50 and unlocked it through eBay for $6 (that's about $96 all up):
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/product/huawei-ascend-g526

    The Huawei G526 is about 80% the speed of the Samsung S3 and Moto G but under half the price. If you only need web browsing and the occasional Google maps then this phone is still overkill. The battery life lasts longer than the Samsung S3 but that is because the S3 has a faster processor and more hardware (eg. bigger screen, NFC).

    The Huawei G526 has a Micro SD card slot. I've been using a 32GB Class 10 Micro SD card in mine.

    Its a 4G enabled phone. The call quality and reception is above average. The speaker and speakerphone work great after the phone is properly worn in.

    If you are a power user then the biggest annoyance with the G526 is its low storage. Its only 1GB of internal storage for applications.

    • Even for a casual smartphone user a 4GB phone is not enough, because out of 4GB only 1GB is allocated for apps and this fills VERY quickly if you do any of the following

      1. Download a large game with sizable install files
      2. Download language packs for Google translate or offline dictionary files for dictionary apps
      3. Download offline maps for google maps or cache them
      4. You bought a phone which has a lot of unremovable bloat
    • Thanks for the suggestion, I was tempted by the S3 except the price (I like <$100 phones as I can treat them like s*it). I'm coming from a Samsung Galaxy Y so anything's going to be pretty good I guess.
      Apart from needing to put a microSD in it, are there any other gotcha's? Do Telstra ever have deals on them or do you need to wait for a Voda deal and unlock? I'm with Aldi/Telstra due to poor reception so being Telstra compatable is important to me.

    • I didn't see this until after I ordered. Maybe I did end up overkilling but it's no big deal.

      As for how much storage I'll use, Ankidroid will take up 700+ MB alone and it'll increase as I add more cards. Offline maps and dictionaries don't sound bad either.

      That being said, what's the main downside of storing apps on an external SD card instead of the internal flash storage? Slower start up/shut down times? Less responsiveness out of the app?

      • Don't worry about overkill. Besides there are no current sales for Vodafone prepaid Huawei G526. That means they are $160-$180 right now. Since they aren't on special I'd go with the unlocked Moto G, plus you don't have to wait.

        In theory, internal memory is always fastest. Plus the SD card slot chews up a bit more electricity so your battery life would be shorter (kind of like a hard disk vs more RAM). That also can mean more heat in some models.

        In practice, the PRO's far outweight the CON's. The speed difference isn't that big as most small apps won't benefit from the random access read speeds. Electricity is cheap and most smartphones are put on the charger every night.

  • +2

    Thanks for the replies. I ordered the Moto G 2nd Gen from Dicksmith for $239. Hopefully, they'll have it in stock.

    • I just did too :-)

  • +7

    Huawei Y550 (Voda prepaid) from DSE $89.. best bang for the $ around.
    http://www.dicksmith.com.au/vodafone/vodafone-mario-y550-hb-…

    • Thanks, do you know if the Voda version works on all the telstra frequencies?

      • Believe it will do for 3G+, but naturally would be designed to suit Voda's blazing L1800 - L850 Mhz. 3G850 is good; 4G1800 would work multi-network.

  • +6

    Voda Y550 above / Bagman unlocked @$3.99

  • I was going to post this exact same forum post. I too am looking for a brand new android phone as a second phone for work only. I was hoping to use kitkat so I am not sure which phone to get.

  • +4

    Y550 all the way, unlock, root and profit

  • +1

    I have the y550 and am really happy with it considering its price and the price of other phones with similar specs. I mostly use browsing and calls though and its been brilliant for that. If you use your phone for photos, look at something else ;)

  • Moto G is the way to go….. good battery life, nice size, great updates from moto.

  • Bought zenfone 5 from Kogan total cost $203, received the phone yesterday very awesome and fluid phone, people also rate the phone to be better than moto g

    • Asus is 3g only while 2nd gen moto g is 4g

  • I would recommend this one- the DOOGEE-Voyager-2-DG310-5-inch-MTK6582-1_3GHz-Quad-core-Smartphone:

    http://www.banggood.com/DOOGEE-Voyager-2-DG310-5-inch-MTK658…

    • That looks interesting actually, do you have personal experience using it on an Aussie mobile network? I'm with Boost (Telstra).

  • No 900Mhz on the Dooley, so optus would be crap.

    Also like a lot of cheap Chinese phones it's 3g only.

  • +1

    When Chinese phones receive dual SIM LTE, they might be worth looking at again.
    For now, Voda Y550 gives the best bands for the buck. Unlocked by bagman @$4.

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