Best smartphone in $300-$450 price range - In layman's terms!

CheapskateQueen on 23/12/2015 - 10:26

Hi,

I'm looking for a new smart phone around the $300-$450 price range. I don't know any tech speak so i'm looking for opinions in language i can understand! haha

I don't need 4G. I would like a pretty great camera. I call, text, play games. I'll use it as my GPS, MP3 Player (heavy user so I'll need large memory /SD slot) and exercise tracker (so will come on runs / rides / gym etc). It hopefully isn't too flimsy/breakdable cos I will probably drop it a lot. lol

I don't know much about the "no name" phones but I trust I can get specs just as good as popular brands without the pricetag, but I just don't know what's good/crap.

I'm going OS in Jan so I can do the TRS and I'll be waiting for post X-Mas Sales.

Thanks!

Mobile

Comments

  • BobbyJ on 23/12/2015 - 11:09
    +1

    Quick rundown of a few good phones in that price range:

    OnePlus X
    Moto G (3rd Gen)
    Huawei P8

    They all have decent cameras.

    The links are to reviews.

    • virhlpool on 27/12/2015 - 09:55

      How about Samsung Galaxy S5 (which was for $322 in the recent Harvey Norman deal)?

      • BobbyJ on 27/12/2015 - 15:40

        After owning a Note for multiple years, and reading many things about Touchwiz, I decided I would never buy a Samsung phone again. The phones are good for a while (a few months) then they start to lag. My friend's S6 started lagging after only a month. Therefore…Samsung phones = a no no for me

        • Toblerone3 on 30/12/2015 - 12:37

          In that case I wouldn't suggest buying any motorola phone as I have had the moto g 2nd generation for around 9 months and it is terrible. Battery life is terrible and camera is substandard. Also looking at my phone outside has caused lines down the screen. I would not recommend buying the 3rd generation.

        • BobbyJ on 30/12/2015 - 13:46
          +1

          @Kerser42:
          Yea, my mate had the same problem. Had the 2nd Gen and got really annoyed with it after a while. But if I had to go buy a budget phone, the 3rd Gen Moto G would be at the top of my list. Main reason being, it has close to stock android. As long as I don't push the phone to it's limit, I'm sure it will last for more than a year and a half. Which for me, is plenty for that price point.

        • virhlpool on 02/01/2016 - 06:47

          @BobbyJ: But, not a good idea to change the phone every 18 months. And the phone worth $250-300 is supposed to last more. It's more about less features than low durability.

  • sajidmib on 23/12/2015 - 11:11

    Get One Plus X , micros SD card supported upto 128GB and will get Marshmallow update soon which has a very interesting feature that will allow you to incorporate the whole memory card as Internal memory so you can store apps and its data on it : )

    364 AUD at Geekbuying I ve personally got one and pretty cool device, but yeah sadly no TRS.

  • oscargamer on 23/12/2015 - 11:12

    sony z1 or z1 compact

    • CheapskateQueen on 23/12/2015 - 17:23

      i had the z1 last year.. the shitty battery life killed me -_-

      • oscargamer on 23/12/2015 - 19:10

        i had the z1 compact, batt life was great. 2-3 days !

  • dubcmj on 23/12/2015 - 11:50
    +2

    LG G3, preferably the 32GB/3GB RAM version.

  • Bullion78 on 23/12/2015 - 13:41

    Depending on how important apps are to you. You may want to consider the Nokia 640 that Dick has for $99. Unbeatable piece of tech for the price.

  • CheapskateQueen on 23/12/2015 - 17:32

    thanks for the feedback so far guys. I keep hearing about the OnePlus X so that's a good indication!

    Although I momentarily confused OnePLus with Oppo that I've seen in Dick Smith and just bought $350 in dick smith gift cards. Came home and realised my error -_-
    So now I need to stick to the dick smith catalogue. aagghh. (or buy something else i really dont need since i have most things i want)

    The Samsung S5 is on sale from tomorrow for $530 at DickSmith .. My net would be about $380 (after multiple multiple levels of discounts/gift cards/TRS). Should I be cheering with a price like that?

    Or would the Oppo be better than the S5? OR should i save my gift cards and go for the OnePlus? Sorry I'm hopeless with phone stuff!

  • branners on 23/12/2015 - 18:57

    Oppo is a good phone, much the same tech at OnePlus and if you are now locked into the DSE universe, will probably be a good buy.
    If you can wait, it might pay to wait till Boxing Day sales to see if there is a price drop…

    • CheapskateQueen on 23/12/2015 - 22:20

      Because of a bit of Gift Card conversion success I could probably get the Oppo R7 at $200 net (factoring all levels of discounts) or the Samsung S5 for $330 (if i can grab one in the boxing day sale).

      With those prices in mind, which would you pick between Oppo R7 and Samsung S5?

  • CheapskateQueen on 25/12/2015 - 09:07

    Ended up grabbing the samsung s5 from dick. after all my discounts it'll net for $300. Not bad at all.

    • virhlpool on 27/12/2015 - 09:57

      S5 for $300? How much and what sorts of discounts did you get at Dick Smith? I bought it for $322 after Amex $50 cashback and $25 online email subscription discount.

    • Ess-don on 30/12/2015 - 12:31

      Yes please share how you managed to get it down that low?? As thats quite impressive!!

      Im also interested in the s5 but missed out on the HN sale..

      • CheapskateQueen on 30/12/2015 - 12:57
        +1

        oh this was a result of multiple levels of OB cheapness and netting off after my TRS cashback i'll get in Jan… but tbh the HN sale was still better value, and zero pain/effort! if only i had waited a day!

        My thing was more a one off from the last 2 weeks of gift card conversions

        I had bought a bunch of Big W gift cards at 10% off and then used those gift cards to buy another round of Big W gift cards to boost the value before they shut the loophole down. I did this a couple of times and got a couple hundred free. I also bought a crap load of 10% off WW gift cards from Scoopon.

        Woolworths was also selling Dick Smith Gift Cards with 10% added value i.e. $500 = $550 in gift cards (unfortunately this ended yesterday). I averaged out the ratio for all of my WW gift cards I had hoarded, and used them to buy the dick smith gift cards. I also got a 5% discount using my mates discount card. And I'll get back $50 at the airport.

        The net price is not an exact science but it's around that mark.

        You can get it for just over $400 from The Good Guys on ebay with the 15% promo and 4% cashback
        http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-Samsung-Galaxy-S5-Charcoal-Bl…

  • dbun1 on 31/12/2015 - 15:48

    Bought my mum an Oppo R7 for $299 from DSE and it's fantastic.
    I saw they were doing the same price again for Boxing Day sales, so they may still have it going.

  • Bubbleshark on 01/01/2016 - 13:37

    How about 'elephone' brand? Saw a deal not so long ago, specs look alright and the price isn't too crazy

    • virhlpool on 02/01/2016 - 06:51

      The price isn't supposed to be crazy for such brands, anyway.

  • Davros on 02/01/2016 - 07:06

    Going on what you have said

    " I don't know any tech speak, I don't need 4G. I would like a pretty great camera. I call, text, play games. I'll use it as my GPS, MP3 Player (heavy user so I'll need large memory /SD slot) and exercise tracker (so will come on runs / rides / gym etc). It hopefully isn't too flimsy/breakdable cos I will probably drop it a lot. lol"

    A 4.5 inch ZTE Qlux or Fit for around $50 and a $5 silicone case would more than tick your boxes.
    I have a Qlux and do a whole lot more with it than you will be asking of it.

    This deal was $63 delivered with Free $100 headphones
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/221123

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