Seems like there are less and less decent prepaid phones around $100 these days

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  scrimshaw on 23/05/2016 - 14:00

  +1

  Low end android phones are unprofitable, that's why. I'd assume a lot of these low-end burner devices are subsidised by the carrier to make them affordable for the low end market. So they cut corners, make the phones smaller to reduce cost. And probably reduce the RAM to less than 1GB and use a cheaper Snapdragon 210. Most people won't notice.

  Phones that you buy as a "prepaid kit" will generally be cheaper as they are subsidised by the credit that you will buy later on.

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    systema on 23/05/2016 - 16:21

    I am wondering if carriers are starting to reduce their subsidy to these phones as it seems that the trend is that you are getting less for the same amount that you paid previously.

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  Anthrox on 23/05/2016 - 14:20

  I think a good low cost phone around the 200mark is the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua for $229.00
  Specs are good and Sony seems to keep its software up to date.
  http://www.optus.com.au/shop/prepaidmobile/sony/xperia-m4-aq…

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  wukachuka on 23/05/2016 - 14:32

  Is there a need for a "backup" phone to be anywhere near a feature phone?
  I just have one of the $29 nokia 532's from a few months back as my backup. (it lasts about a week on standby too, when i tested it after purchase)
  If i have to use my backup phone, it will only be for a few days at most.

  How good does it have to be if only a backup?

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  BargainKen on 23/05/2016 - 14:47

  The pixi 4.5 is a piece of crap other than it serves as a cheap 4g hotspot for me. No way I'd pay $69 for that, the zip looks like a cheaper variant but again crap is crap. If you want something better the buzz is better value for money, at least the screen doesn't look so shit.

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    systema on 23/05/2016 - 16:25

    Yes, the quality of the screen and camera on it isn't exactly the best. However, it does have reasonable performance for the money, quad A53 with 1GB ram, even the screen is a decent size (despite being a TN display). I prefer the Leon to it though.

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  [Deactivated] on 23/05/2016 - 16:11

  Looks like optus are creating wars between brands…

  Zte zip is 4 inch with similar specs as the Samsung j1 mini. Just for example.

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    systema on 23/05/2016 - 16:22

    I think they may have just bought too many J1 minis which they didn't sell much to customers.

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 23/05/2016 - 22:41

      Tempted to downsize in screen size but it's a bit of a step backwards in the performance department.

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  twister292 on 24/05/2016 - 00:57

  I think it's a case of carriers trying not to step on their own toes…Decently specced phones for an order of magnitude less than a flagship, and people going "oh well, it doesn't make my selfies look like they were taken by an SLR, but whatever, it's $70 only"…

  And I also think the bean counters at the telcos would have underestimated how easy it would be to unlock these devices. A lot of these phones are sold subsidised with the expectation that the user will cover for it with the usage of credit/talktime. With the ease of unlocking, the carriers were probably not making any money on these, and hence the move to even lower bottom-of-the-barrel phones in that price bracket…

  I have to say, I had 2 Y550s which I gave to family, and they were all surprised by the battery life…that thing rivals dumbphones of yesteryears on standby…

  Even now, I use the Telstra Buzz as a music player in the car (streaming over BT) because it's easier for other passengers to pick it up and change songs etc instead of removing my primary device from the car cradle…considering it has the same SoC as a MotoG, it's awesome value.

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    [Deactivated] on 24/05/2016 - 15:21

    A lot of the Y550's battery life comes from it having preloaded apps installed that kill processes whilst your screen is turned off.

    People with other phones can use other apps that do a similar thing, but most don't because they have tried some DU battery saver with some heavy advertising inside it and shy away from other software.

    Y550 also has a preloaded weather app, poor MartinWei. lol.

    I am currently using Avast Battery Saver (free) on my Galaxy Core Prime and it has a very long battery life now.

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      scrimshaw on 25/05/2016 - 00:28

      I don't think the processes are killed. It just forces them to hibernate, and the system itself decides whether or not the program should be kept or terminated depending on the amount of free RAM available. It always tries to use all the RAM it can, because any unused RAM is just wasted RAM.

      It is not a good idea to use killProcess all the time because the default action in many Android apps nowdays (e.g Messenger, Youtube, facebook, web browser) when a user 'quits' an app using the back button, usually just sends it to the background so that they can pick up where they left off when the app is re-opened. Your phone uses less battery waking up a sleeping app than it does to restart an app you had stopped, or killed.

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  [Deactivated] on 24/05/2016 - 15:08

  I think it has more to do with the cost wrt AUD, rising more than 38% due to the fall in exchange rate.

  If you look at stuff like Y550 which was on sale for $50. $50*1.38=$69, which is not that far off from the Harvey Norman price of $78.

  http://www.harveynorman.com.au/vodafone-huawei-ascend-y550-p…

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    twister292 on 24/05/2016 - 16:19

    Or the fact telcos don't want to subsidise them any more…the RRP of the unlocked Y550 was closer to $150, Voda was subsidising them to get it to that price…