Looking for a Cheap Good Smart Mobile Phone

ynotidas on 27/12/2011 - 11:33

Hi,

I lost my mobile last night and now I am looking to buy a new cheap good smart mobile phone.

Anyone know any bargains during this post boxing day sales period?

-ynotidas-

Find Me A Bargain

Comments

  • bargainr on 27/12/2011 - 18:39

    Locked/unlocked? What did you have before? Budget?

  • ynotidas on 27/12/2011 - 18:54

    i dont even know whats the difference between locked/unlocked, my mum bought me the xperia 10, so i had that…

    i want the bare minimum smart phone in order to TEXT, CALL and use WHATSAPP (and maybe surf the net, but not neccesary) i dont play games on it.

    thanks :)

    • scrimshaw on 27/12/2011 - 21:14
      +2

      i dont even know whats the difference between locked/unlocked,

      Unlocked means the phone is not bound to a certain network. If you buy an unlocked phone, you may use any sim card of any network (Optus, Telstra, Voda) on it. If the phone is locked (say to Vodafone) it will only accept Vodafone/Three SIM cards.

      Locked phones are usually cheaper than unlocked ones because you often have to pay to unlock it or use it on a plan on a certain amount of time before it is unlocked.

      Android phones under $100 (unlocked otherwise noted)

      Huawei Ideos - Locked mobile: Virgin - $60 via Aldi instore only

      Huawei U8300 - $68 (QWERTY keyboard, but has somewhat unwieldy touchscreen)

      Huawei X1 - $80

      Under $150

      LG Optimus One P500 $129 eBay (My Recommendation)

      Huawei X3 - $119

      Over $150

      Samsung Galaxy Gio $158

      LG Optimus 7 E900 $179 - This is a Windows 7 mobile phone

      • SmiTTy on 27/12/2011 - 21:59
        +2

        I got the LG optimus One P500 for under $100 recently. Though it was locked to Virgin, you can get unlock codes on ebay for about $1-2.

      • psychtracker on 28/12/2011 - 02:21

        On the low end, might be worth adding the T3020, for around $79.

  • realsniper09 on 27/12/2011 - 19:55
    +1

    Need a price range…

  • ynotidas on 28/12/2011 - 11:09

    WOW!! anything under $200 is fantastic…thats a great list, thank you so much scrimshaw!

    SmiTTy where did you get the LG optimus One P500 for under $100??

    • psychtracker on 28/12/2011 - 11:51
      +1

      He said "Virgin" locked, it's on their website for $99. I think Crazy John's have it for $89, locked as well. Also read that if u upgrade Android on this phone, it will unlock them.

      • scrimshaw on 28/12/2011 - 13:45

        Yeah the Virgin P500 is the best buy here, in terms of price and performance ratio.

        You could also try the Samsung Gal. Gio for $158. Great phone and has 800mhz processor, much better experience than a run of the mill 600mhz CPU phone.

        • alebox on 29/12/2011 - 14:25

          would people recommend the p500 over the htc explorer? both are 600mhz CPU but p500 seems to garner far better reviews and the community behind it seems to be larger?

        • scrimshaw on 29/12/2011 - 16:07
          +1

          e community behind it seems to be larger?

          Because the LG P500 is a 2010 phone whereas the Explorer only released recently in October.

          Looking at the specs, it seems that the LG P500 is bulkier and heavier because of the larger 1500mah battery.

          HTC Explorer seems to have a smaller one at 1250mah and very limited internal memory (90mb compared to 170mb). I think I would pick the P500, given that choice.

      • SmiTTy on 31/12/2011 - 13:27

        Psychtracker is right, I got it for $99 , but bought from dick smith online with free shipping at the time (Im assuming its still free shipping)

        http://dicksmith.com.au/product/E7328/virgin-lg-optimus-one-…

        It is very common, you would be able to find it lots of places under $100 like psychtracker said - crazy johns. A search on ozbargain will show plenty of deals out there.

  • ynotidas on 29/12/2011 - 18:14

    I have purchased the lg optimus one p500 last night through ebay $129…so i'm just waiting for the phone to come and ill tell you guys how it is :)

  • llama on 29/12/2011 - 23:04

    i want the bare minimum smart phone in order to TEXT, CALL and use WHATSAPP (and maybe surf the net, but not neccesary) i dont play games on it.

    You don't even need a smart phone if that is all that you want to do. Any $10 phone can make CALLS, and send SMS TEXTS.

    • scrimshaw on 30/12/2011 - 01:31

      He wanted to use Whatsapp, which does require a smartphone operating system.

      Whatsapp does work on several Nokia s40 "dumbphones" but seriously… who wants to buy a Nokia nowadays :) A Nokia x2 or Nokia C3 already costs more than $100, of which that could buy a Huawei x1.

  • punter1 on 30/12/2011 - 11:42

    i have BlackBerry 9700 only used for 6 months, for sale $150.
    Interested? inner west sydney

    • scrimshaw on 30/12/2011 - 15:41
      +1

      He's already bought the phone.

      I have purchased the lg optimus one p500 last night through ebay $129

  • psychtracker on 31/12/2011 - 07:11

    I picked up the LG P500 the other day from Target for $89.10. They had a 10% sale on phones, i presume it's still going. It's a pretty good phone/gadget, no complaints about speed or anything regards it's usability. It does everything it says. The camera is just "average", no flash..and no front cam. I found the LG phone suite software a bit clunky. Maybe it wasn't liking my older lappy w/XP. I guess i'm a semi-geek, but still took me 3-4 hours fiddling about and hair loss to finally upgrade to android 2.3.

    • ynotidas on 06/01/2012 - 14:32

      I have the phone now and stuck my tpg sim in last night.

      I can't access 3g or 2g internet at all, is it because my android is 2.2?

      omg this sucks i want my internet lol can someone help me?

      • Cheeper on 07/01/2012 - 13:04
        +1

        Nothing to do with android version at all.
        Most likely you need to configure the internet connection details (APN) for tpg.
        See here … http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/Mobiles_APN

        • ynotidas on 12/01/2012 - 14:17

          had to call tpg, to activate my 3g again! thanks, works now!

  • mls82 on 16/01/2012 - 17:41

    I was wondering if anyone wouldn't mind suggesting a Next G compatible android mobile for less than or around $150.

    As the Huawei X3 has a 600MHz processor I did a little bit more research and found the LG Optimus Spirit on uniquemobiles for $148 but it only has 3.6Mbps HSDPA which looked a little odd (as cheaper phones are typically 7.2Mbps).

    Extra info: Mobile will be used for calls, sms, emails, web browser, reading PDF's and taking the occasional photo. Will be in rural QLD a couple of days per month so reception quality/battery life could be a side consideration. On contract with Telstra.

    Thanks in advance.

  • mls82 on 16/01/2012 - 17:51

    Thought I should also add that it needs to be unlocked. My Telstra contract expires in six months and I would then like to be able to switch over to Optus and use this phone for a while until I upgrade to something else.

  • Geewhizz on 17/01/2012 - 09:51

    I did a little bit more research and found the LG Optimus Spirit on uniquemobiles

    Stepdaughter bought one from Telstra a little over a month ago and is having problems with it freezing, and randomly restarting several times a day. It's also fairly slow to respond.

    • mls82 on 17/01/2012 - 12:05

      Thanks for that. I have heard a few bad reports about LG's and will give it a miss. Holding out for uniquemobiles Samsung Ace sale on Thursday. Hopefully it will get down to 179 like it was in November.

  • ESEMCE on 20/01/2012 - 11:13

    You realise that none of the above is going to be better than the Xperia X10?
    If you're looking for an upgrade, you'll need to spend in the order of $350+ and even then you'll not get much better. The X10 was a very decent handset crippled by Sony's crappy firmware.

    • mr_fjackson on 20/01/2012 - 18:49

      I just went looking for the X10. the cheapest price I could find is $289.99 do you know some where that's selling them cheep ?

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join