What Basic Android Phone under $150?

Dacs on 13/12/2021 - 19:01

I'm looking for a basic Android phone for someone in who doesn't really want one, but needs it for calls, texts Covid checkins, vaccination certificates and maybe as a basic camera. Other than that he probably won't use it at all.

Realme C3 or Samsung Galaxy A21s would have been okay earlier this year when they were $69 and $140 respectively, but now six months older they are $199 and $250 where in stock.

Requirements:
* Good battery life
* Fingerprint unlock
* Reasonably quick to unlock and open the QR scanner (A non-awful CPU and 3GB RAM)
* Reasonable life expectancy (Android 11 and preferably support for 12)
* All Australian 4G bands
* Unlocked or locked to Optus
* Preferably under $150.

I've looked at others but there haven't been any that look really good over the past few weeks
* Optus X Start 2 ($59, underpowered 1GB/16GB)
* Optus X Power 2 ($69, underpowered 2GB/16GB)
* Optus X Sight 2 ($74, underpowered 1GB/32GB)
* Optus X Delight ($96, underpowered 2GB/32GB)
* Optus X Tap ($111, old Android, reportedly problems with 4G)
* Optus X Go ($129, underpowered 2GB/32GB)
* Optus X View ($129, underpowered 2GB/16GB)
* Optus X Pro ($134, old Android)
* Motorola Moto G8 Power Lite ($134, old Android)
* Optus X Wave ($149, underpowered 2GB/16GB)

All these are already reaching end of life in terms of Android support and/or may have too little memory or CPU power to open and scan a QR code quickly.
Are there any others to look at, or am I wrong about any of the above ones?

Mobile Mobile Phone Android

Comments

  • AndyC1 on 13/12/2021 - 20:40

    Sounds like you have not looked at the HMD manufactured phones that are sold under the Nokia brand. May be worth a look.

    • Dacs on 14/12/2021 - 15:41

      I did have a look at a few Nokia phones as well, but wrote them off as the ones in that price bracket (like the Nokia 1.4) were only 2GB. Will consider again though. Thanks

  • hellousyd on 13/12/2021 - 21:11
    +1

    I mean you could always go for a used phone? The one I would recommend is a Pixel 3 XL. They can be had for ~$200 if you have eBay Plus. It will blow any of the phones you have listed above out of the water in every category, (except maybe battery life). Other than that its a great piece of kit for 200, and it does have a flagship grade CPU and still a very respectable camera for 2021.

    What seals the deal for me however is the stock and non-overwhelming stock android experience, PLUS, great support for Android 12! Give it a think.

    • Dacs on 14/12/2021 - 15:44

      The Pixel 3 phones I'm seeing for $200-ish on eBay have major issues such as a cracked screen or fingerprint reader not working. But yes, stock Android is a plus

  • bobokingdom on 13/12/2021 - 21:21

    How about this? https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/vivo-y11s-…

    $164

    I don't think old phones are worth it as you won't get security updates.

    • Dacs on 14/12/2021 - 15:59

      Thanks.
      The specs look okay on that one. Similar or a little better than the benchmark Realme C3, though a lot more than the Realme was selling for earlier this year. I don't know how good the build and firmware is of the Vivo and not sure that an interface called "Funtouch" is something that you'd want on your phone but I'll put it on the short list.

      • bobokingdom on 14/12/2021 - 16:33

        This phone is unlocked @ Officeworks. The Realme C3 was over $100 for the Optus unlocked version.

        • Dacs on 14/12/2021 - 17:26

          Noted. Locked to Optus is okay in this case though

  • mbck on 13/12/2021 - 21:29

    Surprisingly, the a21s will be updated to Android 12 next year, while the c3 was only just updated to 11 recently and no news on Android 12 (highly unlikely).

    You're asking a lot with that budget. But I'd get one the A series, and not any other brands.

    • Dacs on 14/12/2021 - 16:05

      Interesting to hear about the updates for those phones. I see that the Nokia 1.4 will also be supported up to Android 12.

      The benchmark I'm comparing to is the Realme C3 which was selling at $80 to $99 many times earlier in the year, and as low as $29, but over the past month there's been a drought of specials in that range.

      • mbck on 14/12/2021 - 17:29

        Hmm the Nokia runs on android go, which indicates it runs on an underpowered CPU (snapdragon 215).

        The pricing for c3 was on clearance and only one or two woollies had it, so it's a bit moot talking about 29 bucks.

        But good luck

        • Dacs on 14/12/2021 - 17:52

          Ha ha you're right, $29 was probably unobtainable in practice. But, with 3GB, if it was still in stock under $100 that would be great.
          I hadn't looked at the Snapdragon 215 performance but you're quite right about that, and the CPU is only quad core and slow too.

  • Mokr on 13/12/2021 - 22:49

    Nokia 1.4 under 150 at amazon

    Go to bang good

    Just get any Xiaomi phone should be fine.

    lots of cheap refurb phones as well good to get.

    Moto g power lite - isn't old its made in 2020. Still good.

    • Dacs on 14/12/2021 - 16:14

      Good suggestions, thanks.
      I'd passed on the Nokia 1.4 because of only 2GB ram, but maybe it will be acceptable for light use. The good thing is that it's available at OW for $127 unlocked.

      My last few phones have been Xiaomi so I was keen on that but haven't seen much in that price range. The cheapest Xiaomi phones on Banggood is $215, and at Kogan the Redmi 9A with only 2GB ram is $169.

      The Moto G Power Lite came with Android 9, but doing a quick Google it looks like it might be supported to Android 11. I'll look into that too.
      Thanks again.

  • LockstepConspiracy on 16/12/2021 - 11:45

    A lot of the phones you have mentioned have a 32 bit OS and therefore most modern apps are not optimised properly. It will seem a lot more sluggish than usual even though the processor is good. The new low end Nokia phones available at Woolworths are a good example of this.

    • Dacs on 16/12/2021 - 11:51

      Oh! I didn't even realise that Android came in a 32-bit flavour.
      Thanks for the warning!

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