Is there a website that reviews lower-priced phones?

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seeker

Thu, Sep 20 2018, 3:19 pm

All the big product comparison website are too busy drooling over the flagships. I am looking for something more mid-range. I see a little info here and there but I love to look at some solid review sites before choosing.

Last time I chose a relatively higher-end phone that I was able to find for a good price used on ebay (Galaxy S4, which was a flagship back in its day but is now too old to bother with anymore. When I got it it was somewhere in between - old enough to get a deal but still relevant). That was over 2 years ago and now it seems like all the higher-end phones are still too expensive for me even on ebay. I'm willing to go a couple of years back, but I want something with a great camera and compatible with newer apps (my old phone can't update a lot of apps lately)

I already have a thread here recommending phones, and I appreciate that. I just would love to back up my choice, or at least have help choosing between them, with a professional review site.

wow

Thu, Sep 20 2018, 4:59 pm

I always search the model I want on YouTube. Great reviews and comparisons on there!

seeker

Thu, Sep 20 2018, 10:20 pm

Good point. Though videos are so time consuming. I'm more of a text-skimmer. But I may do that.

kiryat sefer

Thu, Sep 20 2018, 10:26 pm

What service do you have?
Huawei honor 7x, Huawei mate se, lg stylo 4, s7, j7, s8, Xiaomi Redmi note 5, mi a2? Pocophone, lg k20, lg v20 lg v30.
But you have to make sure that they work with the service you have.

seeker

Thu, Sep 20 2018, 10:37 pm

I have Verizon, but like I was saying in OP it doesn't really help me to have a list of model names if I don't have a way to look into them further.

doctorima

Thu, Sep 20 2018, 11:32 pm

I've had success googling "Best cell phone under $200" (or whatever your budget is). Or if you're planning to buy it used on Ebay, you can add to the figure you're googling, which will be based on the new price.

seeker

Thu, Sep 20 2018, 11:58 pm

I'm not having much luck with either google or youtube. Youtube is wasting a lot of time mostly saying the same things - size, what processor, etc, obsessing over stupidity like the color of the back... if it were text I would skip all that. And google I'm not getting the right results - I'm searching for Verizon and getting phones that won't work on verizon, I'm searching 2016 because I want something I can get cheaper used and everything that comes up is 2018... I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I'm not loving google right now. I'm going to keep looking a little more and then probably go another month with my barely-working phone and then try again...

Mommyg8

Fri, Sep 21 2018, 12:36 am

Have you tried checking ratings on walmart.com and bestbuy.com?

I did a quick glance and the galaxy s6 came up with high ratings, but I'm not sure if it's outdated or not.

seeker

Fri, Sep 21 2018, 1:42 am

I don't think the galaxy s6 would be so outdated yet, the s7 was new two years ago and that was a great phone (a bunch of friends got one around then) so how bad could it be? But you can get one around $100 on ebay if you don't mind that the screen is all cracked Confused

Rutabaga

Fri, Sep 21 2018, 5:47 am

Check wirecutter.com

kiryat sefer

Fri, Sep 21 2018, 5:54 am

Seeker I did my research for months and this is what I found was best models you can take it or leave it.

kiryat sefer

Fri, Sep 21 2018, 5:55 am

Mommyg8 wrote:

Have you tried checking ratings on walmart.com and bestbuy.com?

I did a quick glance and the galaxy s6 came up with high ratings, but I'm not sure if it's outdated or not.

Walmart and bestbuy are great places . But S6 is actually has a very bad ratings the reason being it doesn't have an sd card slot and it is not waterproof to say the least. She should rather go for an s7.

Mommyg8

Fri, Sep 21 2018, 8:58 am

seeker wrote:

I thought I saw some on ebay for about $120 but I was skimming. So I could have gotten the details wrong.

To be honest, many of my friends have gotten the really cheap phone from Wal-Mart, but they don't use the browser and I guess the camera is not the greatest. I guess it's really crazy how expensive these phones have gotten. I just bought a new phone and I was having true charatah on how much I spent on it, but now that I'm looking at the other options I see my price was not so out of the ball park after all Confused

. Hope things work out well and you find a good phone soon!

Raisin

Fri, Sep 21 2018, 9:51 am

kiryat sefer wrote:

I had an s6 and apart from those 2 issues it is great. Lasted very well. I just upgraded and would probably be happy to sell you it but I really need to keep a spare smartphone. Also, I would have to ship it from Europe. Smile

Looks like they go for about $160 refurbished on amazon.

Fri, Sep 21 2018, 10:31 am

Google "best budget Android" and you will find lots of review articles with comparisons of the models.

observer

Fri, Sep 21 2018, 11:32 am

I have a Moto and I am very happy with it. paid 180 on amazon. I got the g6 play.

seeker

Fri, Sep 21 2018, 12:27 pm

Mommyg8 what did you get?

I'm thinking of just ditching my budget and getting a used S6 or S7. If they're such great phones maybe it's just worth spending more for a higher chance of being satisfied. I really didn't think I "needed" the latest and greatest, but I do love the concept of letting my phone replace a camera, I use my phone camera a lot anyway so it may as well do a good job. I'm not sure yet, but I made a "watch list" on ebay. It looks like a J7 goes for about $70 and an S6 for about $120, so in the scheme of life that's not such a huge difference for what seems like quite an upgrade.

Last time I think I also got lucky with finding an ebay auction that was being sold by the actual owner with great pictures, great communication, and I happened to not get outbid. I always check completed listings first when judging prices on ebay, and it looks like it's possible to get lucky on a J7 too but you'd have to do a lot of checking and waiting. I'm starting to think that it's smarter to just pay the money and save the time.

seeker

Fri, Sep 21 2018, 12:54 pm

Oh, and can someone who has the S6 or J7 report on how the size feels in the hand? Sure there are measurements online but it's hard to visualize I REALLY don't have time for stores right now (I should make some, though.) My old phone is an S4 mini so I'm used to having something that can fit in my pocket and my hand pretty easily. It seems like there aren't really any thrilling mini-size Android phones lately so I'm OK with upsizing a little, but I don't want a giant tablet.

seeker

Fri, Sep 21 2018, 3:41 pm

So if I want to hop on something before Shabbos, here's what I'm watching on ebay that end within the next couple of hours:

J7 for $51 shipped, has several other bidders so it may go up
S6 with a little scratch that doesn't seem too bad, $72 shipped, no other bidders

S6 is tempting but I'm a little skeptical about not being able to change the battery. I've bought used phones before as well as had some new ones that lasted long enough, and always benefited from replacing the battery.

doctorima

Fri, Sep 21 2018, 3:52 pm

Besides Ebay, check swappa.com, which is an excellent alternative to Ebay for used phones, where the sellers have ratings and clearly show you the condition of the phone, and you can often get even better prices than on Ebay.

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