im in the market for a sub 200 usd budget phone

[zassou]

• have a budget about 200 usd, can be a bit higher but not too much
• small phone is prefered. at least not bigger than a pixel  143.8 x 69.5 x 8.5 mm (data from gsmarena)
• reasonable battery life, 2 days on light use: no video no game
• unlocked, not tied to specific operator
• have 3rd party roms is prefered, eg have roms like lineageui or aosp-like lightly customised ones.
• led panel is prefered, but lcd is okay too
• second hand is okay, i wont mind some minor scratches here and there

 

• no iphones
• i refuse to have apple products, even if it's free
• no chinese brands, i dont trust them. especially huawei
• NO PHYSICAL HOME BUTTON OR BACK/ OVERVIEW BUTTON (i hate physical buttons)
• not on a hurry, can wait for half a year or so

any recommendations?

[LukeSavenije]

1 minute ago, zassou said:

no chinese brands

and there you kill it

 

xiaomi mi/redmi can be flashed pretty easily

[LogicWeasel]

For new or gently used the Moto E5 Plus or E4 Plus would fit the bill, you get a ridiculous 5000mah battery and they're sold unlocked (and the unlocked ones typically can work on any of the big 4 US carriers).

https://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_e4_plus_(usa)-8666.php

If going used the moto G series is also worth a look, could get an unlocked Moto G5 / G6 and they are very well-rounded phones:
https://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_g5_plus-8453.php#xt1687

[GoldenLag]

Nokia 6.1 is currently a very solid choice. Not only in terms of build quality but the rest aswell. 

 

It runs stock android and receive an update in 2019 to newest software. 

 

It runs completely stock and doednt come with anything extra.

[LogicWeasel]

2 hours ago, zassou said:

• have a budget about 200 usd, can be a bit higher but not too much
• unlocked, not tied to specific operator

Just making sure, does that mean only AT&T/T-Mobile unlocked is ok, or does it need to work on Verizon or Sprint?  It's easy to get Verizon + unlocked, but almost impossible to get Verizon & Sprint compatible on the same phone, they're very picky about that.

[LogicWeasel]

2 hours ago, GoldenLag said:

Nokia 6.1 is currently a very solid choice. Not only in terms of build quality but the rest aswell. 

 

It runs stock android and receive an update in 2019 to newest software. 

 

It runs completely stock and doednt come with anything extra.

Do they allow bootloader unlocking, and is there ROM support?

[GoldenLag]

3 minutes ago, LogicWeasel said:

Do they allow bootloader unlocking, and is there ROM support?

Couldnt find anythong on the nokia 6.1. for now i know they do the nokia 8 so possibly in the future.

 

For the time being they dont. Though you can do it unnofficially. 

 

It will have fresh Android for a long time, and is år bably the reason why they dont dont do it.

[zassou]

18 hours ago, LogicWeasel said:

For new or gently used the Moto E5 Plus or E4 Plus would fit the bill, you get a ridiculous 5000mah battery and they're sold unlocked (and the unlocked ones typically can work on any of the big 4 US carriers).

https://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_e4_plus_(usa)-8666.php

If going used the moto G series is also worth a look, could get an unlocked Moto G5 / G6 and they are very well-rounded phones:
https://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_g5_plus-8453.php#xt1687

i mean they're good phones for the price, but one thing tho,

THEY HAVE PHYSICAL HOME BUTTON!!!!!(or fingerprint scanner)

besides their physical button, i'm not really like their shapes, also they are now belong to lenovo now, soo.

ive used motorola phones before, a droid 2 global. one thing i dont like motorola is they always come with locked bootloader, makes it very hard to install recover, and to an extent, install 3rd party roms.

 

also im not live in the us so dunno about the network thing. i need to ask my operators about that.

[zassou]

18 hours ago, GoldenLag said:

Nokia 6.1 is currently a very solid choice. Not only in terms of build quality but the rest aswell. 

 

It runs stock android and receive an update in 2019 to newest software. 

 

It runs completely stock and doednt come with anything extra.

done some research on nokia 6.1. i still not quite clear the difference between 6.1 and x6. they look identical.

besides that, thats a right phone for me for sure, the size is a bit bigger than the pixel i but can live with that. i just not so sure about the lcd panel and the soc. (snapdragon 630)

[iLostMyXbox21]

lg stylo 4

 

 

i had 3,and it is an amazing phone, i wanna get a stylo 4 soon

[GoldenLag]

50 minutes ago, zassou said:

just not so sure about the lcd panel and the soc

LCD panel is like lost others. Not the brightest, but fairly good.

51 minutes ago, zassou said:

still not quite clear the difference between 6.1 and x6. they look identical.

They are identical. Just different names to seperate them more clearly

[zassou]

45 minutes ago, iLostMyXbox21 said:

lg stylo 4

 

 

i had 3,and it is an amazing phone, i wanna get a stylo 4 soon

in awe of the size of this lad, absolute unit!

 

joking aside, this phone is too big for me.

[LogicWeasel]

8 hours ago, zassou said:

i mean they're good phones for the price, but one thing tho,

THEY HAVE PHYSICAL HOME BUTTON!!!!!(or fingerprint scanner)

besides their physical button, i'm not really like their shapes, also they are now belong to lenovo now, soo.

ive used motorola phones before, a droid 2 global. one thing i dont like motorola is they always come with locked bootloader, makes it very hard to install recover, and to an extent, install 3rd party roms.

 

also im not live in the us so dunno about the network thing. i need to ask my operators about that.

Ok, well that's rude that you felt the need to put that in large caps; you failed to point out that you think a fingerprint sensor is the same as a button, they are not, buttons are things you press, biometric sensors are things that unlock your phone and don't navigate screens on the phone (see: what a home button is).  You could have led with the idea that you're super-picky and won't tolerate a front sensor.  Also there is no prior info you supplied on what shape of phone you do or don't like so the retort about "not really like their shapes" is further on you.

 

The fact that Motorola is now owned by Lenovo doesn't matter as the phones I suggested were made before Lenovo bought them (The E4 Plus) and the unlocked variant of the phone, which I stated to look for is unlockable, right from motorola's website.  Lenovo doesn't change that, they have other new phones they're releasing.  If you want to further limit the brands of cheap phones you will buy you're going to be left with no viable choices.

 

-You listed the price in USD, so we're left to assume you're in the US.  You could have told us what country you're in as you should know that matters a lot with what phones are even available to work with your carrier, thus further limiting the small scope of phones you seem willing to discuss.  Perhaps if you wanted usable recommendations you'd inform us which LTE Bands the phone needs to support for your carrier, at a minimum.

[zassou]

11 hours ago, LogicWeasel said:

 

lack of sense of humour, you me think

 

those phones are ugly

[LogicWeasel]

8 hours ago, zassou said:

those phones are ugly

Have fun finding your dream phone alone, this is the part where I give up on surly people who think they're funny. 

 

If that's what you call "answering a question" then clearly if you don't even respond to my last bullet about what country you are in or what your "operators" are you're not that serious about getting help.  Buh bye.