Android Phone Recommendation

[Stigs]

Hey all!  I'm in the market for a new phone.  I've been using an iPhone 6S for the past 2 and a half years and I'm really wanting to go back to Android.  I'm looking for a phone I can get for like $450 dollars (maybe more depending, but that's my cap for right now).  The big sells for me on a phone are battery life to get me through at least a day on a single charge and camera (I use my phone as my main camera everywhere I go, so this is super important to me).  If any of you have a suggestion for phones to look into, it would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[mxk]

The Pocophone F1 from Xiaomi is really solid. It doesn't have a god tier camera like the Pixel phones, but it's still pretty good for it's price. You can actually port the Google Pixel 3 camera app to it and it's proven to improve the Pocophone F1's pictures.

 

It's ~$300 USD from what I remember. 

[LogicWeasel]

I would say OnePlus or Motorola One Power may be worth a look.  Otherwise Samsung makes a mid-range model called A8 that's available unlocked on Amazon for around $400, worth a look if you don't mind their android skin (I'm not a huge fan of it, but I'm a android-pixel purist).  Motorola's other midrange like the G6 Plus are more pure android and considered great value.

 

At some point here the Pixel 3 Lite is coming out and if that's priced close to that price range, it'd have superior camera and well-optimized battery use in Android 9.0.

[LogicWeasel]

Just now, mxk. said:

The Pocophone F1 from Xiaomi is really solid. It doesn't have a god tier camera like the Pixel phones, but it's still pretty good for it's price. You can actually port the Google Pixel 3 camera app to it and it's proven to improve the Pocophone F1's pictures.

 

It's ~$300 USD from what I remember. 

Pocophone F1 has almost NO 4G LTE support for the USA, not a good daily drive IMO.  That phone is good if you're in Asia (maybe Europe) no where else though.

[Stigs]

3 minutes ago, LogicWeasel said:

I would say OnePlus or Motorola One Power may be worth a look.  Otherwise Samsung makes a mid-range model called A8 that's available unlocked on Amazon for around $400, worth a look if you don't mind their android skin (I'm not a huge fan of it, but I'm a android-pixel purist).  Motorola's other midrange like the G6 Plus are more pure android and considered great value.

 

At some point here the Pixel 3 Lite is coming out and if that's priced close to that price range, it'd have superior camera and well-optimized battery use in Android 9.0.

Any word on the time range on when the Pixel 3 Lite might release?

[mxk]

1 minute ago, Stigs said:

Any word on the time range on when the Pixel 3 Lite might release?

Maybe you could consider a used Pixel 2? 

 

My Huawei Mate 10 Lite takes pretty good pictures, though it seems a little iffy in some lighting. It has a good battery though, and it costed me $300.

[LogicWeasel]

58 minutes ago, Stigs said:

Any word on the time range on when the Pixel 3 Lite might release?

https://www.techradar.com/news/google-pixel-3-lite

[wasab]

Pocophone or redmi note 7 for insane value. 

 

Just get a Samsung if you want the premium and the status symbol. 

 

 

[LogicWeasel]

11 minutes ago, wasab said:

Just get a Samsung if you want the premium and the status symbol. 

That's true of the Note9 and S9+ series that there's a massive markup, but have you actually looked at the A8 or other midrange Samsung devices?  The A-series is far less of a price-fluffed phone for what you get if you don't hate Samsung's android skin.

[Stigs]

3 hours ago, mxk. said:

Maybe you could consider a used Pixel 2? 

 

My Huawei Mate 10 Lite takes pretty good pictures, though it seems a little iffy in some lighting. It has a good battery though, and it costed me $300.

True a pixel 2 is certainly an option.

[Stigs]

3 minutes ago, LogicWeasel said:

That's true of the Note9 and S9+ series that there's a massive markup, but have you actually looked at the A8 or other midrange Samsung devices?  The A-series is far less of a price-fluffed phone for what you get if you don't hate Samsung's android skin.

I haven't looked at the A8, I have looked at the S9 and considered pushing my budget to the $550 to get it.  Some places will give me about $100 for trading in my old iPhone 6s, so that also helps a bit.

[Stigs]

2 hours ago, LogicWeasel said:

https://www.techradar.com/news/google-pixel-3-lite

This makes me tempted to wait to see if google actually does release this.

[LogicWeasel]

4 minutes ago, Stigs said:

...wait to see if google actually does release this.

It's not a question of IF my fellow poster, it's been leaked enough and arrived at the FCC for certification that it's simply a matter of WHEN.  And as that link shows, it's most likely to drop around Q2 2019, maybe early Q3 if it gets delayed (unlikely, the russians are already leaking pics of them just like the Pixel 3 XL).

 

7 minutes ago, Stigs said:

Some places will give me about $100 for trading in my old iPhone 6s, so that also helps a bit.

For what it's worth if you're willing to sell your iPhone yourself you can get more for it (depending on condition, storage size, etc): https://swappa.com/mobile/buy/apple-iphone-6s/unlocked

[LogicWeasel]

(fixed, added to my post above)

Edited February 28, 2019 by LogicWeasel

[Stigs]

11 minutes ago, LogicWeasel said:

It's not a question of IF my fellow poster, it's been leaked enough and arrived at the FCC for certification that it's simply a matter of WHEN.  And as that link shows, it's most likely to drop around Q2 2019, maybe early Q3 if it gets delayed (unlikely, the russians are already leaking pics of them just like the Pixel 3 XL).

 

For what it's worth if you're willing to sell your iPhone yourself you can get more for it (depending on condition, storage size, etc): https://swappa.com/mobile/buy/apple-iphone-6s/unlocked

I'll definitely look into all this.  If it's more a matter of when, then I'll hold off getting a new phone until the Pixel 3 Lite release because having stock android and a good camera would be super nice (assuming the phone is good otherwise).  Thanks for your help!

[wasab]

1 hour ago, LogicWeasel said:

That's true of the Note9 and S9+ series that there's a massive markup, but have you actually looked at the A8 or other midrange Samsung devices?  The A-series is far less of a price-fluffed phone for what you get if you don't hate Samsung's android skin.

None as as close to value as xiaomi. A8 is at the value brand so you need to compare the competitors. For absolute premium, it's hard to beat Samsung.