phone Best Value Phone for 2020?

[M A J O R]

My Note 5 just died. It's been a while since I've been in the market for a new phone. Looking for suggestions for what to pick up. I'm not after the big d*ck flagship that costs a small fortune. Just the best bang for your buck without cheaping out. I've been looking at some older models like the Pixel 3, at the moment I'm not sure if it's a good idea to purchase a phone that's already a couple of years old in terms of release date. I know with my old phone I wasn't recieving updates after owning the device for a coulple of years. In terms of specs, I'm not really looking for anything specific. Mostly looking for a fast deivce that runs everything smoothly. Second to that a good quality camera is always appreciated. Looking mostly at Android, not opposed to iOS, they seem to be more expensive overall.

 

TLDR:

- Looking for best value for money.

- Is it okay to buy a phone that released 1-2yrs ago?

- Specs priority: 1. fast & responsive. 2. Camera. 3. everythig else

- Not the latest flagship.

[The Sloth]

android- Pixel 3a, galaxy A70, s10e after the s11 comes out, moto g8 plus 

 

IOS- Iphone 8 plus 

 

 

 

[RadiatingLight]

In the US, the Pixel 3a is insanely cheap at best buy right now. ($350 + $100 Gift card back), and price goes down even more if you activate it on Verizon.

If the camera is less of an issue, you might be able to find a Oneplus 6T or 7 for a decent price.

Pixel 4a will be a good phone too most likely.

[DoctorNick]

Just got my hands on a Motorola G7 Power for 132 USD on black friday. I'm very impressed with the phone so far. 5000mAh battery and performance is pretty great. Snapdragon 632 (4x1.8 GHz Kryo 250 Gold & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 250 Silver) 64gb storage, dual sim + SD card slot, and 4gb memory. Amazon has it for 174 usd.

[Lord Vile]

Would look at the XR or 11 on the iPhone side. Should have a good 3-5 OS’s left in them. 

[M A J O R]

6 hours ago, huilun02 said:

Your opinion on its size? (phone size, not screen size)

Need stylus support?

Need headphone jack?

Opinion on its battery endurance before it died?

How much internal storage did it have, and was it sufficient for you?

Opinion on its camera?

 

How has this affected your usage of the device?

The note 5 was good overall. A nice balance between screen real estate and comfort to hold. I thought I would use the stylus a lot more than I actulally do. If it were an iPad I would definitiely get more use out of it as an artist but on the phone it's just not that usefull. Headphone jack is a "must" until the airpod styles become cheaper. Battery was really bad as you can expect from a 4+yr old phone as I never replaced it. From memory it was fine in it's prime. Storage isn't a big issue as I'm not a huge photo/video taker on phones. I lean towards an actual camera for that, although it's definitely nice to have a good qualtiy one on you at all times. The one on the N5 was showing it's age compared to recent cams. As for getting the latest updates, it's always nice to see a refresh of the UI or other features that come via software updates.

[Darkseth]

8 hours ago, M A J O R said:

TLDR:

- Looking for best value for money.

- Is it okay to buy a phone that released 1-2yrs ago?

- Specs priority: 1. fast & responsive. 2. Camera. 3. everythig else

- Not the latest flagship.

- It's hard to go around Xiaomi.

Starting with the Redmi Note 8/8t/8 Pro series, going to the MI 9 Lite, MI 9T, Mi 9 SE, Mi 9T Pro, maybe MI 9. Just compare Specs and Price.
Camera can get a good upgrade with GCam.
However, new models are around the Corner.

 

- Yes and no. Entry level and Midrange phones right now are fine to buy, when they released 2019, like the mentioned above - simply because there's nothing new.

Do NOT buy any Midrange phone from 2018. Period. Too dated, and the price difference is negligible

It is however fine to buy 2018 Flaggships with Snapdraogn 845~. Like Galaxy S9(+), Oneplus 6/6t, etc if the Price is right. However, the modern Midrange / Upper class models coming up for <300-350 bucks will still be hard to beat. Because they won't be much worse (if at all) than a 2 year old Flaggship, but will get longer updates.

 

- Even Xiaomi Midranges are quite fast/snappy in daily usage. Camera is the Sony 48MP Sensor in the 2019 models, which is very fine, especially with GCam it has alot of potential. I would honestly prefer a Xiaomi 9T or 9T Pro over a Pixel 3a (XL)

 

- It depends on your Budget.
Tbh, i think if you can find a Oneplus from 2019 (7T HIGHLY over a 7, because it comes with a better Vibration motor and better Fingerprint sensor (if i'm correct), but mainly the 90 Hz Display is a huge dealbreaker. Nothing else with 60 Hz will feel this "smooth". And Oneplus is still known for having one of the best and most snappy performances on the market.
My 2018 Oneplus 6t still runs like a Champ. Still, i might upgrade this year, if this years phones provide less compromises (better camera, speakers, vibration, more than 60 Hz). But an upgrade wouldn't be "needed" for the next 2-3 years probably. That's how good Oneplus phones usually run.

 

 

Edit: Look into the Xiaomi Redmi K30 (Pro). It is around the Corner, and could come with a different Name (Just like the K20 Pro came out as 9T Pro), these Specs will be really hard to beat.

[Guest]

20 hours ago, M A J O R said:

My Note 5 just died. It's been a while since I've been in the market for a new phone. Looking for suggestions for what to pick up. I'm not after the big d*ck flagship that costs a small fortune. Just the best bang for your buck without cheaping out. I've been looking at some older models like the Pixel 3, at the moment I'm not sure if it's a good idea to purchase a phone that's already a couple of years old in terms of release date. I know with my old phone I wasn't recieving updates after owning the device for a coulple of years. In terms of specs, I'm not really looking for anything specific. Mostly looking for a fast deivce that runs everything smoothly. Second to that a good quality camera is always appreciated. Looking mostly at Android, not opposed to iOS, they seem to be more expensive overall.

 

TLDR:

- Looking for best value for money.

- Is it okay to buy a phone that released 1-2yrs ago?

- Specs priority: 1. fast & responsive. 2. Camera. 3. everythig else

- Not the latest flagship.

If your usage is light to moderate, I'd suggest the Pixel 3a. If you're more moderate to heavy, I'd go with something like an S10e. Also, the rumored Pixel 4a is a few months away and that could, if nothing else, sway prices of other phones. So I'm not sure what your timetable is but those are my choices.

[Commodus]

On 1/31/2020 at 9:42 AM, M A J O R said:

The note 5 was good overall. A nice balance between screen real estate and comfort to hold. I thought I would use the stylus a lot more than I actulally do. If it were an iPad I would definitiely get more use out of it as an artist but on the phone it's just not that usefull. Headphone jack is a "must" until the airpod styles become cheaper. Battery was really bad as you can expect from a 4+yr old phone as I never replaced it. From memory it was fine in it's prime. Storage isn't a big issue as I'm not a huge photo/video taker on phones. I lean towards an actual camera for that, although it's definitely nice to have a good qualtiy one on you at all times. The one on the N5 was showing it's age compared to recent cams. As for getting the latest updates, it's always nice to see a refresh of the UI or other features that come via software updates.

Keep in mind that you can get some pretty low-cost true wireless earbuds these days.  Or do what I did in the iPhone 7 days and get an adapter, keep it connected to your favourite set of wired earbuds and never think much about it again.

 

On the Android side, I'd be tempted to point to a OnePlus 7 Pro or 7T.  The camera's merely so-so by 2019/2020 standards, but OnePlus phones are fast and reasonably well-supported.  I would generally avoid Android phones that are a year or two old if you value software support, however.  It's still true that virtually every major Android phone maker cuts off feature updates after two years, so buying a devices that's a year old means you have about a year before your OS version is set in stone (short of installing unofficial firmware).

 

On the iOS side, I'd lean toward an iPhone XR or 11.  Yeah, they both have an 828p screen, but they still look good, and you'll get strong battery life, a good camera and brisk performance.  You can also expect 4-5 years of OS feature updates depending on which one you buy.

[Lord Vile]

On 1/31/2020 at 2:42 PM, M A J O R said:

The note 5 was good overall. A nice balance between screen real estate and comfort to hold. I thought I would use the stylus a lot more than I actulally do. If it were an iPad I would definitiely get more use out of it as an artist but on the phone it's just not that usefull. Headphone jack is a "must" until the airpod styles become cheaper. Battery was really bad as you can expect from a 4+yr old phone as I never replaced it. From memory it was fine in it's prime. Storage isn't a big issue as I'm not a huge photo/video taker on phones. I lean towards an actual camera for that, although it's definitely nice to have a good qualtiy one on you at all times. The one on the N5 was showing it's age compared to recent cams. As for getting the latest updates, it's always nice to see a refresh of the UI or other features that come via software updates.

You can just get an adapter or get wireless overeat headphones, can get good ones for £50-100 now.