Looking for a new (midrange) phone!

[Computernaut]

I've had my current phone, an LG G6, for two years now. I love it for many reasons, but it's practically geriatric by smartphone standards and is starting to show some of that age.

I looked at quite a few reviews today, but I want to make the most informed decision possible and it's been a while since I was properly tapped into the smartphone world.

In general, these are my requirements:

• Budget: CAD $250-$500
• 3.5mm jack
• MicroSD or 256+ GB
• Good rear camera
• Fingerprint reader

There are also some "bonus" features/qualifications I might be willing to part with if the phone is on the cheaper end:

• IP ingress protection
• 90+ Hz display
• Good speakers
• Mainstream/well-known brand

With all that in mind, I was looking at the Motorola Moto G72. I also really liked the Samsung Galaxy A54 and the Google Pixel 6a, but they don't have a headphone jack so unless I can find a really good deal on one, I'm not too inclined to do that.

[dizmo]

You're not on a contract?

[Computernaut]

5 minutes ago, dizmo said:

You're not on a contract?

No. I prefer the flexibility and ownership of having an unlocked device that I can do what I want with.

[dizmo]

11 minutes ago, Computernaut said:

No. I prefer the flexibility and ownership of having an unlocked device that I can do what I want with.

Do you actually find that useful though? Genuinely curious.

I've done the unlocked device thing, and a lot of the time it simply didn't work out to be that worthwhile. I don't change carriers every year.

[ImWilly]

45 minutes ago, Computernaut said:

There are also some "bonus" features/qualifications I might be willing to part with if the phone is on the cheaper end:

• IP ingress protection
• 90+ Hz display
• Good speakers
• Mainstream/well-known brand

It's kinda hard to find phone that checks all the list here

As far as I know, Samsung lower lineup still offers Headphone jack

Probably the 'top' line that still offers jack slot is Samsung Galaxy A24

 

There are some higher lineup that do offers headphone jack such as Asus Zenfone 9/10 that MKBHD do like, especially in compact form factor, but it's way beyond of your 500 Canadian rubble dollar budget and no storage expansion slot

[RONOTHAN##]

9 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Do you actually find that useful though? Genuinely curious.

I've done the unlocked device thing, and a lot of the time it simply didn't work out to be that worthwhile. I don't change carriers every year.

It does help with resale value a bit if you care about that, if you decide you don't like it and want to switch you aren't paying massive cancelation fees to do so, if you're doing any sort of modding it's the only way to get an unlockable bootloader, and a lot of times going through the contract will end up being more expensive than just buying the phone outright over time, though that last point can depend a bit on the carrier itself. 

 

For most people, it doesn't really matter, and the $500-1000 you can save up front with an extra $5-10 attached to your phone bill can be the better decision financially, but there are still reasons to stick to the unlocked devices. 

 

No specific recommendations, this is a rather tight budget range and getting a headphone jack in general is next to impossible. It's probably worth just going for the Pixel 6a, or since the Pixel 8 is coming out in a month or so you might be able to score a deal on a Pixel 7(a).

[dizmo]

13 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

It does help with resale value a bit if you care about that, if you decide you don't like it and want to switch you aren't paying massive cancelation fees to do so, if you're doing any sort of modding it's the only way to get an unlockable bootloader, and a lot of times going through the contract will end up being more expensive than just buying the phone outright over time, though that last point can depend a bit on the carrier itself. 

 

For most people, it doesn't really matter, and the $500-1000 you can save up front with an extra $5-10 attached to your phone bill can be the better decision financially, but there are still reasons to stick to the unlocked devices. 

 

No specific recommendations, this is a rather tight budget range and getting a headphone jack in general is next to impossible. It's probably worth just going for the Pixel 6a, or since the Pixel 8 is coming out in a month or so you might be able to score a deal on a Pixel 7(a).

Not really, the phone isn't locked once you complete the contract. It then becomes an unlocked device.

There also aren't really massive cancellation fees, as they're capped to $50 or 10% of the monthly fee x contract term, whichever is less.

If you shop smartly the phone is always cheaper. I got my Pixel 7 at Christmas, and they gave me $50 to take it.

 

[RONOTHAN##]

39 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Not really, the phone isn't locked once you complete the contract. It then becomes an unlocked device.

Not exactly, there are still some remnants of being locked, you can't unlock the bootloader (admittedly not a major factor, but still) and I've seen some phones where the carrier locked version doesn't get software updates for as long (LG G6 from Sprint, for instance). 

 

42 minutes ago, dizmo said:

If you shop smartly the phone is always cheaper. I got my Pixel 7 at Christmas, and they gave me $50 to take it.

I'd still be curious about the actual contract agreements, a lot of times those still will have rates that are higher than if you had just gotten a no-contract plan, to the point where you aren't saving as much money as you'd think you are. 

 

Personally I've looked into getting one of those with my phone plan, it would double my monthly rate to get a deal like that, though admittedly I am grandfathered into an old unlimited plan so the price difference is a bit more obvious. 

[dizmo]

59 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

I'd still be curious about the actual contract agreements, a lot of times those still will have rates that are higher than if you had just gotten a no-contract plan, to the point where you aren't saving as much money as you'd think you are. 

 

Personally I've looked into getting one of those with my phone plan, it would double my monthly rate to get a deal like that, though admittedly I am grandfathered into an old unlimited plan so the price difference is a bit more obvious. 

In the US maybe, but that's not at all the case in Canada. Unless you go for very low data capped pay as you go plans.

[venomtail]

8 hours ago, dizmo said:

Do you actually find that useful though? Genuinely curious.

I've done the unlocked device thing, and a lot of the time it simply didn't work out to be that worthwhile. I don't change carriers every year.

I can't not have an unlocked phone, but maybe that's the European speaking in me as I often travel to nearby countries and just pop in a local SIM for best deals on all data and calls. Some networks and carriers might allow a free unlocked 2nd, even 3rd sim slot but that's an exception. Unlocked device you never have to worry about that.

[venomtail]

Have a browse at what you might like and what's available in your region. I'd say at the budget market the appeal is either the Chinese phones because hardware wise they'll be afloat to the competition, Samsung often rides on its branding in the budget range or Nokia cause they seem to be very reliable and have taken a friendly approach to reparability which could be a benefit in the long term (even tho it's not the same Finnish Nokia from 20 years ago).

 

Bonus search with your desired requirements making these seem like the top 3 options, each giving up something for something else, like Note 12R giving up OLED for a faster chip.

Edited August 18, 2023 by venomtail
Search query wrong, updated

[Computernaut]

11 hours ago, dizmo said:

Do you actually find that useful though? Genuinely curious.

I've done the unlocked device thing, and a lot of the time it simply didn't work out to be that worthwhile. I don't change carriers every year.

Honestly it's a personal preference. But there are some practical uses too. For example, if I were to visit a different country I could just pop in a local sim and be all set. I don't travel much, but I like to have the option. I don't intend to change carriers, but again, having the option is nice.

[Computernaut]

3 hours ago, venomtail said:

Have a browse at what you might like and what's available in your region. I'd say at the budget market the appeal is either the Chinese phones because hardware wise they'll be afloat to the competition, Samsung often rides on its branding in the budget range or Nokia cause they seem to be very reliable and have taken a friendly approach to reparability which could be a benefit in the long term (even tho it's not the same Finnish Nokia from 20 years ago).

 

Bonus search with your desired requirements making these seem like the top 3 options, each giving up something for something else, like Note 12R giving up OLED for a faster chip.

I'm always a little skeptical of some of the cheaper brands, since they tend to lack polish. The antitrust debacle with Huawei also makes me a little suspicious of Chinese brands specifically. Apologies if I'm starting to sound insanely picky at this point.

I'm not really a Samsung fan, and I know they trust their branding too much (they're the Apple of the Android world in many ways). I actually rejected some of the other A-series phones because of this. The A54 stood out though, especially in the camera department, which is why I'm not dead set against it.

As for performance, I'm not a power-user (at all) so, while I like my phone to be snappy, I don't really need flagship-tier specs. If given the choice, I'd much rather have a nice screen and good software. With that in mind, the best of the Chinese phones you sent a list for would be the Infinix Note 30 VIP, but I can hardly 

 even find anywhere to buy it, let alone anywhere reputable.

[E-waste]

Sony.  Headphone jack, great camera, excellent dac (audio chip), and many of them have a fingerprint reader.

 

Also, ALL sony smartphones, all the way back to models from 2012 can have the bootloader unlocked, using Sony's instructions.  So you can get an older model, unlocked the bootloader, put LineageOS on it, and have an up to date software setup.  This can save you money and reduce electronic waste.

[Computernaut]

25 minutes ago, E-waste said:

Sony.  Headphone jack, great camera, excellent dac (audio chip), and many of them have a fingerprint reader.

 

Also, ALL sony smartphones, all the way back to models from 2012 can have the bootloader unlocked, using Sony's instructions.  So you can get an older model, unlocked the bootloader, put LineageOS on it, and have an up to date software setup.  This can save you money and reduce electronic waste.

Are there any that you would recommend specifically? A lot of them are weirdly difficult to find.

[E-waste]

17 hours ago, Computernaut said:

Are there any that you would recommend specifically?

Anything with 3 or 4GB of ram will be plenty.  My desktop has less memory and works fine.

 

Other than that, I'd say whatever you can find which you like best.  Try sites like ebay if shipping isn't too high.

[dizmo]

4 hours ago, venomtail said:

I can't not have an unlocked phone, but maybe that's the European speaking in me as I often travel to nearby countries and just pop in a local SIM for best deals on all data and calls. Some networks and carriers might allow a free unlocked 2nd, even 3rd sim slot but that's an exception. Unlocked device you never have to worry about that.

Haha, yeah it isn't really as much of a thing in NA. It's far less hassle just to pay for the roaming when you go down to the US.

I've never looked into travel data packages abroad, so I can't really comment on those. NA phones don't have multiple SIMs.

4 hours ago, venomtail said:

Have a browse at what you might like and what's available in your region. I'd say at the budget market the appeal is either the Chinese phones because hardware wise they'll be afloat to the competition, Samsung often rides on its branding in the budget range or Nokia cause they seem to be very reliable and have taken a friendly approach to reparability which could be a benefit in the long term (even tho it's not the same Finnish Nokia from 20 years ago).

 

Bonus search with your desired requirements making these seem like the top 3 options, each giving up something for something else, like Note 12R giving up OLED for a faster chip.

Chinese phones are a horrible choice for NA as the huge majority are catered to

59 minutes ago, Computernaut said:

Honestly it's a personal preference. But there are some practical uses too. For example, if I were to visit a different country I could just pop in a local sim and be all set. I don't travel much, but I like to have the option. I don't intend to change carriers, but again, having the option is nice.

If you're travelling to the US it's usually easier just to pay for the roaming package, and depending on your phone, it won't fully (or at all) work in a lot of Europe anyway. I get the idea, it just doesn't pan out in most cases and you could be massively overspending and getting less than you otherwise could. Which is very common in Canada.

4 minutes ago, Computernaut said:

I'm always a little skeptical of some of the cheaper brands, since they tend to lack polish. The antitrust debacle with Huawei also makes me a little suspicious of Chinese brands specifically. Apologies if I'm starting to sound insanely picky at this point.

I'm not really a Samsung fan, and I know they trust their branding too much (they're the Apple of the Android world in many ways). I actually rejected some of the other A-series phones because of this. The A54 stood out though, especially in the camera department, which is why I'm not dead set against it.

As for performance, I'm not a power-user (at all) so, while I like my phone to be snappy, I don't really need flagship-tier specs. If given the choice, I'd much rather have a nice screen and good software. With that in mind, the best of the Chinese phones you sent a list for would be the Infinix Note 30 VIP, but I can hardly 

 even find anywhere to buy it, let alone anywhere reputable.

Motorola is a Chinese brand