Low-End / Mid-Range Suggestions.

[Vectraat]

Where are the best places to buy new phones outright in BC/Vancouver/Online etc?

When I was looking at buying phones outright in stores like London Drugs, the same phone is much cheaper on Amazon.ca

Is there a reason for this? Just looking to buy something low-end or mid-range for my parents and get them on a BYOP plan. 

[jaslion]

Online marketplaces like amazon tend to be able to pricematch and correct on the fly.

 

So just buy one online and then get a phone plan for it.

[Vectraat]

3 hours ago, jaslion said:

Online marketplaces like amazon tend to be able to pricematch and correct on the fly.

 

So just buy one online and then get a phone plan for it.

Ok, so what I don't get is how this OnePlus 10T can sell for $419 on Amazon
but it sells for $649 on OnePlus

[Commodus]

1 hour ago, Vectraat said:

Ok, so what I don't get is how this OnePlus 10T can sell for $419 on Amazon
but it sells for $649 on OnePlus

The OnePlus 10T is an old phone by this point... I wouldn't get one anyway. For what the company lists it for, you can get a OnePlus 12R.

 

What's your budget? If you can hold out, the Google Pixel 8a is likely to be announced at I/O on May 14th. Alternately, I'd get the Pixel 7a — it's on sale from Google for $399 Canadian. At that price it's a great value, even as a year-old phone.

[jaslion]

2 hours ago, Vectraat said:

Ok, so what I don't get is how this OnePlus 10T can sell for $419 on Amazon
but it sells for $649 on OnePlus

That is normal. Old stock so keep the price high for people that still want it. However for amazon old stock that doesn't move = a big issue since they are a massive shipment company so lower the price and get rid of them.

 

I wouldnt get a 10t now for 420$ tho poor value.

[Vectraat]

52 minutes ago, Commodus said:

The OnePlus 10T is an old phone by this point... I wouldn't get one anyway. For what the company lists it for, you can get a OnePlus 12R.

 

What's your budget? If you can hold out, the Google Pixel 8a is likely to be announced at I/O on May 14th. Alternately, I'd get the Pixel 7a — it's on sale from Google for $399 Canadian. At that price it's a great value, even as a year-old phone.

Didn't the 7a have a really shitty in-screen fingerprint scanner? Like it was just VERY slow. I don't even like the in-screen scanner on my 8T and It's supposed to be "good" but you get the slightest bit of sun on the screen and it doesn't work, or you get some fingerprint smudges on the phone and it doesn't work. Rubbish.  I don't wanna spend more than $450 before taxes. I'm pretty sure the 10T would be a better buy than the 7a, no? Basically just $20 difference. 

 

30 minutes ago, jaslion said:

That is normal. Old stock so keep the price high for people that still want it. However for amazon old stock that doesn't move = a big issue since they are a massive shipment company so lower the price and get rid of them.

 

I wouldnt get a 10t now for 420$ tho poor value.

What would you get then? I own an 8T, but I've been very disappointed. The 3T on the other hand was arguably the best phone I've ever used. I feel like OnePlus software used to be solid but It's been shit for a number of years now. I really don't like in-screen fingerprint scanners and I've definitely had some weird software related issues with my 8T. I was leaning toward giving the 8T to my parents because they won't use it that much and I'd buy a new phone. But I really don't wanna spend more than $450. 

[jaslion]

5 minutes ago, Vectraat said:

Didn't the 7a have a really shitty in-screen fingerprint scanner? Like it was just VERY slow. I don't even like the in-screen scanner on my 8T and It's supposed to be "good" but you get the slightest bit of sun on the screen and it doesn't work, or you get some fingerprint smudges on the phone and it doesn't work. Rubbish.  I don't wanna spend more than $450 before taxes. 

 

What would you get then? I own an 8T, but I've been very disappointed. The 3T on the other hand was arguably the best phone I've ever used. I feel like OnePlus software used to be solid but It's been shit for a number of years now. I really don't like in-screen fingerprint scanners and I've definitely had some weird software related issues with my 8T. I was leaning toward giving the 8T to my parents because they won't use it that much and I'd buy a new phone. But I really don't wanna spend more than $450. 

A xiaomi poco x6 would be a great other device.

[Vectraat]

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

A xiaomi poco x6 would be a great other device.

So why that phone and where would you get it from? I'm near Vancouver. Ideally would be cool to go into a store to pick one up but I guess I'm not opposed to ordering online if it's not gonna take forever. 

[jaslion]

2 minutes ago, Vectraat said:

So why that phone and where would you get it from? I'm near Vancouver. Ideally would be cool to go into a store to pick one up but I guess I'm not opposed to ordering online if it's not gonna take forever. 

Order online basically. All in store ones are normally costlier due to phone plan deals and well simply operating cost of a physical location/employees.

 

Why that one? It's one of the top value for what you get phone rn. Can be found under 400cad easily normally. There is also the f series but basically look up which one aligns best with you.

 

Only thing you'll want to do is go into settings and change the notification drawer from not iphone style back to android. It's a typical thing in miui skins.

 

 

[Vectraat]

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

Order online basically. All in store ones are normally costlier due to phone plan deals and well simply operating cost of a physical location/employees.

 

Why that one? It's one of the top value for what you get phone rn. Can be found under 400cad easily normally. There is also the f series but basically look up which one aligns best with you.

 

Only thing you'll want to do is go into settings and change the notification drawer from not iphone style back to android. It's a typical thing in miui skins.

 

 

Can all these phones (OnePlus/Pixel/Xiaomi) etc., be used in both Canada (Koodo/other carriers) and in Europe?

I do kinda like the Pixel phones for some reason but they've had hardware/software issues since their inception. I've also had terrible luck with Samsung devices. I like Motorola's Android skins but they seem like poor value phones. So really, what do you think is a batter value than the 10T for the price? $420 ain't that bad in my opinion. What phones for that price are going to best the internals/performance. If you think the Xiaomi Poco x6 is better I'll look into it. Any other suggestions? 

[jaslion]

Just now, Vectraat said:

Can all these phones (OnePlus/Pixel/Xiaomi) etc., be used in both Canada (Koodo/other carriers) and in Europe?

I do kinda like the Pixel phones for some reason but they've had hardware/software issues since their inception. I've also had terrible luck with Samsung devices. I like Motorola's Android skins but they seem like poor value phones. So really, what do you think is a batter value than the 10T for the price? $420 ain't that bad in my opinion. What phones for that price are going to best the internals/performance. If you think the Xiaomi Poco x6 is better I'll look into it. Any other suggestions? 

Check the bands they have. Most international releases should support enough bands to work in Canada and most of Europe.

 

Keep in mind the software DID NOT GET BETTER on a 10t. Hardware wise it's a good phone the software just legitimately sucks. If you can get past that and do some mods to make it work better it's a good value.

 

Anything else you need in a phone? Like things you need it to have or anything?

[Vectraat]

11 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Check the bands they have. Most international releases should support enough bands to work in Canada and most of Europe.

 

Keep in mind the software DID NOT GET BETTER on a 10t. Hardware wise it's a good phone the software just legitimately sucks. If you can get past that and do some mods to make it work better it's a good value.

 

Anything else you need in a phone? Like things you need it to have or anything?

What bands does the phone need to have to work in Canada/Europe?

While there was definitely software issues with my 8T, I do think it was also maybe somewhat hardware related too. It's kind of a long story that I don't want to get into. Just about drove me bonkers trying to troubleshoot it.

Initially I was just gonna buy my parents a new smartphone and pretty much any low end/midrange POS would have been fine, but I'm thinking I may as well just buy myself a new phone and give them my old phone. 

I like a fast snappy phone. 8GB RAM/128 GB Storage at least. I do like how fast OnePlus phones charge, but I'm pretty good at charging my devices so maybe the fast charging doesn't matter as much. Camera is somewhat important (I don't want a shitty camera). Basically I just want fairly solid software and fairly solid performance. Like I said, I hate in-screen fingerprint scanners but I dunno if there's anything that can be done about that. Face unlock sucks in dim lit rooms. Maybe the Pixel 7a isn't that bad apart from the shit fingerprint scanner. I'd also imagine that it's a slow/poor performance phone that won't last long before It's lag central. Pixel's have also had issues with battery life, overheating and a number of other issues. So *shrugs*. 

[Commodus]

1 hour ago, Vectraat said:

Didn't the 7a have a really shitty in-screen fingerprint scanner? Like it was just VERY slow. I don't even like the in-screen scanner on my 8T and It's supposed to be "good" but you get the slightest bit of sun on the screen and it doesn't work, or you get some fingerprint smudges on the phone and it doesn't work. Rubbish.  I don't wanna spend more than $450 before taxes. I'm pretty sure the 10T would be a better buy than the 7a, no? Basically just $20 difference. 

My understanding is that it's slow compared to, say, Samsung's, but that it's not really different than what you'd find in other Pixels (I have a Pixel 6 as my "side" phone).

 

Like was suggested earlier, the 7a is actually likely to be the better device. It's reasonably quick, will definitely take better photos, and is still getting software updates. That and aftermarket support will be better if things ever go sideways.