Calling all Phone Experts!

[Fred Castellum]

Hey LTT Phone experts! I'm looking for a $300 phone(no higher please). My mother is looking for a new phone and I know next to nothing about smartphones(because my arse is still using a flip-phone) so I'm asking for your assistance!

 

The carrier being used at the moment is T-Mobile. If any extra information is needed please do ask!

 

Arigato!

[Kyuubixchidori]

on contract? off?

 

if off, try looking at used last gen phones. 

http://swappa.com/devices/t-mobile/us

[Flyguygamer]

Nexus 5 or if you can One+1

[Fred Castellum]

Nexus 5 or if you can One+1

I'd love to get her the One+1 but those god dam invites are impossible to nab... 

 

Nexus 5 is over $300 thou =/

 

 

on contract? off?

 

if off, try looking at used last gen phones. 

http://swappa.com/devices/t-mobile/us

 

Interesting site, I'll bookmark it.

[mahmoods30]

Nexus 5 or Moto X would be best brand new. You could grab an iphone 5 or 5c for that price from ebay, it's very user friendly and future proof.  

 

If you just want the absolute basics (calling and skype), I'd go for the Lumia 920. It's got big icons, runs well and for basic apps does what it needs to do. 

[CoolBeans]

If your mom wants it cheap and doesn't need much in a phone get a moto g

[Flyguygamer]

 

I'd love to get her the One+1 but those god dam invites are impossible to nab... 

 

Nexus 5 is over $300 thou =/

 

 

 

Interesting site, I'll bookmark it.

 

True. You can get a Samsung s4 for $14 a month for 2 years on t mobile. Also check here. http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phones/refurbished.html

 

Moto g 

Moto s

Those are good options too.

[c3p0]

You can't go wrong with Samsung Galaxy S Series. S3 or S4 should be in your pricerange. Well here are some from ebay.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-IN-BOX-BlackBerry-Z10-Latest-Model-16GB-Black-T-Mobile-Smartphone-/281399325306?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item4184b4f27a

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-LG-Optimus-L90-UNLOCKED-8GB-Black-T-Mobile-Smartphone-/271548895264?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item3f39935020

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-Galaxy-S-III-SGH-I747-16GB-White-AT-T-Unlocked-Smartphone-/400629924881?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item5d47678411

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Unlocked-Samsung-i537-Galaxy-S4-Active-AT-T-4G-LTE-16-GB-Android-Blue-Smartphone-/400746643048?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item5d4e5c7e68

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-Xperia-J-ST26l-Black-4GB-FACTORY-UNLOCKED-BRAND-NEW-SMARTPHONE-/271435037314?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item3f32c9fa82

[hardware_guy]

the moto g or moto x are two very good phones for the price, or you could try getting a 'like new' Nexus 5 off Ebay for under $300

[Fred Castellum]

Alright she's decided to go for the Nexus 5. Buying off of Ebay, most likely used.

 

If anyone knows of a phone that can compete with the Nexus 5 and can be obtained brand new for around the same price $300 or less please let me know now!

 

I'll hold off ordering for the meantime.  

[makkyun]

Here's some from previous generations.

 

-Sony Xperia T/TX

-Sony Xperia ZR

-LG Optimus G

-LG G2 Mini

-Samsung Galaxy S4

-Samsung Galaxy S3

-Moto X

-Moto G

-Huawei Ascend P6

-Huawei Ascend Mate2

-Nokia Lumia 920

-BlackBerry Z10

 

All these are great flagships from previous gens (including the Z10)

 

EDIT: Guess I was too late lol. Posted at the same time as OP.

[Fred Castellum]

Phone purchased! Nexus 5 incoming!

 

Thanks for the help guys!

[MrTiC]

You wont regret it !

[Greggers]

Might be a bit late but the only problem with the Nexus is that they have a rather high failure rate, but it's kinda random. I bought one and within a day it had some dead pixels, to Google's credit their RMA is pretty good so they sent me out another one but after a few weeks the vibration motor stopped working ever few hours or so until I tapped the back of the phone. Not a big deal for me as I don't really like using haptic feedback anyway, prefer audio feedback but a few people have had much more devastating issues like Ron from the All About Android TWIT show, one night charging, next day won't turn on. D: 

 

Edit: Just realised that you bought it off of ebay, better test that thing well to ensure it's all working as you won't be able to RMA the thing through Google. Either way I still love mine and I'll take the problems over a laggy UI any day.

 

[Fred Castellum]

-snip-

Noted thanks for the info.

[kuzimins]

Might be a bit late but the only problem with the Nexus is that they have a rather high failure rate, but it's kinda random. I bought one and within a day it had some dead pixels, to Google's credit their RMA is pretty good so they sent me out another one but after a few weeks the vibration motor stopped working ever few hours or so until I tapped the back of the phone. Not a big deal for me as I don't really like using haptic feedback anyway, prefer audio feedback but a few people have had much more devastating issues like Ron from the All About Android TWIT show, one night charging, next day won't turn on. D: 

 

Edit: Just realised that you bought it off of ebay, better test that thing well to ensure it's all working as you won't be able to RMA the thing through Google. Either way I still love mine and I'll take the problems over a laggy UI any day.

 

 

 

Noted thanks for the info.

 

Some beauty shots of my Nexus 5. 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/194191-the-worst-nexus-5-in-the-history-of-nexuss/

 

btw, just sayin, this doesnt happen to everyone.

[cjtaxi]

i vote for moto G 

[dizmo]

The Nexus 5 is a great phone and will definitely serve her well!

I'd have gone for either that or the Moto X, which is on sale right now or $299. Then she could have customized it to her liking.

I'm really glad I picked up my Nexus when I did. No regrets at all.

[Greggers]

Some beauty shots of my Nexus 5. 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/194191-the-worst-nexus-5-in-the-history-of-nexuss/

 

btw, just sayin, this doesnt happen to everyone.

Damn, there's definitely some quality control issues in these cheaper phones. I wish they still made smartphones with plastic screens, granted it doesn't feel as nice but I'd rather have a cheaper feel than having a screen crack. I must have dropped my Samsung Galaxy Ace about 200x because I simply didn't take care of it back then, why bother? Worse that will happen is the back might fly off.