Phone recommendation

[RZeroX]

What phone would you recommend for $700 NZD?

 

I was thinking of maybe getting the Samsung Galaxy A5 but I'm not really sure what phone I should get at this budget so hopefully the Ltt community can help me out and choose a phone which would be worth it.

[swolthui]

moto x (2014)

[RZeroX]

moto x (2014)

That's a $900 phone from local stores.

[ThE_MarD]

Heyyo,

I don't know what shops are local to New Zealand sorry.. but hopefully this helps!

http://www.expansys.co.nz/mobile-phones/?filter=5|0|400-800

There's five main phones in your price category... and I'm FREAKING jealous that Huawei has a decent market in NZ unlike Canada.

Huawei Ascend Mate 7

http://www.expansys.co.nz/huawei-ascend-mate7-dual-sim-unlocked-lte-32gb-gold-273064/

Or if you want smaller? Huawei Ascend P7 (I could only find an open box though...)

http://www.expansys.co.nz/b-stock-huawei-ascend-p7-unlocked-lte-16gb-white-open-box-276347/

Sony Xperia Z3

http://www.expansys.co.nz/sony-xperia-z3-dual-unlocked-lte-16gb-white-266606/

Asus Zenfone 2

http://www.expansys.co.nz/asus-zenfone-2-ze551ml-dual-sim-unlocked-lte-64gb-silver-275814/

LG G3

http://www.expansys.co.nz/lg-g3-d855-unlocked-lte-32gb-metallic-black-262971/

HTC One M8

http://www.expansys.co.nz/htc-one-m8-unlocked-32gb-gunmetal-gray-259902/

Now... to keep it brief? I'd go with the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 followed closely by the Sony Xperia Z3.

Why is my first choice the Huawei Ascend Mate 7? I'm a fan of phablets. The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 has a badass 6" FHD screen, a MASSIVE battery (4100MAh!!!), a power efficient custom SoC that Huawei manufacture themselves (Eight-core Kirin 925) and has 32GB of internal memory and supports microSD up to another 32GB. The camera is pretty decent too.

Second vote? Sony Xperia Z3. Sony is terribly underrated in the smartphone industry... The Xperia Z3 is so damn close to perfect it hurts that it doesn't sell that good. Sony was the pioneer of making a phone dust and water proof and this phone does that nicely. It also Packs a beautiful 5.2" screen that is backed by the powerful SnapDragon 801 SoC so it runs nice and smooth, the 20.7MP Sony Exmor RS camera is really damn good and sits flush with the phone which is something many other phones do not do, it's quite efficient for battery life and has a premium build. OH! It also has FRONT FACING SPEAKERS! It's crazy to think that there's only a few phones that have it tbh. Android Authoriy did a pretty good review on it but the only part that's a bit of an oopsie is the mention of SnapDragon 805 taking over... since only the Nexus 6 used it lol.

Third? Asus Zenfone 2. The price is awesome for such an awesome device so it easily gets a spot higher than the LG G3. The performance on the Intel Atom provided is fantastic and it's manufactured on 14nm so you know it doesn't take as much power to deliver performance and also produces less heat so it gets bonus points for that. It can spank 2014 flagship phones and can do it with a lower price point. The camera is pretty darn decent too and features optical image stabilization so it gets bonus points there too. The only downside to this phone? A mediocre single speaker on the back. The size of the grille is very misleading as it is just as small as the one on the LG G3. If only Asus could have put it on the bottom or front... oh well.

Fourth? LG G3. It's another phablet with a 5.5" LCD with decent color accuracy and temperature with a 2K (1440) resolution, a decent camera and decent battery life. The price on this phone surprises me and that's why I'm giving it a rating higher than the fifth place... which is...

Fifth? HTC One M8. Many online reviews say this was the best phone of 2014... I say it was good, but not the best. It does have a good SuperLCD 5" screen with the SnapDragon 801 to help it multitask like a champ and the AMAZING HTC stereo speakers on the front of the phone (pretty much why my first android phone was a HTC One M7)... but... that very mediocre 4MP Ultrapixel camera... oh man does it suck. The Optical Image Stabilization wasn't great on the One M7... but HTC did away completely with OIS on the M8 which feels like a bit of a step back... ugh. Photos can be quite pixelated compared to other flagship phones especially. If you don't care about photo quality and only upload to Facebook which does a lot of compression? Yeah, it'll do ya fine... but if you want good quality pictures? Go with a different phone or pack a separate digital camera.

[Aniallation]

For the price range I'd go with the Xperia Z3/Z3 Compact.

[Jay Scriven]

@ThE_MarD made a pretty decent list there.

I told myself I'd probably never use a Samsung phone in my life yet I got the Note 4 and don't regret it a bit. Battery life is great, camera is great, ui is meh but I use nova launcher on any phone anyways.

Not gonna lie though, I'd say wait a couple of months, save that money and see what's out, if nothing great is there I'd go the LG G4

[ThE_MarD]

Heyyo,

@ThE_MarD made a pretty decent list there.

I told myself I'd probably never use a Samsung phone in my life yet I got the Note 4 and don't regret it a bit. Battery life is great, camera is great, ui is meh but I use nova launcher on any phone anyways.

Not gonna lie though, I'd say wait a couple of months, save that money and see what's out, if nothing great is there I'd go the LG G4

Thanks mang. Sadly the Note 4 is out of his price range by about $100 NZD.. but for a Phablet? It indeed is freaking amazing. One of the best color accuracy & temperature scores on a smartphone and has pretty good battery life.

The LG G4 is going to be a 2015 flagship which might be out of his price range much like the Note 4 is though.. at his price range? He's mainly looking at 2014 flagships.

[RZeroX]

Heyyo,

I don't know what shops are local to New Zealand sorry.. but hopefully this helps!

-Snip-

Well most of those phones are $750 or more when looking at local stores the only phone which isn't is the Lg G3 which is currently going for $722 until Monday save $167.

[ThE_MarD]

Heyyo,

Well most of those phones are $750 or more when looking at local stores the only phone which isn't is the Lg G3 which is currently going for $722 until Monday save $167.

Well... dammit lol. Can you provide examples of which phones are less than $750 NZD? If there's the Sony Xperia Z1 or Z2? Those are still fantastic phones. Hmm, could you provide links to carriers you'd consider using?

Otherwise? for 2013 Flagships or current mid-range devices? Hmm, I don't know if Alcatel is very active in New Zealand, but the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 is a fantastic price to performance smartphone that has front facing stereo speakers.

I used to own an HTC One M7.. and it is a fantastic phone, but the SnapDragon 600 that powers it is quite mid-range and you can find other phones with SnapDragon 610's or 615's that can outclass it like the Sony Agua M2. If you can find the Sony Agua M2 for your price range? It's a great mid-range device.. plus other mid-range devices will probably have a MUCH better camera.

The LG G2 is also a good 2013 flagship with a strong SnapDragon 800 SoC and a decent screen to boot.

Samsung Galaxy S4 is actually a very solid device and also worth checking out.

[RZeroX]

Heyyo,

Well... dammit lol. Can you provide examples of which phones are less than $750 NZD? If there's the Sony Xperia Z1 or Z2? Those are still fantastic phones. Hmm, could you provide links to carriers you'd consider using?

Otherwise? for 2013 Flagships or current mid-range devices? Hmm, I don't know if Alcatel is very active in New Zealand, but the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 is a fantastic price to performance smartphone that has front facing stereo speakers.

I used to own an HTC One M7.. and it is a fantastic phone, but the SnapDragon 600 that powers it is quite mid-range and you can find other phones with SnapDragon 610's or 615's that can outclass it like the Sony Agua M2. If you can find the Sony Agua M2 for your price range? It's a great mid-range device.. plus other mid-range devices will probably have a MUCH better camera.

The LG G2 is also a good 2013 flagship with a strong SnapDragon 800 SoC and a decent screen to boot.

Samsung Galaxy S4 is actually a very solid device and also worth checking out.

I decided to pickup the G3 and I'm coming from a iPhone 3G I'm liking the G3 so far.

[Jay Scriven]

I decided to pickup the G3 and I'm coming from a iPhone 3G I'm liking the G3 so far.

Good choice

[Monte_Carlo]

I decided to pickup the G3 and I'm coming from a iPhone 3G I'm liking the G3 so far.

 

Excellent choice.  I came into the G3 from a Nokia Lumia 810, and I love my phone so far.  I hope it serves us both well into the next 2-3 years.