Is there a better phone for $150?

[YellowMenace]

So, when rushing to get a scantron for an exam, my 2014 moto x slipped out of my hoodie pocket and landed corner first on concrete with sizable decorative rocks. The top glass of the display is cracked beyond recognition, replacing the top glass is a task too tedious for me, and a new screen as only $30 less than a new 2014 moto x. 
I loved the phone for it's clean software, being as snappy as day 1 even after 2 years, moto active display and it's quick launch gestures, punchy AMOLED display, and great in-hand feel. Now, since 2 years have past, I can pick up a new 2014 moto x for $150, but since it's been 2 years, I'm wondering if there's any better phone for $150 currently on the market that you can get new.
I know phones from a year or 2 ago are still on the market and have gone down in price, so those are some cheap alternatives, I just don't know what to look for.

 

So, to some up what I'm asking, for $150, is there any better unlocked phone that you can get new or factory refurbished than the 2014 moto x? as seen here, can still be bought new for $150 (link)

 

Brand spanking new devices that came out last week aren't the only things i'm considering/wanting, I am also considering devices that are older that can still be bought new or refurbished like, said 2014 moto x,

[Canada EH]

I just bought a $20 unlocked phone, but its a windows phone. It was actually $13, plus $7 S&H.

For $150 you could get a ZTE.

[MANIDY inc]

Most phones that cheap are shit. If its made by BLU the charging port will fail eventually. So stay away from BLU

[Canada EH]

No its Nokia but hopefully it will be better then my Samsung, oh its a real bad fucker that phone.

I want the Nokia to last a year or two, so that the S4's can be even more cheaper.

[YellowMenace]

1 minute ago, MANIDY inc said:

Most phones that cheap are shit. If its made by BLU the charging port will fail eventually. So stay away from BLU

Though that may be true, if you go back a year or 2, the price of some pretty good phones has dropped significantly and are still perfectly usable by today's standards.

[YellowMenace]

Bump?

[staubgame]

Gonna join in without too much additional information but maybe I can help some.

 

I've been in a similar position, only that my phone didn't crack but I'm looking for a new one for my mom.

I'm using a ~2,5 year old sony z3 compact myself that serves me faithfully, although I feel a decrease in battery life (duh) and it got a bit slower lately.

 

The moto (xxx) phones, be it moto G or moto X seem to be the best in regards to price/performance (not gaming) and longevity. 
That matches with your  statement of it being as snappy as two years ago.

My sony on the other hand got a little slower, but not disturbing me to much.

The Samsung S5 of a friend is horribly slow and crashes/gets stuck way too often, he recently switched to an Lenovo ZUK Z2 Pro and praises the shit out of it atm.

Which might be worth looking into nonethless, the non Pro is around 250$ I think for flagship speccs. No band 20 LTE though.

 

Another friend uses a htc m8 and is happy with it.

 

Not mentioning iphones (they have there place and their costumers but somewhere else).

Maybe that helps?

[maizenblue]

I still think the galaxy s5 is a very viable smartphone at the moment, and you can find near new or refurbed ones for 150 on ebay, maybe even a new or like new one for around the same if your lucky.

 

i just parted ways with my s5 for an iphone 7 plus and i miss the smaller size and ruggedness of the phone. 

 

After 2 and a half years of hard use it still looked brand new and the replaceable battery was a huge plus. 

 

Verizon still offers the phone with a plan for a reason despite the s6 and s7 being out. Its a quality workhorse phone with a beautiful amoled display. Id still take it over the s6 if they were giving both away.

[dizmo]

You can't really get much for that price. If you can do with using an adapter for headphones (really, it's just plugging into a different port) then I'd strongly recommend the LeEco S3.

Can't really be beat for the price.

[tHeFrKsHw]

I would go for a Nexus 6 if you like bigger phones, or a droid Maxx 2? Both are killer, imo. 

[YellowMenace]

On 11/17/2016 at 2:48 PM, maizenblue said:

I still think the galaxy s5 is a very viable smartphone at the moment, and you can find near new or refurbed ones for 150 on ebay, maybe even a new or like new one for around the same if your lucky.

 

i just parted ways with my s5 for an iphone 7 plus and i miss the smaller size and ruggedness of the phone. 

 

After 2 and a half years of hard use it still looked brand new and the replaceable battery was a huge plus. 

 

Verizon still offers the phone with a plan for a reason despite the s6 and s7 being out. Its a quality workhorse phone with a beautiful amoled display. Id still take it over the s6 if they were giving both away.

Ooo, the s5 looks tempting, just flash CM onto it and have at it

On 11/18/2016 at 2:05 AM, dizmo said:

You can't really get much for that price. If you can do with using an adapter for headphones (really, it's just plugging into a different port) then I'd strongly recommend the LeEco S3.

Can't really be beat for the price.

I know you can't get much in terms of brand new devices, but say, like I said above, if you go back a year or 2, you can find really nice phones that have their prices really slashed down to something more reasonable in today's market. For example, the 2014 moto x, when new, cost $400, now can be had for $150

10 minutes ago, tHeFrKsHw said:

I would go for a Nexus 6 if you like bigger phones, or a droid Maxx 2? Both are killer, imo. 

I'm looking to buy unlocked and both of those phones are nearly twice my budget.

[dizmo]

5 minutes ago, Yellow Screaming Madness said:

Ooo, the s5 looks tempting, just flash CM onto it and have at it

I know you can't get much in terms of brand new devices, but say, like I said above, if you go back a year or 2, you can find really nice phones that have their prices really slashed down to something more reasonable in today's market. For example, the 2014 moto x, when new, cost $400, now can be had for $150

I'm looking to buy unlocked and both of those phones are nearly twice my budget.

The 2014 Moto X reallllly isn't a good phone. You'd be much better off with a newer Moto G.

[YellowMenace]

15 minutes ago, dizmo said:

The 2014 Moto X reallllly isn't a good phone. You'd be much better off with a newer Moto G.

Well, what's wrong with it? I owned one for 2 years and the only complaint I had was its cameras. Other than that, it seemed really good.

Call quality, volume, and reception was great, speaker was alright, shape is really nice, build is solid, excellent stock ROM with no bloat, and performance was good enough for me as the most intense things I do on a phone is watch video.

[dizmo]

21 hours ago, Yellow Screaming Madness said:

Well, what's wrong with it? I owned one for 2 years and the only complaint I had was its cameras. Other than that, it seemed really good.

Call quality, volume, and reception was great, speaker was alright, shape is really nice, build is solid, excellent stock ROM with no bloat, and performance was good enough for me as the most intense things I do on a phone is watch video.

The battery life blows. Cameras are shite. The back was known to peel off over time. Just overall not a great device from them.

[YellowMenace]

On 11/21/2016 at 0:19 AM, dizmo said:

The battery life blows. Cameras are shite. The back was known to peel off over time. Just overall not a great device from them.

I could easily get 3 hours out of it, but averaged using it around 2.5 hours a day, ending the day with around 30%, the back camera was decent, not good, not bad, front cam is shitte (but i don't really recall using front cameras at all asides from using it to see behind a computer or something), and the back on mine stayed perfectly stuck on even after 2 years of constant use.

Also the back is literally a "sticker", so the back coming off isn't really anything structure or build related, the phone itself is really, really, really sturdy and robust.

[dizmo]

7 hours ago, Yellow Screaming Madness said:

I could easily get 3 hours out of it, but averaged using it around 2.5 hours a day, ending the day with around 30%, the back camera was decent, not good, not bad, front cam is shitte (but i don't really recall using front cameras at all asides from using it to see behind a computer or something), and the back on mine stayed perfectly stuck on even after 2 years of constant use.

Also the back is literally a "sticker", so the back coming off isn't really anything structure or build related, the phone itself is really, really, really sturdy and robust.

All reasons to get a newer device

[YellowMenace]

9 hours ago, dizmo said:

All reasons to get a newer device

Android L killed it's battery life tbh, on kit kat, I could get 6 hours of screen on time with it.