Best $300-$400 phone recommendations

[DocSwag]

My dad is looking into getting a new phone, and that's the price range he's currently looking at. I thought of the Nokia 7 Plus but it doesn't work with LTE on T-Mobile so unfortunately that's not an option. I also looked at the G6 but it seems a bit underpowered IMO... does anyone know of any phones around the price range that are around as good as the 7 Plus but do work in the US? Thanks.

[Streetguru]

10 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

 

1st gen google pixel 128GB at around $250

[LogicWeasel]

Moto X4 (Android One)

[Anas Dweik]

Nova 3I or honor play

[LogicWeasel]

7 minutes ago, Anas Dweik said:

Nova 3I or honor play

OP did state that it's gotta work on T-Mobile.  Those will not.

[Himanshu Khatri]

Xiaomi pocophone f1

it got snapdragon 845,4000 mah battery only for $300.
but i don't  know if it will work with t-mobile or not.

[LogicWeasel]

4 minutes ago, Himanshu Khatri said:

Xiaomi pocophone f1

it got snapdragon 845,4000 mah battery only for $300.
but i don't  know if it will work with t-mobile or not.

The Pocophone is cool, but only if you're in India or some other Asian markets, otherwise it's a concept to the US phone buyers.

It has to have LTE Bands: 2,4,12 at minimum to be worth using T-Mobile LTE on it (bonus if it has bands 66 and 71).  Easy way to check if there's even a chance it'll work: if GSMArena's page for the phone only lists a Chinese version of the phone and no US version?  Don't bother.

[LogicWeasel]

19 minutes ago, LogicWeasel said:

Moto X4 (Android One)

I'm adding to my prior suggestion, the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) as it's also available for under $400:

https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_a8_(2018)-8886.php

[Himanshu Khatri]

9 minutes ago, LogicWeasel said:

The Pocophone is cool, but only if you're in India or some other Asian markets, otherwise it's a concept to the US phone buyers.

It has to have LTE Bands: 2,4,12 at minimum to be worth using T-Mobile LTE on it (bonus if it has bands 66 and 71).  Easy way to check if there's even a chance it'll work: if GSMArena's page for the phone only lists a Chinese version of the phone and no US version?  Don't bother.

i'm in india and i am going to buy poco tommorrow, it makes me really sad that no "bang for buck" companies like Honor or xiaomi are available in the us.

[DocSwag]

10 hours ago, Streetguru said:

1st gen google pixel 128GB at around $250

That's something I didn't even think of.... Where could you get one for that price? I did a quick search and found some 32gb versions around $250-$300 but not the 128gb.

 

Also, any idea if the XL could also be around that price?

10 hours ago, LogicWeasel said:

Moto X4 (Android One)

 

10 hours ago, LogicWeasel said:

I'm adding to my prior suggestion, the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) as it's also available for under $400:

https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_a8_(2018)-8886.php

I looked a bit at the x4 but it didn't seem like a huge upgrade over the g6. Didn't think of the A8 though... It's using an exynos Soc so do you know if it supports all the LTE bands I need?

10 hours ago, Anas Dweik said:

Nova 3I or honor play

 

10 hours ago, Himanshu Khatri said:

Xiaomi pocophone f1

it got snapdragon 845,4000 mah battery only for $300.
but i don't  know if it will work with t-mobile or not.

 

10 hours ago, Himanshu Khatri said:

i'm in india and i am going to buy poco tommorrow, it makes me really sad that no "bang for buck" companies like Honor or xiaomi are available in the us.

It's not really that they won't work, because they will, but they only work with t mobile and AT&T usually and LTE is generally questionable.

[Streetguru]

2 hours ago, DocSwag said:

That's something I didn't even think of.... Where could you get one for that price? I did a quick search and found some 32gb versions around $250-$300 but not the 128gb.

Ebay
going to have to shop around for a bit
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Google-Pixel-XL-128GB-BLACK-Unlocked-AT-T-T-Mobile-Verizon-Sprint-7361879/401589445833?epid=229567418&hash=item5d8098a4c9:g:RpMAAOSwYIRbbyxo#viTabs_0

[LogicWeasel]

3 hours ago, DocSwag said:

That's something I didn't even think of.... Where could you get one for that price? I did a quick search and found some 32gb versions around $250-$300 but not the 128gb.

 

Also, any idea if the XL could also be around that price?

Yes, Swappa is a good place to get an idea of what the phones go for used without having to dig-through eBay (nothing wrong with buying on there but Swappa is organized far better and a bit more police, like requirements that all pics must be of the phone for sale).

https://swappa.com/buy/google-pixel-xl-unlocked/us

(the Verizon version listed on Swappa if GSM unlocked is also just-as compatible for T-Mobile use, the only big difference is the bootloader will be not be unlockable with the Verizon version, but it may be cheaper on used-sites as a result).

[LogicWeasel]

5 hours ago, DocSwag said:

I looked a bit at the x4 but it didn't seem like a huge upgrade over the g6. Didn't think of the A8 though... It's using an exynos Soc so do you know if it supports all the LTE bands I need?

Since you started with the Nokia 7 Plus what about the Moto X4 isn't enough of an upgrade?  It's a 600-series Qualcom SoC making it a strong mid-range phone, let alone the 6GB RAM it's sporting which is a rarely-seen bonus.

I linked the GSM Arena page to point out how compatible that Samsung A8 is.  I verified that it has the T-Mobile LTE bands as listed on the page.

Edit: I cannot believe I forgot this little gem, there's always the OnePlus 5T (or even 5 without the T): https://swappa.com/buy/oneplus-5t-unlocked?sort=price_min

[DocSwag]

9 hours ago, Streetguru said:

Ebay
going to have to shop around for a bit
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Google-Pixel-XL-128GB-BLACK-Unlocked-AT-T-T-Mobile-Verizon-Sprint-7361879/401589445833?epid=229567418&hash=item5d8098a4c9:g:RpMAAOSwYIRbbyxo#viTabs_0

 

9 hours ago, LogicWeasel said:

Yes, Swappa is a good place to get an idea of what the phones go for used without having to dig-through eBay (nothing wrong with buying on there but Swappa is organized far better and a bit more police, like requirements that all pics must be of the phone for sale).

https://swappa.com/buy/google-pixel-xl-unlocked/us

(the Verizon version listed on Swappa if GSM unlocked is also just-as compatible for T-Mobile use, the only big difference is the bootloader will be not be unlockable with the Verizon version, but it may be cheaper on used-sites as a result).

Thanks, I'll definitely look into it! Usually my parents aren't super into getting used stuff though so I'll probably have to find stuff new but it seems the pixels generally go for decent prices new as well.

8 hours ago, LogicWeasel said:

Since you started with the Nokia 7 Plus what about the Moto X4 isn't enough of an upgrade?  It's a 600-series Qualcom SoC making it a strong mid-range phone, let alone the 6GB RAM it's sporting which is a rarely-seen bonus.

I linked the GSM Arena page to point out how compatible that Samsung A8 is.  I verified that it has the T-Mobile LTE bands as listed on the page.

Edit: I cannot believe I forgot this little gem, there's always the OnePlus 5T (or even 5 without the T): https://swappa.com/buy/oneplus-5t-unlocked?sort=price_min

Yeah but it's a Snapdragon 660 (which has much more powerful A73 cores) vs a 630 which is just 8 A53 cores.

 

 

5T is also something I could look into. It's just used stuff is generally not as preferred. A8 is definitely something else I'll look into tho.