Choosing a phone...help?

[-X-]

Ok so the time has finally come after almost 4 years to get a new phone and retire my Nokia Lumia 630. It served me well, but since Windows phone was (sadly) killed off it's users have been left in the dark. Now that I finally can afford a phone the hardest part comes, what do I choose? Of course, I still have a very tight budget so it's not that I have this enormous choice of phones, but still even at the budget prices there's a few which seem to be solid for the money. Now before the phones, my budget is around $200-$250 (about 200-230 euros since I'm in Europe). 

 

Ok so far I've found a few phones that seem to offer a lot for their price as well as having good reputations, but there is 1 to which I'm drawn the most since it has pretty much everything I could ask for in that price range;

1. Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite (4/64GB) (take this one as the base for comparison):

This one is the one that to me seems that it's the best choice, it has everything I'd want that almost all other phones lack bits of (most common things other phones lack are a 3,5mm jack, SD card slot AND 2 sim card slots unlike those hybrid SD/sim card slots that some have and a large battery). The phone itself to me seems great, I know it has the same hardware as the last year's Mi A1 (with the exception of having a micro USB instead of a type C which to me isn't a deal breaker and as some sources said that it's camera is slightly better even though I thought it was the same) but with the new look which honestly I kinda like mostly due to it being slimmer than the A1 so it's easier to hold. Also it has a large 4000mah battery and the SD625 which as I see doesn't waste a lot of the battery which is great. But overall doesn't seem to lack much.

 

2. Huawei Mate 10 Lite: 

I haven't done enough research on this one, so my opinion is based on specs. The phone looks good, the specs look good and I assume the quality follows. One thing it lacks is 2xSim card slots + SD card slot, instead it has a hybrid slot, not the most important thing but unless the phone is marginally better than it's competition I'd much rather have a 3rd dedicated slot for the SD card and have the dual sim option at all times. Another thing I dislike is the 3000mah battery. The display I'm guessing is good as well as the camera. 

 

3. Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (4/64GB) : 

A lot of people say that this one is a better choice than the A2 Lite (they're the same price, only the 6GB RAM version of the Note 5 costs more) and the reason is usually due to it's SD635 CPU, MiUi, apparently better camera and the notchless design. Now the CPU I don't know how much better it is than the SD625, but as I've been told the CPU is mostly important for gaming on the phone, but since I don't intend to do any heavy gaming (since I have a PC for that) I'm sure I don't need anything more than the SD625 unless the SD635 in the Note 5 is quite a lot better for other things besides gaming (from my experience with an A1 the SD625 seems very capable and hearing that it's very power efficient yet on the 14nm architecture it doesn't sound like a bad choice even now, is it?). For the MiUi that's mostly based on opinions, some say MiUi is better some say Android One is better, but as someone who's last Android was 2.1 then after that used Windows phone I've no idea what would be better for me. At this point Android One seems better since it's clean from any bloatware and it will get all updates directly from Google in the next 2 or 3 years, but I'm sure there are features on MiUi that are useful but I don't know of any which I'd highly need (and I'm not sure about MiUi since it depends on Xiaomi to push updates which they apparently aren't too frequent about but yet as I've read you are assured to get updates for MiUi for 5 years...). As far as the camera goes I've no idea, I've watched comparisons with the A2 Lite, A1, A2 and Note 5 cameras (and some other) and I honestly don't see a difference between the A2 Lite and Note 5 cameras. But is there a difference? 

 

4. Nokia 6.1 (4/64GB):

Yes one might assume that someone who's used a Nokia before would want to go with Nokia again and that isn't far from truth, I like Nokia's build quality and all, but this time around I don't think it's as good as it's competitors (not in this price range). The 6.1 is a solid phone, but it's price is noticeably higher than the A2 Lite and Note 5 (it's about as much as the Mate 10 Lite) but it's specs are lacking behind even the 2 Xiaomis. I put it in the list simply to see if there is some reason to why it's a better choice than the rest, but as big of a Nokia fan I am I'm not a fan of the 6.1. Sadly the 6.1 Plus isn't available in my country and by the looks of it will be out of my budget reach, yes it would be nearly perfect but no need to recommend it since (sadly) it's most likely not an option for me. 

 

5. Xiaomi Mi A2 (4/64GB or maybe, just maybe if my wallet tries really hard the 128GB version but...):

It's a great phone, was my first choice when I started looking for a new phone, but that beefy SD660 and awesome 12+20mp camera setup on a nice and sleek body come with a few bags of s***... The unholy trinity of the Mi A2 are the lack of an SD card slot, lack of the 3,5mm jack and a very weak 3010mah battery. Ok so the lack of an SD card slot, that I can live with, I'd stretch my budget by muscle to get that 128GB version so I wouldn't need an SD card. The absence of the 3,5mm headphone jack, ok I can buy a bunch of cool type C to 3,5mm adapters, wouldn't like it one bit but they're cheap and I could just get a bunch to keep literally everywhere so I always have some with me or keep them in the phone (like some cool tube adapter I found without a cable just a tube that goes along the bottom of the phone). But the battery, the battery is tremendous! It can barely hold out a day if even that with a full charge! I don't have a problem with charging my phone, but if I happen to not be in a situation where I can charge it while desperately needing my phone that is not acceptable. I do have a power bank but I don't just casually carry it everywhere with me. And the battery unlike the other 2 things can't be fixed, as far as I know you can't get a bigger replacement battery for it so you're stuck with a weak battery on a powerful and power hungry phone. This is another phone next to the Nokia that I put on the list just to see if anyone has a good reason to why it would be worth buying (oh yeah since I'd most likely be going for the 128GB version it would make the A2 the most expensive choice so far) but the battery that can't hold out on a phone like this is a deal breaker. A huge shame, had they merged the A2 and A2 lite in a single phone with a 3,5mm jack, dual sim + SD card slots, 4000mah battery, SD660 CPU and the 12+20mp camera setup it would've been perfect for the price. 

 

6. Samsung Galaxy A6 Plus (4/64GB):

This one is already at the top of the budget, just a bit under the A2 128GB but still would be a stretch. Now I'm not sure about this one, specs seem nice (aside from the SD450 CPU? I know I said I didn't need a beast but my Lumia 630 has an SD400 I still would want a step up) but Samsung phones in general are a tad pricey compared to what they offer. The only 2 things I see the A6 Plus having over the A2 Lite is the Amoled display and a somewhat better camera. I'm not the biggest fan of Samsung due to them having the most bloatware and as I said, coming from Windows to Android as much as I like having some neat and useful features and all I don't need a ton of "things" on my phone that I probably wouldn't use 70% of. But again, I'm listing it as a possible option (but it is quite a stretch that doesn't seem to be worth it from what I see) and I'm open to suggestions. 

 

7. Samsung J8 (4/64GB): 

Pretty much the same as the A6 Plus but a bit more expensive. 

 

8. Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (4/64GB):

Similar situation as with the Redmi Note 5, just that this one has the SD625 and all but the largest battery of all the phones listed (5300mah!!!) It seems nice all around (aside from the hybrid card slot...) but it's a bit older so it lacks things like a dual rear camera, on screen navigation bar and also the common problem with the absence of a dedicated SD card slot next to 2 sim slots. 

 

Well those are the phones that caught my eye, but as I said I'm mostly being attracted by the A2 Lite since it's among the cheapest in the list yet it has ever basic thing I'd need, but of course if I was 100% sure in what I'm doing I wouldn't be asking for help  I'm open to suggestions and advice, sorry if I get a bit picky, it's due to a smaller choice and higher prices in my country (ordering online isn't an option, don't want to deal with that in case I need to return the phone and all stores here are required to give you at least 1-2 year warranty at their expense). 

But before someone recommends some new popular phones, the Nokia 6.1 Plus isn't available and most likely will be out of my budget, Honor Play isn't the same, higher end (well higher than A6 Plus) Samsung phones are way out of my budget's reach as well as the new Poco F1 which sadly is also far too expensive (I was expecting it to be around $300-350 here but it turned out to be over $400 and even $300 would be stretching it) 

In advance I thanks for reading and hopefully helping 

 

[TheRock2003]

Have had a mi A1 64GB for about a year and it is great. I would personally go for the Mi A2 (quite similar to the mi A1 even if a bit more advanced). The picture on this phone are great(The mi A1 has a great camera the only thing that I have to complain about is the low light quality which is garbage on the A1 but seems pretty good on the A2. I would also go for the 64 Gig version(you probably don't need more and it is still cheaper to buy a 64g sd card(or even 128 if it is compatible)because this phone unlike my last one realy uses the sd card as internal storage and not only to store 2 pictures  and 10% of your games.

Xiaomi makes overall great price to performance phones and the stock android make this phone even better so the choice is already done for me but look around check reviews(particularly the negative ones which can be really interesting before you buy your phone)

[J.b091]

Consider Xiaomi S2. It's not expensive, it doesn't have hybrid dual sim, has dedicated SD card slot, has dual camera, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo), fast finger print. There are 64 GB, 4 GB RAM & 32 GB, 3 GB RAM versions. The only minus it has is smaller resolution screen (HD instead of FHD) & 3010 mah battery, but since screen has small amount of pixels, battery isn't issue and it lasts quite long, in short battery management is good as well & only downside is screen resolution. I own it and I'm very satisfied with this phone for it's price/performance. My wife has Redmi 5 Plus, while it has bigger battery 4000 mah, it doesn't have dual camera though. Also MIUI isn't that bad, feels quite clean.