Looking for a mid ranger, up to $200 with a great camera

Nebell

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My mom is having a birthday in June and she's often complaining about her phone.
She doesn't use her phone for more than social media and photography. Everything else is not important (but I don't want to give her a sluggish phone).

I've been looking around and found Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus which seem to be a good contender. It's not expensive, has a 6" screen and a 4000mAh battery. And the pictures it takes look pretty good.

Anyone with a better suggestion?
 
Well, I don't want to get her a used phone. Besides, she is not very demanding and the cheapest used G6 I've seen here is over $250.
 
I just bought my wife a Asus Zenfone Max Plus M1. It has been doing really well. My wife loves it. She is on her phone all the time, social media, some light gaming and some photos of the kids, etc. Battery life is phenomenal she typically gets 5.5 -6.5 hours of screen on time. Thats with facebook, if she didnt use that she would get more battery life. The cameras have a lot of cool features for this price range.

Biggest downside is that it is Micro-USB but it does have fast charging with the included charger. The fast charging only works with the asus power adapter. But it works out well. We keep a slower charger in the bedroom and it charges just fine overnight. She keeps the fast charger in the living room and can top off during the day.


https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-z...nlocked-deepsea-black/6186103.p?skuId=6186103
 
If you're in the US, I wouldn't get that Xiaomi unless you're for sure it supports all LTE bands of the carrier you plan to use it on. A quick Google shows that it's pretty much not compatible with most US LTE bands, but I'm not sure if I'm looking at the right model or if you're even in the US.

Otherwise I would just go with a Nokia 6, Honor 7x, or Moto G5 Plus (or G6 Plus due out in the next few weeks). I got my wife's friend a G5 Plus last year for the same uses (camera and social media) and she has been happy with it the couple times I've asked about it since; much better than the budget Samsung phones she had previously at least.
 
My mom is having a birthday in June and she's often complaining about her phone.
She doesn't use her phone for more than social media and photography. Everything else is not important (but I don't want to give her a sluggish phone).

I've been looking around and found Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus which seem to be a good contender. It's not expensive, has a 6" screen and a 4000mAh battery. And the pictures it takes look pretty good.

Anyone with a better suggestion?

The first question: where do you live? If it's in North America... just skip Xiaomi altogether. Most of their phones don't play nicely with LTE networks here, and those that might are going to be high-end devices like the Mi Mix 2S.

It depends if you're anywhere else, but I would honestly look at the Moto G6 (maybe even the G6 Play) when it's available. Seems to strike that good balance between a nice enough camera and an affordable price. It may be over $200, mind you, but if I can be honest: any phone under $200 isn't a "mid ranger," it's squarely in budget territory. And finding a new phone under $200 with a good camera is going to be very difficult.
 
And finding a new phone under $200 with a good camera is going to be very difficult.
Don't think it's possible unless you want to sideload that Google Pixel camera app that was hacked a while back.
 
I'd still say buy her an LG G4 since that camera sensor was so damned awesome and still is, I personally have never taken photos that looked better even with new devices like the Pixel and Galaxy S8/S9 but that's just me.

Yes I know the G4 *can* potentially fail but you can get 'em on eBay for $60 these days, I mean really. I'd rather get one of those, if it chokes and dies I get another, then another, and still have a better overall device (with that removable battery I care about so much) and still not spend as much for a new device and take infinitely better pictures than any $200-300 device will. :D
 
I would see what the G6 brings to the table. What is her current phone and what benchmark are we using for a good camera. At that price point not much is gonna fit the bill.
 
I'd still say buy her an LG G4 since that camera sensor was so damned awesome and still is, I personally have never taken photos that looked better even with new devices like the Pixel and Galaxy S8/S9 but that's just me.

Yes I know the G4 *can* potentially fail but you can get 'em on eBay for $60 these days, I mean really. I'd rather get one of those, if it chokes and dies I get another, then another, and still have a better overall device (with that removable battery I care about so much) and still not spend as much for a new device and take infinitely better pictures than any $200-300 device will. :D
would not touch a used lg G* phone with a 10 foot pool due to boot loop issues
 
Like I said, not all of them have it, a small fraction of the total number ever produced, that's why the used market on eBay is flooded with 'em for such cheap prices. I'd rather have 5 G4's that die one after another than something that can't perform anywhere near as well nor comes with a camera that's even acceptable by comparison but that's just me as always.

It's an option but the OP wants a new device which is understandable.
 
200 and great camera huh... Honestly if you want an actual great camera for that 200 bucks your going to be looking at a used flagship.
 
Just bought myself a galaxy s7 for $200. I do wish the battery was replaceable, but otherwise it's a pretty good bang for your buck phone with a good camera.
 
I live in Sweden.

I will most likely buy Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus unless something new and awesome for that price shows up in May.
I checked all the available phones here and none in the same price range (or even $50 higher) can compete with it.

It's a 2018 phone so it has midrange specs (Snapdragon 625). It also seem to have a very good camera if reviews are to be believed.

Low range I consider phones with Snapdragon 4xx/2xx and equivalent.
 
Get an old stock/used LG V10
4k video cam, 120fps and manual shooting, great picture quality, 1440p screen, removable battery, great dac etc etc etc and will smoke any mid range phone you buy for the same price. Have a friend with a new J5 and they wish they got a used V10 now lol..
 
Get an old stock/used LG V10
4k video cam, 120fps and manual shooting, great picture quality, 1440p screen, removable battery, great dac etc etc etc and will smoke any mid range phone you buy for the same price. Have a friend with a new J5 and they wish they got a used V10 now lol..
Actually the LG V20 can be had on swappa for less than $200.
 
Actually the LG V20 can be had on swappa for less than $200.
Lucky, here they are more than that. V10 costs about 200.
Might have to look at getting one off an [H]'r eventually or even a v30 if they are any good, not looked into em yet.
 
I just bought my wife a Asus Zenfone Max Plus M1. It has been doing really well. My wife loves it. She is on her phone all the time, social media, some light gaming and some photos of the kids, etc. Battery life is phenomenal she typically gets 5.5 -6.5 hours of screen on time. Thats with facebook, if she didnt use that she would get more battery life. The cameras have a lot of cool features for this price range.

Biggest downside is that it is Micro-USB but it does have fast charging with the included charger. The fast charging only works with the asus power adapter. But it works out well. We keep a slower charger in the bedroom and it charges just fine overnight. She keeps the fast charger in the living room and can top off during the day.


https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-z...nlocked-deepsea-black/6186103.p?skuId=6186103

Definitely this. Just look them up on amazon with the Hard affiliate link. I grabbed the predecessor of this phone for my mom and she loves it.
 
I'm definitely glad I stopped by to take a look in here as I'm currently looking for a new phone for my son and was looking for about the same thing. I'm not worried about getting a "great" camera as he practically never takes pictures and if he does decide he wants good pictures he can buy a real camera for it. Otherwise, I was looking for decent midrange phones for around $200 new. After looking through some of the options mentioned the Asus Zenfone looks to be about the best contender.
 
Honor 8 is really cheap at this point (~220 €) and the specs are still really nice. I get ~6h sot. The camera is good. When the Honor 10 launches, Honor 9 will likely drop in price too.
 
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