Looking for mid-range phone, ~$250-300

Budget is $250-300. I currently use a just over 3 year old Honor 5X on Lineage and it's time has come.


Needs:

• Unlocked GSM, good AT&T MVNO network compatibility.
• New. No used phones.

Strong wants:

• SD card slot
• Much faster user experience. I want apps to open fast and be responsive even with lots of things open.

Wants:

• Physically smaller phone. Honor 5x is 5.96 x 3.00 x 0.32 in and I feel it's too large.

Nice to have but not a deal breaker:

• Headphone Jack
• Big battery

Don't care:

• As long as the camera isn't total crap I don't care how good it is.
• Gaming - I never game on my phone so don't care about this.

Moto G line is good. The honor mate SE is a solid phone. Mother in law has it. Works well for att and it's mvno. Has all the specs you want plus it's meant for the USA. 220$ on Amazon right now.

I snagged a ZTE Axon 7 mini a couple months ago while it was on sale. Very pleased with it thus far. Certainly not suitable for a power user, but it's snappy enough for my needs and meets most of your requirements:

Dual sim tray, allows uSD card in SIM2 slot.
Headphone jack.
5.2" 1080p display, I have smaller hands and this is a perfect size for me.
Snapdragon 617 + 3 GB ram.

Like I said, I got mine on sale for ~120 CAD just after the new year and I've had no complaints regarding it in the few months I've used it. Mine is stuck on android 7 since it's a Canadian variant and I don't want to risk bricking it by flashing an incompatible ROM, but the american variant has been updated more recently and has a lot more community support https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7-mini

The one thing you may find a problem with is the battery life, but the phone supports quick charge so after 20 minutes on the supplied charger you'll have ~60-70%

Yeah, the Moto G7 is pretty much the phone to beat in that price range and fits all your criteria except big battery (but it's adequate from the reviews I've seen), which there's the G6 Play for that if battery is priority. Next phones I would consider are the Nokia 6 or 7 models that are around that price range as well and am pretty sure also support SD cards and all that. All of these phones are fully unlocked and support all US carriers AFAIK.

Swappa has some great deals if you don't mind used. I just picked up a LG v30 plus for $230 in mint condition for the wife. I purchased my V30 a year or so ago and love it.

The LG V30 is a solid phone, The Moto G6/7 is also a good choice. I have a moto G6 my wife has an LG v30 which seems to be a superior phone between the 2

Going to hijack some:

For same price point, preferred new.
Vanilla or close to it Android, larges screen and strong camera priority. SoC strength lowest priority. Battery life can be whatever it is.

Use case; as an actual phone, taking pictures of grandkids and being lost 90% of the time.

Nimisys said:

Going to hijack some:

For same price point, preferred new.
Vanilla or close to it Android, larges screen and strong camera priority. SoC strength lowest priority. Battery life can be whatever it is.

Use case; as an actual phone, taking pictures of grandkids and being lost 90% of the time.

Click to expand...

Nokia 6/7 Or Moto 6/7 are perfect. Near stock Andriod, decent cameras, decent battery, good compatibility with USA based GSM carriers.

Or maybe a refurbished Pixel 2/XL. The camera is going to be a lot better for the pictures of grandkids. A lot less hassle for a good shot.

Thanks to everyone for their input, I reconsidered my options based on everyones feedback. I am leaning towards a used V30/V30+/Pixel 2. It seems like a lot more phone for the money.

Get the Pixel 2. Better support/upgrades and Stock Android.

Oneplus 5 used from Swappa is in the $200 range and my son and might fit your needs. Pixel has a better camera but also costs a bit more.

Ended up going with a mint condition LG V30+ for $229. Pixel 2 XL in mint was over $100 more. Really pleased with the purchase, thanks to everyone for their ideas.