$300 phone options

M

maxius

2[H]4U
Joined
Dec 17, 2001
Messages
3,376
So in the data center yesterday my beloved moto g4 plus fell face down and the lcd is toast.

I see this as a sign to upgrade what are my options?
 
The Moto G5, perhaps? Maybe a used OnePlus 3? And get a case, man, a case on that Moto G4 would more than likely have provided a few millimeters of corner protection and saved it. If you had a case on it and it still died well, can't help there, but protecting such devices nowadays, it's just got to be done unless you love throwing money away.

https://www.motorola.com/we/products/moto-g
 
Cases are mandatory :D. I did have a tempered glass screen protector on it that broke last time i was butterfingers. Ordered a new one and it kept vanishing from my porch due a thief. If you have anything delivered to your house make sure you opt into text notifications
 
Last edited:
Apartment dweller here, deliveries end up going to our apartment office on the ground floor because the delivery folk are lazy and don't do their damned jobs meaning they don't deliver to MY door for MY signature so, believe me I've let all the major shipping services in the US know I'm not a happy camper about that shit. :D

There's always a used Galaxy S4/S5/S6 Active option too for $300 or less, big fan of those devices, something to consider I suppose. LG is introducing a rugged Active-like device sometime this year as well but that'll be far from the $300 price point I'm sure.

If you truly TRULY want a rock solid device then go find a Droid Turbo 2, seriously. I owned one, tested out the claim of the shatterproof screen many times by throwing it - [H]ARD - against brick walls just to shock and impress people, in 3 months of owning one and tossing it into said walls a dozen plus times, no damage to the composite layered plastic OLED display panel at all but some light scratches on the top layer (which is replaceable).

It is by far the most singularly awesomely rugged device I've ever owned, kinda miss having it actually. If I can find a great price on one I'll probably get another someday, it's not much for modding or customization because it's pretty locked down (there is a bootloader unlockable version called the Moto X Force available outside the US) but even so it is a truly wicked piece of tough fucking hardware for sure.

For all the other "rugged" devices you can take a Droid Turbo 2 and smash them into small pieces and the DT2 will just laugh and keep going. :D

And yes, you can find the DT2 for under $300, well under sometimes, and it does have a microSD slot for storage expansion as well, definitely worth looking into it if you need a solid stable device that can handle drops without any issues (or even a case but of course that just keeps it pretty).
 
G5 plus for $250-300. Hell, I put it towards the high end right now, the bang for the buck on that phone is incredible.

Also: used Galaxy S7, OnePlus 3T, HTC 10.
 
entropism said:
G5 plus for $250-300. Hell, I put it towards the high end right now, the bang for the buck on that phone is incredible.

Also: used Galaxy S7, OnePlus 3T, HTC 10.
Click to expand...

was really looking at the moto z2 play right now they gimped it vwz only...
 
You can get it unlocked off the Moto Website later this summer. Verizon version SHOULD work perfectly fine on T-Mobile, but verify on a dedicated Z2 Play forum/subreddit before you buy.
 
You can purchase an unlocked brand new 32 GB Moto G5 Plus from Best Buy for $229.95, or the 64GB for $299.99. You will have manufacturer's warranty and Android 7. I bought the 64GB version for my girlfriend and purchased the Best Buy accident protection insurance. Then I put it in a Spigen Rugged Armor case which looks gorgeous, and she loves it.
 
Last edited:
maxius said:
was really looking at the moto z2 play right now they gimped it vwz only...
Click to expand...

The unlocked Z2 Play will be out in a few weeks supposedly. My wife has the Z Play on T-Mobile and it's been a great phone for her; much better than the Note 5 it replaced in every aspect besides camera (which is still adequate), including performance despite its specs. The Z2 Play only took a 15% hit in battery capacity from the previous Z Play, but that will only be the difference between 8.5 vs 10 hours Screen on Time that my wife's Z Play gets consistently. That should still be way better than 98% of other phones out there, plus you can put a relatively slim battery mod on there if you need an extra day off juice.

But it seems that phone is it off your price range anyways. The G5 Plus or a used 3T would be my pic.

I have a 6P that I still use and love, but I wouldn't buy one unless you want the battery has been replaced in it due to the mass battery defect that had plagued it (causing them to shut down with up to 50% reported left). I just replaced the battery on my 6P to fix it and it's as good as new again in that respect (4-5 hours of SoT again).
 
Why is it that folks seem to automatically jump to a conclusion like the one made above about battery capacity and battery life, automagically? Just because the previous generation had a slightly higher capacity battery than the new model does not mean an automatic reduction in overall run time per charge. Newer SoCs come out all the time, they are almost always better than the previous generation in terms of battery usage, power efficiency, and performance not to mention that other aspects of the overall hardware improve in terms of power efficiency as well and the mobile OS itself gains improvements to stretch battery life too.

And don't forget just because LCD technology has been around for oh, 40+ years now, that doesn't mean it's still not improving in terms of power efficiency for the panels as well as having LED backlit ones as well which also improve in terms of that battery sipping efficiency.

I would bet you money (not much, being retired and not independently wealthy does have limits) that the newer model of the Moto Z Play will last longer on a charge than the previous generation did if you could compare a brand new model of each fresh from the boxes and on their first charges, and the newer model would consistently get better battery life per charge as time passed.

Anyway, not meaning to rag or rant but that always gets me when people do that, seems like maybe folks should get one of these and make use of it. :D

 
Any Samsung Galaxy from S5 up is good, even a used one. My bf has S6 and loves it. I have another type: A5, it's been over 2 years now and it still works like new. You could get used one for less than $300 for sure. It's definitely worth it.
 
The Galaxy S6 series devices are awesome mainly for one reason: they didn't come with Snapdragon SoCs which only happened for that one series, they use Samsung's own Exynos SoCs which gets slightly better battery life and definitely better performance overall. The downside of course was they got rid of the microSD expansion capability so if that matters then perhaps they're best avoided but they did have the 128GB option available (and you pay for it, definitely).
 
Tiberian said:
Why is it that folks seem to automatically jump to a conclusion like the one made above about battery capacity and battery life, automagically? Just because the previous generation had a slightly higher capacity battery than the new model does not mean an automatic reduction in overall run time per charge. Newer SoCs come out all the time, they are almost always better than the previous generation in terms of battery usage, power efficiency, and performance not to mention that other aspects of the overall hardware improve in terms of power efficiency as well and the mobile OS itself gains improvements to stretch battery life too.

And don't forget just because LCD technology has been around for oh, 40+ years now, that doesn't mean it's still not improving in terms of power efficiency for the panels as well as having LED backlit ones as well which also improve in terms of that battery sipping efficiency.

I would bet you money (not much, being retired and not independently wealthy does have limits) that the newer model of the Moto Z Play will last longer on a charge than the previous generation did if you could compare a brand new model of each fresh from the boxes and on their first charges, and the newer model would consistently get better battery life per charge as time passed.

Anyway, not meaning to rag or rant but that always gets me when people do that, seems like maybe folks should get one of these and make use of it. :D

Click to expand...


In most cases I definitely agree and say the same thing to people who only look at battery capacity and nothing else. But in the case of the new Z2 Play, it went from the SD 625 in it's predecessor to the SD 626, which is the exact same SoC and die size (14nm I think) with a 200 MHz Max clock bump. They both have 1080p AMOLED displays as well and doubt they're much different, if at all.

I would still take the newer Z2 Play over the original though for the extra GB of RAM and longer software support since it's the newer device. I'm happy with the battery on my 6P most of the time, so I personally don't care about the minor hit in battery capacity.
 
Last edited:
I really wish makers would stop using what seems like glass everywhere and digitizer combo that means if it breaks you have to buy the complete front instead of just the glass that broke.

Teh makers should also be required to have available for purchase directly from them at cost the digitizers which 9/10 seem way too damn fragile (even if using most cases all it takes is a bump the wrong way and boom shatter) as well as the battery replacement instead of having to go through scrupulous sources for them.

Love my Moto G4 Play, obviously not high end not by a long shot, but it is fairly durable, perfect screen size/resolution capacity, and terrific battery life. The only down fall I found was from the box, it does not go very loud (I got a volume booster app that made a world of difference) the shuffle is crap (like most phones, always seems to play a few songs over and over out of a list of 1k+) the battery is hard to source even though one its selling points is "easy to change battery so you can have a backup one"

The price is right, as at least to me, if I wanted to play games, I have my PC, most of the apps etc chew through data like mad, for me, just wanted a phone to take notes with, occasionally use map, online search or banking etc, so, a phone with a few extras, so paying some $350+ is excessive for nothing but glitz, wish lived in the states as this $240+tax phone would have been tops $150.

But that is my suggestion for no frills does pretty much everything you expect at a very reasonable price Motorola G4 Play!
 
Well shit tried to fix my phone with a screen + frame + digitizer for $50 well all went well till the battery down ye old pisser it all goes. Just found my old ass phone it will be Prime Day for me
 
Might want to wait for the g5s plus. it's hard to beat either a g5 plus or used one plus 3/t
 
maxius said:
Cases are mandatory :D. I did have a tempered glass screen protector on it that broke last time i was butterfingers. Ordered a new one and it kept vanishing from my porch due a thief. If you have anything delivered to your house make sure you opt into text notifications
Click to expand...

Amazon locker
 
just bought a certified refurb LG v20 from amazon 319 with prime
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top