What's the current Android sweet spot for a budget phone?

I dropped and broke the screen on my Pixel 2 tonight. I'm a bit sad. I paid $135 on ebay about a year ago, and it has been pretty great. The charging port got weak in terms of retention. The battery got a bit weaker, but otherwise all was well. I liked the great camera I use it a lot. I never felt that it was slow. I use Consumer Cellular. I think that's the reason that I had relatively high call drop rates.

It looks that buying the replacement screen and swapping it is prohibitively close to the cost of the phone.

What's the current standard replacement for that level of performance without spending anything?

Bump for the day crowd

I'm happy with my Pixel 3a...

I am far from an expert though. 

Yeah, Pixel 3a is generally the go-to in the mid range. Unfortunately they just stopped making it, and the 4a isn't out yet, so we're in a bit of a dead spot. I'm sure you can still find a 3a somewhere, though.

I like th Motorola products.  I have been using a Moto G7 Power.  My wife just did a drop/break of her Moto G6 so I put her in the Moto G(8) Power.  What I like about Moto's Power-series is that they have enormous batteries. At  5,000 mAh battery it is nearly twice as much battery as most phones.  

I will confess though that the camera is only okay.  It meets my needs but if you want a better camera you might drop the Power-series in favor of another Moto offering that will trade off the robust battery for a more robust camera.  

Bought new, off the Moto site, their phone run from $150 to $300.  Also can be bought unlocked from Best Buy, usually in-stock so as to not have to wait for shipping.

What's your definition of cheap?

If you're looking for more of the same, it looks like refurbished pixel 2s are ~$100 on ebay.

I don't have much to compare to, but I have a nokia 6.1 and really like it. I think the first one I bought new for ~$200. The screen eventually went out on it and I didn't feel like trying to fix it so I bought a lightly used one from ebay for $80 that's been going strong for 6+ months. Other than the screen issue they're been great, no performance issues, battery life is good, camera seems at least decent, USB-C and fast charging ability is nice. Looks like they're currently around $200 new and $100 refurbished.

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

I like th Motorola products.  I have been using a Moto G7 Power.  My wife just did a drop/break of her Moto G6 so I put her in the Moto G(8) Power.  What I like about Moto's Power-series is that they have enormous batteries. At  5,000 mAh battery it is nearly twice as much battery as most phones.  

I will confess though that the camera is only okay.  It meets my needs but if you want a better camera you might drop the Power-series in favor of another Moto offering that will trade off the robust battery for a more robust camera.  

Bought new, off the Moto site, their phone run from $150 to $300.  Also can be bought unlocked from Best Buy, usually in-stock so as to not have to wait for shipping.

I have a Moto X4 and I'm not sure I could stomach another Motorola.  But, to be honest, there are a lot of factors involved with all aspects of the phone and its really difficult to determine if the phone itself is the problem or not.  

Motorola's flavor of Android sucks though.

In reply to dps214 :

Around the same price I paid. Another Pixel 2 is in the running. A Pixel 3 may be a bit of a stretch. A Nokia was high on the list when I got the Pixel 2. Has to be something that gets android updates automatically, whatever that's called. A great camera is a must.

I'm in a similar boat.  I've got a Blackberry PRIV I've been limping along well after EOL support, that needs yet another screen, and another battery.  I thought it was finally dead, as it randomly rebooted to the bootloader and locked up for 30 minutes yesterday.  It's had 2x screens and a battery already.  The current iteration is the "best" parts of 3 different phones and a Chinese battery.  If you buy enough broken phones you'll eventually have enough parts to make a complete phone.  That is the GRM way isn't it?

I really, really don't want to lose my physical keyboard.  I've got a Blackberry KeyOne as my work phone, and while it has been more robust than the PRIV, I really don't like the form factor, so the $$$ Key2 doesn't appeal to me either.

I've been looking at the Pixle 3a as a likely candidate if I can get over my QWERTY hang up.

If you don't know about Swappa yet, be sure to check them out too.  I've bought a couple used phones from them with good results.

I'm currently shopping to replace my Pix2.  The Pix3 family looks pretty good.  Can't afford the Pix4.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Does your Pixel 2 still work? 

dps214 said:

What's your definition of cheap?

If you're looking for more of the same, it looks like refurbished pixel 2s are ~$100 on ebay.

I don't have much to compare to, but I have a nokia 6.1 and really like it. I think the first one I bought new for ~$200. The screen eventually went out on it and I didn't feel like trying to fix it so I bought a lightly used one from ebay for $80 that's been going strong for 6+ months. Other than the screen issue they're been great, no performance issues, battery life is good, camera seems at least decent, USB-C and fast charging ability is nice. Looks like they're currently around $200 new and $100 refurbished.

I wouldn't go with a Pixel 2.  My ex-wife needed a new phone and I suggested she get a used Pixel 2 XL.

A firmware update earlier this year borked the cameras on a hugh portion of Pixel 2s

I loved my Pixel XL

Don't forget that the Pixel 2s are getting close to when you won't get Android updates.

IIRC Google only guarantees updates for 2-3 years.

I'm a Nexus/Pixel man but Lil Stampie wanted a Note 8 for Christmas.  Don't tell him but I actually like it and am considering getting one for me next time.  Paid $250 for his used on Ebay.

I got a G8 ThinQ on ebay for $180 to replace a V20 I had for 4 years. I have really liked it so far.

BoxheadTim (Forum Supporter) said:

Don't forget that the Pixel 2s are getting close to when you won't get Android updates.

IIRC Google only guarantees updates for 2-3 years.

They guarantee for "at least 3 years" so I suspect that means my nearly 3 year old Pixel 2 will stop getting them in a few months. 

Which is OK, I was going to upgrade to the Pixel 5 when it's released (depending on price and specs). Or I'll just get a Pixel 4 since hopefully it will drop in price.

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

I like th Motorola products.  I have been using a Moto G7 Power.  My wife just did a drop/break of her Moto G6 so I put her in the Moto G(8) Power.  What I like about Moto's Power-series is that they have enormous batteries. At  5,000 mAh battery it is nearly twice as much battery as most phones.  

I will confess though that the camera is only okay.  It meets my needs but if you want a better camera you might drop the Power-series in favor of another Moto offering that will trade off the robust battery for a more robust camera.  

Bought new, off the Moto site, their phone run from $150 to $300.  Also can be bought unlocked from Best Buy, usually in-stock so as to not have to wait for shipping.

I just replaced a Moto G4 (no updates and no android auto with my headunit) with a G7 when it was on sale recently. Of course I dropped it within 24hrs and already have a new screen but still cheaper than if I bought one today. The G6 is pretty cheap atm and the G series tends to get good reviews for being a better budget phone and has minimal bloatware. 

Another vote for the Nokia 6.1. As long as you're on a GSM carrier, it's great. I got fed up with Samsung's lack of system updates, so Nokia's adherence to Android One (pure Android, no bloatware, updates every month) was a big plus.

I've had good luck with my LG K20V. You can find them on EBay for under $100 usually.

02Pilot said:

Another vote for the Nokia 6.1. As long as you're on a GSM carrier, it's great. I got fed up with Samsung's lack of system updates, so Nokia's adherence to Android One (pure Android, no bloatware, updates every month) was a big plus.

I didn't know Nokia did that.  Any other phones available in the US that do?  I was looking into doing /e/ (eelo) on a Samsung phone.  I used to put Cryogenmod on all my phones.

Looks like Nokias cameras are not up to the Pixel lines. I am thinking the 3 for now seems like the safe bet, because the 3a line actually has less water resistance than my 2 did. 

I want a stock Android or an Android one setup, also. There are not many doing that.

I'm kind of waffling between a second hand Pixel 3a or Nokia 7.2 at the moment.  Leaning Nokia just because it's cheaper.

7.2 has the Matrix Sentinel camera lens thing going for it, more is better right?

02Pilot said:

Another vote for the Nokia 6.1. As long as you're on a GSM carrier, it's great. I got fed up with Samsung's lack of system updates, so Nokia's adherence to Android One (pure Android, no bloatware, updates every month) was a big plus.

Another vote for the Nokia 6.1- I've had mine for 2 years without a misstep even with discord running constantly in the background. The only negative is the camera is somewhat poor.

As for Stampie, I know of no other phone that does that except for maybe that fully-recycled one they came out with a little while ago.

I just had the screen on my Pixel 2 XL replaced. It took the guy 5 minutes working out of the truck of his car, so it can't be too hard. Looks like replacement screens can be had for $15 and instructions are on YouTube.

I've done one on another phone before and they are just glued on. I would have tried DIYing it on the pixel, but I had been paying for insurance for 2 years, so I figured I should use it.

z31maniac said:

BoxheadTim (Forum Supporter) said:

Don't forget that the Pixel 2s are getting close to when you won't get Android updates.

IIRC Google only guarantees updates for 2-3 years.

They guarantee for "at least 3 years" so I suspect that means my nearly 3 year old Pixel 2 will stop getting them in a few months. 
 

October this year is supposedly when they stop getting updates