Better Buy: Older flagship smartphones are better than current budget offerings

[Scorpus]

Which of the two would you rather hold?

If you’re in the market for a new phone and don’t have a ton of money to spend, most companies would want you to look at their collection of mid-range and entry-level handsets. But that’s not always the smartest move. If you know where to look, the flagship phones of yesteryear can provide considerably better hardware and value at a price comparable to brand new budget and mid-range phones ($100+ to $350).

More often than not, smartphones that used to retail for $600 at launch can be bought for half that price the year after, and these are exactly the sort of phones that should be on the radar of price-conscious consumers. We often see Apple playing this card with older iPhones -- with great results -- but not so much for Android manufacturers. We believe that's a missed opportunity.

To save yourself the trouble, here are our picks for the seven best older smartphones that provide much better value than mid-range or budget devices at a similar price point. All of these handsets come in at $350 or less, and the cheaper options in particular shouldn’t break the bank.

Read the complete article.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Xiaomi note looks like it's going for $250, pretty good.

 

[phillai]

Just bought two spare phones recently that are similarly priced.
The very capable WileyFox Swift for £150 and the iPhone 5s for £168.
Both are great but for value and build quality, I do prefer the iPhone 5s!

 

[G0DofPaiN]

I'm looking to buy the samsung A5 2016, is any phone with better battery/specs around $350?

 

[Zenodroid]

Just not the samsung galaxy s6, even if rooted. it is a flop phone from samsung, no matter what you do with it :/ that was my worst "flagship" for 2 months, and then I went back to the galaxy alpha.

 

[misor]

As far as my budget smartphone purchases, the only thing that matters most is the OS upgrade path. I bought cherry mobile android one and android one g1 phones because of direct upgrades from google.

sure, there are lots of enticing phones with discounted prices (android 4.4 KitKat?) but the lack of upgrade path to android 6 marshmallow and beyond (or at least android 5 lollipop) make the offerings meh...

 

[bexwhitt]

I will probably stick with the Nexus 5X until it breaks, especially as I paid release price "doh!"

 

[Scorpus]

I'm looking to buy the samsung A5 2016, is any phone with better battery/specs around $350?

Go the G4 or Nexus 5X

 

[SirGCal]

As far as my budget smartphone purchases, the only thing that matters most is the OS upgrade path. I bought cherry mobile android one and android one g1 phones because of direct upgrades from google.

sure, there are lots of enticing phones with discounted prices (android 4.4 KitKat?) but the lack of upgrade path to android 6 marshmallow and beyond (or at least android 5 lollipop) make the offerings meh...

That's when you root the phone anyhow. But still, my old Galaxy S4 still runs just fine. It doesn't have 6, probably won't ever get it natively, but so what. Besides some performance optimization, what does it really change? The newer ones are faster and smoother but it doesn't make the old ones less functional.

 

[Uncle Al]

Well, the optimum word here is "budget". As the population continues to age there are just a lot of people unwilling to shell out $500 plus for the latest and greatest. Considering the cost of the phones and the inflated costs of services, the makers were simply pricing themselves out of the business. For a lot of us simply having a basic wireless phone and keeps names and phone numbers in it is plenty.

 

[VitalyT]

The best value is an old-school non-smartphone, like Nokia 6310i, which you can get for free with just about any phone provider, and it works for 2 weeks on a single charge.

Man, I feel so old now...

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I'm looking to buy the samsung A5 2016, is any phone with better battery/specs around $350?

That's a nice device, I have one courtesy of having wonderful kids but it's definitely not worth $350 in my opinion. It's a high quality, classy looking device but the specs are very anemic. You would be better advised to look at the Nexus or LG devices for that price.

 

[Adhmuz]

As far as my budget smartphone purchases, the only thing that matters most is the OS upgrade path. I bought cherry mobile android one and android one g1 phones because of direct upgrades from google.

sure, there are lots of enticing phones with discounted prices (android 4.4 KitKat?) but the lack of upgrade path to android 6 marshmallow and beyond (or at least android 5 lollipop) make the offerings meh...

Currently using the G3 and it has 6.0, for a phone now over 2 years old that's pretty impressive, sadly I feel it won't be upgraded past this OS version, but at the same time OS upgrades hardly give you anything new these days so it's almost a moot point. The biggest downside to this handset is easily the battery life, everywhere else it performs fantastically, still find the picture it takes to be top notch and the screen was ahead of it's time back in the day.

 

[Tanstar]

As far as my budget smartphone purchases, the only thing that matters most is the OS upgrade path. I bought cherry mobile android one and android one g1 phones because of direct upgrades from google.

sure, there are lots of enticing phones with discounted prices (android 4.4 KitKat?) but the lack of upgrade path to android 6 marshmallow and beyond (or at least android 5 lollipop) make the offerings meh...

My LG G4 already has Android 6.0, go with it if you want 6.

 

[Nobina]

What about Xperia Z1 or Z2?

 

[p51d007]

The best value is an old-school non-smartphone, like Nokia 6310i, which you can get for free with just about any phone provider, and it works for 2 weeks on a single charge.

Man, I feel so old now...

You think YOU feel old? This was my first one
http://www.vintagemobilephones.com/MyImages/Motorola DynaTAC 8000m (29).JPG

 

[p51d007]

Personally, unless you are really into high end graphic intensive games, any good phone with an 80x chip will work just fine. I prefer the budget phones in the first place, because my phone is a tool, not a fashion statement
I've been using a Huawei Mate2 for almost 2 years that has a SD400, 720p screen, 4,050mAH battery. Only thing I wish it had was NFC. Battery lasts 2 days easy, it gets a TON of phone, email, photos, web use during the week and a lot of Pandora on the weekend. Best $299 I've spent in years.
I don't care about flashy, fast, pricey crap that is replaced year after year. I want something that lasts, and this one did. Changed my whole mind about rooting, flashing, benchmarks and all that other garbage. Hey, if you want to spend more than some people pay for a monthly rent/house payment, feel free! Not MY money.

 

[Teko03]

Go the G4 or Nexus 5X

I've been eyeing these 2 devices my self. The minor spec bump of the latest gen flagship devices don't justify paying twice the price. I'm just now having to replace my HTC One M7.

 

[Levi Sterling]

I would also prefer something I can get on boost mobile and something I can root

 

[mcborge]

I got the galaxy s5 just before the s7 came out, it was new and sim free for less than half its original price.

 

[RBBrittain]

You left out the fact that the Moto X Style is known in the U.S. as the Moto X Pure Edition. Its software is not quite as "pure" as a Nexus, but it's sold *only* as an unlocked phone (compatible with all U.S. carriers up to 4G LTE) thru Motorola, Amazon or Best Buy. That, plus aggressive discounting (currently $300 for the base model) and full microSD support -- including adoptable storage in Lollipop (disabled on many phones) -- makes it a very good buy.

 

[Godel]

Good article, hope you do it again next year.

 

[lazer]

I totally agree with the author. I have been buying many tech products, new, but one year old or more, after the manufacturer has come out with the new brand.

The strategy is two fold:
a. after a year or two, it is known which is the best and has no problems.
b. the price drops drastically when the new model comes out.

 

[noc81]

Well, I guess I got a great budget deal when I nabbed my girl and myself a pair of Moto-E 2015 LTE's for $10 apiece. Still can't beat with going with a nexus, or at least a moderately popular device -- it makes a huge difference when third party roms become your only upgrade path..

 

[Ranger1st]

I was in a toss up wit the new NEXUS 6P or the old S6 curve plus... both the same price. but then I realize the hideous amount of bloat ware added by the carrier and Samsung, also at 32gig.. I was not about to get that. So, I tried to utilize this articles thought string.. but sadly corporate idiocy got in the way.. NEXUS 6P it is.