You won't get the latest SoC, camera tech, and a few other bells and whistles with our great value choices, however, these phones are capable of handling almost everything you can throw at them.
Great Phones For Less Than $500: Affordable Choices, Excellent Value
- Thread starter Humza
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amghwk
Posts: 1,558 +1,548
Unfortunately "phones" nowadays are not just about making calls and sending texts anymore.
Saying that, I am having the Xiaomi Note 10 Pro.
Saying that, I am having the Xiaomi Note 10 Pro.
NumberSix
Posts: 219 +335
The Pixel 5a 5G was only available in the USA and Japan so is a strange inclusion.
Problem with some of these phones is the lack of cellular bands the phones support. Which is why the pixel/samsung/iphone are the best choices here.
What is the point if you are missing a chunk of bands your carrier supports.
What is the point if you are missing a chunk of bands your carrier supports.
hahahanoobs
Posts: 5,226 +3,076
Thanks for this.
Uncle Al
Posts: 10,193 +9,663
You can see all of them plus a few more at Consumer Cellular along with some great prices. No, I'm not a rep for them, just an old retired fart that has to watch his nickels and dimes .....
Nobina
Posts: 4,507 +5,519
Xiaomi 11T Pro should be slightly below $500 but it depends where you live and all that. It has Snapdragon 888, 120Hz AMOLED display, 108 MP decent camera but no headphone jack.
Bluescreendeath
Posts: 397 +620
Nevermind
Last edited:
p51d007
Posts: 3,942 +3,891
I know this is a "global" site, but when you put up a list of phone, how about including
what countries they work in. Some won't work inside the USA, some won't work in other
countries.
what countries they work in. Some won't work inside the USA, some won't work in other
countries.
Thought about this when I saw Xiaomi on the list. I read reviews on Chinese phones on Amazon occasionally. They usually work well, but sometimes not.
I really want to try some attractive models that go cheaper than Samsung or Apple, but knowing I will have this problem always stopped me.
The cost comparison is with the S21 FE, not the mid-range A53. The latter is being discussed for its choice of sluggish SoC.
jamesphones
Posts: 20 +4
thewelshbrummie
Posts: 26 +14
Arguably the key point at the cheap end of the market, which most phones completely miss, even at the midrange part of the market.
I've bought some very cheap phones over the last 10 years that were designed for the UK market and work perfectly there, but even in Europe just flat out don't work. In the US, 3g on AT&T used different frequencies to Optus Australia and O2 UK - not an issue anymore as it's only phones from 10 years ago that lacked US support, and it's academic now that AT&T have dropped the 3g network to repurpose the frequencies. But it's been an ongoing problem for years, keeping the cost down in part by supporting only certain bands, rather than everything that you might need to throw at it. And I'm not convinced that it's a genuine cost saving.
Taking my old Sony XA2, it has support for 2 of 4 LTE 4g bands I need in the US and 3 of 5 for use on Optus. It's part of the reason I've stuck with the Pixel 3a for so long, as it supports basically every 4g network that I could possibly need and it is a factor in what I may get going forward.
It certainly eliminates the Xiaomi phone as an option for anyone in the US, and it makes buying a phone far more difficult unless you're happy to go with an iPhone, which is one of the things that I have to give Apple credit for getting right.
Bluescreendeath
Posts: 397 +620
My bad.
y6Tq2RGXEejb
Posts: 76 +109
"too much of a sacrifice in terms of the outdated, low-res display" - who wrote this?
iPhone 11 has a resolution of 1792x828, and it's the exact same pixel density as the iPhone SE with its slightly smaller 1334x750 display. The 11 also doesn't have a touch ID which to some people is still unacceptable.
The SE should have been in this list.
iPhone 11 has a resolution of 1792x828, and it's the exact same pixel density as the iPhone SE with its slightly smaller 1334x750 display. The 11 also doesn't have a touch ID which to some people is still unacceptable.
The SE should have been in this list.
You're correct on the pixel density part, but then the SE looks and feels outdated when placed alongside the iPhone 11 that has much narrower bezels and a larger, easier to use screen. It's why Apple has had more success with bigger iPhones because a majority of users consider screen estate (and more battery life) a worthy trade-off to pocket-friendliness/compactness.
The iPhone SE would have been an easier recommendation had Apple utilized the modern iPhone 'mini' form-factor for it (much better display-to-body ratio), while retaining the LCD panel to keep the price in check. As for Touch ID, that's a plus for the SE (for some people as you say), but not a big enough reason to swing the verdict in its favor.
Avro Arrow
Posts: 3,721 +4,821
I generally pay $500 for a craptop. I'm not going to pay it for a bloody phone!
I got my Moto-G Power brand-new for under $300 about two years ago and it's still just fine. It would take about a week for the battery to drain if I didn't charge it every day.
I got my Moto-G Power brand-new for under $300 about two years ago and it's still just fine. It would take about a week for the battery to drain if I didn't charge it every day.
trgz
Posts: 478 +241
Bought a second hand Motorola G5S - near mint and handles everything I need and was <£45. I simply can't see the need to pay out on a comparatively useless cheap new phone (1 GB RAM can't cut it) or splash out on something new with a decent amount of memory that can actually run stuff - and as a bloke who doesn't carry a bag/wear a jacket in summer, most new phones are simply too big to be convenient (or use with one hand - and I have long fingers).
passingposeidon
Posts: 86 +101
Why is that unfortunate?
anastrophe
Posts: 77 +39
What's "strange" about it? The US is the third most populous country on earth, and a massively lucrative market. Nothing strange about that.
anastrophe
Posts: 77 +39
I'll never purchase a 'google phone' again, after what they did to the thousands/tens of thousands of Pixel 3XL owners whose devices bricked without warning last year.
What did they do? In a word, nothing. They ignored them. Refused to provide any compensation, remediation, nothing. Plus, it was definitely a software problem that could have been fixed - I can confirm that, as after learning of the problem, I immediately installed LineageOS, and more than a year later, it's still running just fine (as my backup phone).
Google is way too hostile to customers after the sale.
What did they do? In a word, nothing. They ignored them. Refused to provide any compensation, remediation, nothing. Plus, it was definitely a software problem that could have been fixed - I can confirm that, as after learning of the problem, I immediately installed LineageOS, and more than a year later, it's still running just fine (as my backup phone).
Google is way too hostile to customers after the sale.
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