this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2023
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I need one for general purposes only, NOT for gaming, so I don't really care about gaming-related features.

I'm going to buy it in Asia, as that's where I live (Vietnam specifically), and would appreciate any advice. ๐Ÿ™‚

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[โ€“] [email protected] 30 points 9 months ago (2 children)

A general rule of thumb is to get a year or two old flagship instead of a budget new one. One can usually find a great deal on something like S21 Ultra or similar.

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

100% - also try and budget to get the battery replaced with this method though, most modern smartphone batteries start showing significant wear after 2 years

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

What's the best way to find actually good flagships of the past? I mean, to learn of which model was good.

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Read reviews in GSMArena.

[โ€“] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I'd personally recommend the second hand market depending on what your budget is.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I've been thinking about it but Amazon here is not an option and other local shops are not very trustworthy. The warranty they give is about 3 months on average, or none at all.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I've bought phones on Lazada in Vietnam and everything went fine. And I've bought phones from some of the bigger chain phone shops here and it's usually a one year warranty.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yes, I've been thinking of going the online shopping path, too.

What phone would you recommend?

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[โ€“] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Motorola has a bunch on Amazon currently. Pick out the one that is most affordable.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

It's been a few years since I've had one, but budget Motorola phones have treated me well in the past.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Which model would you recommend?

And we don't have Amazon here.

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G 2023

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

The last one I bought was a few years back. But it has a big battery. Moto G8 Power Lite if you can find it don't pay too much it's a older model.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

I'm rocking the Moto 5G Ace One and it's been doing me just fine for the last two years.

[โ€“] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago (5 children)

I'd get a generation or two old pixel, can get fully unlocked ones on Amazon for pretty cheap. Just replaced my mother's pixel 2 with a pixel 5 for less than $200

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

What does fully unlocked mean? Can such phones be sold at official retailers? And if not, why would I want it unlocked? Plus, is it easy to do so?

[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Unlocked means it's not tied to a carrier (mobile phone provider).

Not too sure about the rest of the world, but North America has a huge problem with carrier-locked devices. You buy a phone from YourCellProvider, and you're stuck using the phone only with YourCellProvider.

[โ€“] RogueBanana 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Damn america is so good at coming up with the most distopian solutions ever and it sucks that people still allow them to

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

It's more because they'll let you pay for the phone in two years with 0% APR, but you can't just leave, not pay, and use the phone on another provider.

Before it used to be free or heavily discounted, but now it's just a 0% APR credit service.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

What a pain. They finally ended this in Canada at the end of 2017. All phones sold since then have to be sold unlocked. Any phone sold before that time is likely still locked to a carrier, but that carrier must provide the unlock code for free upon request. Feels like they did this one right, and it is great to be able to keep an old flagship device for 5+ years and travel with it or move services around as needed.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

You've had that for 6 years? Holy damn, I'm envious. It's OEM or get fucked over here.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Ah, we don't have anything like that here.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (8 children)

In australia we have it too and really bad. Basically all phones are locked to the former nationalized carrier Telstra.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Agreed. I'm about to update to the new (to me) Google Pixel, probably the 6a. (I think they're on the 8 now?) The battery on my current pixel is not holding up. My last two phones were pixels and probably my next couple will be as well

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

My whole family is on pixels, very reliable phones. My mother's pixel 2 was 6 years old and only failed because the battery began to swell.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I checked GSMarena for the most popular <$200 Android phones with decent specifications.

The top results are:-

  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 (6GB RAM, 128GB HD, Snapdragon 4 Gen 1, 48MP camera)

  • Samsung Galaxy A14 (6GB RAM, 128GB HD, Mediatek MT6769, 50MP camera)

  • Realme C53 (6GB RAM, 128GB HD, Unisoc Tiger T612, 50MP camera)

  • Tecno Spark 10 Pro (8GB RAM, 256GB HD, Mediatek Helio G88, 50MP camera)

Personally I'd go for the Redmi Note 12 because of the better processor.

Edit: Also, here is GSMarena's buyer guide for <โ‚ฌ200 phones:- https://www.gsmarena.com/best_midrange_allrounders_buyers_guide-review-2032.php

[โ€“] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

Redmi Note... Something.

Poco F something.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Depends on how you define good budget.

To me, the Samsung galaxy a phones and the pixel a phones are good. They strike the balance between value and having an actually usable phone.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Any Pixel + graphene os

Poco f5 ,if you dont like miui flash a custom rom

Moto edge 30/20 pros

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

How do you get graphene installed, and why is it good?

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Non-profit, open source and extremely privacy consious. You'll need a rooted Pixel device and you can download/learn about the ROM here: https://grapheneos.org/

I liked GrapheneOS but I didn't like the pixel hardware personally

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Definitely not more than 200usd. Thanks for the advice!

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I would echo what OP said there, I had to get a temporary replacement phone while my main one was getting a screen repair, and I was amazed at how good a Galaxy A was for the price. Think it was about ยฃ120 or so, and it's a great phone.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Which model specifically?

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

As a fellow Vietnamese, I would like to recommend a used Pixel. 6th gen Pixels are pretty cheap right now. Last I checked a used 6 Pro used was around 7m VND. They have flagship hardware and 3 years of updates left. And they're open to custom ROMs unlike Samsung or Xiaomi. Honestly can't beat them for the price.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Cheap pixel a is like 300ish

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Look at the budget Moto G series. Model designations might be different where you are. They start around $110 unlocked in US.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Fairphone 4 maybe? You pay a little extra for the faitrade stuff, but it's still not awfully expensive

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Thanks but it's not sold in Vietnam.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

If you want to install a custom ROM you should check what phones your future ROM supports

I believe for GrapheneOS it's pixel 6

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Realme phones are pretty good for the price. You may need to remove a couple of bloat applications and tune some settings after getting it though.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Get a flagship phone from a generation or two ago, I'm still using my Pixel 5 and I love this phone and they're dirt cheap at the moment, both new and refurbished, because it's 3 generations behind

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Thanks! But what newest features are missing there? Does Pixel 5 have anything useful the newer models don't?

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Well, in my opinion the fingerprint sensor is far superior for one. Other than that it's a little smaller than current generation phones but I think it's a more manageable size than the current generation

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Pixel 5a has back fingerprint sensor and a headphone jack, plus it can run grapheneos

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

I currently use a ZTE Blade V Smart/ZTE 2050, which cost me 150โ‚ฌ, pretty cheap, but still very usable (bought it a few years ago so that exact model isn't worth it anymore, I had generally not absolutely terrible experience with ZTE phones before, tho). I also have a newer phone that I don't use for no reason, a Xiaomi Redmi Note 11, which cost me 200โ‚ฌ.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Samsung Xcover

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

OnePlus is typically a great value.

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