Best Smartphone Value?

**phantom** · 08-03-2017, 11:48 AM

If your eye sight is still good, I think they best thing you can do to save money on phones is to stick to phones with smaller screen. In general, the smaller screens cost less money, and they are less demanding of batteries.

I'm an iPhone user. I think my iPhone SE with its small screen is a pretty good value for an iPhone. But, I'm sure you can get a better value from an Android phone. I just don't know Android phones well enough to suggest one.

**MonkeyMama** · 08-04-2017, 06:14 AM

Originally posted by scfr View Post

Any suggestions? Any thoughts on the Moto G5 Plus?
Thanks.

I remembered to ask my husband last night as I went to bed. I think I remembered wrong and told him a different phone, which he said was the "king of budget phones" and should be just fine. (I don't remember what I said. Moto GS?) Then he told me he was helping his aunt (in another country) buy the G5 plus. He mentioned that it had more storage. That it was a step up from the other phone. So we discussed this phone in particular though I had remembered wrong.

Did you see it was on sale for $250 last night? Amazon. It looks to be $300 today.

I will ask hubby to clarify what the "king of budget phones" was and if there was any other difference besides storage. Tonight. Send me a private message if I forget. (Since he was just researching phones for his aunt, he may have some other ideas).

**MonkeyMama** · 08-04-2017, 07:15 AM

Nevermind, I forgot I have the morning off today, so already discussed with hubby.

He identified the G5 Plus phone for his aunt, who has similar wants/needs/budget.

That is the phone that he said is the king of budget phones. & it seems to be most highly recommended.

You can pay less for the 32GB version, but he recommends 64GB if you want it to run smoother/longer. The 64GB one was on sale yesterday.

My husband also mentioned the Moto G4 Play. This one is regularly on sale at one of our regional electronic stores, for $100. Is what we bought recently for our son and he said would have everything it sounds like you need/want.

The G5 Plus has a better processor and camera, and is newer so would probably last longer. So that is why he recommended for aunt who had slightly bigger budget than teenager. But both phones would be fine.

Edited to add: Fry's Electronics is where we bought the $100 phone (and some other phones in the past). I was surprised to see there is a Fry's in your area.

**msomnipotent** · 08-04-2017, 08:30 AM

My husband and I just bought Samsung S8's. We paid $420 each at Best Buy. I think it is more phone than I need and there are no instructions. My husband really likes his, though. I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't get a deal on it because it is a little too advanced for me. But then I went from an S4 to a Moto G4 to this, so it is a steep learning curve. The screen looks almost 3D compared to my G4 and has good call clarity, but the battery drains shockingly fast. Screen protectors are useless with the curved screen. I haven't had it a week and I'm on my second one already. They don't stay on.

I really hated the G4. Sometimes I wouldn't get text notification or the alarm wouldn't go off, it couldn't handle playing Pokemon Go for some reason, and I couldn't delete just one message from texts. I had to delete the whole thread. And it was oddly large for no reason. I like the size of the S8, but I like the size of my daughter's Iphone 7 even more. Her phone is too confusing for me to use, though. I'm constantly asking her how to do something on her phone and it makes no sense to me.

The Verizon salesman was really pushing the LG G5 because you can change the battery (which is a plus when you play Pokemon or keep your phone for a long time) and the LG G6, which is newer. He said they had the best cameras on the market, but the S8 had better processors. He was also pushing the Google Pixel for ease of use, but I had no interest so I didn't even look at it.

**rennigade** · 08-04-2017, 08:56 AM

One thing you wont hear mentioned for "best smartphone value" is an iphone. Its always going to be an android.

**scfr** · 08-05-2017, 05:17 AM

Thanks everyone for the feedback and for sharing your personal experiences.
Monkeymama, please tell your husband thank you! I know he's a techie and an excellent shopper, so I really value his comments. I wouldn't have considered the 64GB, but now I will.

**creditcardfree** · 08-05-2017, 06:31 AM

Moto 5G Plus we originally bought for our daughter, but Verizon could not get it to activate on their system. Not sure if you are with Verizon. We had to return it to Best Buy and pay their restocking fee. In the end we went with the Moto G4, and she is pleased with it, as is my husband. They both do what they want them to.

**scfr** · 08-06-2017, 06:28 AM

Update: I'm keeping my current phone for the time being. As a result of chat sessions with customer service reps at the phone manufacturer and cell phone provider, growing more frustrated and wanting to bang my head against the wall, I started having some thoughts about how I might be able to improve the functionality of my current phone to meet my needs & wants. DH & I huddled over my phone and changed some settings, I downloaded a new app, and so far so good. We'll see how it goes.

**bjl584** · 08-07-2017, 06:43 AM

I like my Motorola. It is powered by Android.
It does everything that I need or want it to do.

I may be biased, as I've never owned and have no experience with an IPhone.

**iliketosavemoney** · 08-07-2017, 07:16 AM

I purchased this for my parents. It's a budget phone but has decent features.
Latest Android 7.1 Nougat OS, fingerprint sensor, microSD card expandable (and you can format it as part of internal storage).

It's unlocked and has radios for both GSM and CDMA so it will work on any major network (ATT, Verizon, Tmobile, Sprint and their MVNOs)

Its only $99 with ads and $129 without but you have to be a Prime member.

Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/Moto-4th-Generation-Exclusive-Lockscreen/dp/B071YC3G5V/

**Tabs** · 08-15-2017, 04:48 AM

No, you guys didn't hear it wrong. Several tech sites have rated Motorola as the king of basic smartphones. They are a superb value.

Recently, I have a personal friend who asked me for advice on the next phone upgrade. She didn't want anything too fancy, but wanted a solid phone without costing a whole lot, and I too recommended the Moto G5 plus.

I also got my parents a couple of Moto Es, which is their budget line, but they have held up and performed admirably. I myself have owned a Moto X in the past, and based on these collective experiences, they have lived up to the hype with solid build quality and hardly any bloat.

The only disappointment I find is their Z flagship series, where the attachments provide very little value (except maybe the extended batteries) for the flagship cost.

Anyways, just my thoughts on that.

**JoeP** · 08-16-2017, 02:19 PM

I have the Moto G5 Plus and am 99% satisfied with it. I got it for $235.97 after taxes. Very good phone for the money, big screen, lots of great features.

That last 1% is the lack of a natively supported light that blinks when you get a message. My Moto G1 had this, but it has since been removed. I heard that you can root the phone to enable it, but I don't want to do this.

**Captain Save** · 08-29-2017, 09:30 PM

For the needs you mentioned , you can find plenty of "affordable" phones .. the wild card is "taking photos" .. how good do you want your photos to look.. that could drive you to spend a lot of money. The best value would be to go for an unlocked for like the moto G5 , huawei honor series, zte axon mini etc.. an affordable with a top tier camera would be the oneplus but that's approaching $500 unlocked.

**Snicks** · 09-05-2017, 04:16 AM

I have a Samsung Galaxy J7. It's a J7, exactly like the other samsungs and with a nice big screen. It works great. Bought one for DH too. Have had no problems with it.

Best Smartphone Value?