Which phone under $200?

[UltraTaco]

Hello, I'm buying new phones. Which ones would you recommend under $200? They have to be CDMA capable because I'm on Verizon wireless prepaid.

Phones I have right now are LG Transpyre, and while it gets the job done, it's quite old by now and generally slower than I'd like in some instances. Also ram is probably too low by today's standards even though I'm a slim app user.

All I basically run is Gmail app, calendar, clock, calculator, and Opera, which keeps constantly reloading if I switch between apps. Even when I just switched between tabs.

Anyways, here's pic of what I have: (pretty basic)
View attachment 201575

View attachment 201576

View attachment 201577

I narrowed it down to Samsung j7 (2nd edition) $190 and Asus Zen v live $168.

What I'd like is something a bit quicker than what I have, decent screen and photo capability, don't care for selfies, under $200, cdma capable. Oh, and decent size screen for my mom, she's on my plan, hence 2 phones.

Any ideas?

 

[Maviryk]

Galaxy S7 can be found quite easily under 200.

 

[Janus67]

Look for gently used first gen Google pixel phones on swappa.

 

[UltraTaco]

I forgot to mention, I'm looking for new phone. I'm very weary of buying a used (but thank you)

 

[Janus67]

Keep an eye out on an Essential phone for cheap, I've seen them right around the $200 mark (look on slickdeals)

 

[don256us]

I've bought used phones for some time and have been very happy with them. Right now, the wife and I are stuck on the Nexus 5. The Nexus line changed into the Pixel line and I like them because they are Google made and Google updated. I don't have to rely on a third party for updates on the phone. They are basic with no overlays on the Android OS.

Just a thought.

 

[UltraTaco]

Thank you OCFmen. I appreciate.

 

[Alaric]

Here's one. https://www.overclockers.com/forums...CE-DROID-EDITION-w-Incipio-Offgrid-Power-Pack

 

[UltraTaco]

Thank you bruh Sir. I feel obligated to share news.
View attachment 201633
View attachment 201634

second phone is J7 2nd gen. Unfortunately it rang, so it had to be absent for photo shoot. She's just as beautiful.

 

[don256us]

I see. I came late to the party. Very nicely bought sir.

 

[Blaylock]

I think Mike should have bought a used

 

[UltraTaco]

 

[utopia]

Many smartphones these days are really good despite being under $200. Huawei is pretty good.

 

[UltraTaco]

Yes thank you, unfortunately they don't make CDMA model, which is a bummer, a lot of great phones come in GSM, which I can't use.

 

[dfonda]

I've bought used phones for some time and have been very happy with them. Right now, the wife and I are stuck on the Nexus 5. The Nexus line changed into the Pixel line and I like them because they are Google made and Google updated. I don't have to rely on a third party for updates on the phone. They are basic with no overlays on the Android OS.

Just a thought.

Don if you want to upgrade to a nice used Nexus 6, I have an N4, N5 and N6 just sitting in a drawer your welcome to it. Just shipping if your interested...All are Unlocked. Bought from Google so they are GSM...I don't remember if the N6's all had CDMA radio's or not.

 

[UltraTaco]

Well, it's time do do a little update on the phones.

That Asus is not in my service anymore. Last Saturday, I was at an event and most of that time, all my service was gone. No 4g and no calling. No service. Then everything was fine. Then 2 days ago, I woke up to no service, few restarts and it started working again. Then an hour later, no service, but restarts didn't help. I got a hold of Verizon tech support and we tried everything for about an hour, but service kept dropping in and out. We came to conclusion that phone needs to get rma.

I contacted Asus, but they wanted $15 to pay for shipping and so they can have a look at it. Also, contacted Verizon store, but they don't want to do anything. I checked online and it seems like an ongoing problem with this phone. It keeps dropping network.

https://community.verizonwireless.com/thread/940840. <--there are about 18 pages of people having problems and no one seems to have a fix. On page 3, I think someone got a logical explanation from some tech guy. The phone is 4G only, so when network is weak, instead of dropping to 3g or 2g, it just shuts service down completely.

So I just talked to a Verizon tech guy that had the best explanation for this problem that I have heard and it makes sense. He said he has a Zenfone (not the V but a different one) and he said that he has problems with the signal dropping off intermittently because it is a 4G only device. He checked the Zenfone V, which is what I have, and said that it is a 4G only phone as well. I verified this by looking at the specs on Asus' website (Verizon doesn't show this on their site). So if your phone can't get the 4G signal for whatever reason, then you have no signal at all, as opposed to other phone brands where you can get 3G and 2G service. So the explanation makes sense, but why they would make phones that are only 4G doesn't make sense.



He said the only options to fix the problem are to get a signal booster (which Verizon can't provide to you) to connect to your phone or to go to the store where you got the phone and ask for a different phone. Since no one in the store told me that this phone is a 4G only phone and could have this problem, I'll be insisting on a free exchange for a phone of a different brand. Good luck to anyone else who has the Zenfone V because I'm guessing most people aren't told about this problem.

So there we have it. I went to the store and had to buy a different phone. Samsung J7 2nd gen. Reason I went for this phone as replacement, my momma has this phone and didn't have any issues with service and phone itself is pretty decent. Also $169 now instead of 190.

Other than the random network drops, phone was great, camera is good, front facing has live enhancements features of anyone's into that kind of stuff, weather is integrated and shows clouds, rain or sun animations on lock screen, very neat! Phone is fairly light and got good looking aluminum casing. Well, it's a 168 dollar phone! If it wasn't for the network drops, I'd be still using it, but since I need it for work, I can't have this issue. Has wifi calling too, although I haven't tried it and I don't have wifi at home.

 

[Niku-Sama]

oh damn i am late to this party, i was going to suggest a LG V20.

put that J7 through its paces the first few weeks and make sure it can handle the things you want to do with it.
we use its little brother at work (j3) and i've had several just crap out for no real reason. but that also might come from buying dozens at a time too

 

[UltraTaco]

I've been on basic phone for a long time! We have another member around here who still uses one too

 

[DaveB]

Finally replaced my 6-year old Nokia Windows phone. Still works fine, but I wanted to go back to Android since some apps come in handy. Not paying stupid high prices for new, so I picked up an LG G6 with wireless charger on ebay for $88 shipped. Works great, added a 64GB Sandisk SD card with all my music on it for another $12. Got it cheap due to the "USB port Moisture" issue so the USB port is useless for charging, but the wireless charger takes care of that. It never got wet, but LGs has had a known fault with it and, as is normal for LG, they didn't acknowledge or do anything about it. Got it on a cheap TracFone plan since it's usually off and mostly used for summers at the beach house.

 

[Alaric]

I've been on basic phone for a long time! We have another member around here who still uses one too

I know that guy!