I have a few hopes here and we are far from rich. I turn 40 this year, so we are hardly senior citizens, but the truth is we have not had a proper cell phone plan in 15+ years. I have used pay-as-you-go plans and have been using my pretty basic Samsung Galaxy Ace for almost two years.
We are looking to move to Consumer Cellular, which has a pretty decent data/text/talk plan for $52 a month(that is for two phones). We are not heavy data users and stream nothing on devices.
Anyway, it says, “To be compatible, your phone should be a Consumer Cellular phone, a phone previously used with AT&T or T-Mobile, or an unlocked GSM phone.”
I’d like a phone that would work with the above requirements and is:
6 inch screen. My Mom’s Huawei is 6.1 inches and while huge, I love it.
32 GB storage. Or 16 GB if it can take an SD card for expansion.*
$125-$199. I know, we are cheapos. I am hoping to find something decent at this price range. I’m OK with refurbished.
Android. I think this is obvious, but I’ll say it.
My mom uses a Huawei MT2L03. I am tempted just to get that, but am wondering if anyone knows of something a little more recent/powerful/better that would be in our price range.
You might take a look at the Moto G plus.
I recently bought the G5s plus, which is the newer version, but it is a bit above your price range. But I bought it on the recommendation of a friend who has the phone in that link. He’s happy with it. They are nice phones.
What do you use your phone for? Texting, calling, on-line apps, playing games while waiting at the doctor’s office?
I got a Moto G4 because I was sick of the Samsung bloatware & the Pixel was backordered. However, the phone interface is particularly sucky as compared to Samsung.
There’s one phone button, then when you go into that, there are sub-buttons for call log, contacts & v-mail, not separate functions like w/ Samsung. Click on the wrong place in a contact & it calls them as opposed to opening it up to see the full contact details (email, alternate #s, physical address, etc).
In short, I do not like the phone portion of this phone.
I see many kids with Galaxies, they must be durable as heck, or possibly cheap to replace. I have seen them for $99 in adds. Not sure about Consumer Cellular, what phone do they offer? Maybe you could do one on a payment plan.
If you don’t mind importing a phone, I’m going to recommend the Maze Alpha - I reviewed it here and I am still using it on a daily basis - the only real problem I have had with it is a general shortage of protective cases for it.
It meets all of your criteria, as well as being a lovely phone that is nearly all screen (and it’s a beautiful screen too - great sharpness, colour and view angle).
They use the name Galaxy for more than one current model. Myself, I don’t use a cell phone often enough to be worth having a contract, so I have a tiny semi-clever Trackphone that I’ve been using for several years, but I use hand-me-down Android phones in Airplane mode for handy portable media devices, and only a week or so ago I was given a Samsung GalaxyJ3 by someone upgrading to a Galaxy S8. (The one I have has Android 7, not 6.) Medium price, and the only thing that I wish I had better on it is the insane 4K video camera from the Galaxy S9.
Good point, it’s the Galaxy S-series that is the flagship. But none of the other Galaxy models sold in the US have a 6" screen, so that would put them out of the running.
The Galaxy Note is pretty close to a 6" screen; if it’s the one I’m thinking of, it’s like talking into a clipboard. To get to the OP’s price range, though, he’d probably have to go back to the Note 4, which I think was a 2014 model. For light use, though, that might be perfectly fine.
(To the OP: The Note 7 was the exploding one – while you might be able to pick one up cheaply, the downside is that it might burn your house down).
It’s 5.5", not 6" – but the Moto E4 Plus is a very good budget smartphone.
I recently switched my mom from Tracfone to a Consumer Cellular flip phone and I can tell you the customer service call to transfer her phone number was a pleasure; competent English speaker who handled it quickly. The call quality is very noticeably better than Tracfone, too.
Yes, I realize communicating w/ your family isn’t going to reveal state secrets, but I bet it’s harder to get repair/replacement parts, like a new screen or battery, if necessary.
No personal experience, but the reviews seem to say that it’s great for that price point, with the downside that it may slow down and start to lag painfully during basic tasks after a while.
Best Buy had one open box in “excellent- like new” condition. I have the full 14 days to return it if it isn’t flaweless. It cost $199 with free shipping(well…sales tax too). $214.
Anyway, I’m gonna take the gamble. I read about the security flaws, which I do realize are significant. Still, I’m gonna risk it and go for it. I won’t do banking on it.
It’s pretty much Texting, Talking(minimal), and a little web surfing/facebook. Some games, none of mine are even online ones.
:shrugs:
I appreciate the advice. I’ll let you all know how it works. Oh, and Consumer Cellular thinks the phone will work fine with them, so nice.
I’m about 4 days into using my Huawei Mate SE and I have to say, it’s a great phone so far.
Despite being open box, it seems quite new. Apparently the Mate SE only came out on March 8 and the battery is not really run down(I kind of figure this one was a display model). It could have, I guess, been found faulty and returned to the store, but it appears to be fully new to me.
A used (or new, older model) will get you more phone for your money.
I have a Samsung Note 5, which came out at least 3 years ago. The size is just what you’re looking for. Memory is not expandable but i got 64 gig and that’s been plenty.
If you’re not tech-savvy an iphone would be a good choice as it’s a more locked down environment.
