Economical (Not Cheap) Replacement Android Phone Help

[ShokWaveRider]

DW has an older Apple 5s phone that needs to be retired due to it's incompatibility with T-Mobile's new 5G network. 3G is being retired in July 2022. We are grandfathered into our $60 for 2 lines all in 55+ T-mobile plan and are very happy with it.

We are not an Apple house, this is our last Apple device and want to upgrade her to an economical 5g compatible Android Phone.

I know a lot of folks here have talked about reasonably priced Android phones and would like some recommendations to review.

She uses here phone for Facebook, Pintrest, YouTube and making phone calls, that is it. She has never used it for email because Apple's email never deleted items from our server, and it was so inconvenient, so she did not use it. She would like to use email on the new Android phone. I have been using it on my now dated Samsung S7 for years. I have no reason to upgrade..... yet. I do not use or need 5G.

We would like it to have wireless charging too.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

 

[brett]

Take a look at pcmag.com reviews of cell phones by price group. This is what we did.

 

[SeanPizzle]

How much money do you want to spend? You can get one to two generation older devices remanufactured for less than half price of latest tech. 300 will get you a decent phone from LG or Samsung.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

How much money do you want to spend? You can get one to two generation older devices remanufactured for less than half price of latest tech. 300 will get you a decent phone from LG or Samsung.

Around $350 would prefer new. The Samsung A32 5G seems OK, but lacks wireless charging without an external adapter.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I've seen some positive comments about the One Plus Nord N200 5G. Around $200 and on the T-Mobile website

https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone/oneplus-nord-n200-5g?sku=610214669179

 

[MichaelB]

Thread moved to technology forum

 

[aja8888]

Have a look at the Motorola One 5G Ace for $329.00. I'm all Android and have used these Motorola phones for years and they are great.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/...49c8-60e6-40f0-b3c6-0fe6053070bb&ref_=ast_bln

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Have a look at the Motorola One 5G Ace for $329.00. I'm all Android and have used these Motorola phones for years and they are great.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/...49c8-60e6-40f0-b3c6-0fe6053070bb&ref_=ast_bln

+1 on the Motorola (although technically now Lenovo) phones. DW and I have had nothing but Moto phones for the last 5 years of so and they work well. My favorite part is that they don't come with much bloatware.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Have a look at the Motorola One 5G Ace for $329.00. I'm all Android and have used these Motorola phones for years and they are great.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/...49c8-60e6-40f0-b3c6-0fe6053070bb&ref_=ast_bln

Thanks, will check it out.

 

[ivinsfan]

I would absolutely check with T Mobile before you spend money. Had a similar problem with our business phone plan and Verizon offer several heavily discounted phones one was free...keep saying you are making my DW's phone obsolete.



I would call if you can get a real person. Be sure sure to say you intend to keep the plan you have now and won't upgrade your plan.

 

[RE2Boys]

I just upgraded to a $#450 Google Pixel 5a for the same reason your wife needs to upgrade, my old OnePlus 3T was incompatible with the loss of 3G by Cricket. Nice part of Pixel, you get the operating system updates direct from google, you don't need to wait on a third party manufacturer. We had to change our Cricket plan as we were grandfathered into a non-existent plan that didn't include 5G. New plan is same price as old, we have four phones at $25 each unlimited.

 

[Qs Laptop]

[edit: I see you are on T-Mobile]

If you absolutely need wireless charging I would recommend the Pixel 5. They are still available on Amazon, though they are refurbished or used. $319.95.

You will get Android OS updates through Android 14. The selling point of Pixels is the camera--best in Android, Google software, with monthly security updates, and the complete integration with Google features like Android Auto, Google Assistant, etc. Plus you get Call Screening for spam phone calls. Pixel 5 comes with a massive battery so you should get 2 days between charges. Wireless charging. Rear fingerprint sensor.

https://www.amazon.com/Google-Pixel...-B08H8Y7W47/dp/B08H8Y7W47/ref=dp_ob_title_wld

https://www.amazon.com/Google-Pixel-Resistant-Smartphone-Ultrawide/dp/B08H8X23ZB


If you can make do without wireless charging I would recommend an unlocked Pixel 5a, $449 from the Google Store. This is the phone I have and it was released last August. You will get OS upgrades through August 2024, which means you'll get Android 14. Battery lasts longer than the Pixel 5. Same excellent camera and all the Google software advantages.
https://store.google.com/us/product/pixel_5a_5g?hl=en-US


The other phones mentioned, the Samsung A32 and the Moto One do not have wireless charging. The A32 does not have a high-resolution screen, odd for a Samsung. The Moto comes with Android 10 and Moto's are notoriously slow to get upgrades. For example the Moto Ace released in Jan 2021 is supposed to get Android 12 next month.

Here is a great resource for comparing phones:

https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=10671&idPhone2=11059&idPhone3=10648

You can compare up to 3 phones at a time.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Would like to add that I have had phones with wireless charging and those without it. With my previous two phones, the Pixel 2XL and now the Pixel 5a, the battery easily lasted through one day and I typically charge my 5a every other morning. (And I'm a fairly heavy user of my phones.)

Undoubtedly the selling point of wireless charging is you simply drop it on the charger and it charges. However, wireless charging is inefficient--takes a lot longer to charge your phone vs. wired charging. With the big batteries in the Pixel and relatively quick charging you only need to charge every other day for maybe an hour or so. Also, the connector is a type-C USB so the charger wire can be inserted easily, that is, there is no up or down orientation to the connector.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

MY USB-C charger that came with my G7 charges my Motorola in about 20 minutes, it's really fast.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

Have a look at the Motorola One 5G Ace for $329.00. I'm all Android and have used these Motorola phones for years and they are great.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/...49c8-60e6-40f0-b3c6-0fe6053070bb&ref_=ast_bln

+1

My wife just bought this phone in December and is very happy with it.

We also have the 55+ plan.

Tip #1 - the same phone is also sold on the T-Mobile site and was actually cheaper there when we were shopping (I was surprised since amazon was showing a "deal" price). We didn't have to change our existing plan or anything. We paid about $270 plus tax.

Tip #2 - it might be a little more tedious, but if you buy it online at T-Mobile they do provide a Simm card. We didn't try to use the old card since they recommend using the new card if upgrading to 5g. Supposedly, if you go to a store they try to charge a fee to help you activate it (IIRC, about $20). If you can't activate yourself online, you can call them to finish it (no charge).

I don't know if you're going to be able to get wireless charging at your price point. I did insist the new phone had to be 5g.

 

[PointBreeze]

Around $350 would prefer new. The Samsung A32 5G seems OK, but lacks wireless charging without an external adapter.

Last fall we moved from Verizon to T-Mobile (to take advantage of the 2 unlimited data lines for $70 for those over 50) and they gave us each a Galaxy A32 for free. I have been surprisingly happy with it. Only issue is each phone has once in the past 4 months for no apparent reason lost it’s connection to the network. Restarting the phone fixed that. The problem is we didn’t notice it for hours and missed calls and texts and worried some people.

 

[momoftwo]

We dropped expensive Verizon plans and Verizon locked phones after many years.

Love our TMobile 2 lines over 55 plan for $70 month, unlimited everything.
We both had Samsung S8 phones for several years and we're very satisfied.
My battery began to fail.

Didn't want to spend for flagship Samsung replacement.
Decided to get this Motorola unlocked from Amazon:
Moto G Power | 2021 | 3-Day battery | Unlocked | Made for US by Motorola | 4/64GB | 48MP Camera | Gray https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08NWBY...t_i_BPWDFHHV4HRF36YH55X0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Battery lasts 2 days heavy use. NOT wireless charging though.
Selling new for $199.

 

[aja8888]

We dropped expensive Verizon plans and Verizon locked phones after many years.

Love our TMobile 2 lines over 55 plan for $70 month, unlimited everything.
We both had Samsung S8 phones for several years and we're very satisfied.
My battery began to fail.

Didn't want to spend for flagship Samsung replacement.
Decided to get this Motorola unlocked from Amazon:
Moto G Power | 2021 | 3-Day battery | Unlocked | Made for US by Motorola | 4/64GB | 48MP Camera | Gray https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08NWBY...t_i_BPWDFHHV4HRF36YH55X0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Battery lasts 2 days heavy use. NOT wireless charging though.
Selling new for $199.

Moto G Power is my current phone. I am a fairly light user and the battery easily lasts three full days.

 

[Montecfo]

Will echo that Pixels are feature rich and a good near flagship type value.

Very happy with our 3a and 4a.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Will echo that Pixels are feature rich and a good near flagship type value.

Very happy with our 3a and 4a.

Yep. The integration with Google software and the monthly updates and patches is incredible.

Here's a picture I took of my neighbor's ice skating rink. This was shot with the Pixel 5a camera in Night Mode. I'm certain none of the other non-Pixel phones mentioned in this thread could have taken this shot. Pixel cameras are also great for getting blur-free action shots of kids or pets running around.

 

[brett]

I typically by one generation old technology. For cell phones this probably means a one or two year old model.

Purchased my unlocked Moto E4 in 2017. Still using it. Light/moderate user of phone only.

Plan to upgrade later in the year. Looking at oneplus Nord N10 5G or perhaps Galaxy A32 5G,or a Motorola product. By the time I buy these will be older tech.