Suggestions for dirt cheap basic smartphone

[RealJimmyJames]

Looking for a cellphone for an older relative of mine. Needs to be able to send texts, have decent reception, and hopefully still useable battery life. Zero surfing planned, although would be decent if it could have a weather app and possibly GPS/navigation.

Open to suggestions as to what to look for used, or if something basic is sold brand new.

Prefer NOT apple.

Then looking for a very cheap monthly plan. Pay as you go maybe? He can use wifi for data most places.

Thoughts?

[Thaco]

if you know someone who has a rogers share everything you can get him added to that for $10/mo, unlimited talk and text, if he wont use data then no worries... i would go with an older samsung maybe an S4, or any of the nexus phones are good quality solid devices as long as they were well taken care of, and can usually be had for a reasonable price of various classifieds sites.

[Thaco]

and there are various launchers some of which are made for accessibility (easy and basic) so not to confuse him.

[revelations]

You didnt mention what mobile provider, but with WIND, I picked up a basic, small, smart phone for 100$ outright.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime with "Easy Mode" enabled. Cheap, decent sized screen, dead simple. $230

The "Moto E" is $150 outright.

The "Moto G" is $230 outright

Used Nexus 5's are under $200.

Quite a few options really, especially if you're willing to go used. Given his incredibly basic usage, pretty much anything is going to work. Best bang for the buck would probably be a used Nexus 5, very fast phone still, very cheap, and he'll still get the latest OS updates right as they come out. They work on any carrier too, so he can shop around the best pay as you go plan to go with it. I think I sold mine for $170 in as-new condition.

[eblend]

I got one of these if you want it, Brand new for $60. Basic Andoid Phone running Kitkat, dual sim to boot. Got it for my sister for Christmas but she was being anal and didn't want to change phones, so it just sitting in the drawer. Unlocked

http://www.gsmarena.com/blu_advance_4_0_l-7265.php


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[RealJimmyJames]

After the kind suggestions to check out BLU phones, I did some digging and we settled on the BLU Advance 5. $80 including shipping from Amazon. Can't beat it that price.
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B018IZ0SWI

» Click image for larger version

So far, the old guy loves it. He basically only uses it for texting, but he reports the text is easy to read, and battery life is good.

[RealJimmyJames]

Shit, that BLU company has a lot of neat stuff. My old Galaxy S3 is shitting the bed, so need to upgrade myself to something that can run the newer versions of android. Have a sweet BYOD plan from telus, so want something I can buy outright. Currently liking the BLU Energy X, price is $179 from Amazon, and has a massive 4000 mAh battery, about twice the reserve of most phones.

Old guy is still very happy with his BLU phone. He even sent a text with an emoji in it!

[D'z Nutz]

Yeah, BLU's got some nice options if you're just looking for a cheap whatever phone. The real selling points are many of them are dual sim, factory unlocked, and cheap. I just sold my BLU Studio C Mini that I was using for my travel phone.

I noticed Staples carries BLU phones too now.

[RealJimmyJames]

Staples is selling the BLU studio 6.0 for $229.83
Same phone on Amazon.ca is $160 or $166 depending on what colour you want. Free shipping with prime too.

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by RealJimmyJames
Staples is selling the BLU studio 6.0 for $229.83
Same phone on Amazon.ca is $160 or $166 depending on what colour you want. Free shipping with prime too.

See if they'll price match haha

Also look at B&H. They sell BLU phones too and depending on what you're looking for sometimes it's still cheaper buying from them even after exchange and brokerage. I just ordered a 32GB Asus Zenfone 2 Laser from them for less than what it would have cost for a 16GB in Canada.

[RealJimmyJames]

Actually, that Studio 6.0 is a pretty old phone, been out for nearly two years now. Better to get a current one like the Blu Energy X 2,
$135 from Amazon.ca, better specs, and bigger battery.
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01BLPQRLS

Still doesn't compare to any of the top level phones from Samsung or anyone like that, but a good looking value.

[suntan]

Costco's got some cheap Android phones too.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Those look pretty cool for $100 phones. I think this is a misprint though haha: "5mp front camera with built in f22 Aperture"

If these things ever get Marshmallow, that 4000 mAh battery is going to last like 4-5 days.

[RealJimmyJames]

Tons of misprints on those postings. Double check everything.

[Vagabond142]

Huawei makes decent cheapy smartphones. My phone is a non-cheap Huawei

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by RealJimmyJames
Tons of misprints on those postings. Double check everything.

Amazon in general (rather the re-sellers) are absolutely brutal for that, especially with electronics. They just throw up whatever seemingly random information they want, or copy/paste from their other, completely different products. It's extremely common and you really need to do your homework before hand.

[RealJimmyJames]

OK guys, tell me, what's a better phone than the BLU Energy X 2 for under $150 with shipping?
Might pull the trigger on this within a few days.

Note, confusingly similar naming to BLU Studio Energy, BLU Energy X, and Blue Energy X Plus.
They apparently make too many damned phones!

[RealJimmyJames]

Well, I went and did it. Blu Energy X 2 arrived today, and I'm setting it up now. Sim card from previous phone went in with no issues, didn't need to call Telus.

so far no issues, but I've only had it powered up for an hour. Just getting my apps set up, but they transferred over from my previous android device pretty well. Battery came about 50% charged, but on a 4000 mAh battery, that's a lot of juice! May report back if anyone is interested.

[swak]

I have a blackberry leap as my work phone and i think outright they're 350 ish.
Decent phone for basic stuff... No real complaints.