Not looking for me personally, so leaving the specs/features open, and generally interested in what people might recommend.
Imo there’s almost always some surprising budget phones floating around to learn about. Only condition I might add is that preferably they’re from 2022-2023, and if not, mention their release year to help know its version/update situation.
If you mean budget=cheap, that’s not cheap. Cheap is <$100. The range $200-$400 should get you advanced models; almost flagship. Samsung will have a lot in that range, for example.
I agree that cheap would be <$100, but when it comes to smartphones I was thinking in terms of something that would be considered more performant, and that that might have you looking more at options over $100. I may be whiffing on some decent cheaper models though, so feel free to mention them!
Budget in the title was for the range mentioned, but not meant to exclude anything cheap or cheaper, by any means.
This has always helped me: gsmarena.com Advanced Search (mobile)
I got a used pixel 4a for $160 last year. I don’t really care about being on the latest android version, and security updates will keep coming for a few years at least
Poco F3 is 300 dollars at most(often goes for even lower) has a 120 hz screen and supports many custom roms includin /e/OS (the one I am using) has a snapdragon 870 meaning this bad boy will emulate most anything even some switch games.
https://fi.google.com/about/phones/pixel-8-pro?pli=1
$700 back when you join Fi with Unlimited Plus
or
$500 back when you join Fi.
Retail price: $999
Poco F5. Great 120hz oled hdr 10+ screen, insane soc for the money(snapdragon 7+ gen 2), amazing fingerprint sensor on the power button instead of those shitty underscreen ones. And yes, even samsung s23 underscreen one is shitty in comparison, both in terms of speed and precision.
I dont understand why so many android phones force an objectively inferior experience on their users with those underscreen fingerprint sensors. And it isnt a small thing, it is something that you use dozens of times per day.
If you really care about photographs, then get a pixel. But i dont, i care about performance, so poco phones always offer best value for money(and the f5 actually has decent cameras too).
Alternatively, during Black Friday, you could buy really cheap oneplus 10t or 9 and 9pro(for around 350-450€). Also old sony flagships can be sometimes found at a significant discount.
