Looking for Decent Smartphone Replacement Under $200

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Alexander Suarez

Alexander Suarez

Puritan Board Freshman
Good day all:

I am looking to obtain a decent smartphone to replace a broken iPhone 6s. Budget is up to $200. Any recommendations?

Thank you!
 
I have a galaxy A14 I bought a few months ago when my phone was stolen. I'd recommend it. The battery lasts for days, I drop it routinely and still not a scratch, and the camera is in the range of 50 MP and takes good photos.
The screen is bright and vibrant.
In terms of the processor, it's good enough.
Some models are also 5g compatible.
I paid around $200 for it brand new, no contract.
 
Charles Johnson said:
I have a galaxy A14 I bought a few months ago when my phone was stolen. I'd recommend it. The battery lasts for days, I drop it routinely and still not a scratch, and the camera is in the range of 50 MP and takes good photos.
The screen is bright and vibrant.
In terms of the processor, it's good enough.
Some models are also 5g compatible.
I paid around $200 for it brand new, no contract.
Click to expand...
I have a galaxy A13 5G. Think I paid right around 200 for it. I use straight talk service, and the phone works great for the price. I tend to keep my phones for years, and this ones off to a good start.
 
Alexander Suarez said:
Good day all:

I am looking to obtain a decent smartphone to replace a broken iPhone 6s. Budget is up to $200. Any recommendations?

Thank you!
Click to expand...
If you are wanting to stay with Apple, you can get a second hand 3rd generation SE for about that price. It will have 5g network ability and at least 64gb memory with an iPhone 13 level processor.
 
Edward said:
Why would you blow $200 on an Android when you could spend only $500 or $1000 more for an Apple that will do the same things?
Click to expand...
Reliability. Longer period to receive software updates. Better resale value. Better operating system. Better security. Better customer service.
 
I'm very privacy and security conscious and surprisingly Apple has the best track record in that area. That could of course change but that's been the state of things for a while. I've been impressed with the stand Apple takes on things like disassociating your location in maps from your profile, for privacy.

Android, being heavily integrated into the Google ecosystem, is by default terrible for privacy. So unless you're willing to battle that and/or root your phone and install another OS like GrapheneOS or LineageOS, you're pretty much accepting being part of Google's data collection machine.

For Alex: I bought a couple of used iPhone Xs on eBay for my wife and myself a few years back. They are performing well and will likely last us for a number of years to come. They were in the price range you've noted.
 
Logan said:
I'm very privacy and security conscious and surprisingly Apple has the best track record in that area. That could of course change but that's been the state of things for a while. I've been impressed with the stand Apple takes on things like disassociating your location in maps from your profile, for privacy.
Click to expand...
Right. For all the problems we on the PB would have with Cook, his stands for privacy are much better than other tech leaders.
 
I'd been a long Android fan, mainly for reasons of being able to customize my phone more and more different types of apps. These days, I want a phone without bloatware, that just works, respects my privacy, and in a small size. I use an iPhone SE 2nd generation. I got it for around $400 new, and you can easily get a lightly used SE, even 3rd generation, for your budget if you don't want to shell out $400. I've found Apple commits to keeping their phones updated for much longer than most Android manufacturers, and even with the cheapest iPhone it's not much more than a comparable Android phone, but it has higher build quality. The other problem is that there aren't a lot of great Android-based manufacturers out there now. Motorola when owned by Google had some good high quality cheaper phones, but the quality has gone downhill since being sold to Lenovo. Samsung is very hit or miss at the lower end of the price spectrum. And you'll likely need to replace your phone sooner because of lack of security updates (only reason I had to ditch my last Android phone, which was perfectly fine otherwise).
 
Not being snarky, but in regards to the privacy/security updates from either Android or Apple, has anyone had a direct impact as a result?

Data mining aside, any actual security issues as far as things being compromised?
 
For security, I think both Android and iOS are pretty good in general. Apple stays on top of security updates and supports devices for quite a long time (e.g., iPhone 6s just received a security update, 8 years after initial release).

With Android I think it depends on the individual manufacturer as to how long they support updates. Google announced their commitment to keep software supported for 7 years on the Pixel 8. Samsung says three or four years.

This page seems to have some helpful information for Android security updates, although it looks like most companies have a policy of about two years of patches.
www.androidauthority.com

Here are the phone update policies from every major Android manufacturer

System and security updates for your Android phone are important but what are the phone update policies of the major OEMs?
www.androidauthority.com www.androidauthority.com

I'm not personally acquainted with anyone who has had their phone compromised due to a security flaw, either Android or iOS. I couldn't say whether everyone's devices were up to date or not so not so great as a data point.
 
Last edited:
I'm here to tell you that Android is just as good as, if not better, than Apple.

Now I will proceed to tell you all the ways in which you can spend countless hours of your time configuring your Android device to work just like an Apple device.

Don't listen to those Apple shills. They're just lazy.
 
All joking aside, since iPhones are the predominant smartphone in the US, there is a degree of convenience and predictability that you can't get with Android. With a used iPhone, you generally know what you're getting. The quirks and downsides of an Android phone are widely variable, depending on the manufacturer.

It's my personal opinion that Google's Pixel is one of the best, if not the best, Android phones out there. But it's nowhere near your price range and you can't as readily find bargain-bin discounts on a used Pixel 6 or 7 (I probably wouldn't recommend anything before that anyway). And while you can find all kinds of ways to stick your thumb in the eye of Google (I haven't resorted to alternate OSes but I do have a separate Google account just for my Pixel), the fact is that you do have to work to get some of the same functionality that comes ready-made built into an iPhone.

My wife is not as much of a techie and I've steered her toward iPhones when she's talked about switching to Android. We shop for deals on lightly-used or refurbished phones - you could check out Amazon Warehouse which sometimes has good deals pop up.
 
I’ve used Apple products for about 7-8 years now, first an iPhone 6s and now the XR. I’ve had zero issues with them. I’d highly recommend their products.
 
Polanus1561 said:
Reliability. Longer period to receive software updates. Better resale value. Better operating system. Better security. Better customer service.
Click to expand...
And better integration with other devices. I switched to Apple computers too a while back. They may cost twice as much, but they last three times longer (all while performing better).
 
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