What is the best $200 smart phone I can get?

[Bunlee]

agree with the zenfone 2..

 

[soccerballtux]

I haven't seen the brand new G2 listings we saw 6x on slickdeals in forever. It's off my list of phones I recommend. Now the Zenfone 2 is the best deal to get.

 

[soccerballtux]

LG G2 is a very nice phone if you don't need the micro-sd slot. I used it for a few days and the phone is still very fast and has awesome battery life for a phone that came out 2 years ago. The bezel is very small for its screen size. I was tempted to sell my Oneplus One get a G2 instead because of its size.

If you can get one in the $150 range, i think it's a no brainer.

But if you're interested in the $200 Zenphone 2, there is currently a $25 off $200 promotion at Newegg with Visa checkout. Just get a filler item and $175ish for a zp2 is pretty good.

http://promotions.newegg.com/bts201..._mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=

wow, you can't beat this

 

[RossMAN]

I haven't seen the brand new G2 listings we saw 6x on slickdeals in forever. It's off my list of phones I recommend. Now the Zenfone 2 is the best deal to get.

 

[soccerballtux]

with no 5.1.1 Lollipop and definitely no Android M, it's definitely getting a bit old. Additionally it has a multi-tap detection issue where sometimes it just averages the two taps. Bug in LG bloatware AFAICT.

 

[Charmonium]

Does anyone know of a site that rates reception on cell phones - since that is a major concern for me with using an off-brand carrier like MetroPCS.

Phonescoop is great as far as it goes but I need to find a place that does in depth reviews.

 

[soccerballtux]

Does anyone know of a site that rates reception on cell phones - since that is a major concern for me with using an off-brand carrier like MetroPCS.

Phonescoop is great as far as it goes but I need to find a place that does in depth reviews.

MetroPCS is T-Mobile MVNO now, FYI.

 

[paperwastage]

Does anyone know of a site that rates reception on cell phones - since that is a major concern for me with using an off-brand carrier like MetroPCS.

Phonescoop is great as far as it goes but I need to find a place that does in depth reviews.

MetroPCS is T-Mobile MVNO now, FYI.

With t-mobile(/MetroPCS), if you're in a market with band 12 LTE, you'll want to get a band 12 phone with VoLTE (better coverage/signal indoors)

http://www.spectrumgateway.com/t-mobile-700a-spectrum

T-mobile's turning on band 12 in NYC bronx, going to spread out to other boroughs

 

[luv2liv]

just got the asus zenfone 2 as a gift! cant believe how awesome a $200 phone can be. wow
slim phone with dual SIM slot, sd slot and even has wireless charging!! too bad its not waterproof though.

off topic. my metropcs sim card does not work in this phone. i also tried the sim on the s6 and that doesnt work. ouch

 

[soccerballtux]

just got the asus zenfone 2 as a gift! cant believe how awesome a $200 phone can be. wow
slim phone with dual SIM slot, sd slot and even has wireless charging!! too bad its not waterproof though.

off topic. my metropcs sim card does not work in this phone. i also tried the sim on the s6 and that doesnt work. ouch

no reason it won't work. you did something wrong. change APNs

also: it does not have wireless charging

 

[Charmonium]

just got the asus zenfone 2 as a gift! cant believe how awesome a $200 phone can be. wow
slim phone with dual SIM slot, sd slot and even has wireless charging!! too bad its not waterproof though.

off topic. my metropcs sim card does not work in this phone. i also tried the sim on the s6 and that doesnt work. ouch

Yeah, 3FF seems to be the most common format for newer phones. Haven't seen any yet that use 4FF

Full-size SIM (1FF), mini-SIM (2FF), micro-SIM (3FF) and nano-SIM (4FF)

3FF was introduced in 2003, 4FF in 2012.

 

[SAWYER]

Moto G if new

 

[stlc8tr]

Yeah, 3FF seems to be the most common format for newer phones. Haven't seen any yet that use 4FF

All new iPhones use nano-SIMs. As well as most flagships like the Galaxy S6, Nexus 6, and One M9.

 

[luv2liv]

no reason it won't work. you did something wrong. change APNs

also: it does not have wireless charging

my metropcs sim is not working in the asus zenfone. i called metro, they said to use on a phone not purchased from metro, i would have to pay $45 per month. currently im paying only $30 unlimited everything with metro's free phone.

the asus back cover has a loop with 2 metal contacts, typical of the wireless charging module. are you sure asus doesnt have wireless charging? i dont have a wireless charging pad to test

 

[Charmonium]

my metropcs sim is not working in the asus zenfone. i called metro, they said to use on a phone not purchased from metro, i would have to pay $45 per month. currently im paying only $30 unlimited everything with metro's free phone.

the asus back cover has a loop with 2 metal contacts, typical of the wireless charging module. are you sure asus doesnt have wireless charging? i dont have a wireless charging pad to test

Very useful info there - thanks for posting that. I can't stand that sort of bullshit so I'm crossing Metro off my list. I'm guessing that leaves Virgin which sucks (based on my current and former phones' reception) and Cricket - or IOW Cricket.

 

[RossMAN]

Very useful info there - thanks for posting that. I can't stand that sort of bullshit so I'm crossing Metro off my list. I'm guessing that leaves Virgin which sucks (based on my current and former phones' reception) and Cricket - or IOW Cricket.

Tonight my wife removed her Cricket SIM from her Moto G (Cricket) and inserted it into her new Moto G 3rd gen (non-Cricket purchased directly from Motorola.com) and I was concerned it wouldn't work immediately.

Worked just fine, no need to get a new SIM, de-activate, re-activate or contact customer service, it just worked. Call quality and LTE are fantastic.

Cricket = AT&T owned and operated prepaid

http://www.prepaidphonenews.com/2014/05/prepaid-operator-profile-cricket-gsm.html

 

[luv2liv]

ye, just tried a friend's cricket sim into my asus. just works fine. no tricks.
friend said he's paying $35 per month for unlimited everything. i might just do the $25 per month for only unlimited talk n txt, no data. no need for data since wifi hotspot are all over the city.

 

[GoodEnough]

LG G2
Moto Gen3
Zen Phone

Can you rank from best to worst?

 

[Charmonium]

Tonight my wife removed her Cricket SIM from her Moto G (Cricket) and inserted it into her new Moto G 3rd gen (non-Cricket purchased directly from Motorola.com) and I was concerned it wouldn't work immediately.

Worked just fine, no need to get a new SIM, de-activate, re-activate or contact customer service, it just worked. Call quality and LTE are fantastic.

Cricket = AT&T owned and operated prepaid

http://www.prepaidphonenews.com/2014/05/prepaid-operator-profile-cricket-gsm.html

ye, just tried a friend's cricket sim into my asus. just works fine. no tricks.
friend said he's paying $35 per month for unlimited everything. i might just do the $25 per month for only unlimited talk n txt, no data. no need for data since wifi hotspot are all over the city.

Much appreciated gents. I was going to get a Cricket sim for my LG Volt but the Volt doesn't do GSM just CDMA. So I'm going to get an Idol 3 and then get a Cricket SIM. The fact that it seems to be a painless process to just plug their SIMs from one phone to another was main reason I made that decision. I'll report back in a week or so with results.

 

[paperwastage]

LG G2
Moto Gen3
Zen Phone

Can you rank from best to worst?

on what characteristics? overall? price? features/specs on paper?

LG G2 is an older flagship (best during it's heyday), and still capable
Moto g 3rdgen is a latest-gen mid-range phone, basically the budget Nexus
Zen Phone is a latest-gen flagship

For Verizon and Sprint, zenphone and moto g are not valid options.

I would recommend moto g 3rd gen 2GB/zenphone over lg g2.

zenphone vs moto g is a comparison of what you want... higher specs(display resolution, processor/GPU, skin) versus something that's better refined/designed (better battery life, less lag)

 

[martylax]

Moto G, Idol 3,ZTE Axon...

 

[ThisIsChrisKim]

While the specs on a LG G2 are good, they'll lack all the LTE bands covered in the newer phones which will include things like Band 12 (700MHz) for TMobile, for instance.

 

[soccerballtux]

While the specs on a LG G2 are good, they'll lack all the LTE bands covered in the newer phones which will include things like Band 12 (700MHz) for TMobile, for instance.

someone corrected me once and I don't remember, but it has lower B,C bands (Band 17), of which Band 12 has lower A,B,C. The tower can differentiate and still use the B,C carriers.

But it might actually be G2 has upper B,C, and T-Mobile uses the lower A,B,C. I'd have to check.

IOW it should support it


additionally, there are still many areas where channel 51 has not been transitioned or shut off, which is interfering with deployment of T-Mobile's 700mhz in many markets.

 

[GoodEnough]

It's for Verizon.
Looks like MotoX 3gen is the best option.

 

[ThisIsChrisKim]

someone corrected me once and I don't remember, but it has lower B,C bands (Band 17), of which Band 12 has lower A,B,C. The tower can differentiate and still use the B,C carriers.

But it might actually be G2 has upper B,C, and T-Mobile uses the lower A,B,C. I'd have to check.

IOW it should support it


additionally, there are still many areas where channel 51 has not been transitioned or shut off, which is interfering with deployment of T-Mobile's 700mhz in many markets.

Luckily, in a large number of areas, band 12 has been allowed to be deployed. Here's a coverage map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=zYsWXH8QR36Q.k_csKbu63eVk. It gets at probably the biggest metros in the US.

While band 17 does overlap with band 12, the phone's baseband radio software has to have band 12 support built into it for proper hand-off of voice support. TMo requires phones with band 12 to also support VoLTE because band 12 is being used to expand rural coverage where there is no existing footprint. If a phone doesn't support VoLTE in this situation (no legacy coverage), the phone will have data but not voice or messaging.

So TMo actually finds itself in a bit of a unique situation. It's also the reason the Nexus 6 has its own baseband radio compared to all the other variants.