Need help buying a new GSM based phone! (not spam i promise)

[kickinindian]

Okay so I'm switching from Verizon to cricket (I know about the outages, I mostly use WiFi anyways.)

I'm looking for anything under $200 and I'm debating between a used Galaxy s5 active or normal or getting a new phone like the blu life one x, my wife has one and it seems okay but I want something that I can use for quite a while and be rugged by using a case or being built in. I have an s5 now on Verizon. so i as ask r3v, any ideas of phones i should check out?

[BobombETA]

I just picked up a Sony Xperia Z3 compact. I like it so far. I think it was $300 though, unlocked.

[Das Delfin]

From a repair point of view the iphones are the cheapest and easiest to fix. Pretty much every other phone uses micro USB ports which are inherently weaker than the iphone charge port. If your charge port dies your phone becomes useless. The iphone 5C is the strongest due to its plastic frame. You see fewer bends in the plastic vs the metal frame on the other phones. The 6 is pretty much the same as the 5S except the screen size. You can save some money if you don't mind a smaller screen

[kickinindian]

thats one route i wont go. i dont like iphone OSes. and the fact that everything in the appstore costs money so apple can get their cut.

[bikerbill2021]

I know you said your switching from verizon to cricket, but have you thought about straight talk? They basically "rent" the towers from all the big carriers and then sell the plan under there name if that makes sense. I switched from version myself to straight talk, about 45 bucks a month, 5 gb of data then after that they throttle it (I never hit the limit) unlimited text/calls, and you can bring any phone you want (brought my iphone 5s)

havent had any problems with it, and the nice thing is you can choose which provider you want to use, since Ive had verizon, i stuck with there towers, and it'll show up as verizion on my phone in the corner, pretty neat, and cheap. you can find yourself w/e phone you want and use it with there service

[Wschnitz]

Pick up a Nexus 5 off ebay, cheap and good.

Xperia Z3/Z4

Nexus 6

Those are what I'd look into.

[decay]

thats one route i wont go. i dont like iphone OSes. and the fact that everything in the appstore costs money so apple can get their cut.

no it doesn't... i have dozens of free apps on my iphone.

[Wschnitz]

no it doesn't... i have dozens of free apps on my iphone.

Ok, then how about Apples planned obsolescence with seemingly every device post 2010?

[jpod999]

If you are only interested in Android based phones you should get a OnePlus. It looks like the X is in your price range: https://oneplus.net/x

[Wschnitz]

If you are only interested in Android based phones you should get a OnePlus. It looks like the X is in your price range: https://oneplus.net/x

Also agree with this, OnePlus makes pretty decent devices for the money.

[kickinindian]

I really like the oneplus one but the 16gb model is out of stock :(

[jpod999]

I really like the oneplus one but the 16gb model is out of stock :(

Buy the OnePlus X and then get a MicroSD card: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...ywords=microsd

[kickinindian]

The oneX does not have the higher lte bands 12,17 I mostly use WiFi but it just seems dumb to buy a phone that can't actually fully utilize the network.

[2mAn]

Ive never heard of this OnePlus stuff... Ive been using Verizon's pay as you go and its fine 3gigs, unlimited everything else (I think). I just cracked the screen on the phone and its $50 to get a new screen so Im considering getting something new.

[ELVA164]

I can only say I did research when I was looking for a smaller phone and the Xperia Z3/Z5 compact looked great, aside from only working on AT&T/Sprint networks and Sony looking like it might pull out of the mobile market. I have a Galaxy S5 right now and I'm really liking it. I got it as an "in between" phone until my next upgrade, but I may just keep using it as long as I can.