I have always bought flagship or near flagship phones from Samsung, HTC, and Google. My current Pixel is on the fritz and I am wondering if I should consider something different this time around. The Moto 5G seems to be popular and can be had for less than $200. They are releasing their 6G now, and at about $300 it sounds like a bargain. Is the S9 or Pixel 2 worth 2-3 times more?

Has anyone gone from flagship phones to budget phones and been happy with the decision?

If you are on Verizon and plan to stay there, you can get a Pixel 2XL for effectively $350.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/2/17310332/google-pixel-2-x-best-buy-deal-verizon-contract

Other than that, I don't know about budget phones. Only one I've had was the Nexus 5 (currently on Pixel 2XL).

Previous model flagship phones for me.

ATL Aggie said:

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Has anyone gone from flagship phones to budget phones and been happy with the decision?

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Yuuup!!!

Never doing a flagship again. I got a G5+ on a rec from this board and have been very happy with it. My 4 previous phones combined cost were $3400 (over 6 years). Absolutely ridiculous and makes me wince when I think about it. I have not lost any perceived functionality with my budget phone.

The biggest question you need to ask yourself, is what do you use your phone for? I use mine for basic comms and light app use. That is it. I don't even have any games on mine. That is all I have ever used my phone for. But I bought into hype and was getting phones that were WAAAY overpowered for what I needed. ETA: Will still say that my G5 is still overpowered for what I use it for.

So here I am with my $230 phone and I love it. I lose zero usability from what I am used to.

I am a lolpoor student again and had to make some living adjustments. With combined phone cost/cell phone plan I had previously I dropped my annual communication bill from an average $2300 annually to ~$410 a year.

Budget phone/ Mint service and I chopped out nearly $2K worth of expense a year. So worth it to me.

I recently switched to a Moto X4 from project fi for $250 and am extremely happy with it. I'm in the same boat with my usage as I just use email, maps, and internet plus normal talk and text. It's a very nice phone and very fast.

I've said it before in some other threads, but I don't think I'll ever go back to a flagship phone. I just don't think that any performance benefit will ever be worth the increased cost. And I put all my phones in cases, so fancy styling doesn't appeal to me at all.

As others have mentioned, I haven't experienced any real degradation of performance for everyday stuff. Sure, you might get a little better pictures with a top-of-the-line phone, but mine have been pretty good for snapping pics of the kids. We bust out the DSLR if we want really good zoomed action shots at sporting events or for other special occasions like birthday parties, school plays, etc. I've never experienced notable lag for running web browsing, apps, games, music, etc. even when running multiples at once (e.g., web browsing while playing music to bluetooth speakers).

I've done the previous models of flagship from eBay/CL, but that carries some risk. Plus, I just like to unbox a brand new device and know that I can send it right back to Amazon or that I'll have manufacturer's warranty after that.

We've had a few Moto G's, and they are great value for the money IMO. I currently have a Huawei that I got for about $110 after Cricket Credit, and I have no real complaints (other than things I knew going in like lack of rapid charging). I just got my wife a ZTE Blade Pro for $117 from Amazon and it seems to be a really slick little device for the price. It even includes 5 GHz wifi, rapid charging, and USB-C that mine lacks in addition to 5.5" gorilla glass, dual rear cameras, fingerprint reader, dual-SIM/microUSB card support, etc.

I just can't imagine spending close to (or even over) a grand on a phone. I also just prefer to own outright. I can usually sell mine used for $100-150, so I can upgrade any time I feel like it for a minimal net expenditure. And if my kid chunks it in the pool, it's not a big deal as I'm not on the hook for the next 22 months of payments and don't have to carry insurance.

I feel like older people who are used to just getting their upgrade through their carrier, people who need the financing, and true enthusiasts are probably the primary market for flagships nowadays. I think most budget-conscious, tech-savvy people realize there is better value in budget to mid-level phones. Just my opinion of course, YMMV.

I got my unlocked Moto G5+ here: B&H Photo
Watch prices strike when the price is right.

Thanks guys, this is exactly the responses I was looking for.

https://slickdeals.net/share/android_app/t/11506971

Galaxy S7 new for $150