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Dirt cheap Android options?

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sammy-boy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 2, 2013
183
0
Staffordshire, UK
I currently don't have any Android devices (loving my iPhone 5) but want to keep a toe in the Android ecosystem.

I know there's the excellent Moto G but looking cheaper than that. The only options I've found that aren't too slow or massively outdated are the LG Optimus L3-II or the Huawei Y300. Are there any other cheapie options available? I'm looking at at least Jelly Bean, no more than £100 (I'm in the UK) and 1Ghz+ processor.

May consider secondhand too, what are my options?
 
D

DaKKs

macrumors 6502
Aug 15, 2012
474
43
Stockholm, Sweden
There are several chinese manufacturers that make excellent phones. My personal favourite of the chines brands is Lenovo and Neken.

Note that these phones use MediaTek chipsets, so third party support varies. Don't expect cyanogenmod for instance.
 
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AdamInNi

macrumors member
Nov 20, 2012
56
0
Northern Ireland
It's only like £30 more for a MOTO G over some of these awful budget phones. You should either save up another £30 which shouldn't be that hard or see if you can find a used MOTO G within your budget. No point getting a crappy phone when you can get a really good one for just a little more which will actually get updates :)
 
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sammy-boy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 2, 2013
183
0
Staffordshire, UK
Sounds like for the slight extra outlay the G make sense, it's slightly big for my liking but will definitely take it into consideration :) those Chinese brands sound promising apart from the potential support problems.

I've heard a few people have had problems and bugs with the KitKat update on the G, is there any truth in those rumblings?
 
G

GlynJones

macrumors 6502
Jun 15, 2005
346
20
If a 7" tablet will suffice then I can recommend the Nook HD which you can get for around £79. This has it's own skin but can be easily flashed with cyanogenmod to 4.2.2.
It has the following:
Built in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
7 inch HD display (1440 x 900) - 243 pixels per inch
1.4GHz dual core processor
1Gb RAM
8Gb internal memory
Expand the memory, micro SD card slot up to 64Gb
Much better than the cheap Chinese offerings and a very good machine.
 
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sammy-boy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 2, 2013
183
0
Staffordshire, UK
Thanks for the recommendations, I went into town and out of interest looked at the preowned section at a Game store. Found a Huawei P1 secondhand for £89 and plumped for that. Not quite as well specced as the G but £40 cheaper and still very good! Only problem is I thought it was upgradeable to Android 4.2 but not found any updates so stuck on 4.03 but no Deal breaker :)
 
TacticalDesire

TacticalDesire

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2012
2,286
23
Michigan
Not the one I would have gone for but as long as it works for you that's all that matters. After all, at the end of the day it is just a phone.
 
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sammy-boy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 2, 2013
183
0
Staffordshire, UK
Thanks, quite happy with it so far! After a bit of searching found an update to 4.1.1, bit of a faff getting it installed but seems to have helped performance quite a bit! Excellent camera too :)
 
alphaod

alphaod

macrumors Core
Feb 9, 2008
22,183
1,245
NYC
There are a lot of really cheap Android phones. They all have 1GHz+ processors for something like $40.

The issue is they all are still running something old like 2.1 which is pretty terrible in this day and age.

Honestly if you're trying to keep up with Android the Moto G would have been a good choice seeing it's coming straight from the horse's mouth.
 
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sammy-boy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 2, 2013
183
0
Staffordshire, UK
There's still quite a few sub - 1Ghz phones for sale new on the high street in the UK, many of which are still on Android 2.3 like the original Galaxy Ace and Alcatel T'pop phones. Very pleased with the secondhand Huawei though :)
 
Savor

Savor

Suspended
Jun 18, 2010
3,742
918
There are quite a number of local branded phones here in the Philippines that retail for under $80-$100 already.

I say go for the Moto G or wait if Motorola releases that $50 smartphone. If we thought $299 was cheap for a Nexus back in 2012 and $179 for a Moto G now coming from a reputable brand, wait a little bit longer. Expect many Android phones to drop below $100-$150 this year.

If you are budget conscious, check out Huawei or Lenovo. Import if you can.
 
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sammy-boy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 2, 2013
183
0
Staffordshire, UK
Way ahead of you Savor - have already bought a cheap, secondhand Huawei P1!

That $50 Moto smartphone sounds interesting, will research that rumour! :)
 
O

ogee

macrumors 6502
Nov 8, 2006
417
0
Earth.
I am awaiting delivery of an 8 core 1.7Ghz processor 4.2 Jelly-Bean android with 6" display, NFC, USB-on-the-go, FHD. Its a THL T200 and cost Euro 230 after import taxes. http://www.to2c.com/thl-t200-with-leather-case.html

Ordered it from a Chinese website, has taken a week, a bit longer than usual, due to the Chinese new year. Should be here tomorrow or the day after.

I was really surprised at the number of good value Androids out there. I will be nicknaming my android Marvin :D
 
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sentinelsx

macrumors 68010
Feb 28, 2011
2,004
0
I would not consider anything apart from the moto G if i was looking for the cheap option. It is cheap, yet feels like a nexus in daily performance and UI for the most part.

I will never buy cheap OEM butchered phones. The google skin is the lightest in all of android.
 
TacticalDesire

TacticalDesire

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2012
2,286
23
Michigan
ogee said:
I am awaiting delivery of an 8 core 1.7Ghz processor 4.2 Jelly-Bean android with 6" display, NFC, USB-on-the-go, FHD. Its a THL T200 and cost Euro 230 after import taxes. http://www.to2c.com/thl-t200-with-leather-case.html

Ordered it from a Chinese website, has taken a week, a bit longer than usual, due to the Chinese new year. Should be here tomorrow or the day after.

I was really surprised at the number of good value Androids out there. I will be nicknaming my android Marvin :D
Click to expand...

I'm interested in seeing how long that phones lasts long term. Performance and also internally. I can see circuits, buttons, and other internal components going bad. You should make a thread after a week or two with that phone. I'm curious. And then maybe an 6 months to a year from now perhaps.
 
blackhand1001

blackhand1001

macrumors 68030
Jan 6, 2009
2,599
33
Moto G is the only sub 200 dollar android phone I would touch. The rest are garbage.

----------
ogee said:
I am awaiting delivery of an 8 core 1.7Ghz processor 4.2 Jelly-Bean android with 6" display, NFC, USB-on-the-go, FHD. Its a THL T200 and cost Euro 230 after import taxes. http://www.to2c.com/thl-t200-with-leather-case.html

Ordered it from a Chinese website, has taken a week, a bit longer than usual, due to the Chinese new year. Should be here tomorrow or the day after.

I was really surprised at the number of good value Androids out there. I will be nicknaming my android Marvin :D
Click to expand...

That phone has a crap mediatek chipset. Avoid it like the plague.
 
V

viskon

macrumors 6502
Oct 20, 2012
464
10
TacticalDesire said:
Mediatek isn't as bad as they used to be. Sure they're no qualcomm but for most things they're fine.
Click to expand...

Have to agree with this. I used a Micromax Canvas HD phone that has a Mediatek processor, for over 3 months in India and it was surprisingly good.
 
O

ogee

macrumors 6502
Nov 8, 2006
417
0
Earth.
TacticalDesire said:
I'm interested in seeing how long that phones lasts long term. Performance and also internally. I can see circuits, buttons, and other internal components going bad. You should make a thread after a week or two with that phone. I'm curious. And then maybe an 6 months to a year from now perhaps.
Click to expand...

Only had it a few days but the build quality is excellent. The screen is as good as the iMac, albeit a lot smaller ;) and the phone feels as well made as the iPhone. network reception is better than my iPhone 5. It has its quirks as do all systems, and will have to see if they update android if KK.The phone has only been on the market for less than a month.

sammy-boy said:
Pretty good specs there! :-D does it have the official Google play market on it?
Click to expand...

Yes it does.
 
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