My wife needs a phone for Uni and work, which has a 720p screen or better (preferably 1920x1080) as she's regularly required to connect to remote desktop or do work that requires logging into Amazon's mTurk system and checking a load of checkboxes (sometimes 500+) to approve payments to end users. She needs a phone which is fairly snappy, and has had a Samsung Galaxy Nexus which is now failing to charge correctly, despite both battery and charging port being replaced. She's been working off a second-hand HTC Incredible S but finding it too slow, and the screen to small, while she's tried an iPhone 4S and doesn't like the UI or the screen size, or the speed.
On browsing the forums there seems to be a decent company for refurbed phones to Australian specs, but I can't find a link in any of the recent posts. Does anyone remember which it is?
Price:
My wife is a student and I'm disabled with a spinal cord injury. We've got a baby with fairly severe health problems, and we live in Sydney, the capital of expensive accommodation. Buying a new flagship phone would leave us unable to pay rent anytime soon, and we're already eating beans on toast for dinner and never go out! If we can keep it to $300AUD or less it would be incredible - half that would be even better (maybe a Google Nexus 4 if that's a decent suggestion, or a HTC One (M7) or even HTC One (original X/XL or gen 2)).
Caveats
I'm aware that newer firmware is better for usability, but makes older phones chug more. My wife's been struggling with the 'old android' feel of the Incredible S, while she liked my old HTC One XL (stopped connecting to the network) and loves her dead Samsung Galaxy Nexus. If she hadn't already filled up the space and turned it into a chugger, I'd probably have sought a new SGN, but the risk of buying new a phone that far out of support seems a little odd - one or more generations newer would seem to me to be a better cost/benefit equation. Is that right?
Also the OnePlus is expensive (by my standards) but fanastic value for money. I've been looking at US refurbs on ebay but not convinced they'll work on Australian 4G networks - we're currently with Optus via Vaya, but would consider a change to Boost for her.
Have you considered the LG G2? Should be under $300 online. As a former Nexus 5 owner I'd greatly have preferred the 3000mAh battery on that thing….
If you're strapped for cash and she was otherwise happy with a 4 year old Galaxy Nexus, I'd imagine the Moto G would be more than acceptable performance wise, but a G2 would be quite a spec bump for not much more…