Looking for a New Smartphone under $800

yummypinacolada on 29/02/2016 - 23:38

Hi, I am looking for a new smartphone. Up till now, I found Galaxy A9 really suitable with my needs great battery life, big screen, and great performance. I couldn't find many seller selling this phone. I found one australian seller at Ebay selling the phone for ~660$AU. Here's the link to the seller:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Samsung-Galaxy-A9-SM-A9000-2016-D…

What do you guys think of the phone? Is the phone worth 660$AU?Check the specs here(http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_a9_(2016)-7641.php)

Any ozbargainers know a good phone that is suitable with my needs?
-When looking for phone, battery life is my top priority. I want a phone that'll last a day(20h) no matter how heavy the usage is.
-I would also like to have screen size within 5.5" - 6".
-The performance has to be good as well, as I like to play heavy game on the phone
-Decent camera quality would be enough. I used camera phone a lot but I don't know much about camera quality so the picture all look the same to me.
-My budget is 800$AU at max. The cheaper the better

As ozbargainers I would love to find phone with the best value. Your opinion will be much appreciated. Fill in the comment if there's other good phone that I haven't mention in the poll.

Poll Options expired

  • 1
    Galaxy A7(16gb) for ~550$
  • 1
    Galaxy A9(32gb) for ~660$
  • 0
    Huawei Mate7(32gb) for ~510$
  • 10
    LG G4(32gb) for ~470$
  • 1
    Moto X play(16gb) for ~460$
  • 17
    Nexus 6p(64gb) for ~780$
  • 1
    Note 5(32gb) for ~800$
  • 0
    OnePlus Two(64gb) for ~530$
  • 1
    OPPO R7 Plus(32gb) for ~480$
  • 0
    OPPO R7s(32gb) for ~430$
  • 1
    Redmi note 3(32gb) for ~300$
Mobile

Comments

  • tablethunter on 01/03/2016 - 00:04

    Just get the Note.

    fin

  • 0p on 01/03/2016 - 00:16
    +1

    If you want a cheap reliable phone I would recommend a Alcatel PIXI (4.5)
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/236558#comment-3500648

    Any ozbargainers know a good phone that is suitable with my needs?
    -When looking for phone, battery life is my top priority. I want a phone that'll last a day(20h) no matter how heavy the usage is.
    -I would also like to have screen size within 5.5" - 6".
    -The performance has to be good as well, as I like to play heavy game on the phone
    -Decent camera quality would be enough. I used camera phone a lot but I don't know much about camera quality so the picture all look the same to me.
    -My budget is 800$AU at max. The cheaper the better

    Specs
    http://www.optus.com.au/shop/prepaidmobile/alcatel/pixi-4g

    -Battery of 9 days(lol)
    -1GHz Quad Core (decent for price)
    -5Mp camera (aparantly 8Mp with 5Mp sensor)
    -For $30 you can't go wrong…

    • 0p on 01/03/2016 - 00:20

      NOTE;
      I am posting this as I use this phone as a back up phone.
      I an not implying this should be your full time phone.
      If your looking for a full time phone I would recommend the s5/redmi note 2 (for ~$300~$400)
      Thanks

  • cureforanitch on 01/03/2016 - 01:09
    +2

    Very easy decision. Go with the Huawei mate 8. Within your price range and much better than the a9.

    Can be bought here for around $650

    http://www.dwidigitalcameras.com.au/astore/Huawei-Ascend-Mat…

    • yummypinacolada on 01/03/2016 - 11:02

      Is there a performance difference with a9? Also it has 32gb rom and 3gb ram which is the same with A9. I don't know about the cpu and gpu performance in mate 8 though.

      Also Samsung is a well known brand compare to Huawei.

      • cureforanitch on 02/03/2016 - 02:18

        From what I've read, the Huawei mate 8 is the quickest phone available at the moment. Both on benchmarks and in real life. It may be beaten by the new sd820 phones (s7, g5) but is in the same ball park at a much cheaper price.

        Huawei is the 3rd biggest seller of phones in the world at the moment, only behind samsung and apple. They make very good phones, and the West is only now taking notice after the success of the 6p (note the poll above)

        If the 6p is an option, note the various reviews online and on YouTube between the mate 8 and 6p. The only the the 6p has better is the higher resolution screen and vanilla android experience. Everything goes to the mate 8

  • skelty on 01/03/2016 - 01:17
    +1

    because of your battery requirement I'd agree with mate 8, redmi note 2 for grey choices (haven't looked into other xiaomi battery life stats though). And r7 plus for local stock choice (big battery, fast vooc charging)

    • scrimshaw on 01/03/2016 - 08:44

      Xiaomi Note 2 battery is 3000mah, the Note 3 is 4000mah, but it's not removable.

      Also important to get a phone that doesn't overheat. The Nexus 6P seems to fare very well according to a lot of users despite it packing the Snapdragon 810 (known to be throttling whenever it gets a little hot).

    • cureforanitch on 01/03/2016 - 10:24

      I've owned both of those other options too. R7 plus is a good phone and the best option if you want local warranty etc might find a good deal at dick Smith. Mate 8 is a step up from that tho. Processor is on par with sd 820, a bit jump over the sd 615 in the a9 and r7 plus. Xiaomi note 2 is excellent value at less than $200. Battery is very average, but is replaceable so you just need to carry a $20 spare. Camera is weak compared to the rest of the options

      • yummypinacolada on 01/03/2016 - 17:17

        A9 is using sd652 which has better performance compare to 615. Most reviewer said 652 is on par with 808 belong to G4.

  • lost69 on 01/03/2016 - 11:41
    -2

    ZTE F286 for $15. Pocket the rest. Smartphones are a waste of time and money. And they are always watching and listening to you. ALWAYS.

  • GameChanger on 01/03/2016 - 13:47

    Why no iphone option?

    • yummypinacolada on 01/03/2016 - 14:12

      Because my budget is 800$ at max.

      • GameChanger on 01/03/2016 - 14:14

        Iphone 5S, iphone 6 could make that budget?

        • yummypinacolada on 01/03/2016 - 14:19

          Screen is too small. Looking at 5.5" - 6" screen

  • CLoSeR on 01/03/2016 - 14:20

    LG G4 is the best bang for the buck you will find, also have you thought about whether you want a replaceable battery or microSD card slot?

    • yummypinacolada on 01/03/2016 - 14:28

      Yeah, I bought G4 for my sister last October for ~430$AU. If the price could get lower than that anytime soon, I will definitely pick G4. The phone works really great, the only concern for me is the battery life. As it only has 3000mah battery to power 4k IPS LCD panel.

      I don't even know why smartphone company choose to upgrade their panel into 4k resolution, while the battery won't even last a day with 1080p display.

      • loke on 03/03/2016 - 15:34

        The LG G4 is on a 2560x1440 resolution screen (1440p not 4k, 3840x2160 or 2160p).

        20hrs with heavy usage is really vague and you're setting your expectations too high, as an estimation how much activity measured via screen on time (in the battery stats) are you intending to do?

        At best screen on time (SOT) would get you anywhere between 3 to 5 hrs (look up screen on time on the internet) or so depending on usage, bearing in mind that your phone isn't draining battery through wakelocks and sleeps properly (e.g. barely any battery loss with screen off - only a couple %).

        The easiest way to resolve this is to lug around a $30-$40+ something usb powerbank. I most recently used the 16000mAh Xiaomi on a coach tour and it'll keep the phone going all day.

        • yummypinacolada on 03/03/2016 - 17:30

          it's too troublesome having to carry powerbank everywhere. I will be looking for a phone that has more than 5 hours SOT within 20 hours(with 4g enabled).I believe phones like Galaxy A9, Moto X play, or Oppo R7 plus are able to have more than 5 hours SOT.

          I know that phones like these do not have performance like flagship phones such as Note 5, nexus 6p, or s7. But I don't think there's an app that need that much processor or gpu power.

          I used Nexus 5 for 2 years, and I haven't had any single issues with the performance. The only problem I have is battery life so I end up turning off some of the features like NFC and I use some battery saver app to lower the CPU performance.

        • CLoSeR on 04/03/2016 - 08:16

          @planetandre: Sony Xperia have decent SOT similar to what you want.

  • jagger9270 on 01/03/2016 - 14:52

    Nexus 6P for sure!

  • datafellows on 01/03/2016 - 20:35
    +1

    Optus finally dropped their prices today, 6P with 3GB contract is only $60 per month.

    3GB was earlier $65 and few weeks ago $65 for 3+1GB.

    If you can survive with 500MB it is only $48 per month.

    I'm going to get one tomorrow as my Telstra contract expires in 2 days. Funnily enough I got my 5GB Amaysim sim card last week and all was ready to move but seems I got to forget that idea. $40 Amaysim and $60 Optus, that's only $480 for the phone over 2 years. The GB difference for me is minimal.

    Edit:

    Just realized that my daughter has Optus 10GB for $40, I might just combine the data, steal some from her (expecting a small battle though) and go with the $48 500MB plan. Awesomeness.

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