Just got a brochure from optus with a $29 Alcatel Pixi 3.5" , $99 4G Alcatel Pop 5" , $39 4G ZTE Zip^.
Anyone have feedback on these phones? Curious if these will only allow me to have an optus sim since they are advertised by optus but sold at aus post.
Thanks for that, its also only $40 for the pixi from target which might not be locked. I have an S5 which is fine except the microphone for speaking on the phone is stuffed so I can't really make/receive calls and a cheap phone with a cheap prepaid sim in it would probably fix this problem for me and I could still use my S5 for everything else
It doesn't cost much to unlock the supermarket android phones. Typically ZTE is cheap to unlock, just do a search on ebay for unlock codes and they pop up for like $5, sometimes less.
Just check the Coles or Woolies specials too, they have phones on sale all the time.
I've bought 3 Optus pre-paid mobiles and used them all with Amaysim that uses the Optus network. The ZTE Smart Fit was a great little phone. Currently using a ZTE Blade and it's OK too.
My gf is a happy Pop5 user. It was 59 in a deal from last year. Would have the best screen of the three you listed.
I tested Dead Trigger and CarX drift on it and they played beautifully. The 4G is solid enough. As mentioned, keep it slim, uninstall/disable stuff. There's a phone decrapifier app that was recommended but I haven't needed to try that yet.
These phones will typically be locked, and they also come with a SIM card. Maybe even some credit.
Alcatel Pixi is a very old and outdated phone, won't be very easy to use because of the tiny display.
ZTE zip reviews
https://www.productreview.com.au/p/zte-a110.html
Pop 5 review
https://www.productreview.com.au/p/alcatel-pop-5.html
The Pop has 1GB of RAM. Maybe not enough for Android nowadays, I think, but if you just want to make calls and do the odd browsing and Whatsapp / Wechat, it's OK: but don't run too many things at the same time.
With 1GB a lot of apps you send to the background will actually close rather than sleep — and when you go back to it, the phone has to launch it again (taking time and battery life). Having more RAM, even just 2GB, makes a big difference.
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