Best Phone for $350 - $500? Comments Please: )

LMisha Bakunin on 26/02/2019 - 17:00
Last edited 26/02/2019 - 17:08

Hey guys, I've been away for 4 years working for 'the government' in a far off place, with no mobile phone. The last phone I had when I was in Australia was a windows phone.

I need a new phone for light internet browsing, calls (of course), music, watching videos, and taking photos (sometimes at night).

As i have been out of touch for so long, I am clueless as to what mobile phone to get, but I need one soon. My budget is tightish i can go up to $500 but would rather pay $400 (or less).

I was thinking of the nokia 7.1, its specs are good but i find it a tad ugly.

Perhaps the samsung s8 will drop to around $500 soon? That is a nice phone my friend has it.

Anyway those are the only two I know anything much about so any other suggestions or comments are most welcome!

Mobile Mobile Phone

Comments

  • Hugh Arse on 26/02/2019 - 17:06
    +2

    I'm a big fan of the LG G… series eg:
    https://www.shopbot.com.au/pp-lg-g6-price-541113.html

    I have the G6 Plus, previously had the G5.

  • HighAndDry on 26/02/2019 - 17:20
    +2

    Are you… are you a spy?

    • Misha Bakunin on 26/02/2019 - 17:45
      +2

      No nothing that dramatic. But of course a spy would say that, heh.

      But I am not.

      • ego22 on 26/02/2019 - 18:42
        +3

        omg! he admitted it, hes a spy!!

  • hamradio on 26/02/2019 - 17:25

    What about iPhone 6S or SE?

    • Misha Bakunin on 26/02/2019 - 17:46

      thought about it, is it a good bang for the buck compared to an android?

      • crentist on 26/02/2019 - 18:58
        +2

        No, they are a few years old, overpriced and nothing special in current market. Some androids have very good bang for buck under $500. Check out Pocophone F1, recently saw it for a bit over $400. It's basically a high end phone for a third of the price. Some other suggestions are also nice, and maybe you will prefer something from a bigger company like LG (the G6 is quite nice)

        That said, if you have any particular preference for iPhone then those ones are not terrible either. Personally I use SE, because I like the small size and every other phone is large. If mine breaks, I might consider another one if I can find it very cheap (max $300) ONLY because of the size. But if I was comfortable with a larger phone I would not consider it for a second

  • Presence on 26/02/2019 - 18:04
    +3

    Moto G7 comes out soon. It gets good reviews

  • ego22 on 26/02/2019 - 18:43
    +1

    this. it was all the rage here last week

    and on the lowest end of your budget

    https://www.tobydealsau.com/en_AU/product/nokia-8-ta-1004-6g…

    • Misha Bakunin on 26/02/2019 - 20:36

      thanks this one looks like a great deal

  • Seedy seed on 26/02/2019 - 18:46

    Buy a guy with a s9 drinks at the bar, lift his phone profit?

  • altomic on 26/02/2019 - 19:10
    +1

    thanks for joining ozbargain to ask this question

  • AlienC on 26/02/2019 - 20:24
    +1

    Xiaomi was my favourite about a year ago.

    Not sure if still the best value but their Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 - 5 range is very good value but they are a Chinese company and working in the Australian government with a Chinese phone might be a no no.. see Huawei.

    Motorola G5S+ is my recommendation from last year..Should be sub $300 AUD now.

    • Cheeper on 04/03/2019 - 09:55
      +1

      Good luck finding a phone not made in China.

  • akaakmdm on 26/02/2019 - 20:42
    +4

    The LG V30+ was on sale recently

    Historical low $432 at Mobicity eBay https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/435564
    $479 at JBHiFi https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/434326

    Those deals have expired, but if you keep a lookout there might be a repeat as everyone clears out stock. Mobicity did a sort-of repeat deal a few days ago, bringing the price back down to $479

  • N1NJ4W4RR10R on 26/02/2019 - 22:17
    +1

    If you were fine waiting, the s8 should absolutely be dropping to sub $500 soon.

    Otherwise some of the LG phones above look pretty nice.

  • GTR12 on 02/03/2019 - 14:10

    Nokia 8.1 is my pick, the low-light photos are great.

    https://www.tobydealsau.com/en_AU/product/nokia-8-1-4gb-ram-…

    Or wait for a ebay 10% off code and get it for $440.

  • dudeguy on 03/03/2019 - 15:26

    This person (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/440022#comment-6984958) was raving about the Moto Z2 Play.

    Currently on sale (or is it «“on sale”»?) from Mobileciti (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/441405). I am tempted to get one for myself but I will probably instead stop being so lazy and send my ZTE Axon 7 away for warranty repair.

  • MrMickSmith on 05/03/2019 - 16:15

    Poco F1. Current flagship specs and only thing you don't get is NFC (Google pay)

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