Best android phone for €250

tom1ie

Hi all
I’m looking for some advice. I am looking at the ZTE Axon 7 64gb on aliexpress or there’s the ulefone t1 for €176 on the same site.
I didn’t realize there were so many smart phone manufacturers out there.
Can anyone recommend a phone with good performance, 64gb rom (extendable preferably) a good processor etc for €250 or near that.
To put in context I currently have a horrendous Nokia 2.

morgana

I just got the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Global 4 gig ram/64 gig storage and absolutely love it. It came to about 215 euro all in from honorbuy.com European warehouse. Ordered Monday and had it in my hands Tuesday!

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

tom1ie

Yeah I have to admit I’m wary of Nokia now. Why would they release such a terrible phone? Anyway just comparing specs:
https://www.phonearena.com/phones/compare/Nokia-6-2018,ZTE-Axon-7/phones/10067,10068
The zte seems to beat the Nokia 6 in hardware terms. Would the Octa processor make much of a difference over the zte’s quad? As in would I notice performance differences for browsing the internet etc.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

tom1ie

morgana wrote: »

I just got the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Global 4 gig ram/64 gig storage and absolutely love it. It came to about 215 euro all in from honorbuy.com European warehouse. Ordered Monday and had it in my hands Tuesday!

That seems like a really good price. You are happy with the performance and battery life? Is there any drawbacks or negatives you could point out to me?
Thanks.

morgana

Very happy with battery life. Got more than 2 days with light to moderate use. Very elegant phone imo. Runs miui the Xiaomi flavour of android - but is actually quite nice. The only drawback for some is no app drawer. I don't really mind and is easily fixed buy using a different launcher like Nova.
Some of my usual apps needed some extra settings but that's due to android 8.1 (I came from 5.1 lol).
The camera seems quite good and is very quick.
I got the blue one and it looks great.

celtic_oz

another vote for xiaomi note 5 pro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXI9gCVFZh4

discussed here : https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057852692

The killer (at least for me) with most Xaomi's is the lack of NFC. I have no idea why they don't include it. No big deal if you don't use Google Pay, I guess. Would just drive me mad that such a basic feature is missing.

tom1ie

morgana wrote: »

Very happy with battery life. Got more than 2 days with light to moderate use. Very elegant phone imo. Runs miui the Xiaomi flavour of android - but is actually quite nice. The only drawback for some is no app drawer. I don't really mind and is easily fixed buy using a different launcher like Nova.
Some of my usual apps needed some extra settings but that's due to android 8.1 (I came from 5.1 lol).
The camera seems quite good and is very quick.
I got the blue one and it looks great.

Excuse my ignorance but what is an app drawer?
Also is android 8.1 the latest?
Just for context what is the better model from xiaomi compared to this model, just so I know what I’m missing out on by buying this model.
Sorry for all the questions!

tom1ie

Basil3 wrote: »

The killer (at least for me) with most Xaomi's is the lack of NFC. I have no idea why they don't include it. No big deal if you don't use Google Pay, I guess. Would just drive me mad that such a basic feature is missing.

Ive never-used nfc before, what would you use it for? Is it for paying for things instead of your visa debit, and could you use it instead of a leap card for example?

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

yosser hughes

Basil3 wrote: »

The killer (at least for me) with most Xaomi's is the lack of NFC. I have no idea why they don't include it. No big deal if you don't use Google Pay, I guess. Would just drive me mad that such a basic feature is missing.

Same here; no NFC rules it out for me.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

tom1ie

tom1ie wrote: »

Ive never-used nfc before, what would you use it for? Is it for paying for things instead of your visa debit, and could you use it instead of a leap card for example?

Yes, you pay for things instead of using your card. It's like contactless payment on your bank card, but it's not limited to €30.

You can't use it instead of your leap card, but you use NFC to top up your leap card or check your balance with the leap card app.

Teyla Emmagan

I have a Wileyfox Swift 2. Is dual sim, cost about 150 on amazon. It has some fancy type of android. This is my second Wileyfox and I think they're an absolutely amazing phone. However, the battery is rubbish. It barely makes the end of the day and it's only about a year old.

tom1ie

Great info here guys thanks very much! I honestly though I’d have to pay 600 yo yos to get a decent sim free phone. That doesn’t appear to be the case.

BigAl81

Good article on The Verge about just this.

Motorola Moto G6 is the winner apparently.

sydthebeat

BigAl81 wrote: »

Good article on The Verge about just this.

Motorola Moto G6 is the winner apparently.

The G6 has an old chip in the snapdragon 450.

The new xiaomi A2 has the 660, and the mi8 SE has a 710 chip.

tom1ie

sydthebeat wrote: »

The G6 has an old chip in the snapdragon 450.

The new xiaomi A2 has the 660, and the mi8 SE has a 710 chip.

That mi8 looks like a beast. The mi 6 has a snapdragon 835 and costs approx €290 on aliexpress. Think I might be swaying towards that. I know it’s a bit dearer than I hoped to pay but it looks like a very good phone.

corks finest

Nokia 6.1 plus

Witchie

yosser hughes wrote: »

Same here; no NFC rules it out for me.

The new Xiaomi Mi A2 has nfc.

bren2002

Recently picked up the heuwei p smart for €210 prepaid on Three. Have to say its a great phone.
Good camera, 3gb memory, 32gb storage, extendable storage, big screen, has nfc too.

sydthebeat

Witchie wrote: »

The new Xiaomi Mi A2 has nfc.

You sure? I don't think so, and none of the review sites I've checked say that it does.

Are you sure your not mixing it up with the 2A from 2013?

sydthebeat

sydthebeat wrote: »

You sure? I don't think so, and none of the review sites I've checked say that it does.

Are you sure your not mixing it up with the 2A from 2013?

A couple of sites are stating that it does have NFC (probably assumption more than anything), but any reputable site says it doesn't. I have a €90 phone that has it....it's a necessity for me these days.

corwill

Basil3 wrote: »

A couple of sites are stating that it does have NFC (probably assumption more than anything), but any reputable site says it doesn't. I have a €90 phone that has it....it's a necessity for me these days.

https://www.xda-developers.com/xiaomi-mi-a2-xiaomi-mi-a2-lite-specifications-pricing-availability-pictures/

Witchie

I read it here today when was comparing with my A1.....https://gadgets.ndtv.com/xiaomi-mi-a2-4731-vs-mi-a1-4382

corwill

corwill wrote: »

https://www.xda-developers.com/xiaomi-mi-a2-xiaomi-mi-a2-lite-specifications-pricing-availability-pictures/

That's one of the reputable ones that I was talking about

Witchie wrote: »

I read it here today when was comparing with my A1.....https://gadgets.ndtv.com/xiaomi-mi-a2-4731-vs-mi-a1-4382

And that's the site I came across that said it does have it.

Apparently there's no market for NFC in places like India. Can't imagine it's expensive to include.

corwill

Basil3 wrote: »

Apparently there's no market for NFC in places like India. Can't imagine it's expensive to include.

I've always wondered about that. I'd say it's non-trivial all the same. I'd say it's as much the licencing for the tech as much as the physical components. I expect that margins are relatively tight for budget/midranger models. The other corner you often see being cut is Gorilla Glass, a bigger deal-breaker for me than NFC, due to my butter-fingeredness.

GBX

Hotknot is used in NFC's place in certain Asian markets.

Wombatman

Pretty good specs for the price

https://www.komplett.ie/samsung-galaxy-j7-2017-16-gb-dual-sim-black/80048644/product/9485

https://www.kimovil.com/en/where-to-buy-samsung-galaxy-j7-2017

Witchie

I can hopefully find out more about the A2 tomorrow as it is being launched on the Malaysian market at a mall near me so was thinking of going over to have a play with it.

Cina

it's a bit more than €250 but you can get the Nokia 7 Plus for around 300-320 now and for me that's a bargain. Good specs, stock Android, full HD 18:9 screen, headphone jack (!!), premium design, dual sim, Micro SD, fast charging. 2 day battery, NFC.

Got one for the missus and she absolutely loved it coming from a Nexus 5X, and I would nearly be tempted myself to swap my S8 for it (I won't, obviously).