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Amazing Quality Phone For a someone on a Budget

tehowennathe
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

I recently got the Blu Vivo XI+ from Best Buy in the US. It's $250USD or $331.25CAD. It's 64GB storage with 4GB ram. There is also a micro SD card slot that supports up to 128gb. This model only comes in silver. Been using it for 2 months and works perfect on Public Mobile. It's currently Android 8.1 but is testing Android 9 on devices that sign up for beta. It has face ID and fingerprint scanner. You get 2 silicone phone cases Wich most phone come with none. 2 screen protectors. 1 comes already on phone and other is an extra . Sim key is included. Charger and earphones also include. 

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 Many of my friends who only use iphones think it was an iPhone at first till they noticed it's running Android. Even iPhons X users got tricked to thinking I had same phone as them. Well worth it if on a budget and want a mid range flagship phone with features some high end flagship phones have or are lacking. 

35 REPLIES 35

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@Tav wrote:

 

 

3G is just fine! I don't see what the big deal about LTE vs 3G is anyways!


so you can watch high def netflix on your phone and use up your  data faster thus needing more data and a higher costing data plan. 🙂

Tav
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@computergeek541 wrote:

@Tav wrote:


My current phone (Moto G2 XT1064) is a 3G only model from 2014. Ive never owned a LTE phone before. Ive heard some chatter in the forums that because of that its likely I'm getting a non throttled speed that's faster than a LTE phone on a 3G plan.


This isn't a rumor.  People could also disable LTE on purpose on LTE capable phones.


Screenshot_20190122-173737.png

 

3G is just fine! I don't see what the big deal about LTE vs 3G is anyways!

tehowennathe
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

The Blu Vivo XI is slightly larger then the iPhone X. I have the XI+ which is 6.2 inches. It's not that had. Took time to get used to it coming fom Blu's Vivo Air which was a 5.4 inch screen. If I'm not mistaken the smaller Vivo is a 5.8 inch screen. They are worth the price as you get SIM key, charger, earphones, silicon phone case, Screen protector. Phones in its price range usually just come with a charger. My mom's galaxy J5 only had a charger and earphones. You get more for the price. Not sure about smaller version but my XI + came with a clear phone case and one with same image on box. Screen protector was already on and had an extra. I know both the XI and XI+ are both only sold in US but if your in the US they can be picked up at best buy

Tav
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@srlawren wrote:

If the Blu recommended by @tehowennathe is still too expensive, maybe check out the #1 selling unlocked smartphone on Amazon in North America:  the Blu XL4:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfUbcks-87M


Really liking the Blu XI (XL4 seems like it would be too big for my liking) but it doesn't seem to be available for sale through any Canadian retailers. The budget market is getting much better but I'm still too picky. lol. 


@Tav wrote:


My current phone (Moto G2 XT1064) is a 3G only model from 2014. Ive never owned a LTE phone before. Ive heard some chatter in the forums that because of that its likely I'm getting a non throttled speed that's faster than a LTE phone on a 3G plan.


This isn't a rumor.  People could also disable LTE on purpose on LTE capable phones.

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

If the Blu recommended by @tehowennathe is still too expensive, maybe check out the #1 selling unlocked smartphone on Amazon in North America:  the Blu XL4:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfUbcks-87M


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Tav
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@srlawren wrote:

@Tav treat yourself and pick up the G6 play over the E5 play.  You're LONG overdue for an upgrade, and you will definitely notice a difference vs. your G2.  


The G7 line up are supposed to be out in Q1 of 2019. Hopeful that they will keep it a smaller phone and upgrade USB C and add NFC. If the G7 Play or Power isn't what I'm looking for then perhaps the G6 Play will go on sale.

Salmonlips
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@Tav wrote:

@Salmonlips wrote:

@will13am wrote:

@tehowennathe, thanks for sharing the suggestion.  I tend to also think that $300+ is bit expensive for a budget phone.  Xiaomi phones go for mid $200s and come with snapdragon CPUs which are generally better than mediatek on performance and power usage. 


I ended getting a Xiaomi Mi A2 for 280 off amazon.ca, it ended up being cheaper than getting it from aliexpress and had prime shipping so that was nice.  It's been very good on PM, wish it had expandable memory but haven't gotten close to using up the 64 so far.

Had a le eco lemax 2, and the screen was bonkers good and the cpu was supposed to be but i had nothing but lag and stutters (could have been their custom coding).  Going to Xiaomi have encountered none of that, hooray lower level cpu haha.


Was it on sale? I can't seem to find any of these on Amazon.ca for much less than $300 plus taxes. 


I have 2 at, one for wife one for me.

 

My wife's came on for 266 in a warehouse deal box was open but sticker was sitll on the phone and everything (no bubbles so it wasnt' peeled off and put on again) works just fine but came w/ a euro charger which is what i bet they sent it back for (luckily we have 700000 chargers at home)

 

Mine, i was watching prices on camelcamelcamel following 3 different sellers and they kept dropping like $5 a day, started at 320 and everyday $5 $5.  one day it hit like 289 - 292 or so and stayed there for a few days so i bought it then.  because it was 3rd party there was no tax hahaha.

Salmonlips
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@will13am wrote:

@Salmonlips wrote:

@will13am wrote:

@tehowennathe, thanks for sharing the suggestion.  I tend to also think that $300+ is bit expensive for a budget phone.  Xiaomi phones go for mid $200s and come with snapdragon CPUs which are generally better than mediatek on performance and power usage. 


I ended getting a Xiaomi Mi A2 for 280 off amazon.ca, it ended up being cheaper than getting it from aliexpress and had prime shipping so that was nice.  It's been very good on PM, wish it had expandable memory but haven't gotten close to using up the 64 so far.

Had a le eco lemax 2, and the screen was bonkers good and the cpu was supposed to be but i had nothing but lag and stutters (could have been their custom coding).  Going to Xiaomi have encountered none of that, hooray lower level cpu haha.


You are another LeEco Max 2 user as well.  I got one for the wife a couple of years ago.  It was a great buy, too bad the company went bankrupt.  The max 2 was a great performer, super rugged.  She managed to bend the aluminum frame a bit and the screen still worked.  There was a slight bit of separation between the digitizer and the screen, but it was only cosmetic.  The SD 820 chip is not the most energy efficient variant.  The phone tends to be a good hand warmer in the winter.  The stock rom had lots of functionality but it was a bit clunky.  I had the unit rooted and running lineage (14 and then 15) which is totally stable.  If your max 2 is still working, I would highly recommend rooting it and installing lineage OS. 

 

BTW, did you get the android one edition of the Mi A2?  MiUi has a lot of compromises. 


Android One edition of mi a2, my wife had an older redmi w/ miui and i didn't like it so i didn't want it 🙂

 

le max 2 showed me how much closer to stock eui was and i preferred that, i didn't ever bother rooting it though i feel i should to make it run better, i have it set out as a back up phone / perk.tv phone hahahah

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@Tav treat yourself and pick up the G6 play over the E5 play.  You're LONG overdue for an upgrade, and you will definitely notice a difference vs. your G2.  


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Tav
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@will13am wrote:

@Tav wrote:

Thinking about pulling the trigger on the very budget friendly Moto G6 Play.

 

Its not listed on willmyphonework.net

 

Listed bands as per Amazon are:

3G: UMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(1700/2100) , B5(850), B8(900) 4G LTE: B1(2100), B2(1900), B3(1800), B4(1700/2100), B5(850), B7(2600), B28 (700 APT) - DUAL SIM standy

 

Since it has B2 and B5 it should work with my 3G plan? Would it also work on LTE if I decided to change to a LTE plan down the road?


The phone is compatible with Public Mobile network.  However, the phone uses a Snapdragon 427 CPU which is low end CPU introduced in early 2016.  

 

https://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_g6_play-9002.php

 


Ive been paying more attention to the RAM specs when looking into phones. My Moto G2 only has 1gb of RAM and is pretty maxed out with what I run. Was hoping the 3gb in the G6 would cover my needs (email, banking, text, talk, weather, browsing, android auto, Facebook messenger lite and maybe reddit). I even tried flashing a low RAM module but it didn't seem to help.

 

A second option was the Moto E5 play. Essentially the same phone but only 2gb RAM and a much cheaper price tag.

Tav
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@wetcoaster wrote:

@Tav wrote:

Thinking about pulling the trigger on the very budget friendly Moto G6 Play.

 

Its not listed on willmyphonework.net

 

Listed bands as per Amazon are:

3G: UMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(1700/2100) , B5(850), B8(900) 4G LTE: B1(2100), B2(1900), B3(1800), B4(1700/2100), B5(850), B7(2600), B28 (700 APT) - DUAL SIM standy

 

Since it has B2 and B5 it should work with my 3G plan? Would it also work on LTE if I decided to change to a LTE plan down the road?


what @Anonymous said. 3G B2 and B5 are necessary for calls, LTE B4 is the major one I look for, complemented by B2 and B7.

 

Also to clarify, Public Mobile's "3G" plan runs on the LTE network where available (network and your phone settings allowing it), so you have access to the lower latency of LTE with throttled speed (3ish Mbps). Something like "LTE light" would be a better name for it.


My current phone (Moto G2 XT1064) is a 3G only model from 2014. Ive never owned a LTE phone before. Ive heard some chatter in the forums that because of that its likely I'm getting a non throttled speed that's faster than a LTE phone on a 3G plan.


@Tav wrote:

Thinking about pulling the trigger on the very budget friendly Moto G6 Play.

 

Its not listed on willmyphonework.net

 

Listed bands as per Amazon are:

3G: UMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(1700/2100) , B5(850), B8(900) 4G LTE: B1(2100), B2(1900), B3(1800), B4(1700/2100), B5(850), B7(2600), B28 (700 APT) - DUAL SIM standy

 

Since it has B2 and B5 it should work with my 3G plan? Would it also work on LTE if I decided to change to a LTE plan down the road?


The phone is compatible with Public Mobile network.  However, the phone uses a Snapdragon 427 CPU which is low end CPU introduced in early 2016.  

 

https://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_g6_play-9002.php

 


@Tav wrote:

Thinking about pulling the trigger on the very budget friendly Moto G6 Play.

 

Its not listed on willmyphonework.net

 

Listed bands as per Amazon are:

3G: UMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(1700/2100) , B5(850), B8(900) 4G LTE: B1(2100), B2(1900), B3(1800), B4(1700/2100), B5(850), B7(2600), B28 (700 APT) - DUAL SIM standy

 

Since it has B2 and B5 it should work with my 3G plan? Would it also work on LTE if I decided to change to a LTE plan down the road?


what @Anonymous said. 3G B2 and B5 are necessary for calls, LTE B4 is the major one I look for, complemented by B2 and B7.

 

Also to clarify, Public Mobile's "3G" plan runs on the LTE network where available (network and your phone settings allowing it), so you have access to the lower latency of LTE with throttled speed (3ish Mbps). Something like "LTE light" would be a better name for it.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@Tav wrote:

Thinking about pulling the trigger on the very budget friendly Moto G6 Play.

 

Its not listed on willmyphonework.net

 

Listed bands as per Amazon are:

3G: UMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(1700/2100) , B5(850), B8(900) 4G LTE: B1(2100), B2(1900), B3(1800), B4(1700/2100), B5(850), B7(2600), B28 (700 APT) - DUAL SIM standy

 

Since it has B2 and B5 it should work with my 3G plan? Would it also work on LTE if I decided to change to a LTE plan down the road?


@Tav, based on the bands you listed for 4G, you should not have a problem with 4G coverage with PM.

Tav
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

Thinking about pulling the trigger on the very budget friendly Moto G6 Play.

 

Its not listed on willmyphonework.net

 

Listed bands as per Amazon are:

3G: UMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(1700/2100) , B5(850), B8(900) 4G LTE: B1(2100), B2(1900), B3(1800), B4(1700/2100), B5(850), B7(2600), B28 (700 APT) - DUAL SIM standy

 

Since it has B2 and B5 it should work with my 3G plan? Would it also work on LTE if I decided to change to a LTE plan down the road?

SkimGuy
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

A lot of midrange phones are becoming very decent, if you don't mind the lack of brand recognition, there are plent of phones such as the BLU or Xiaomi lineup of phones

tehowennathe
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

The smaller Blu Vivo XI sold only on best Buy US website is $150US comes up to $199.50CAD. a much lower price if you don't want the larger screen

Tav
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@Salmonlips wrote:

@will13am wrote:

@tehowennathe, thanks for sharing the suggestion.  I tend to also think that $300+ is bit expensive for a budget phone.  Xiaomi phones go for mid $200s and come with snapdragon CPUs which are generally better than mediatek on performance and power usage. 


I ended getting a Xiaomi Mi A2 for 280 off amazon.ca, it ended up being cheaper than getting it from aliexpress and had prime shipping so that was nice.  It's been very good on PM, wish it had expandable memory but haven't gotten close to using up the 64 so far.

Had a le eco lemax 2, and the screen was bonkers good and the cpu was supposed to be but i had nothing but lag and stutters (could have been their custom coding).  Going to Xiaomi have encountered none of that, hooray lower level cpu haha.


Was it on sale? I can't seem to find any of these on Amazon.ca for much less than $300 plus taxes. 


@Salmonlips wrote:

@will13am wrote:

@tehowennathe, thanks for sharing the suggestion.  I tend to also think that $300+ is bit expensive for a budget phone.  Xiaomi phones go for mid $200s and come with snapdragon CPUs which are generally better than mediatek on performance and power usage. 


I ended getting a Xiaomi Mi A2 for 280 off amazon.ca, it ended up being cheaper than getting it from aliexpress and had prime shipping so that was nice.  It's been very good on PM, wish it had expandable memory but haven't gotten close to using up the 64 so far.

Had a le eco lemax 2, and the screen was bonkers good and the cpu was supposed to be but i had nothing but lag and stutters (could have been their custom coding).  Going to Xiaomi have encountered none of that, hooray lower level cpu haha.


You are another LeEco Max 2 user as well.  I got one for the wife a couple of years ago.  It was a great buy, too bad the company went bankrupt.  The max 2 was a great performer, super rugged.  She managed to bend the aluminum frame a bit and the screen still worked.  There was a slight bit of separation between the digitizer and the screen, but it was only cosmetic.  The SD 820 chip is not the most energy efficient variant.  The phone tends to be a good hand warmer in the winter.  The stock rom had lots of functionality but it was a bit clunky.  I had the unit rooted and running lineage (14 and then 15) which is totally stable.  If your max 2 is still working, I would highly recommend rooting it and installing lineage OS. 

 

BTW, did you get the android one edition of the Mi A2?  MiUi has a lot of compromises. 

Salmonlips
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@will13am wrote:

@tehowennathe, thanks for sharing the suggestion.  I tend to also think that $300+ is bit expensive for a budget phone.  Xiaomi phones go for mid $200s and come with snapdragon CPUs which are generally better than mediatek on performance and power usage. 


I ended getting a Xiaomi Mi A2 for 280 off amazon.ca, it ended up being cheaper than getting it from aliexpress and had prime shipping so that was nice.  It's been very good on PM, wish it had expandable memory but haven't gotten close to using up the 64 so far.

Had a le eco lemax 2, and the screen was bonkers good and the cpu was supposed to be but i had nothing but lag and stutters (could have been their custom coding).  Going to Xiaomi have encountered none of that, hooray lower level cpu haha.

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@will13am wrote:

 Xiaomi phones go for mid $200s and come with snapdragon CPUs which are generally better than mediatek on performance and power usage. 


...and a nice bonus: ads in your UI!  https://www.androidauthority.com/xiaomi-miui-ads-906902/


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will13am
Oracle
Oracle

@tehowennathe, thanks for sharing the suggestion.  I tend to also think that $300+ is bit expensive for a budget phone.  Xiaomi phones go for mid $200s and come with snapdragon CPUs which are generally better than mediatek on performance and power usage. 

tehowennathe
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@domptg if you consider that it has face ID and fingerprint scanner plus many accessories that companies such as apple and Samsung won't even include some but not all in tech industry call it budget friendly 

tehowennathe
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@ooakosiryan been using it 2 months and for it's price it comes with way more accessories then my previous Galaxy did. It gets a better signal then co-workers iPhone 7 and she's also on PM. Doesn't have a screen like other flagship phones buy it does have a decent camera. It's backlight mode captures bright pictures better then my old Galaxy J5. I prefer the camera features on the vivo XI+ over galaxy j5. If your mom doesn't want a big screen they also have the vivo XI with a smaller screen and cheaper price. I believe that one is on amazon but the American website 

stonechucker
Mayor / Maire

@tehowennathe, I'm linking here the info page from the manufacturer.  It displays the network bands WAY DOWN the page.  I do believe it's compatible, as it lists it runs on AT&T and T-Mobile

Anonymous
Not applicable

I haven't investigated any compatibility but Amazon has some Androids for <$100.

domptg
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

I wouldn't say $CAN 331.25 is the budget phone. You can buy decent phone for around    $CAN 200.00 - ex. Costco

ooakosiryan
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

I'm currently weighing different options for a budget phone for my mom, so this post is helpful. Thanks, @tehowennathe!


srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@Alex888 wrote:

I don't think you can advertise products on this site.


@Alex888 this would be bad if @tehowennathe worked for Blu (and since I don't think they have any Canadian operations, this is doubtful) or Best Buy USA (but again, unlikely).  Basically the purpose of the PHones & Hardware area is for threads like this.  Totally fine.


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