Phone Shopping Guide - $500 budget, Android 7 (as close to stock as possible)

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nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1791806 30-May-2017 15:27

Sometime between my last visit to online Warehouse Stationary to check on the phone and looking in store, it sold out online
It was also not available in store .. and while I could have "rainchecked" it, they wanted me to pay for it up front which I was not comfortable doing.

As a result no phone for me ...

meesham

973 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1791815 30-May-2017 15:34

Damn, that would be disappointing. Also for selfish reasons I was hoping to hear what you thought of it - I've only played with its bigger brother the P10 and I'm in the market for 2 new phones. One thing I forgot was you might want to double check the P10 Lite has gorilla glass, I have the P9 Lite which doesn't so you have to use a screen protector (and I've struggled to find one that fits properly).

My wife has a Nexus 5X which I'm waiting to start bootlooping, and I hate my P9 Lite so I've been looking at phones around the $400-500 price bracket. The ones I've come up with so far are:

Zenfone 3
Lenovo Zuk Z2 or Zuk Z2 Pro (probably the Pro) - no band 28 but I think I can live with it
Moto G5 Plus
OnePlus 3T - probably too expensive but the OnePlus 5 will be out soon so they might drop in price

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1791832 30-May-2017 15:50

Sadly due to the fingerprint sensor being on the front, the One Plus 3T and the Moto G5 Plus are both out for me (with the G5 Plus also out due to only having 16GB on board storage)
I did look at the Huawei Honor Lite which seemed to be a P10 Lite with only 16GB on board storage .. but again with only 16Gb on board storage it was out

My 5X is away for repair so for a few days I'll have to do with the borrowed Samsung I have ...

After work I'll see if there is any chance Noel Leeming would price match Warehouse Stationary even though online is out of stock, otherwise I'll probably just spend the extra $100 and pay full price

rb99

3422 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1791838 30-May-2017 16:02

nzkiwiman:

Sadly due to the fingerprint sensor being on the front, the One Plus 3T and the Moto G5 Plus are both out for me (with the G5 Plus also out due to only having 16GB on board storage)
I did look at the Huawei Honor Lite which seemed to be a P10 Lite with only 16GB on board storage .. but again with only 16Gb on board storage it was out

My 5X is away for repair so for a few days I'll have to do with the borrowed Samsung I have ...

After work I'll see if there is any chance Noel Leeming would price match Warehouse Stationary even though online is out of stock, otherwise I'll probably just spend the extra $100 and pay full price

Redmi Note 4X - Fingerprint scanner on the back, 32GB onboard storage, dual sim (or one sim plus SD storage). Not perfect, Android 6 and parallel imported, but still....

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

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#1792226 31-May-2017 11:24

Warehouse Stationary have extended the sale on the P10 Lite, however it is not currently in stock either in store or online
So ..

Hoping for a Queens Birthday sale somewhere else - Harvey Norman or Noel Leeming or Warehouse

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

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#1792417 31-May-2017 15:52

Was taken by the Oppo A39 in JB Hi Fi, it seemed to have the specs and the design I was looking at.

However ColorOS 3.0 is based on Android 5 ... and that seems to be going back in time just a little bit

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek

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#1793691 2-Jun-2017 13:22

Purchased a Huawei P10 Lite today at Noel Leeming who had 20% off Huawei Phones; haven't opened the box yet to play but fingers crossed I like Emotion UI 5.1

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

boflit

82 posts

Master Geek

#1793699 2-Jun-2017 13:29

out of interest, can I ask why you only wanted a rear mounted finger scanner? My last phone had it on the rear and it was a pain in the backside and inconvenient. So my current phone, a Umidigi Z Pro is on the front, this is much more convenient, especially in the office where I can just pop my finger on the front to read messages without having to pick it up.

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

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Subscriber

#1793780 2-Jun-2017 14:55

boflit:

out of interest, can I ask why you only wanted a rear mounted finger scanner? My last phone had it on the rear and it was a pain in the backside and inconvenient. So my current phone, a Umidigi Z Pro is on the front, this is much more convenient, especially in the office where I can just pop my finger on the front to read messages without having to pick it up.

Personal preference; used both front and rear and found the front ones to be a PITA to use

However the Nexus 5X also had the ability to see the screen without picking up the phone so maybe that comes into it

Opened the box, turned on the phone and currently installing an update

Biggest annoyance so far - unable to use pattern security with the fingerprint sensor; I have to either use a pin or password if I want to use the fingerprint.

I am sure I'll come up with a decent pin I can remember soon, but it seems like a large limitation.

CitizenErased

207 posts

Master Geek

#1793781 2-Jun-2017 14:55

Too late now, since you already bought one, but I wanted to mention that HUAWEI are lousy when it comes to software updates. My HUAWEI P9 Lite is fully "up-to-date" which means an Android security patch level of September 2016 (nine months behind). This will be my first and last HUAWEI. My next phone will be running either stock Android or something close to it. Aside from that, I love the phone. Unlike you, I'd actually prefer it if the fingerprint scanner was on the front. That way I could quickly check messages/notifications without having to pick the phone up off my desk.

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