Some thoughts about lower-to-mid-range phones if anyone considering:
Considering the Pixel 6a which is very similar to my last, the Pixel 4a 5g.
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I suspect I could get something similar even cheaper. Would be willing to pay more for a better camera though.
-tomos
I couldnt find anything under €/$ 500 with a better camera, so ordered the 6a.
Its main con for me is only available with 128GB and no SD expansion.
The 7a has a better processor, better refresh rate, its camera has more megapixels -- but doesnt seem to make much better images (so not worth the extra €100 to me).
If you're not such a fussy beggar re the camera, there's probably lots of good options out there. One that looked very interesting to me was the Samsung A53. Didnt take eSIM though and I wasnt convinced enough to go order a new SIM card.
-tomos
Hey. I had a OnePlus Nord N10 5G phone. I was hoping for an upgrade with faster charging, more Ram etc.. The first attempt by OnePlus was a phone with 65W charger but less Ram and not as much storage, plus it cost $100 more than the N10. I held out and the end of June they released the Nord N30 5G. It was an enhanced N10 5G basically. It comes with a 50W charger instead of 33W. 8 GB Ram instead of 6 GB. The same 128 GB storage and the same open spot in the Sim tray for a micro sdcard. Plus the Qualcom processor is a bit better. The screen refresh rate is 120 FPS instead of 90. The cameras are improved but I don't really know much about them. I am not into photography. The main disappointment was the fingerprint unlock got uncoorperative after only 3 days. But that was kind of a blessing in disguise because it provoked me to try face unlock. Turns out it is much smoother than using the fingerprint. With "lift to wake" setting enabled I just lift the phone and look at the screen and the padlock shows unlocked. Then swipe up to go to home screen.
I think it is a good buy for $270 USD. The main drawback getting phones from Metro by T-Mobile is they seal them. You need to be a phone tech to change the battery. But that aside I especially love the charging. The N10 could take 15 minutes to go from 99% to 100%. This N30 goes from 72% to 100% in about 20 minutes. And the charger still fits in my cargo pocket. Another thing I like is it is Android 13 and works well with Hyperion Launcher. The main feature of Hyperion is it will save and restore home screen layouts. Saves unscrambling a botched home screen by hand.
So far I have to say I like the phone. But I haven't watched much streaming yet. I got a Lenovo Laptop with 2.5K res so I try to watch vids with that.