Buying a New Smartphone. Any advice?

Lshhuuu0328 on 10/02/2022 - 09:24
Last edited 16/02/2022 - 00:13

Hi Cheapies, hope you guys are having a great day.

So I've recently been thinking about buying a new smartphone. I see that the new Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup is about to launch soon, however I am not the type to spend more than $1000 for a phone.

I have been checking out mid tier range phones like, Samsung Galaxy A52 and Samsung Galaxy S20 FE. But I am also curious to see if the current S21 lineup will be cheaper after the launch of S22.

Do you guys think I should wait for S21 to get cheaper? or any suggestions on other affordable smartphones are also welcome as well.

Thank You in advance.

EDIT

Hi Guys, thank you everyone for the advices. I have decided to purchase Samsung Galaxy A52s from PB Tech. Loving it so far. Great screen and battery.

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  • gcnz on 11/02/2022 - 07:59
    +2

    I bought a new phone recently, I didn't want anything huge or over $600 which really limited my choiced, S20 and S21 were the right size buy way too expensive. I did look at the S20 FE since it was $697 at Harvey Norman, but it was just too big for me, I see it has gone back up to $1097! the same price as the S21 FE. Go into a store and see if they have any on clearance still for $697, I found it in Dunedin. I tried a few of the Galaxy A phones, they were mostly big and chunky, not for me.
    I ended up getting a S10e from Cash Converters for $300, it's as new, it's a great wee phone, does everything I need. Got a new Clear View case for $4.99 on TradeMe, was still $90 at PBTech.

  • tanivula on 10/02/2022 - 22:56
    +1

    I highly rate the a52s that's out. The high refresh rate screen and IP rating are the great features (aside from the pretty good internal components). Yes, you can get better value with Xiaomi etc, but and very importantly, compatibility with spark/Vodafone/2deg for features like VoLTE and VoWifi mean it's worth paying the bit extra for the Sammy.

    • shhuuu0328 on 10/02/2022 - 23:32

      Hi tanivula.

      Yes A52 or A52S is looking solid for me right now.

      I don't really mind if the HRR screen is 90hz so I'm leaning more towards A52. Currently priced at $562 from Noel Leeming. And Samsung did say that A52 lineup will continue to get 2-3 more years of security updates as well.

      Thank you for the added suggestions. Really appreciate it.

      • sleep-cheapies on 11/02/2022 - 01:53

        I got the A52 on boxing day to replace my old Xiaomi phone. Did heaps of research and A52 is probably the best midranger I could find that suited my needs. e.g audio jack, amoled display, expandable memory slot.

        Also considered s20fe but found that the price difference to specs wasnt enough to justify buying flagship. Have read some not so great review about the FE but do your own research 😅

        bonus stuff i found was the dual speakers and the ip rating so you dont have to worry if the phone gets splashed.

        theres heaps of cool stuff you can do with samsungs now like connecting two bluetooth speakers at the same time and setting up bixby routines to automate the way you use your phone e.g. making sure your phone data is off whenever youre connected to your home wifi

        you could always wait til valentines day and see if theres any deals for the phone too.

  • spam on 10/02/2022 - 11:08

    i guess depends on what you need/budget. I bought oneplus nord last year for $600-ish and is a great all rounder phone. Coming from Nokia 7 plus, it seems like an upgrade but really depends on what you're upgrading from.

    Galaxy A52 (and A72) was what I considered as well but doesn't like the build so I went with Oneplus. S21 FE seemed like an upgrade to the S20 FE but haven't really see the price if it's worth getting it or just get the S21 since S22 have been launched.

    • shhuuu0328 on 10/02/2022 - 11:26

      Hi Spam. Thanks for the comment.

      Yes I do hear that OnePlus products are quite good. Did you buy the Nord from Noel Leeming?

      Right now, the S21 FE is around $1100, so its definitely not worth the money. Might as well buy S21 or S22. So I guess I will just wait out and see for now.

      Thanks.

      • spam on 10/02/2022 - 11:37

        I bought it from MightyApe last year. I see they no longer have it but they do have the Nord 2: https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/one-plus-nord-2-5g-dual-….
        Noel leeming sells the same version that I have for the same price: https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/one-plus-nord-2-5g-dual-…

        Haven't done comparison between Nord vs Nord 2 but supposedly Nord 2 is an upgrade; if not just for the battery

        One thing that I quite enjoy with Nord is the phone has a slider to switch between silent-vibrate-tone much like iphone; not just an option on your dragdown bar but i guess it's personal experience.

        • shhuuu0328 on 10/02/2022 - 11:49

          Right, Nord 2 looks very tempting. I will definitely check it out, and compare it with other devices.

          Really appreciate your help!

  • CheapThingsAreNice on 10/02/2022 - 11:31

    But I am also curious to see if the current S21 lineup will be cheaper

    I work for a retailer, we will not receive more s21. They've been on stock-on-hand only for a few weeks already, so you might get some last units cheap but there is not much around.

    There will be aggressive pre order extras and probably some interest free discounts on a contract. Expect Oppo find X3 to drop to probably about a grand in a few weeks when find x5 launches.

    I wish pixel 6 was more attainable here

    • spam on 10/02/2022 - 11:38

      If you want to open your wallet, Pixel 6 is available: https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/google-pixel-6-5g-128gb-… or https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/google-pixel-6-pro-5g-12…

      but yeah, not going to fork that much on a phone

    • shhuuu0328 on 10/02/2022 - 11:56

      Hi, Thank you for the reply.

      I see. Hopefully, discounts on S21 will cut its price down to around $800. I'm also looking at those pre-order deals for S22 on the Samsung as an option as well.

      I am not a big fan of Oppo but thank you for bringing them into the discussion. Kind of forgot about that brand haha.

      Thanks.

      • Drcspy on 11/02/2022 - 07:35

        The pre order 'deals' for the S22 seem to mainly rely on 'extras' to entice the customer not discounts. And they're not cheap. Personally if I'm buying a phone the 'extras' are not necessarily any enticement. I may not need another set of wireless earbuds lol etc. Anyway you say you're not a big fan of Oppo. Well I wasn't either but only because I'd never owned one. I've now had an Oppo Find X2 Lite for about 18 months and it's a very good phone. The later models are better. I must say also Oppo are very good with updates so far.

        • shhuuu0328 on 11/02/2022 - 13:07

          Hi there.

          Yes, I was looking at those pre order deals on Cheapies main page but even after discount and everything it is still too expensive for me.

          I just had a look at Oppo phones today at both Noel and Harvey. They are much better than I initially had in mind. Definitely gonna wait till Valentine's to see if there will be any discounts on those.

          Thanks!

    • Sxeten on 11/02/2022 - 12:21

      Is this also the case for the recently released S21 FE? or will that model be ousted quickly with a S22 FE?

      • quasar on 12/02/2022 - 11:01

        The FE models tend to come out 9-10 months after the normal models, so I would guess the s22 FE won't be out until October or November

        • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2022 - 08:26

          S21 Fe only came out recently and I expect the price drop will be around July

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