I was hoping for pixel, but it looks like they are not spoiling us too much this year. Have you spotted any good deals?
Best Android phone for $800 - $1000?
Firremann on 28/11/2025 - 09:10
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Would highly recommend biting the bullet and switching to a better authenticator app like Aegis.
Just recently got a mint condition Pixel 9 Pro for $760 on TradeMe and have been loving it 😁
Oh that’s really good!
Unfortunately they’re all work accounts for various different tenants that I’d have to log requests to move to a new Authenticator or to sign in elsewhere
I've got work accounts for different tenants too, but typically you can choose a different authenticator other than Microsoft Authenticator during the MFA setup. I personally use Ente Auth, it's open source and works on all platforms. I can use it on my laptop and everything just syncs automatically and really smoothly between phone and PC.
They recently had an audit done by CERN too:
https://ente.io/blog/cern-audit/Nah we require mfa through Microsoft auth.
Our regular user accounts are allowed to do sms 2fa but anything with any ‘serious’ access is strictly Microsoft Authenticator
It’s annoying af
Ah ok, that sucks. Only thing I can think of to make that process easier is to root and backup and restore using Swift Backup.
One other benefit of rooting is that you can disable certain functionalities of the Company Portal app, which apps like Teams etc rely on for checking device compliance, as well as enforcing MDM policies. One of the common MDM policies is that your Teams will probably be restricted to copy and paste text outside of the Android Work Profile, that is to prevent data leakage. Another restriction is that you can't open links in Teams using browsers in your personal profile. There are probably other restrictions as well that I can't think of. Anyway, by having root to remove certain functionalities of Company Portal app, those MDM restrictions don't apply and yet the device compliance is still a pass (from the initial setup) and everything works fine. Useful in certain situations.
OnePlus 13R is pretty sweet. Has regularly been under $1000 lately. Not as good as the 13, but still excellent screen and battery life, respectable camera, good solid processor and fairly good Android experience (as opposed to Oppo/Samsung, which IMHO are awful).
I recommend avoiding oneplusmobile, apparently they are not as official/authorised as they make out, they drop ship and charge for returns, even under warranty. Make sure you get local support through PB, Mobile Station, etc.
Oneplus 12..
If you have an old phone, trade in and get a samsung s25
Or even a used 24 on trade me, some 256gb s24 ultra for $1k, I got one to surprise my partner with for Xmas.
Definitely the cheapest way to get a flagship phone!
Absolutely this. Got a S25 ultra 256GB for $700 after trade in my iPhone 8 plus and coupons
What coupons did you use / stack?
@amcheapdude: Should be another one similar for the S26 series next year, pre order is generally the best time to buy
Theres a pretty good deal atm on samsung website, can trade in an s24 for an s25 for about $100.
Ph is currently on sale for 1219
400 trade in boost
100 xmas code on website
10% off 1st user app bonusBut with samsung deals like this its usually because 2 offers accidentally overlap, the ph was on sale for 1219 last few week but with a tiny trade in boost. They only just upped the boost to 400 and probably forgot to take off the sale price, so if anyone sees this and is tempted then get it there and then, iv gone to sleep before planning to get it the next day and price has been 400 more
A little luxury for those on Santa’s nice list. ✨
Enjoy an exclusive $100 voucher with code DEC-ON12B-PS (minimum cart value of $800)— just in time for festive upgrades. Valid until 31 Dec, 11:59PM. T&Cs apply.
$764.10 for an S25 512GB using the DEC code, XMAS code, 10% shop and $0 value phone trade in. Not bad.
Doesn't appear that the XMAS25 code nor the DEC code apply to a Galaxy 25 (256GB 12GB) in cart with a trade-in applied
"The code you entered did not affect your order. Please note, codes may only be valid for certain items or in certain conditions."Likely due to the minimum cart $ requirement as per here
My cart Total (pre these discounts) is $289. The codes do work for an S25 ultra, however.
Heh, it did last night. Looks like it wasnt supposed to tho.
Edit - i think i see why. In the trade in part it used to say the amount you would get for the trade in and now it shows the amount with the bonus added, so before the voucher worked as the bonus was added after so the cart value was higher, now it outs the cart value down. Sneaky change by samsung
Ditto, same outcome for me (S24->S25)
And more expensive via the EPP store(Guess I will wait and look again next month)
Nobody is asking the right questions here.
It’s not just about the price range—it’s about what you’re actually looking for. Some people care about rooting and developing apps on their phone. Others prioritize solid overall specs or long-term OS updates and support. Then there are those who focus on having the best camera or the longest-lasting battery.
It's hard to recommend something unless you provide enough details.
Not to mention, do you mind 2nd hand or refurbished phones? Do you mind the hassle of ordering from overseas and have them redirected back to NZ? As you could get a lot more "exotic" phones or phones with much better specs at better price points, but all of this depends on your requirements.
For example, a Pixel 9 Pro Fold with 12GB RAM and 256GB emmc is like $2000+, but you can find refurbished ones for as low as $940. I literally just bought one today. But as I said, it's refurbished. I personally don't care because it's got 12 months of warranty and I just wanted something that I can root and customize easily, since I'm a power user. I chose the Pixel this time around because I wanted a foldable, plus a lot of phone companies are making it harder and harder to unlock bootloaders and so that rules out a lot of phone companies.
I get a lot of discounts on Samsung products (through work), but I'd never go back to a Samsung personally as their phones will trip KNOX if you were to root them, which then causes some other issues.
As for Oppo and OnePlus, I've owned them in the past and they used to be great, but I hate ColorOS now, so I wouldn't recommend them.
So yeah, it depends on a lot of things.
One dude has been selling a 9 pro on trademe for $900 for a while. I’ve only not bought it because I’d have to sign Microsoft Authenticator into about 12 accounts