IsleOfMan

The G4 Play should be an excellent ~$100 phone and, theoretically, offer quite substantial battery life given its low-power processor, 720p screen, and Android Marshmallow.

The G4 Plus looks like it could be surprisingly capable, especially if it it's kept in the $200 range and has NFC (not mentioned as included or omitted). My one hope is the plastic edges of the previous 3rd gen Moto G are somehow improved upon as they looked much better in pictures than they looked/felt in real life. They're also all still a bit thick/hefty for their size to (seemingly) have no metal in their construction, though the largish batteries probably have a bit to do with that.

gobluetwo

Supposed to support VoLTE, per this article.

The G4 Plus is supposed to have Band 12, so hopefully that means the same for the G4.

pseudoswede

I was able to acquire two Verizon S6edge phones for $200 each from Best Buy. Coupled with their $200 rebate, these phones will simply cost expedited shipping plus tax (about $16.50 each).

I'd love to trade these immediately for two T-Mobile versions. What would be the best way to do this?

SlickDeals thread

BigFlyer

Sell on ebay or Swappa. Take that money and buy whatever phone you want.

pseudoswede

Got shipping notification from UPS. Expected delivery 5/26.

I think a very conservative estimate would be getting $400 each if I sold on Craigslist. That means, with rebates, $1200 to play with to get two phones for my kids. I think one problem is that I'm not sure if I want my kids (only 8 & 11) to have very expensive phones; the other problem is that the new Moto G4s don't come out for another two-ish months.

If the HTC One A9 was around $299, that would've been an insta-buy for me (especially since it includes an one year accidental damage warranty). $429 for that phone is crazy talk.

The Moto X Pure at $350 would also be a candidate, but I'm afraid their small hands will cause them to drop a 5.7" phone all the time.

nkedel

Still debating getting a newer travel phone, and kicking myself for not picking up a second Nexus 6 when they were briefly down to $249.

Amazon has some new-remaining-stock for $307, and the $10 off for the Prime Now first order discount covers the delivery. I love it for my main phone, although I was hoping for something closer to $200.

None of the current $200-ish set (mainly the Honor 5X, Moto G 3rd gen, Zenfone Laser) quite meet my needs. The Moto G4 probably will (definitely will, other than the question of what bands it supports, and to the extent that I may use it as an in-US spare, whether it supports Wifi calling and LTE band 12.)

Worth waiting for, or just order the 2nd Nexus 6?

pseudoswede

T-Mobile currently has the 128GB S6edge for $350 after instant and mail-in rebates. Argh. If it only had some water resistance.

Two LG G4s would cost $525 after mail-in rebate. But, again, big phone.

I think I'm going to need to wait to see what kind of Father's Day specials they will have.

wendyg

A couple of months ago I got a Galaxy Note 4 N9100 - this is the dual sim version. The sim management seems to work very well. I preferred the older Android interface from my Note 2, but it's really nice not having to carry two phones, and the N9100 has a 20 mpixel camera, which is excellent. I believe it's the last model to have a user-replaceable battery (but if that appeals to you, bear in mind that the N9100 takes a different battery than the standard Note 4).

wg

pseudoswede

Any opinions on the HTC One M9? It's currently priced for $300 with T-Mobile.

There were initial reports of the phones overheating like crazy, but it seems like subsequent firmware and Marshmallow updates have solved those. The other perk is the one-year accidental damage warranty (including water), which will reduce my stress since the phones will be in the hands of kids.

IsleOfMan

I've seen these drop as low as $200 refubished on eBay, but $300 with the accidental damage warranty is not a bad price, especially since it pretty much guarantees you get a new phone at the end of that year if you want to (unless there's an obnoxious deductible).

pseudoswede

I should've said in my previous post that I'm buying two for my kids. It sounds like the accidental damage program is actually really good...

deniah

non-sense manufacturer add-on software
strange color temperature
really poor battery life
quite slow performance compared to on-paper specs

i'd rather buy the nexus 5x

pseudoswede

I've heard firmware and Marshmallow updates have fixed that.

$400 for a 32GB with no microSD slot is a bit much. And, believe it or not, I'm trying to avoid USB-C for as long as I can. Trying to tell my kids they can only use these cables to charge their phones will confuse them (and Mrs. Swede).

nkedel

Moto X Pure edition? My wife is quite happy with hers; $349 for 32gb, no USB C, has a Micro-SD slot.

pseudoswede

Too big for my kids' hands.

I ended up with two M9's. The accidental damage warranty sealed the deal. I'm upgrading my T-Mobile account to a really sweet regional-only grandfathered plan*. That would have given me the ability to take advantage of the Samsung Galaxy S7 BOGO. But, like I said before, I'm not sure I trust my kids with a $700 phone. $300 + accidental damage warranty sounds much better.

* - Currently paying $70 base for two lines, $5 each additional line. Three lines with 3GB data ($10 each) and one line with 6GB data ($15). Lines without a paid data plan actually get unlimited talk/text and unlimited throttled (128kbps) data. Maximum of five lines. New plan (only available in Colorado and Arizona) will give me all five lines each with 6GB data for the same price; plus I can add/remove lines as needed for $10/mo with 6GB data.