Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Any recommendations for reasonably priced unlocked Android phones available in Canada?

I have been getting by with a very cheap (C$40) and now quite old unlocked phone (Blu Advance 4.0) that I usually only have talk/text minutes on. It has some apps on it that I can use with wifi but very few are supported now due to its "advanced age". Having a phone without data is making it more difficult to function in the outside world, especially since Covid. I searched the forums and did read through a recent telcom discussion but it was understandably US-centric -- the land of far more options at much cheaper prices.

I looked at unlocked Android prices at Canadian stores and my jaw dropped. I am so naive about what phones cost. Is spending $400-500 for a low-end phone really the reality now? I spent only a little more than that recently for a laptop! I'm not expecting to spend $40 (and don't want to go super cheap again if I'm actually going to have a data plan on it; I want it to be reasonably functional) but am fairly stunned at the prices.

Thanks!

does it need to be unlocked? why not prepaid or (if you want a data plan) a carrier phone?

im strictly a prepaid customer and have bought decent cheap verizon phones at walmart (usa though).

i was looking at walmart.ca and saw wide price ranges, but have no idea about your phone carriers,what phone you’re looking for, etc.

bestbuy.ca only showed pricey models however.

you’re probably just looking at the wrong merchant?

I spent <$200 for my current (mid-range at the time) unlocked phone off of Amazon. You can get a last-gen model for under $200 (Huawei Honor 8, from 2019, $170) quite easily there.

Thanks Alphaville. I do prepaid right now but to move the SIM card I assumed I needed another unlocked phone. I also have to swap out/switch the SIMs whenever I cross to the US or travel anywhere else (not that I'll be doing any border crossing anytime soon). But I've fallen greatly behind on phone technology so I could easily be talking nonsense here. I never think about Walmart; will take a look!

Thanks basuragomi. It never occurred to me to look at last-gen models (super ignorant on all this - I always just bought whatever cheap phone speakout had available).

I went to a physio appointment this morning and the MOA at the front desk got very cranky at me that I couldn't use an app to do the Covid screening and she had to enter it all herself. It seems anytime I venture out of the house now I make someone's life more difficult with my lack of functioning smartphone.

You can find pretty good used phones on kijiji.ca. I bought my P20 Pro over a year ago for ~$300 from some guy, and it looked brand new (under a year old with a protective cover on the entire time). I hope it lasts a long time (so far no issues). When I am buying a phone, I look for:
-> a long lasting battery
-> more than average RAM
-> a good CPU
(in that order) to future proof it. And I use one of the cheaper plans from Freedom Mobile.

I bought a Moto G-7 off of ebay for $120. Pretty reliable phone, definitely behind the cutting edge. The battery lasts a couple of days with my usage.

I had the original Moto G, which I bought unlocked from Staples. I kept it until last year, when it was destroyed in an unfortunate accident. I ordered a Moto G6, I can't remember if it was ebay or amazon, but either way it was inexpensive and reliable. I don't use my phone much however.