What phone to buy?

Asking normals is no use, because they have all recommended $500-$800 phones, which is berking nuts. I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 that I hate. The battery dies in 4 hours, the screen is busted, and it overheats. Previously I had a Motorola Droid, and then a Droid RAZR, which were both great. I have Verizon on a grandfathered plan, so I don't want to drop it for a new contract. I don't care about the latest bells and whistles, and I don't want a tablet-sized phone. Must be Android and able to use Verizon, preferably under $200 new. Thoughts from the GRM hive?

I have Moto X Pure.
It is a current model but slated for replacement by this year's Xmas season. I can't search right now but look around the Internet you may find $199 for 16GB.
I bought my 32GB for $299 earlier this year and that was a good price then.

$249 for 32GB +

I have loved the Samsung active I'm using. If it sees a lot of screen on time, I can kill the battery in six hours. Otherwise, all day and into tomorrow. This is after 2 years.

It's in an otterbox, and has survived hellacious abuse.

Another "bargain" that I have no personal experience with.

http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/7/28/12290420/blu-r1-hd-amazon-ads-smartphone-review

Edit: Oops, I think GSM only so does not work with Vz

The one+ phones seem to be getting good reviews and are cheap. Idk if Verizon will support the nexus 5x, but that would be my choice, given the options.

Moto G4. Get it carrier unlocked and with Verizon support for 199, or, if you have Amazon prime you can get the Amazon version for 149. The Amazon version has ads on the lock screen, but they don't hinder functionality and you ignore them after a while. Plenty fast, and will take a micro SD card for additional storage.

I'd suggest the Nexus 5X. My wife just got one (for project Fi) and loves it. Pure Android is a wonderful thing. She came from a Galaxy S5 on Verizon, that she loved until recently. Conveniently, it got really slow and buggy just as her 2 year contract was running up.

Going with Verizon, you limit the phones you can get, but there are a lot of good choices. The new moto G4 and g4 plus are great phones and in your range too.

The Galaxy S3 and S4 were kinda crappy. I had a S3 and had all sorts of issues with it. When I upgraded a year ago, I surprisingly went with the S5. Why? Well, it was 0.01 on a promo , it can withstand a little moisture and dust, and it has a SD slot for expandable memory. I listen to a lot of music and take a ton of pics, so I shoved a 128gb card in there. It's a little behind the times, but they did just upgrade them to 6.0 recently. The thing has kicked but so far!

The OnePlus phones are GSM only IIRC and my experience with a OnePlus One was not stellar. Between myself and a couple of friends who bought one, well, we're now staying away from OnePlus. As people said, pure Android like you find on the Google phones and to a large extent on OnePlus as well is a big improvement over the brand-specific versions you find on Samsung, Sony etc.

I do rather like the Nexus 5 (non-x) I bought recently, but again the Nexii are GSM only as far as I'm aware.

I'd look at the Motorolas, but I'd also have a look at other providers unless you really, really need the Verizon coverage. When we took a hard look at our grandfathered plan it didn't make a lot of sense to us to have it and still pay full price for phones.

the $50 amazon phone with root & Cyanogenmod MM?

Would stay away from cyanogen. I went to school with the chief product officer, that place is imploding.

FWIW, I've a Moto G, 3rd gen. These phones can be found for under $100 now. It will do just about anything, runs the latest Android operating system, is waterproof to creek and pond depth, and is tough. While no high performer, it's fundamentally a good machine.

It's biggest downfall, it's a lousy phone. The speaker for the phone (not the external speaker, the one for your ear) is awful. To the point of nearly rendering the phone useless for conversations. It can be done, but it's hard. You will say "what" many times.

So if you do indeed actually talk a lot on a cell phone, I would not recommend this one.

I just got a Nexus 6p, but it is huge so not what you're looking for. Also kindof expensive...

Nexus 5x seems decent, but I've heard the battery life isn't great.

Check out the new moto g phones I think there are 2 of them. They should be reasonably priced with decent specs. Plus Motorola doesn't put too much crap software on your phone, it is pretty much stock android.

I hate Samsing.

I just got rid of my 1st gen moto x due to the battery getting pretty bad and the phone geting slow after 2.75 years of use. Other than that it was a great size, I'm still getting used to my new tablet, I mean phone...

There's a new generation Moto G now, but I'm not sure if there's a CDMA version, which is what you need for Verizon.

I'd watch for a sale on the Nexus 5X. Fast updates, no carrier bloatware like VZ Navigator, solid if unspectacular specs, sounds like just what you need.

The Moto G4 is CDMA capable.

+1 on reexamining your grandfathered plan. Im a very happy iPhone user, so I have no relevant advice on androids, aside from I have some friends of mine running prepayed just went to the new Moto G(?i think) and they are happy with it. They also picked it up at BB on the launch day last month and got some really good deal on them.

Look for a sale on a Nexus 5X. They'll work on Verizon if you have an active microSim which you just swap over to the new phone. If not you can just cut it to fit with a template and it'll work.

I swapped my grandfathered plan for ProjectFi as well after examining the amount of data that I was using. For what I was paying per line I'd have to use something like 12 gigs of data per month per line to break even with ProjectFi. I ditched Verizon pretty much right away after that.

I just bought a Nexus 5x after breaking my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+

It works better in every imaginable way.

The Droid Turbo is a great phone. With the Turbo 2 out, I'm betting the Turbos are pretty low on price. A huge plus is the battery life is awesome.

And even better, your phone will BE forced induction.

Cheapass Chinese Android smartphone. Nearly as good (in terms of general usefulness) as the $500+ models for almost an order of magnitude less money. I recently recommended this model for a friend:

http://www.amazon.com/aPhone-Camera-android-unlocked-smartphone/dp/B01CBID6C2/

Replacement batteries are available (on Alibaba, if nowhere else)

HunterBenz wrote: The Droid Turbo is a great phone. With the Turbo 2 out, I'm betting the Turbos are pretty low on price. A huge plus is the battery life is awesome. And even better, your phone will BE forced induction.

Droid Turbos are 2 years old now, they should be dirt cheap. Even the Turbo 2 is old news now, the newest Droids were just announced (Moto Z and Z Force Droid Editions). FWIW, my son has actually had a fair bit of trouble with his Turbo and will be heading back to Samsung when his contract is up.

GameboyRMH wrote: Cheapass Chinese Android smartphone. Nearly as good (in terms of general usefulness) as the $500+ models for almost an order of magnitude less money. I recently recommended this model for a friend: http://www.amazon.com/aPhone-Camera-android-unlocked-smartphone/dp/B01CBID6C2/ Replacement batteries are available (on Alibaba, if nowhere else)

Unfortunately, most of them, this one included, don't work on CDMA. That's the double-edged sword of being a Verizon customer. Their network is second to none, but your phone choices will always be limited. The whole world uses GSM, so AT&T and T-Mo people can choose from pretty much anything they want.

BoxheadTim wrote: I'd look at the Motorolas, but I'd also have a look at other providers unless you really, really need the Verizon coverage. When we took a hard look at our grandfathered plan it didn't make a lot of sense to us to have it and still pay full price for phones.

We are on a grandfathered plan from 2 or 3 Verizon plan resets ago. It really is a stellar deal now (8GB data, unlimited talk/text, $140/mo for both phones combined including all taxes, and we always have 4G LTE everywhere).

Grtechguy wrote: the $50 amazon phone with root & Cyanogenmod MM?

I have no idea what you just said.

Javelin wrote:

BoxheadTim wrote: I'd look at the Motorolas, but I'd also have a look at other providers unless you really, really need the Verizon coverage. When we took a hard look at our grandfathered plan it didn't make a lot of sense to us to have it and still pay full price for phones.

We are on a grandfathered plan from 2 or 3 Verizon plan resets ago. It really is a stellar deal now (8GB data, unlimited talk/text, $140/mo for both phones combined including all taxes, and we always have 4G LTE everywhere).

You should look at Verizon's website. I don't think that's such a great deal anymore. Looks to me like you can get an 8GB plan for $70 a month now, and an additional phone is usually around $40.