What phone should i be looking at right now?

maybe consider Chinese branded phones like poco x3 for about $290? see this thread on Redflagdeals - discussion on the phone POCO X3 - Thread

Less costly alternative for the POCO line would be the POCO M3 ~ $200 ALIEXPRESS - POCO STORE

Your existing phone has weakish specs.

The Motorola Moto G Power at Costco is a good phone and in your price range. If has three storage and RAM, a much faster processor, and much better battery life.

At that price point I don't think you can beat the Pixel 3 XL at B&H: https://forums.redflagdeals.com/bh-phot ... 2468729/5/

CheapBucket wrote: ↑maybe consider Chinese branded phones like poco x3 for about $290? see this thread on Redflagdeals - discussion on the phone POCO X3 - Thread

Less costly alternative for the POCO line would be the POCO M3 ~ $200 ALIEXPRESS - POCO STORE

I am wanting to avoid the non mainstream brands.

robertz wrote: ↑Your existing phone has weakish specs.

Indeed it does.
After the Pie upgrade many people started complaining that their phones were broken, taps don't always register, things take forever to load and it just keeps getting worse somehow even though there are no more updates. Some have wondered if its intentional.
When i bought it it was highly rated, a year later it was software trashed.

The Motorola Moto G Power at Costco is a good phone and in your price range. If has three storage and RAM, a much faster processor, and much better battery life.

Its already a year old and its replacement has a weaker processor. I am concerned about ending up back in same situation i am in now.

Amourek wrote: ↑At that price point I don't think you can beat the Pixel 3 XL at B&H: https://forums.redflagdeals.com/bh-phot ... 2468729/5/

Interesting. How long will it get security updates?

Why are you so worried about security updates? My mother still uses the exact same phone as you, I just told her to never update it. Disabled auto updates altogether and it flies like on the first day we got it. It’s not like the day security updates stop, a hacker just takes control of your phone and makes it a brick just to screw you over.

Unless you need some specific feature that the new OS offers, or you are a key figure in Secret Services, I would ignore the updates altogether because they are meant to slow your phone down by giving heavy resource features.

Varian wrote: ↑ Why are you so worried about security updates? My mother still uses the exact same phone as you, I just told her to never update it. Disabled auto updates altogether and it flies like on the first day we got it. It’s not like the day security updates stop, a hacker just takes control of your phone and makes it a brick just to screw you over.

Unless you need some specific feature that the new OS offers, or you are a key figure in Secret Services, I would ignore the updates altogether because they are meant to slow your phone down by giving heavy resource features.

While this is appalling advice its pointless. My phone no longer gets updates but is still getting slower despite factory resets.

Quentin5 wrote: ↑ While this is appalling advice its pointless. My phone no longer gets updates but is still getting slower despite factory resets.

So install the older version of Android..the one that came with the phone. It’s much easier on the hardware

Varian wrote: ↑ So install the older version of Android..the one that came with the phone. It’s much easier on the hardware

I had considered Lineage OS or one of the other OSes since i don't have a Android Pie install file, but i found the instructions too cryptic to follow.
Plus i need a daily driver and not an experiment phone.

I'm also looking for a new phone with the same budget, haven't found anything yet.

A Samsung phone might be good. 4 years of security updates.
https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung ... ng-updates

CaptainD wrote: ↑ I'm also looking for a new phone with the same budget, haven't found anything yet.

A Samsung phone might be good. 4 years of security updates.
https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung ... ng-updates

I like.
It seems the processor is the weak spot in phones, though i have noticed 2GB of RAM is no longer sufficient in my Samsung Tab A tablet.

Have you looked at the Samsung A line of phones?

The new ones are modern looking and can be had for 200-300 depending on the version.

If you need a new phone plan as well, Fido is offering the Motorola Edge+, 256GB, 12GB RAM, Snapdragon 875 chip, 5g compatible phone for only 15*24 = $360 for 2 years. If you get the deal online, you also get a $50 bill credit which makes the phone $310 essentially. See the promo here

MasterNegotiator wrote: ↑ If you need a new phone plan as well, Fido is offering the Motorola Edge+, 256GB, 12GB RAM, Snapdragon 875 chip, 5g compatible phone for only 15*24 = $360 for 2 years. If you get the deal online, you also get a $50 bill credit which makes the phone $310 essentially. See the promo here

Its a good deal but i currently pay $25/month for service, vs the $67/month for this deal.
Which means i would be paying about $1000 for this phone

Gtaphotog wrote: ↑ Have you looked at the Samsung A line of phones?

The new ones are modern looking and can be had for 200-300 depending on the version.

As the (not so) proud owner of the A51, I suggest looking elsewhere. This phone's processor is unforgivably slow. I am an ace away from frisbee-ing this thing in to the lake at least 2x weekly.

MatthewN61173 wrote: ↑ As the (not so) proud owner of the A51, I suggest looking elsewhere. This phone's processor is unforgivably slow. I am an ace away from frisbee-ing this thing in to the lake at least 2x weekly.

Sounds familiar, i threaten to throw my phone into Niagara Falls on a regular basis yet it still refuses to do simple tasks reasonably

I want what OP wants too, but "cheap (200-300 non-subsidized) + fast (Snapdragon 662/665 are considered slow to OP) + good long security update from manufacturer" I don't think that exists, you can only get 2 out of 3

ssiu wrote: ↑ I want what OP wants too, but "cheap (200-300 non-subsidized) + fast (Snapdragon 662/665 are considered slow to OP) + good long security update from manufacturer" I don't think that exists, you can only get 2 out of 3

While i don't disagree, the fact the Motorola borks its own phones makes me not want to buy another one from them to repeat the process. My not being a masochist and all.
If Samsung produced a phone with the same chip at a similar price point i would probably buy it as they don't seem to similarly destroy their own products.

Quentin5 wrote: ↑ While i don't disagree, the fact the Motorola borks its own phones makes me not want to buy another one from them to repeat the process. My not being a masochist and all.
If Samsung produced a phone with the same chip at a similar price point i would probably buy it as they don't seem to similarly destroy their own products.

Keep an eye on Samsung Galaxy A22 5G; if Samsung plans to sell it in Canada it will probably be around $300. (The A32 5G is $370) It uses MediaTek Dimensity 700, which looks to be a bit faster than Snapdragon 662/665.
Note that even though Samsung promises 4 years of "regular" security updates, for cheaper devices it could be only quarterly update in early years, and bi-annual/"as-needed" in final year.

Quentin5 wrote: ↑ I have an old Motorola G6 Play that is getting more and more laggy (now when i open an app or try to dial a number it can take 5-30 seconds to load or register taps). I also have no call display becasue its usually too slow to show up before the phone stops ringing. Sometimes its so laggy i can't pick up in time either. I have done factory resets but its useless, they borked it when they upgraded it to Pie years ago and its getting much more unbearable.

I am looking for unlocked and buy outright for use on Public Mobile. Budget is $200, $300 if necessary.
I want at least 3GB RAM, 32GB, 4/64 preferred.

Costco has some sales on Motorola phones but they are last years models, so already on the way to being obsolete (less than another year of security updates). The 2021 phones while not available at Costco use Snapdragon 662 which is in fact slightly slower than last years Snapdragon 665 chip. And are on Android Q. Also not sure i want to buy another Motorola after the hell of the piece of garbage i already have of theirs.

So what other options are there in my price range?
I'd like to avoid non mainstream brands.

TIA

I have a moto 6g (NOT the play) and I also want to throw it against something lol. I also got the issue with the battery draining fast when I started to use it at all.

I also had enough with Motorola and planning to switch to Samsung (probably A52). This time around I am planning to spend more on my phone in hopes that it lasts longer than 2 years. I had a $400 budget which through 2 year contract I can get the A52 at but before that I was looking at buying out right.

Have you considered buying a refurbished phone from a reputable seller on ebay/amazon? I did that with my moto G6 and got a great deal on it paid ($175) for it at the time and I made to sure to get the ones in very good or excellent condition. When it came I could not even tell it was not brand new.

It is something to consider, it might get a better phone and be still in your budget. One of the phones I did look at was the Samsung Galaxy s10 ($355 to $420 with taxes on ebay). It is older but Samsng did commit to 4 years of update on it so it does have 2ish years left of updates and even after updates I think it should be still useable.

If you go brand new in your budget I am not sure if any phone you buy will even make it 2 years regardless if they give updates or as like you mentioned as soon as they push new updates it may make the phone worse.