So I have a (now) horrible Kyocera Hydro Vibe, which is riddled with issues (memory leaks, low battery capacity, massive slowdowns, usb connection issues, and more than anything else - google play services crashes.) I decided it is time for an upgrade. I am currently on a non-contract Sprint postpaid plan (my Kyocera Hydro Vibe is almost paid off via easy pay.) I don't want to buy my new phone through Sprint because their prices are quite ridiculous compared to what I've found elsewhere (Ebay in particularly.) Unfortunately it seems as if certain models of phones that work on their network are only supported on their pre-paid plans, which limits my options greatly. I don't want to switch to pre-paid because I currently have an unlimited data no throttling plan, and I like it that way. So does anybody have any tips on a phone with these plan-based constraints and the following priorities?
1. It has to be able to tether using Pdanet, and Sprint Spark/free Wifi tethering (not opposed to rooting it and putting a custom rom on it to get that) are huge pluses!
2. I am not a fan of phablets or anything with a screen size above 5 inches.
3. A screen that lets me see in the sunlight (outdoors) without the battery dying quite fast because I have the brightness on max is a plus.
4. I don't care too much about specs nor about camera quality. As long as I can browse the web/use moderately strenuous apps I am happy. Having said that, I want something that definitely feels like a level above my Kyocera (which was weakish when I bought it, but got the job done.)
5. No phone-breaking bugs. This is what killed the otherwise decent Kyocera for me.
6. A sturdy (less-breakable) phone is nice, it was one of the advantages of the Kyocera, but I can do without (I'll treat it with more care, if necessary.)
7. My budget is in the $150-300 range, the cheaper the better. I don't care if the phone is a few years old (as long as I can get it new/not-used.) For example I am not put off from getting an HTC One M8 or an older Samsung Galaxy model if it puts me in my price-range. The hardware doesn't seem that drastically better that I'd care with the newer models from what I've read. My only concern is that I don't want the Android version to be obsolete within the two or so years I plan to use this phone from now.
I have looked at the Motorola Moto E and Moto G (2016), they seem what I want, but unfortunately these only seem to work on Sprint pre-paid plans (am I wrong?) I've also looked at the HTC One M8/M9 which seem to be more than what I want but less than three hundred dollars new on Ebay, but I really don't know too much about them. Other than that I have no idea and don't want to look into all the mess more than I have so far.
Do any of you have recommendations? Thank you very much!
1. It has to be able to tether using Pdanet, and Sprint Spark/free Wifi tethering (not opposed to rooting it and putting a custom rom on it to get that) are huge pluses!
2. I am not a fan of phablets or anything with a screen size above 5 inches.
3. A screen that lets me see in the sunlight (outdoors) without the battery dying quite fast because I have the brightness on max is a plus.
4. I don't care too much about specs nor about camera quality. As long as I can browse the web/use moderately strenuous apps I am happy. Having said that, I want something that definitely feels like a level above my Kyocera (which was weakish when I bought it, but got the job done.)
5. No phone-breaking bugs. This is what killed the otherwise decent Kyocera for me.
6. A sturdy (less-breakable) phone is nice, it was one of the advantages of the Kyocera, but I can do without (I'll treat it with more care, if necessary.)
7. My budget is in the $150-300 range, the cheaper the better. I don't care if the phone is a few years old (as long as I can get it new/not-used.) For example I am not put off from getting an HTC One M8 or an older Samsung Galaxy model if it puts me in my price-range. The hardware doesn't seem that drastically better that I'd care with the newer models from what I've read. My only concern is that I don't want the Android version to be obsolete within the two or so years I plan to use this phone from now.
I have looked at the Motorola Moto E and Moto G (2016), they seem what I want, but unfortunately these only seem to work on Sprint pre-paid plans (am I wrong?) I've also looked at the HTC One M8/M9 which seem to be more than what I want but less than three hundred dollars new on Ebay, but I really don't know too much about them. Other than that I have no idea and don't want to look into all the mess more than I have so far.
Do any of you have recommendations? Thank you very much!
