The best smartphones you can buy in 2023, like the iPhone 14 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, pack amazing specs, incredible cameras and potent processors, but they also come with huge prices of $1,000 or more. Even more budget-focused Android phones like Google’s Pixel 7 can still set you back big bucks, so if you’re shopping on a tight budget your options might seem limited. But buying a used phone can be a great option — even a few hundred bucks can get you a phone that’ll easily handle all your everyday needs, with plenty of additional cool features thrown in.
But what’s the best use of your money: buying a used flagship phone from a couple of years ago or spending the same money on a brand-new budget phone? Will the performance be as good? Can they handle the same tasks? And are they both safe to use?
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To find out, I pitted two phones against each other. One is the Samsung Galaxy S20, a phone that launched in early 2020 and received a very positive review from CNET when we first got our hands on it. I picked it up preowned in the UK in mid-2022 for only £243 (about $290). Available new for around that price is the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite, a phone with solid specs and a price of only £279. (That converts to around $333, but this phone isn’t available in the US.)
The point here isn’t to compare two random phones and tell you which of them to buy. Instead, I’m using these phones simply as examples of what you can get with this kind of budget, both for new and used phones and hopefully to provide some guidance on how you can get the most for your money. So let’s dive in.
As a result, it’s simply not safe to use a phone outside of its support period. OnePlus has promised that the Nord CE 2 Lite will receive three years of security updates from when it launched, which means it will be safe to use until at least April 2025. Samsung announced it will support its phones for longer than it’s previously done, giving the S20 5G four years of security updates — and some of its more recent handsets will get updates for even longer. But the S20 is already three years old, so it’ll still only get updates until February 2024 — at least a year less than the OnePlus.
Read more: That Used or Refurbished Android Phone Might Be Unsafe
So while used flagships like the S20 5G offer a more premium experience overall, their usable lifespan is likely to be shorter. But two years is still a good amount of time, particularly if you’re looking for a cheaper phone simply to tide you over for a year or so. Buying a used flagship that’s a year or two old can be a superb way of putting great tech in your pocket on the cheap. You can buy newer models for more money that will be supported for longer, or you can buy much older ones for low prices — but these may be out of support and so should not be on your shopping list.
Only you can decide what’s more important to you; longer support, higher-end performance or price. Buying used or new means balancing those three elements, but neither option is necessarily ‘better’ than the other. It’s just down to what makes sense for your needs or budget. For my money with these phones, I’d opt for the S20 5G. It’s still got plenty of support time left and its overall performance — especially from its cameras — would make it more usable for me on a day-to-day basis. But read on to see more details on how the S20 5G and the Nord CE 2 Lite compare.
But while there might be a difference on benchmark tests, in everyday use that difference isn’t especially noticeable. General navigation around each phone is swift and free of any annoying lag, opening apps feels instant and opening the camera is maybe a half second faster on the S20. Video streaming is handled just fine on both phones, as is gaming in demanding games like Asphalt 9: Legends, even with the settings set to maximum.
Batteries in phones do age over time, even if they’re not heavily used. I even had to replace a battery myself on an iPhone 6 as it had aged so much. Two years might not be a huge amount of time, but I did expect to see poorer performance from the S20 here and it’s certainly a mark in its favor that it put up such a fight. Do keep in mind though that older phone batteries might have aged and it’s still generally a smart move to charge your phone every night, whether it’s used or brand-new.
The S20’s display is smaller (6.2 inches versus 6.59 inches) but it’s got a higher resolution and its AMOLED tech makes it brighter and more vibrant than the Nord’s, so watching videos or playing colorful games is a generally nicer experience on the S20. Physically the S20 feels like a proper flagship phone with a glass and metal construction that feels a lot more luxurious than the quite plasticky Nord CE 2 Lite.
You’ll also find additional features on the S20 like an in-screen fingerprint scanner (rather than a side-mounted one on the Nord) and an IP68 rating to keep water at bay. The Nord does let you expand its 128GB of storage, however, whereas the S20 does not. The Nord also has a 3.5mm headphone jack that will be helpful to those of you still using wired headphones.
Winner: The S20’s premium design, more vibrant display, water resistance rating and comparable battery life will make this phone more enjoyable to use on a daily basis and they’re great reasons to consider a recent, used flagship phone over a new budget handset.
Which should you buy?
I first wrote this article in 2020 based on a three-year-old phone that was right on the cusp of being cut off from its security support. Then, the choice was clear: The old flagship would soon be unsafe to use, so it was much smarter to opt for the new budget phone. Having updated the article with a new comparison, though, the S20 5G I’ve tested still has at least a year of usable life ahead of it, which makes it worth considering — especially when buying used means keeping another phone out of landfill.
And that time spent with an older flagship like the S20 will likely be more enjoyable than buying a new budget phone, thanks to its better cameras, its nicer screen and its more luxurious design, build and features like waterproofing. It’s a great device that offers a hell of a lot considering the low price I paid for it on the used market.
So do consider buying used — it’s a great way of putting awesome tech in your pocket, not overstretching your budget and rescuing an otherwise great phone from landfill. But it’s important to shop smart: Buy from a trusted source (I used MusicMagpie in the UK, but Gazelle performs an identical service in the US) and make sure it’s recent enough that it’ll still receive security updates for at least a year or two.
Article source: https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/want-a-phone-for-300-dollars-heres-why-buying-used-might-be-best/#ftag=CADe34d7bf