Which budget phone is reliable for a musician and has a great battery?

Masoniker

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A background on me
I am a musician, music lover, and general audio enthusiast, who is interested in purchasing a reliable phone that is durable, features above average battery, and can capture and produce crisp/loud sound. I don’t need a $800 phone with top-of-the-line features. I want a reliable phone that would pare well with my interests.

COST: Under $500
OPERATING SYSTEM: Android
BATTERY: Lasts 24h+ under moderate use
STORAGE: 32gb+, preferably expandable

CAMERA: Able to focus at close objects, and performs well in taking darker shots
CARRIER: Unlocked and works with most carriers.
- Right now I'm on cricket but I heard cricket is going to be absorbed by AT&T so I want a phone that can do both.

OTHER FEATURES
# Good sound quality
- I want a 3.5mm aux port with...
- A good DAC,
- Loud speakers,
- And a good microphone
# Rear fingerprint scanner
- Doesn't have to be lightning fast
# Sturdy / drop resistance
- I don't want this phone to fall apart easily.
# Includes warranty
- Just in case it falls apart
# Water resistance
- I'm not planning on swimming with it, but water resistance would be nice.
# A clean UI, not filled with bloatware
- I just want simple.
 

pkcable

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A couple good phones to consider that may meet your desires are the Huawei Mate 9 and LG V20.

Those are excellent choices! Also consider the 2 cheaper Moto phones, the Moto X4 and the Moto G5 Plus. IF you get them on Amazon you can save a few dollars IF you accept amazon sponsored ads. They are really not as bad as it sounds, the ads just appear on the lock screen and are easily ignored. :)
 

Mooncatt

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I also vote for the V20, and it's my current phone for the foreseeable future. It was designed with creaters in mind.

A couple of things of note, though. It's not a current model, so you may have to buy it used and thus without warranty (unless you buy a third party warranty). That also means possible weak batteries from age. The good news is it's built like a tank and has a removable battery, and you can get much larger batteries if desired.

All things considered, I still think the V20 is the best total package on the market.
 

pkcable

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I also vote for the V20, and it's my current phone for the foreseeable future. It was designed with creaters in mind.

A couple of things of note, though. It's not a current model, so you may have to buy it used and thus without warranty (unless you buy a third party warranty). That also means possible weak batteries from age. The good news is it's built like a tank and has a removable battery, and you can get much larger batteries if desired.

All things considered, I still think the V20 is the best total package on the market.

I have a V30 myself (which is probably above your budget), and it really is excellent at video, camera and music. The V20 isn't far off from it AND should be obtainable within your budget. As Mooncatt said though, you likely would need to buy used. :)
 

Masoniker

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I'm heavily considering the v20 but I'm leery on purchasing a phone second hand; I don't want to get ripped off. So, where would you recommend purchasing a v20 nowadays? My initial instinct is always Amazon.
 

Rukbat

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OPERATING SYSTEM: Android
BATTERY: Lasts 24h+ under moderate use
You just contradicted yourself. 8 hours? Maybe. 24 hours? Not without a power pack. Not for $500, not for $1,500. People want light phones and phones with batteries that last a week on a charge. Light they can give us.

If you're willing to carry a power pack around with you, any phone and a 10,000mAh power pack. If you're not, you're not going to find one.

24 hours without use? (Just have it turned on with the screen off?) Maybe. But make a few phone calls, visit a few websites, and 8 hours is good. That's light use. Moderate use? Maybe 6 hours.

Any phone:

Drop resistance? An Otterbox Defender or a Unicorn Beetle case.

Water resistance. That means it got some raindrops on it, or was on the table when you spilled your drink on the table. Drop it into a sink of dishwater and, if you're very lucky, and very fast (and have read Oh, no! My Phone got Wet!), it will probably survive. Unless it's in a Lifeproof case - then it's practically (but not guaranteed totally) waterproof.

A clean UI with no bloatware? Google - either the Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL now. Earphone through a USB adapter (DAC in the adapter). So-so speakers. (Not bad, but even with my hearing loss I can tell the difference between my phone and my car radio.) Anything else has manufacturer bloat and, if you buy it from a carrier, carrier bloat.

Oh, and storage isn't actually expandable. Yes, you can move parts of some apps (and that's getting fewer and fewer every day) to the SD card, but that's a bad idea for a number of reasons. Buy a phone with enough internal storage for as long as you plan to own it. (An SD card can be used to hold music, pictures, etc., but don't count on it for apps.) And any phone has external storage - with an OTG adapter for a memory stick or an SD (or microSD) card. (I have no SD card slot, but I normally walk around with about 1TB of storage in my pocket. And an adapter. But the phone has 128GB of internal storage.)
 

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