Cheap smartphone (under $250) w/ good camera?

Nexus4Buyer

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Mar 30, 2013
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I've been looking into smartphones for my whole family and me and my brother are probably getting Nexus 4's ($350). My sister doesn't care about having recent tech, but I know she would appreciate a good camera even if the rest of the phone is meh. The Sony Ericsson Mini Pro seems to be a decent choice as it is only $180, comes w/ a keyboard which she would probably also appreciate, and as a bonus it has received an ICS update. However, the camera isn't anything special. Is there any smartphone that I could find at a similar price with a pretty good camera?
 
I've been looking into smartphones for my whole family and me and my brother are probably getting Nexus 4's ($350). My sister doesn't care about having recent tech, but I know she would appreciate a good camera even if the rest of the phone is meh. The Sony Ericsson Mini Pro seems to be a decent choice as it is only $180, comes w/ a keyboard which she would probably also appreciate, and as a bonus it has received an ICS update. However, the camera isn't anything special. Is there any smartphone that I could find at a similar price with a pretty good camera?

Honestly to me the HTC one S had a great superior camera! I miss it! The shots I could get out of that thing are beautiful to me lol

Sent from Squishy's N⁴
 
What carrier? HTC phones have been known for having good cameras, so the One X on AT&T or the One S on T-Mobile would be good options.
 
What carrier? HTC phones have been known for having good cameras, so the One X on AT&T or the One S on T-Mobile would be good options.
I'm looking to buy it unlocked then would either get an ATT sim for something like Net10 or do T-Mobile. I'm looking to avoid a contract, and the One X unlocked would definitely be too expensive.
 
I'm looking to buy it unlocked then would either get an ATT sim for something like Net10 or do T-Mobile. I'm looking to avoid a contract, and the One X unlocked would definitely be too expensive.

I've found good condition One Ss on Ebay for $130 and One Xs for $250.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums
 
I've found good condition One Ss on Ebay for $130 and One Xs for $250.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums
I haven't seen any One S's for less than $200 used on Ebay but I'll be on the lookout.
 
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Another option is the HTC One V, if your sister doesn't care about newest/fastest. Walmart near me has the VM-CDMA One V for $125 +/-

I got one for a family member as a PDA replacement and she's happy using it as a WiFi-only device. The aluminum body even looks nice, if you don't mind the Jay Leno chin.
VM is basically Sprint pre-paid, so that's something to factor in before you buy the CDMA version locked to VM, but at $55/month unlimited there are worse options out there.
 
The Nokia Lumia 822 is a pretty sweet phone and has a great camera. I kind of wished I would have kept it instead of getting this Galaxy Note 2.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2
 
Nexus 4 8GB, a little over budget at $299 ea. directly from Google, but brand new, factory unlocked & no contract whatsoever.
 
If you're considering the Xperia Mini Pro, you might as well go with the Xperia Ray. Better camera.

Sent from my Huawei Ascend P1
 
I bought a Galaxy S3 (Sprint) on Ebay with a bad ESN for less than $100. I flash phones over to several other providers so I don't need no stinking bad ESN. This phone will be flashed over to Page Plus for my Mom. Look at this.