New Phone?

[Kavan Sidhu]

My Galaxy S4 M919 Tmobile I got from my friend 2 years ago worked great so far. He was the original owner and had receipt proving it was brand new and he spent over 500 on the phone. But now past few weeks it sim removed not detected or something like that. I replaced the sim for free at tmobile and the sim tray sd reader at gadgetworks brand new for 30 bucks. No luck still not detecting sim. It says reboot and then work for a day or so and then same message. Plus tmobile says no lollipop update is in order ever. So 4.4.4. I am stuck for now. And I need at least lollipop for MYQ Garage app and AMC Theaters (KitKat no longer supported).

So time for a new phone. But what to get.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/coolpad-conjr-4g-lte-with-16gb-memory-cell-phone-unlocked-iron-gray/5800506.p?skuId=5800506#tabbed-customerreviews

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/alcatel-pop-4s-4g-lte-with-16gb-memory-cell-phone-unlocked-dark-gray/5604800.p?skuId=5604800

Coolpad has quad core and 3gb ram and POP4S has octacore and 2gb ram.

Is octacore a gimmick since most apps are not even octa yet and only dual core. And quad with 3gb ram is good enough.

No games just web and email. And may some occasional youtube. Or even AMC app may not open if too slow or not good enough graphics. But just to bypass the adds/trailers and buy tickets either is ok probably. Oh and I need GPS also. But Google Maps is not heavy on graphics is it? Or any budget phone is good enough?

Or even though less ram OCTA would be faster like time it takes to boot phone from off or dead battery or open and load apps.

Which is more important RAM or CPU

 

[B. Diddy]

I'd stay away from Coolpad. Alcatel is ok, but it seems to have more problems than other well-established phone companies (at least, judging by posts here).

Have you considered the Moto G5 Plus? Most reviews rave about how it acts and feels more like a midrange or even flagship phone, despite its budget price. Also, the Nextbit Robin is on fire sale on Amazon right now for $118: https://www.amazon.com/Nextbit-Robi...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU5850574. Nextbit was bought out by Razer, and lots of people assumed support would completely drop, but they just updated the phone to 7.1.1, so it hasn't been forgotten yet.