Searching for a new phone

[Jhatn]

I need to get my kid a new phone & hope I can get some advice.
I've been reading through Phone Arena, Tom's Hardware, Android Authority, Android Central & others ... my head hurts!

The phone will be used for school work, some picture taking (personal & for school) & everyday normal use. And no heavy game use (Roblox being the heaviest).

I'm considering the Motorola Moto G (2025), Motorola Moto G Power (2025), Samsung A15 or Samsung A16.
Due to finances, I'm looking to get a budget phone with good-very good battery life, a nice-sized screen with good resolution (Motorola Moto G (2025) only has a 1604x720px resolution?), 128GB Storage & 4+ GB of Memory & of course at least Android 15 plus a couple versions of upgrades.

Our cellphone carrier is Consumer Cellular. So if I don't get a phone through them, I'll need to get an unlocked GSM phone that will work on their network ... which is both AT&T & T-Mobile.

Any recommendation(s) will be appreciated.

 

[B. Diddy]

Does it have to be a new phone? If not, I would suggest a used or refurbished Pixel 8a.

 

[notforhire]

I'm inclined to agree with Diddy, given the parameters you laid out. I'm not sure how pleased you'd be with the A15/16. "Budget" means different things to different people.

 

[mustang7757]

A great budget phone is the one plus series especially 1+10R

 

[Jhatn]

Thank you for the replies.

I should have mentioned this. When I said budget phones, I'm constricted to phones under $200.00. That's why I mentioned the 4 phones earlier. They will be under $200.00 if bought through Consumer Cellular/Target.

I'm just a little suspect of used phones.
I'm afraid it'll have something left over from the previous owner, either a harmless app or some sort of hidden malware.

 

[Doxinator14]

What age is ur kid cuz like if they're 10 a Moto phone would work but if they're like 13 or 14 I think u should look at the used market (maybe Swappa or phone shops) and get an older but better phone like a Pixel 6 or 7 or smth