Save Money with Amazon Prime Phones

A few months ago, I bought a new cell phone, the Moto X Pure. It’s been a great Android phone, I have no real complaints. I don’t even miss the wireless charging much as I can get 12 hours of charge in what seems to be 20 minutes. I’m not typically too far from the charger so it works for me.

However, the Moto X Pure was around $300. What if you wanted to save a little cash or get a phone for a kid? It turns out that Amazon has about 3.8 billion options in the $200 and under range. I’m exaggerating the number, but there really are a lot… probably enough options to suit almost everyone’s typical cell phone needs.

These phones are for Prime members, but that’s seems to be a group that is very large and growing.

Since there are so many phones, I thought I’d give you a breakdown of the core features as I understand them. I’m going to start with the cheapest phone and then let you know the upgrades and downgrades as we go up in price. The problem with this method is that it becomes easy to say, “Oh, I’ll just spend another $20 for this upgrade.” It’s even easier to do that a few times and find yourself spending $100 more dollars (which might not necessarily be a bad thing). Also, I should mention that Amazon may give me a small commission if you make a purchase through these links.

Amazon has it’s own comparison chart. I don’t think it’s useful to cut and paste the same information here. Instead, I’ll break down some of the major numbers. With respect to the cameras, megapixels don’t tell the story, but I don’t have a better objective number to share. You might want to consider reading a few reviews online if that’s a key feature for you.

Also, all of these can take SD cards, which can save you money on buying extra ROM. You’ll also get some Amazon lock ads on these phones for the price I’m quoted, but I’m presuming that’s cool, since we are trying to save money.

BLU R1 HD

Price: $50-$60

Specs

Processor: MediaTek 6735 (1.3 GHz – quad-core)
RAM: 1/2 GB
ROM: 8/16 GB
Screen Resolution: 1280 x 720
Camera (R/F): 8/5 Megapixels

You can spend $50 for the 1GB (RAM), 8GB (ROM) version, but I think it’s definitely worth spending the extra Hamilton to double those numbers.

Interesting note: BLU isn’t exactly a household name, but I had heard of them as a budget phone maker for quite awhile. I had considered getting one to test with Freedom Pop as a possible, very low use phone. Unfortunately, the phones may have sent information to China, but I think that issue is long resolved.

Alcatel A30

Price: $60

Specs:

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 (1.1 GHz)

Since the specs are largely the same as the high-end BLU the only for me to update is the processor. It is different, but I don’t know if it’s any better. Qualcomm typically makes faster chips, but this is one of their lowest-end chips and the clock speed is a little slower than the Blu HD above. It’s probably a wash or close to it.

When PhoneDog compared the Blu HD and Alcatel A30, the author noted: “So these phones are incredibly alike. And while there’s no clear winner, I find myself gravitating more towards the BLU R1 HD.”

So let’s call it Coke vs. Pepsi… different flavors of the same thing.

Alcatel A30 PLUS

Price: $80

Specs:

Processor: MediaTek 6738 (1.5 GHz – quad-core)
Camera (R/F): 13/5

It seems like a Jackson buys you a slightly faster processor and a better rare camera. I don’t see a lot of value in this phone. It seems like you are spending 25% more for a tiny upgrade.

Alcatel A50

Price: $100

Specs:

I’m leaving the specs empty, because it doesn’t seem like the A50 is an upgrade to the A30 Plus in any of the core areas. I’m not sure why anyone would pay $20 more for this phone.

Moto E (4th Generation)

Price: $100

Specs:

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 (1.4 GHz)
Camera (R/F): 8/5

This is a solid midrange processor, but the camera loses a few megapixels. This is the only Amazon Prime phone that works with Sprint and Verizon two of the best cell phone plans providers in US. If you aren’t on those networks, I don’t think this provides a lot of value.

Moto G (4th Generation)

Price: $130

Specs:

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 (1.4 GHz)
Screen Resolution: 1080 x 1920
Camera (R/F): 13/5

We are finally getting into the phones that I would consider buying myself. I wouldn’t buy a phone with less than 1080 x 1920 resolution. The camera gets a boost from the E4 above and the processor is a 600-series by Qualcomm, which is very good for this price. I had to get this information from another website. I couldn’t easily find the numbers on Amazon’s website.

Moto G Plus (5th Generation)

Price: $185

Specs:

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (2.0 GHz)
ROM: 32GB
Camera (R/F): 12/5

The Moto G5 has a big price jump at nearly $50 over the G4 above. You get a faster chip and more ROM. I’d pass on this phone. I’ve seen this phone at $180, so I’m not sure why it is an extra $5 as I’m writing this.

Nokia 6

Price: $180

Specs:

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 (1.4 Ghz)
RAM: 3GB
Camera (R/F): 16/8

The processor is a little slower than some of the previous phones, but you’ll be able to keep more apps open. This phone also has the most megapixels of all the Prime phones. I’d definitely buy this over the G5 above.

Alcatel Idol 5S

Price: $200

Specs:

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (2.0 GHz)
Camera (R/F): 12/8

This phone combines the best of Nokia (3GB of Ram) and the best of the G5 (fast processor). Unlike the other Prime phones that are $50 off the suggested price, this is $80 off. I’m not sure if it would really sell at the $280 price given the value of the cheaper phones.

So what’s the best value of all these phones? My pick is the Moto G4. However, because these phones are so cheap, I don’t think you can lose with any of them. I find it hard to justify paying $600 for some of the high-end phones on the market today, when a phone at 20% of the price will do most of the same stuff.