Cheapest Android Phone with the Latest Version of Android?

Cromulent · 27 Feb 2017 at 17:22

One thing I never liked about Android is that it is very hard to always have the latest version. I think iOS does this better than Android but I prefer Android so I'll stick with it. I was wondering what the cheapest Android phone is that has the latest version of Android 7 on it? I don't really care about features although an SD card slot and reasonable camera would be nice bonuses. This is mainly for programming Android apps so probably won't be used as a phone all that much. Although if there is a camera and an SD card slot I might try it out for recording some videos and stuff.

I know very little about the whole Android marketplace as I don't follow it all that closely but I'd appreciate any help

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silverblack · 27 Feb 2017 at 17:28

Oneplus 3T around £418 from O2, not many phones around with Nougat TBH.

Cromulent · 27 Feb 2017 at 17:35

silverblack said:
Oneplus 3T around £418 from O2, not many phones around with Nougat TBH.

Thanks for the reply. That is somewhat more expensive than I was hoping. Hmm I'll have to think about whether a cheaper phone running an older version of Android would suffice.

Big Elf · 27 Feb 2017 at 17:43

Moto G4 currently has Marshmallow but is overdue for the Nougat upgrade. Probably will get it by the end of March.

Orcvader · 27 Feb 2017 at 17:49

Second hand Nexus?

If it's only for programming though, why not use an Android emulator/VM?

Cromulent · 28 Feb 2017 at 09:01

Orcvader said:
Second hand Nexus?

If it's only for programming though, why not use an Android emulator/VM?

Sorry for the late reply. It is for a USB hardware extension that plugs into the USB port. I guess I could develop it against the Android emulator if it allowed reading from a PC USB port for the best level of testing a real phone would be good.

Mobius 1 · 28 Feb 2017 at 09:20

The Nokia 5 or 6 will be releasing in the EU shortly iirc.

That has stock android like a nexus. And will be updated in the same time scale as a nexus apparently.

https://m.clove.co.uk/nokia-5

https://m.clove.co.uk/nokia-6

A.Baird3 · 4 Mar 2017 at 20:30

Moto G5 is out soon, that's got 7 on it, retail ~£150.

Cromulent · 4 Mar 2017 at 20:46

Ah. I'll check out the Nokia 5 and 6 as well as the Moto G5. Thanks for tips

.

Shady45 · 4 Mar 2017 at 21:58

Nexus 5x.

Would not get a 2nd hand one though

deshepherd · 6 Mar 2017 at 22:29

Big Elf said:
Moto G4 currently has Marshmallow but is overdue for the Nougat upgrade. Probably will get it by the end of March.

My Moto Z Play got an OTA Nougat upgrade at end of last week ... so the upgrades are on the way

GT3 · 7 Mar 2017 at 08:58

My Sony z5 compact has recently received the android 7 update and was £180 around 6 months ago.

boxman2000 · 7 Mar 2017 at 10:27

Moto G4 and I believe Lenovo P2

Dangerous · 8 Mar 2017 at 18:33

boxman2000 said:
Moto G4 and I believe Lenovo P2

I have the G4 and still no N, although it is "due"

rids57 · 10 Mar 2017 at 14:22

I had the N notification on my G4 today - now I just have to get round to installing it

Big Elf · 10 Mar 2017 at 14:39

I got it last night on my G4 plus. Now it goes into a boot loop for up to 10 minutes before it actually boots. Motorola repair tools also go into a loop on my PC and never install.

james.miller · 10 Mar 2017 at 14:43

The vernee thor was recently updated to 7.0. Their support is terrible though.....

Rroff · 10 Mar 2017 at 14:50

Wish Android updates would actually have some decent functional improvements - most seem to just change around the cosmetics for the fun of it with some under the hood changes - mostly for supporting newer hardware and often even a step backwards in terms of every day usage functions - where useful features sometimes become a "lite" version of what they used to be

I use a Note 1 that is stuck on Gingerbread 3.x due to an eMMC bug and a Note 4 on the latest release of Marshmallow and wonder what all the fuss is about lol.

dymetrie · 10 Mar 2017 at 22:15

Any need for it to be a carrier/manufacturer update to latest OS?

You could pick up one of quite a few well known handsets and install Lineage OS to get it to an up to date Android version...

Specifically a Moto G would be low cost and Lineage would put 7.1 on it

Psycho Sonny · 11 Mar 2017 at 09:29

Cromulent said:
One thing I never liked about Android is that it is very hard to always have the latest version. I think iOS does this better than Android but I prefer Android so I'll stick with it. I was wondering what the cheapest Android phone is that has the latest version of Android 7 on it? I don't really care about features although an SD card slot and reasonable camera would be nice bonuses. This is mainly for programming Android apps so probably won't be used as a phone all that much. Although if there is a camera and an SD card slot I might try it out for recording some videos and stuff.

I know very little about the whole Android marketplace as I don't follow it all that closely but I'd appreciate any help .

It's not very hard to have the latest version at all. Just buy a Nexus device or Google Pixel, etc.

There is no way Apple does it any better. both are equal in this respect. It's down to the individual manufacturer to roll out updates. So samsung, lenovo, motorola, sony, LG, etc.

Cheapest would likely be the moto g gen 5 which launches in a week or so.

However Pixel will get any updates weeks ahead of any other phone.