Just skip Samsung for a company that still offers replaceable batteries and still get the newest stuff. Like LG. Can't imagine why anyone would stick with Samsung after their QA failed to that extent? What's that premium pricing for if your phone isn't even safe? It's the sort of crap you'd more likely expect from some cheap knockoff electronics than something you paid $800 for.

I can't complain about the Galaxy S4 it was my father-in-laws and he upgraded his so he gave it to us, I'm not a cell network subscriber and only use these devices for Wifi and VR Headset, so I couldn't see myself paying even $150 for one of these phones, of course as a cell subscriber you get discounts for 2 year contracts but that aint me I aint no cell phone using texting driver anymore and good thing too because I would be tempted to text while driving, I'm doing a online traffic school right now, (I got a little speeding ticket, not my fault) that consists of a texting while driving section and it's very sobering, there is one part where these kids all admit to texting while driving and then are introduced to a 21 year old woman, who was coming home from her graduation with her parents in her car and a driver was texting and caused a semi truck to swerve and hit her car missing the texters and it killed both her parents and left her fighting for her life in the hospital for 2 months and another 2 in rehab and she didn't have her father to walk her down the aisle when she got married. You should see how the mood changes on these kids :crying: and young adults, tears well up in their eyes, some say they will never look at a cell phone again others say they will never text again, talk about Scared Straight! Here in Oregon if you even hold your cell in your hand while driving even if stopped at a red light you can be fined up to $500 and if you kill someone while texting you can be prosecuted and go to prison, it's just not worth the gamble, sorry I had to get this off my chest it was just too much too bear.:sad: Anyhow I think you get where I'm coming from.

I'd still go with Samsung, solely because they probably now have a more rigorous testing regime then they did before. I've always looked at Samsung's phones and liked what I saw, and a hiccup, however vigorous a hiccup, shouldn't stop anyone from buying tech. There are always gonna be risks, remember the hoverboards and their batteries exploding? That whole fiasco was forgotten about and people still buy the boards. I suppose though if we want to talk about competitors, how about that Google Pixel eh? It is pretty nifty...

You have a good point there, it usually takes some kind of bad PR to get a company to take some kind of action, I too like Samsung but then again I'm a sucker for Apple, yes the risks are there when you are dealing with these made in China products and batteries, I have to wonder if they were being made in the U.S. or some other country that has more rigorous standards if they would still have the same problem?

There are semi-affordable brands though. Huawei, Xiaomi and Blu. In the secondary market you could look at something nicer like a 32GB Nexus 6 or a contemporary, though that's only a year newer than your S4.

If your budget is $150, you're definitely not in the market for cutting edge samsung. I think that's what they charge for packaging.

There are semi-affordable brands though. Huawei, Xiaomi and Blu. In the secondary market you could look at something nicer like a 32GB Nexus 6 or a contemporary, though that's only a year newer than your S4.

Well if I had a budget for a new phone they that would pretty much be it, but seriously $150 just for packaging? What's it shipped in gold leaf? Right now what I got to use is pretty much it till either things improve for me or one lands on my head lol.

Just skip Samsung for a company that still offers replaceable batteries and still get the newest stuff. Like LG. Can't imagine why anyone would stick with Samsung after their QA failed to that extent? What's that premium pricing for if your phone isn't even safe? It's the sort of crap you'd more likely expect from some cheap knockoff electronics than something you paid $800 for.

Oh and just re reading what you said, at least LG offers a newer affordable phone with a modular battery that hopefully won't blow up.

Well if I had a budget for a new phone they that would pretty much be it, but seriously $150 just for packaging? What's it shipped in gold leaf? Right now what I got to use is pretty much it till either things improve for me or one lands on my head lol.

Well not seriously, I was making light of Samsung for being over-priced. My past two devices, Nexus 4 and 6 were had for less than half the price of similar Samsung hardware, and though I shopped the sales pretty aggressively, there's almost always more bang for your buck with another brand. At the lower end I already mentioned a few, but OnePlus and ZTE have higher end offerings that are 95% of the value at 2/3s the cost. Moto isn't a hard bargain brand, but they often offer more bang for the buck as well. The Moto Z for example technically retails for $700, which is no bargain, but it's been 'on sale' at Amazon for over a month for $500 and rivals the Galaxy S7 easily. What it lacks in rounded glass, it makes up for in Motomods for a lot less. Verizon has put the Moto Z on sale for half that repeatedly this winter.