While there’s hardly a shortage of affordable smartphones on the market, the mantra of “buy cheap, buy twice” can be especially applicable should an attractive price tag lure you into picking one up. Do you really need to spend big now to continue enjoying a highly functional and secure phone in, say, three to four years’ time? These handsets suggest not…
Lumia smartphones with Windows 10 Mobile preinstalled
Windows 10 Mobile is well behind iOS and Android in the number and quality of apps that it offers – and this is reflected in the generally low prices for Microsoft’s latest Lumia smartphones. Still, for people who use their smartphones strictly for basic functions like emailing, taking photos and checking Facebook, these handsets can be pretty good value.
The four Lumias running Windows 10 Mobile out of the box are the Lumia 550, Lumia 650, Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL. In line with Microsoft’s published support lifecycle for Windows 10 Mobile, all should get new features and security updates until 1 September 2018, after which they should get extended support – in other words, security updates only.
Microsoft has apparently yet to indicate how long this period of extended support will last. However, even if it will be only a single further year, three years of support isn’t bad considering that the cheapest Lumia running Windows 10 Mobile can be picked up unlocked for just $114.78. Still, the lack of apps leads us to consider the Android competition…
LG Nexus 5X
While the base of active Android smartphones is highly fragmented with the versions of the operating system that they run, Nexus devices are best-served with Android updates as they arrive. Currently, if you want an inexpensive Nexus handset that should get updates for at least two years from now, your only option is LG’s Nexus 5X.
We specify “at least two years from now” because the oldest Nexus phone confirmed to get the next major Android release, 7.0 Nougat, is Motorola Mobility’s Nexus 6, which was released in October 2014. You can order an unlocked Nexus 5X for $239.99. That’s a good deal, but you could get something even better for not too much more money…
iPhone SE
With a starting price of $399, the iPhone SE is obviously the most expensive of the options listed here. However, spending the extra money could be worth your while when you consider that the iPhone SE could get regular software updates for the longest.
It is only this year that Apple is finally dropping updates for the iPhone 4S, about five years after it was released. Considering that the SE has the processor and RAM of last year’s iPhone 6S models, the SE could continue to get updates until at least 2020. Among favorably-priced handsets, that could make it the champion for future-proof performance.
