Cheapest Android 4.2 or Above device/phone

BetsyD

So I got approved to access my work email from my own device (Good for Enterprise) but work requires Android 4.2 or above on a non-rooted device. For some reason (though my phone is only a year-ish old) my phone is only 2.3. To be in compliance I am trying to find the cheapest device available that is 4.2 or above.

A few notes: I am currently with Verizon. I am not eligable for an upgrade and even if I was we are looking into switching carriers so I don't really want to do anything that would extend my contract with them. I don't care if I would have to get a tablet instead of having it on my phone. No specific budget, just "cheap".

Any suggestions?

GHoosdum

If you want to go the tablet route, you can buy a first generation Nexus 7 used for very little money these days. If you want 'new' MicroCenter regularly sells tablets whose brands I've never heard very inexpensively, but they're probably crap.

If you're looking to switch carriers, check out Republic Wireless. You can get a non-subsidized Moto X with no contract from them for $299, and the service is hybrid WiFi-cell based with multiple plan options depending upon your usage. Unfortunately the cell network is the Sprint network, which sucks in our area, but with WiFi calling you can always have coverage at home or work if you're on WiFi.

I'm sure @Thrax has some great info about T-Mobile options as well, which may offer better coverage in Cincinnati (I haven't checked).

BetsyD

Yeah, a large (very large) problem is that work has absolutely no coverage by any towers other than Verizon and phones are not allowed to hook into the corporate wifi (only tablets). I haven't found any carriers that claim to be using the verizon towers.

Tushon

Your issue with verizon will be CDMA phones. I think @GHoosdum 's suggestion is pretty good and you can likely find good/decent condition Nexus 7s out there on swappa/ebay. There are prepaid carriers that use Verizon towers (Page Plus, for example) (to find them, search for "mvno" with your desired carrier), and you could get a nice chunk of change off your bill if you switched to using them but I have no personal experience with them.

WagsFTW

Check out the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and see if you like it. It doesn't quite have all the bells and whistles as the S4, but it's half the price and still looks like a nice phone for the price.

BetsyD

Hmm... StraightTalk & Net10 both claim to have phones that do Verizon, but don't make it very easy to figure out which phones those are

@WagsFTW That does look good enough but don't know how to tell if it is Verizon tower compatible. the one on amazon says it is GSM, so I am guessing it's not?

Any other ideas would still be helpful.

Tushon

There are phones that have both capabilities, but the S4 mini is not one of them. It can do LTE, but I wouldn't want to depend on always having LTE coverage for any data to be able to go through. @Thrax may be able to drop some recommendations off the top of his head when he done migrating south for the winter.

WagsFTW

The Samsung galaxy mini is a Verizon phone. Go to a Verizon store and look around and ask questions

Cliff_Forster

@BetsyD - What model phone are you using now? I'm curious if it's only a year old why it never received an update?

My wife uses the RAZR M on Verizon. It's on Android 4.3 and an eventual upgrade to 4.4 has been confirmed. It's a pretty decent performer. If you are pretty much stuck with Verizon you may be able to switch to a Verizon edge account where that phone is $14.65 a month.

Tushon

WagsFTW said:

The Samsung galaxy mini is a Verizon phone. Go to a Verizon store and look around and ask questions

Doesn't look obvious from the specs I saw, but I'm not an expert and will defer to you

BetsyD

WagsFTW said:

The Samsung galaxy mini is a Verizon phone. Go to a Verizon store and look around and ask questions

Lolz... I suppose I could have actually looked at Verizon's website Don't know if that means it would be supported by any of the mvno people... but something to look into

@Cliff_Forster I have an HTC Incredible 2... I looked it up and I guess I am closer to the 2 year mark than the 1 year mark. My contract is up in March ...

Tushon

The phone would absolutely be supported by the MVNO

Yeah, your current phone could potentially run 4.x (4.0 or maybe 4.2 if you squeezed it on), but only with a custom ROM, so depending on what the IT guys are checking, you'd not be in the clear :/ I'm not very knowledgeable on the rest of the phone world after going Nexus.

BetsyD

So I was all ready to just take the plunge and buy the S4 Mini until I started really looking at the specs and see that Verizon has spammed it with almost twice as many locked on apps and crap than the S4.

So I guess 2 questions or 1 2-part question. Will the bloatware slow down the mini to the point its unusable? and/or Is there a way to remove the bloatware without jailbreaking the phone? (The software that I have to use for work disallows rooted phones and this is the whole reason I'm looking at new phones right now )

Tushon

All the bloatware zapping type programs that I'm aware of require root, but I've never really done any research toward that because I've always used custom ROMs and/or pure Google. I can't speak towards the experience of using that particular phone stock beyond what you'd find with Google.