Best Unlocked GSM android for 200$

[cannon11]

I'm signing up for ATT's go phone prepaid, And their phone selection is OK, but not the best. So I want a better phone. What is the best unlocked GSM android phone I can get for 200$? My friend is selling his iphone 4 later this year for 250$, But That seems slightly over-priced to me, So If I can't get him to go down on his price I want a good alternative. I won't be using it on a data plan, just talk and text.
So whats the best unlocked gsm android for 200$ or less?
I want a full touchscreen- no keyboard.

 

[lunatic59]

Hello and welcome to Android Forums!

I take it you mean pre-owned phones, since most of the better Android devices retail for much more than $200. There are a good number of low-end phones that would hit your price range, but they are lower spec's older Android versions and either orphaned or unsupported. It wouldn't be a very good experience, IMHO.

 

[omnius]

I've noticed you can get a lot of Android phones with dual core and 1GB of RAM that were launched around Spring of 2011 brand new for roughly $280. The only downside is you have to get them from 3rd party independent vendors who sell unlocked phones. With those vendors you can't be 100% certain your "Brand New in Box" phone really IS brand new, rather than maybe a returned or refurbished phone that might have been owned for 2 weeks or something. They also unwrap the phones and send them off to an outsourced carrier unlocker and then stuff them back in the box.

I bought my second Motorola Atrix that way. My first one's touchscreen developed a deadzone on the touchscreen after 16 months. I was out of warranty but still under contract and my early upgrade eligibility is still 8 months away. I also didnt want to pay $600 for a new replacement. My only other option was to buy a recently released "entry level" specced android from the carrier actual phone stores. Those all have half the specs my 16 month old phone had! So I took my chances with an Ebay retailer selling unlocked phones. I've had it for a month and everything is working fine, it appeared to be completely unused, however I did notice there is a hairline gap about an inch long between the screen and the chassis. Otherwise nothing is amiss. But I could still see that I might have just as easily been unlucky and received a borked phone from the same people. It's a gamble, but if you don't mind taking the risk, it's a possible answer for you. Keep in mind you also have double fraud protection if you use Ebay as well as Paypal.

 

[cannon11]

I've noticed you can get a lot of Android phones with dual core and 1GB of RAM that were launched around Spring of 2011 brand new for roughly $280. The only downside is you have to get them from 3rd party independent vendors who sell unlocked phones. With those vendors you can't be 100% certain your "Brand New in Box" phone really IS brand new, rather than maybe a returned or refurbished phone that might have been owned for 2 weeks or something. They also unwrap the phones and send them off to an outsourced carrier unlocker and then stuff them back in the box.

I bought my second Motorola Atrix that way. My first one's touchscreen developed a deadzone on the touchscreen after 16 months. I was out of warranty but still under contract and my early upgrade eligibility is still 8 months away. I also didnt want to pay $600 for a new replacement. My only other option was to buy a recently released "entry level" specced android from the carrier actual phone stores. Those all have half the specs my 16 month old phone had! So I took my chances with an Ebay retailer selling unlocked phones. I've had it for a month and everything is working fine, it appeared to be completely unused, however I did notice there is a hairline gap about an inch long between the screen and the chassis. Otherwise nothing is amiss. But I could still see that I might have just as easily been unlucky and received a borked phone from the same people. It's a gamble, but if you don't mind taking the risk, it's a possible answer for you. Keep in mind you also have double fraud protection if you use Ebay as well as Paypal.

hey, Thanks for the response!
I see that I can get the motorolla atrix for 199$ on amazon, and it got all good reviews. I have a a question though, It says it ships with android 2.3 or 2.2, I don't remember, But Would I be able to update it to the latest version or one of the latest versions of android? Or am I stuck at 2.2 or 2.3? And do you think the atrix is the best unlocked gsm for the price? And, Would I be able to easily delete or replace the motoblur widgets and stuff? Because I'm not a big fan of them. Also, What do You think about the pantech burst? I can get that for about 20$ more.
Thanks!