[Elfener]

Most phones that cost less than ~300 USD still have a headphone jack and microSD slot.

I've never understood spending more than that on a phone anyway, you can't exactly use all that processing power on a phone operating system. Unfortunately some of the bad features from expensive phones have been moving down to the cheaper ones, like the destroyed screen that's missing its corners and has a hole for the camera in it for some reason.

[hakfoo]

I just bought a newer phone and was surprised to see even the ~$200 Samsungs were lacking a headphone jack. That threw them right out of contention, so I ended up getting a 2024-model Motorola (the 2025s were $50 more and reviews said they offered no meaningful performance boost).

[lisbbb]

I get it, but the quality of headphones with cords has gotten so bad that the male jacks wouldn't last more than a few months. My son has gone through an untold number of corded headphones because his school iPad is too locked down to use bluetooth ones.

[toast0]

You can spend a little more and get headphones with a replacable cord, and replace the cords if they get broken. Or maybe take the time to solder new connectors onto broken cords.

[Marsymars]

Budget phones are going to have different missing features for different people - for me the problem are that budget phones are all too large, full of software bloat, and receive poor software support.

[tayo42]

Are the cameras as good?

[dredmorbius]

If you're so concerned about camera quality ... buy a dedicated camera.

A 32 MP+ point-and-shoot starts at about $40, though goes up from there (to several thousand dollars for top models). As a bonus, it has an expected life far exceeding that of a smartphone.

[raw_anon_1111]

Yes because I really want to carry around two devices including a crappy phone. The latest version of iOS supports iPhones from 2019 and Apple is releasing security updates farther back than that.

[dredmorbius]

It's possible to:

1. Buy a non-crappy, dedicated, phone. Many of these feature better reception, voice quality, and battery life than a smartphone, as well as being smaller and lighter. Heck, smartphones are going this direction with satellite devices (earbuds, smart watches) already. Your "phone" is in your ear, most of the smarts stay in your pocket or bag.

2. A camera.

3. A full-fledged mobile device which is actually usable. Small form-factor laptop / hybrid beats pretty much any smartphone or tablet.

If all you need is the phone, that's what you carry. Much of the time you can carry other device(s) as well. My list would probably extend to a voice recorder. As with the camera, that's relatively inexpensive and long-lived, so you end up with less long-term expense.

[p_ing]

I picked up a dSLR because the iPhone 15 Pro (and now 16 Max) camera was/is so bad.