I use my phone so much now that all the actual differences in a more expensive device are significant. Even with the Pro ones it’s a bit like buying a mechanical keyboard. Does it really do anything a £3 OEM keyboard doesn’t? My phone was about the same price as my 3 year old i7 laptop and the processor is faster. It’s a more useful device to me.

I bought a couple of those BLU phones as testers to ensure our apps were usable regardless of device (in an office full of flagship phones this is easy to overlook in “hallway” testing)....I’m not generally a phone snob but I will say that using the BLU phones makes my 4 year old iPhone feel like an ultra luxury rocketship from the future. The difference in performance and quality is remarkable side by side.

There aren't many alternatives when you consider that cheap phones are Big Brother devices for Google.

And expensive phones aren't? As far as I can tell the only smartphone where you can be sure to not be spied on is yet to be released.

I grant you that an iPhone is still no guarantee, but there is a difference in the level of surveillance that Apple and Google exhibit.

Cheap phones provide the same functionality, they just do it slower.