Tough to say. I’m still using my 2016 SE, which received iOS 15 just a few months ago and updated to the latest release within the last couple of weeks, the same day as the iPhone 13. This phone cost $400. I highly doubt there are many phones out there that beat this “bang for the buck”.

I think the Nexus 5 and S2 were unbeatable if you look at "bang for the buck" over time ( ~200 €).

Unfortunately, it seems that, since then, almost all phones have raised their "lowerbound-prices" thanks to the iPhone.

( probably not a popular opinion, considering popularity of the iPhone in the US :p)

You're not wrong. iPhones caused everyone to hike their prices up to $1000 for true flagships the minute the iPhone X came out. And when the 7 came out, everyone soon ditched the headphone jack and introduced their own wireless earbuds for $200. And when the 4 came out, everyone suddenly sacrificed battery life to crank display PPI up past 400 and even 500 to beat "retina" quality. Same for removable batteries and SD cards, which iPhones eschewed from the beginning. I'm definitely forgetting a few iPhone trendsetting moments, too.

It's a damned shame we don't have a counterweight to Apple to force them to rethink consumer-hostile decisions like these. Imagine if there was a viable alternative who kept the headphone jack. Or small phones. Or fingerprint sensors. Or cheap prices. Instead, everyone just does what Apple did last year. And unless I want to buy a phone with crappy US cellular band connectivity, I'm stuck with... Samsung, Google, and Apple.

S2 as in Samsung Galaxy?

That cost far more than 200 € new, AFAICR.

?

I bought it for 250 or so at the time.

https://phonesdata.com/en/smartphones/samsung/galaxy-s2-1140...

I've never bought a phone north of 350€, well, until work pays for it :p

Galaxy these days are more expensive, sure. But not at the time.

I didn't pay for mine, it was my first touchscreen phone provided by work. But I checked prices out of curiosity, and as I recall it was north of 400 € -- around 450-480, I think. At the time, it was the hottest new thing on the market, so I'm sure it got cheaper after a while; perhaps you got yours a bit later? Or maybe it was just more expensive here in Finland than elsewhere; pretty much everything seems to be.

Weird, it could be yeah: https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/277723/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-i...

I did think i bought it pretty fast after release and 250€ seemed a good price. But now, I'm not so sure anymore ( how fast i bought it, I'm sure it was 250)

Best as per specs (Like megapixels and camers zoom and RAM and speed) or best as well integrated, good defaults and reliable?

Best for buck isn’t the same as best.