Inspired by all the discussion around the phone, I went ahead and went out and got one of my own.
Surprise: not only is it better than nothing, it’s actually a lot better than nothing, at least where reading e-books is concerned. And you don’t even have to sign up for TracFone service to use it as an effective Wi-Fi-only iPod Touch equivalent.
I know a couple of kids who will be grateful (or else!) for their very own smartphones this Christmas.
This one (LG Optimus Exceed 2) specs better than the one in the article, ships free with Prime, and is $15. Over 500 reviews and mostly positive.
I’m amazed at how many times I’ve forgotten this, despite re-learning my lesson each and every time I convinced myself, while staring through the fluorescent-lit glass door, ‘eh, it can’t be bad. It’s ice cream.’ No, it’s not. It’s 1.5 quarts of disappointment.
Amazon has a Lumia 635 for $40 with no annual contract. Comes with ATT Go phone sim card.
I got a couple of Exceed 2’s for my kids. For $20 (I snagged 'em early, anticipating demand) and with a trivially simple way to disable activation, they’re a cheap device that on many levels has better specs than the phone I had in 2011. Considering that that phone was $200 on contract, I’d say we’re rolling along pretty well. Naturally the camera and screen aren’t as good, but…
I feel conflicted on this story. One part of me wants to chastise Ron and Rob for snarking on a device, but I feel like I’m judging them based on knowing that one is an Apple snob, and the other lives in the privileged tech bubble. On the other hand, though, there are better devices at that pricepoint.
I was actally surprised to see that the Sunrise actually beat the GNex in Geekbench multicore tests…but then, as a former GNex owner, no, I’m not, because it’s four years old and was orphaned before the update cycle was complete.
Eh. The kids will eat it. Give them my homemade stuff with blackberries and white chocolate and they’re all “ewww, it has SEEDS in it!” Which suits me fine.
Alternate, more accurate title: $10 smartphone worth $10
The seeds aren’t the problem. The white chocolate is. 
On balance, here’s a $100 ($150 soon) phone that sounds like it’s pretty great.
It’s probably not better than 10 of these $10 phones, but likely much easier to fit in your pocket.
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