ATTN: PHONE THAT WORKS IN USA & PHILIPPINES

You won't go far wrong with Samsung,the S series are the best but more expensive.

 

You have to watch out buying phones in the US. The carriers have completely different specs for phones they order (and some of these carriers have some oddball frequencies that only their company uses. )

You might be able find one somewhere online with the correct specs. It could very well ship from overseas though.

There are some things to look out for when buying a cell phone in the US. There are three main things you should look for:

1. The phone must have a user accessable SIM card. (Meaning you can take the SIM out and put in a different one.)
2. The phone must be an "UNLOCKED" version phone! This is usually only a concern when buying directly from one of the big mobile companies in the US. If it is not unlocked it is going to be useless. Another companies SIM card simply won't work in a locked phone. Example: Verizon give you the unlock code until it has been running on one of their plans for a year. (At least that was their "rule" when I last used them long ago, could have changed since then.)
3. The phone must be at least quad-band capable, which is GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz. There are many more frequencies but these are the most important ones in the Philippines and the US.

These are the big three if you want to use the phone in the Philippines and the US. If you buy online in the US (and not directly from one of the a-hole carriers) the phone will most likely be unlocked and give you access to the SIM card. I believe the quad-band (GSM/EDGE) has become a lot easier to find in the US compared to 6 years when I was looking for one (Verizon only had two models they called "Global phones"....and both kinda sucked.)

All that other stuff you asked about in your first post is going to be standard on any newer Android phone. I prefer to just go straight to the source and avoid all the extra bloatware that phone manufactures throw on their phone. (I would avoid getting an iPhone for the Philippines. Too much potential nonsense with their regional restrictions in the app store......you can get around it but best to just avoid it unless you are familiar with VPNs, proxy servers or some other IP/DNS sorcery they do these days).

So here are my recommendations:

Google Store – Nexus, Chromecast and more - Nexus 6P
The 64GB version will run you $549.00 ($499 for the 32GB version).

Google Store – Nexus, Chromecast and more - Nexus 5X
The 32GB version (which is the largest you can get on this phone) will run you $399. Do NOT get the one with 16GB! You'll eat through that in no time....since it is really only about 10GB of usable memory.

Note: both these phones have that $50 mail-in-rebate thing if you buy directly from Google. Also note: the Nexus 6P is a top tier phone. Mostly the same specs as the Galaxy S7 Edge....but about $240 cheaper.

Unlocked S7 Edge from Amazon will run you $740. BTW: I do not like/recommend the Galaxy S series phones.....always hated the bloatware apps and the user interface Samsung throws on top of Android and now they are throwing curved screens that roll over the edge of the phone. (Why they do the curved screens? No idea. Maybe so they get more cracked screens coming in the shop to repair? )

The Nexus 5x is the phone I have and I have had no problem with it at all here. The Nexus 6p is Google's current "flagship" phone. 6p is noticeably larger than the 5x (Nexus 6p=5.7 inch display, Nexus 5x=5.2 inch display), it has a more "polished" design and the processors perform slightly better than the 5x, mainly due to it having an extra GB of RAM (unless you are playing some resource intensive games or taking 5-10 consecutive HDR photos you probably won't even notice).

I actually prefer the 5x because of it's minimalist design, it has more of a "rubberized" feel to the back cover (not smooth slippery metal like the 6p) and, IMO, more "reasonable" sized screen (I like to be able to make calls with my phones with one hand). Unless you prefer a larger screen the 5x would be my recommendation.

Just in case it isn't clear: both of these phones will work just fine in the US and the Philippines (and anywhere else in the world minus like 4 countries in Africa that decided they knew better than the rest of the world). They have all the GSM/EDGE, UTMS/WCDMA, LTE (2G, 3G and 4G bandwidths) you'll need, minus one LTE band that only PLDT uses (B42).....never heard of anyone having a PLDT mobile SIM card in their phone anyway so doesn't really matter.

Full list of the Nexus 5X's and 6P's radios:

• GSM/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
• UMTS/WCDMA: B1/2/4/5/8
• CDMA: BC0/1/10
• LTE (FDD): B2/3/4/5/7/12/13/17/25/26/29/30
• LTE (TDD): B41
• CA DL: B2-B2, B2-B4, B2-B5, B2-B12, B2-B13, B2-B17, B2-B29, B4-B4, B4-B5, B4-B13, B4-B17, B4-B29, B41-B41

Edit: if you go with the Nexus brand make sure you go to Walmart and pick up a couple extra USB Type-C charging cables for the phone. And if you do go that route I would be forever in your debt it if you brought a couple extra of those cables for my phone. :D

 

Actually the 6P is missing another LTE band (B1) that Smart might still use. The 5X can pick that frequency up but the LTE coverage here is so incredibly limited that it won't matter. And Smart might not even be using that band in the area. (LTE drains the battery pretty fast and costs more to add to your plan/prepaid bundle....not worth it IMO.)

 

ChalkTab 2.0 just came out in the Philippines. It has 256MB of RAM. P2500.......only! (Chalk not included.)