Results: would you buy a discounted phone if the retailer uses it to serve you regular ads in exchange?

Posted: 17 Jul 2017, 09:18, by Paul K.

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Results: would you buy a discounted phone if the retailer uses it to serve you regular ads in exchange?

Amazon's Prime exclusive phones have been a hot topic last week. With the Nokia 6 added to its roster, the discounted phones got a bit more attention than usual and had users asking themselves "Would I go for this deal?".

Prime phones are usually midrangers, which you can buy at a $30 - $180 discount, depending on the phone, but there's a catch. If you get one of these devices, you will also have to endure Amazon ads and offers popping up on your lockscreen at all times. That's right, no more pictures of your dog or your cousin's toddler — your lockscreen is now Amazon's personal “your ad here” spot.

To be completely fair, you can spend an extra $50 a few months down the line and remove said ads. And the phones come with a bunch of Amazon ads pre-installed, but those should come in handy if you are, in fact, a regular Amazon customer (and if you are subscribed to Prime, you most probably are). But we thought we'd ask you — is “selling out” your lockscreen worth a discounted phone? Would you ever consider the option, or would you feel violated? Here are the poll results!

Phonearena polls

Would you take a "discount for ads" sort of deal?: Nope 59.96% (569 votes) (569 votes); Only for the right phone and the right discount 34.46% (327 votes) (327 votes); Sounds good to me 5.58% (53 votes) (53 votes)

949 votes

14 Comments

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posted on 4 days ago, 09:50

1. EC112987 (Posts: 950; Member since: 10 Nov 2014)

Nope, the ads that popup from Phone Arena are enough :)

posted on 4 days ago, 09:52 1

2. der_damo (Posts: 201; Member since: 16 Sep 2014)

Ads on Phonearena are like John Cena to me - I can't see them.

posted on 4 days ago, 10:08

3. gersont1000 (Posts: 459; Member since: 13 Mar 2012)

For about the last month it seems to notice my ad blocker and after some images loads the page disappears and I just get a "Something interfered with this website loading" message. There's a little trick which I don't want to mention to keep them from patching that hole, but it's annoying. If the ads on this site weren't so in your face annoying and weren't so many, I would gladly add them to my whitelist like many other sites that deserve it.

posted on 4 days ago, 10:22 1

4. TBomb (Posts: 834; Member since: 28 Dec 2012)

it can be pretty unbearable at times

posted on 4 days ago, 11:49

6. trojan_horse (Posts: 4569; Member since: 06 May 2016)

^^ Not just at times, but at all times!

posted on 4 days ago, 13:22

7. lyndon420 (Posts: 4952; Member since: 11 Jul 2012)

PA is definitely the laggiest website I visit. Also...has anyone noticed that Bit Defender lies underneath PA's website (I see it often when the million ads haven't loaded).

posted on 4 days ago, 11:27 1

5. Lanx1998 (Posts: 7; Member since: 06 Mar 2017)

I'll purchase the phone than flash the stock rom, for me it's cheap and simple. It's a win if you don't consider time spent on flasing the rom.

posted on 4 days ago, 13:22

8. libra89 (Posts: 888; Member since: 15 Apr 2016)

I'm good on not having ads.

posted on 4 days ago, 13:25 1

9. Tipus (Posts: 145; Member since: 30 Sep 2016)

I would pay more if they could guarantee that i wouldn't get any spam calls. That s**t is so annoying

posted on 3 days ago, 18:16

10. Skizzo (Posts: 88; Member since: 14 Jul 2013)

Can you not root the phone and/or flash a custom ROM? Problem solved.

posted on 3 days ago, 20:11

11. diggie32 (Posts: 247; Member since: 03 Apr 2016)

4/10 Android users have no shame or standards

posted on 3 days ago, 21:35

12. joey_sfb (Posts: 6533; Member since: 29 Mar 2012)

I rather have a low end phone with no Ads than a free high end phone. Ads is super annoying and they consume data and slow down the phone to a stop till you interact with it.

This sort of annoyance could also cause other health related issues. Therefore even a shiny new S8 is a no for me.

posted on 3 days ago, 21:36

13. hurrycanger (Posts: 1624; Member since: 01 Dec 2013)

Amazon ads aren't that bad imo. I can just set a notification to be always on the lock screen ao the ad will become just a small bar.
But then again, previous year flagship phones are better deals to me, lol.

posted on 3 days ago, 00:48

14. irbaaz (Posts: 169; Member since: 27 Mar 2014)

I will buy -> root -> remove the lockscreen with mine or custom launcher.
As easy as it sounds ;)