[General Topics] dunker56:
I am completely ignorant to what is considered good value for phones, as my focus has been on the camera phones I have ended up buying them regardless of price tag lol. Such as the K Zoom which cost me outright $500AUD or thereabouts. I think it is still in very good condition and could sell for around $250AUD, it's still sold in some shops here for $600AUD 2yrs later...

The S4 mini caught my eye as it's also a smaller screen and size/bulk yet weighing 109g. It seems to go for around $250AUD here, I have no idea if that's good or bad value, or what it's initial price tag was in oz (where I am based).

Yes I started googling the Blu Vivo Air, I have to say I am impressed by it's weight and size, looks just the thing I am after. 4g/LTE would be nice, but my particular area doesn't support it, it would only be useful when visiting Sydney etc. Perhaps the 4g version would still be an acceptable performance, exactly how much weaker are we talking about? I don't think I would be a happy bunny to essentially 'downgrade' in performance from a phone, but if it's hardly noticeable then I will feel I have halved the size and weight of a phone, which is kinda the whole point. I'm not a gamer, I don't even use my phone for video much, it's just those 'smart' features I use, chrome, google maps (satnav replacement), photo editing, instagram etc).

I googled the Alcatel One Touch Idol 3, but it seems to be double the price of a S4 Mini and Blu Vivo Air, so I don't think I want to stretch that much. iPhone 5s is another example, i also don't agree or like the Apple lockdown philosophy so I have tended to avoid apple products where possible, it's a shame because I think physical format wise the iphone 5s is kinda what I'm after.

As i said earlier, I bought my son a nexus 4 for christmas, it weighs 130-140g and when I have both of them in my hands (K Zoom vs Nexus 4) I just feel that trade in weight of only 70g is not worth the hassle of replacing the K Zoom. I might not even sell the K Zoom, it has certain advantages such as concerts and gigs (see examples of my pics here taken with 10xoptical zoom);

https://www.flickr.com/photos/moonpussy/albums/72157650682500930 and https://www.flickr.com/photos/moonpussy/albums/72157652887752950

but day to day living it's bulk is becoming annoying.

Right now I see my short list as;

Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini - $250AUD, available from local Australian Stockists.

Blue Vivo Air LTE - $250AUD but only available via ebay (Amazon won't ship to me, I think perhaps because OZ has a weird battery shipment clause and it's bloody awkward to ship out or recieve goods with batteries inside, takes a special courier to ship etc). I don't even know if the eBay seller would have success in getting this product to me

Blu Vivo Air non LTE - $250AUD, again from ebay seller. It should be noted the ebay seller states it does sell to Australia, but this battery law thing is kinda newish, might be safer to contact the seller beforehand rather than after and risk failure.

The only other consideration I have that dawned on me is, will the Blu Vivo's work over here in oz? I realise they are unlocked handsets, but like the frequencies etc, are they the compatible with whatever oz uses vs usa? I have only bought ozzy phones in the past...

Cheers, and I must say a big thank you for all who have chimed in and helped me :)