When it comes to picking a smartphone your big decision is really mostly about the camera. All smartphones use the same apps (give or take a bit between Android and Appple.) So the cheapest smartphone on the market and the most expensive will pretty much do the same things. The cameras are where you'll see the biggest difference. If you're planning to shot 4K video, take professional quality photos, or the like, you'll want a higher end smartphone. They're really like an SLR camera these days in the quality of photo and video they shoot. If you're fine with more of a point and shoot style camera and plain old hi-def video, then even the cheap ones will do fine.
At this moment, I wouldn't invest a lot of money in a high end phone as the 5G services will be rolling out this year and into the future. That new 5G service is a gamechanger and I'd be inclined to wait a year to get a high end phone with that capability rather than spend the big bucks to get one now without it. And you can spend over a thousand dollars these days on a phone if you want to.
And there are lots of really good, lower end phones on the market. I'm using Tracfone's LG Premiere Pro (I paid $90 for it with a year's service through HSN back in September) and it's fine for me. YouTube is a great source for information on smartphones with many side by side comparisions. The LG Stylo 4 is getting lots of raves on YouTube these days and is about a $200 phone. If you're an Amazon Prime member and love Amazon, they sell unlocked phones with their apps built in for a good price. They often include bonuses like more memory also.
Speaking of memory, I'd avoid the phones with just 8 gb's of storage. By the time the phone loads all of the built-in stuff those phones leave very little room to add apps you're interested in. Phones with at least 16 gb's of memory are a much better option.
In my experience, most phones function pretty similarly. There will be a learning curve, but you'll adapt pretty quickly, just don't be too initimidated. As a general rule you simply have to learn to tap, and swipe and you can do pretty much anything on a phone. Once again, there are tons of tutorials on YouTube to walk you through basic uses and even the more advanced stuff.
Don't get overly hung up on the processor speed or the number of cores. Most phones will be plenty fast for whatever you need it to do. I don't think mine takes over a second or two to do anything and it's a $90 phone.
If you absolutely have to have the highest quality video and photo capabilities, then you'll be looking at the very high end phones. And they're very impressive. But, if you're fine with the photo and video quality you'd get from a point and shoot camera, pretty much any smartphone will do just fine. With 5G tech on the immediate horizon, I personally wouldn't invest in a high end phone at this time. Good luck and have fun!
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