I’ve been in the dilemma of getting an android phone to avoid the huge apple tax. I tried a cheap aldi one which was very laggy but proved that Android was quite a nice experience and had lots of features that leave Apple well behind.
Most colleagues use whatsapp so iMessage isn’t so critical anymore.
What I have done is gone from £30/month now my contract is over to £11/month and have decided to bank money until my old 5c dies completely. Then I’ll look at options but:
S7 looks amazing. Honor 7 looks great for the money (£250) and the iPhone SE Looks a good deal (for an apple product!).
That said I’m hoping to save a few quid until I have to decide and hopefully just buy a phone outright.