Best Buy dropped the most random sale bringing the P7 Pro 256 GB model down to $199 on their website, brand new. Was deciding on the P9 Pro XL and just got it open box and have been using it, but decided to pull the trigger on this anyway because it was just so cheap. I am blown away for almost a 3 year old flagship at this point, and struggling to justifiy spending another $800 when the P10 Pro is just a few months away.

I actually started off with a significant issue. It came out of the box with Android 13 and was constantly disconnecting from my Wi-Fi network during and after setup and shutting the modem off. I couldn't even download the update to Android 15, tried everything. Figured out how to use the Android Flash Tool on my PC and flashed a fresh install of Android 15 and it's been perfect since then.. So beware if you get one and have the same issue.

Since then, it's fluid, snappy, the screen still looks good, and seems to do everything I throw at it (which is not that much outside of social media and general productivity). It honestly feels just a hair slower than the G4 in most day to day tasks.

Probably the biggest differences I notice side by side are some of the camera shots, the charging speed is very slow, and the fingerprint sensor is a hair slower and requires more force. Other than that, I think I'm keeping the P7 Pro and returning the 9 Pro XL, and will see what trade-in deals come up when the 10 Pro XL comes out. For $200 brand new with a fresh battery, I think you could do a hell of a lot worse. Granted, I probably wouldn't pay $300-$400 for a used one but if they restock this, jump on it if you're looking to ball on a budget.