My brand new android phone cost me $50, no plan attached or anything like that. Granted, that was a steal but I've never paid more than ~ $300 for my phones and I use them for 3 to 4 years.
I agree, apple make old phones slow on purpose by software update, apple is evil
The only time Apple made “an old phone slow” was when the battery was too old and couldn’t operate at peak without causing the phone to shut off.