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mobile phone choice
02GF74 - 3/8/17 at 07:19 PM

yawn, yet another post about mobile phone selection . I'm looking to update my phone for one with bigger screen so requirements are:
- screen 5.0" inch is plenty
- not Apple, don't believe it's worth paying the premium
- android OS, cause that' what I have now and seems no reason to change
- price in region of £ 100 new (unlocked)
- a removable battery would be useful to have (most new phones no longer have this)
- must be a well known brand i.e. one that I've heard of
- nice and thin

I' not a big maker for calls (a £ 10 PAYG usually lasts 2-3 months), don't play games on it, take a few photos and mostly browse internet.

So narrowed it down to following 3:
1. HTC desire 650 pro: hi res music, recent model, con: cost, most expensive at £ 150 (£90 in O2 sale)
2. Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017)
3. Sony Xperia E5 pro: never owned a bad Sony product, possibly the cheapest

comments ??


[Edited on 3/8/17 by 02GF74]

craigdiver - 3/8/17 at 07:46 PM

Cameras on the Sony Xperia models are excellent, along with decent screens and battery life.

However, after being an android fan for ages I now have an iphone 6S and will not being going back to android.

dave r - 3/8/17 at 08:22 PM

motorola

britishtrident - 3/8/17 at 09:10 PM

We had two HTC' Desires we loved them but occaisionally one won't accept a charge it seems to be a common problem, the battery is built in, only way round it is to leave the phone to discharge completely as a result I had to fall back on my gen 2 Motorola Moto G
Replacement was due so I did some research and the latest Moto E4 and G5 model range (now re-branded Lenovo) looked good.
In the end I bought the very latest Lenovo Moto E4 Plus 5.5" screen and a huge battery-- for £149

[Edited on 3/8/17 by britishtrident]

Slimy38 - 3/8/17 at 09:36 PM

quote:
Originally posted by dave r
motorola


Yep, I have the G4 and I'm very happy with it. I paid just over £100 for an unlocked one. It doesn't have a removable battery, but without too many apps it'll last two days. I watch videos and play games, and just about go 12 hours on a charge.

I deliberately didn't go for the G5 even though it was available, as it hadn't got as good reviews. There's nothing wrong with it, I think it just wasn't that much of a step up from the G4.

As mentioned they are Lenovo now rather than Motorola, but I seem to have a fair bit of Lenovo kit (I'm on a Lenovo laptop at the moment!) and they are very well built.

Paul M - 3/8/17 at 09:50 PM

Another vote for Motorola - i switched from an iphone two years ago - have used 3 different Motorola's in the last 2 years all have been excellent,
bought all SIM free and haven't paid more than £120 for them. I was an independent mobile dealer from 1993 to 2002 so I've used a fair few phones - I rate the Motorola's very highly indeed.

luke2152 - 3/8/17 at 10:02 PM

I had a J3 and it was utter crap. Performance was worse than the four year old S3 it was replacing. And the internal memory was small enough that you were extremely limited in the number of apps you could run and putting an SD card in didn't help because it would only store files on the card - not apps. I guess it was ok for basic tasks and the price was right.

loggyboy - 3/8/17 at 11:44 PM

quote:
Originally posted by luke2152
I had a J3 and it was utter crap. Performance was worse than the four year old S3 it was replacing. And the internal memory was small enough that you were extremely limited in the number of apps you could run and putting an SD card in didn't help because it would only store files on the card - not apps. I guess it was ok for basic tasks and the price was right.


You cant replace An older flagship phone with a base model phone and expect much. Thats like going from a 10yr old merc to a brand new fiesta and complaining the fiesta is slow, noisy and uncomfortable.
I was impressed with the J3 my father in law has (pre 2017 version) and specs on paper were similar to my s5mini, which is a cut down version of the flagship s5 from 2014ish. Camera on the j3 was very impressive.
Also you should be able to transfer certain apps, some partially to an sd card on an android. I certainly can on my s5mini.

[Edited on 3-8-17 by loggyboy]

coozer - 4/8/17 at 11:46 AM

I just went to Argos and bought a Moto G4.

They had a sale on so got some money off, think it was about 150..

Got the wife a G3 as well, under 120.

Easy to use, syncs all me accounts between my phone and tablet easily.

overdriver - 4/8/17 at 01:39 PM

Been using a Motorola Moto G4 (2nd gen) for c. 3 years. Only issue has been I've had 2 SD cards become corrupted - though whether this has been a h/ware or Android update problem has never been resolved. I have the £5 a month giffgaff bundle which is more than ample for my miserly needs!

Michael.

ragindave - 5/8/17 at 09:15 AM

Motorola Moto G5

Good value

Sim Free Motorola Moto G5 Mobile Phone - Grey. From the Argos Shop on ebay

Argos and Currys on Ebay refurb phones take some beating for price and piece of mind.

[Edited on 5/8/17 by ragindave]

02GF74 - 19/8/17 at 05:58 PM

Just to conclude this.
Was torn between the HTC and the xperia xa1. In the end went for the Sony.

Slightly underwhelmed but it's a strong brand but does what I need it to do.

Matt21 - 7/9/17 at 08:05 PM

I've had a sony xperia z5 for the last two years, great phone, I assume the rest of the sony range would be good too!

Ive now switched to a samsung s8 just for a change as the new xperia is barely any different to the old, very impressed.

I'd say you cant go wrong with either a sony or samsung

SJ - 8/9/17 at 06:47 AM

Any particular reason for going for a well known brand?

We have had a Doogee, Jaiyu and just bought my daughter a Xiaomi Note 4.

Link

All have been more reliable than my Samsung S5.

Stu