I know nothing about phones but I know I want to upgrade from what I have now and spend as little money as possible - and ideally with a removable battery.
I got a Vodafone Smart Prime 6 about two and a half years ago as my first smart phone and was reasonably happy with it for the price, but in the last year or so I've been getting more & more frustrated with how slow it can be - e.g. sometimes loading up the Kindle or Amazon Music apps can take a maybe 20 seconds, other times it might freeze up and be unusable for a couple of minutes. Plus the battery life has definitely deteriorated and the battery isn't replaceable.
I'm not bothered about anything fancy, if I want to take photos I have a proper camera for that, and ideally want something fairly small and cheap, but the problem is I know nothing about phones so I don't really know what to be looking for - do I want something with a lot of RAM or a good processor?
I'm hoping to pick something up a bit cheaper around Black Friday - I see the Moto G6 is £120 at the moment, which is probably the most I'd want to spend.
Can someone point me in the right direction?
Comments
2Ghz Octa Core, 4/64Gb 5.99" 1080 HD screen (no notch or thick bezel) 4G Dual Sim 12/5Mp cameras, super slim metal case - I am running Oreo. I got one using my TopCashback on a deal weekend for just £111. Ask the vendor to under state value and describe it as Handset or MP3 player and will be no customs to pay. 14 days delivery and is no Chinese content or Ads to deal with. You can strip down and replace batteries too when needed easy enough and they are £7.
I am doing all sorts on it. even Running Atari ST Cubase with Midi under Hataroid! Is also good for reading your digital copies of Guitarist or Guitar Mag as the screen is big enough and fast enough to scale the text.
If you want super cheap but usable, then the Blackview A20 running Android Go is OK for £37. Again 14 days turnaround. Got one for my Mum and again on a Topcashback weekend paid just £33.
But the Xiaomi is just superb - I can't put it down and use it as a mini pad around the house all day...
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Global-ROM-Xiaomi-Redmi-5-Plus-4GB-64GB-ROM-Mobile-Phone-18-9-Full-Screen-Snapdragon/32845132016.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dnXKhDW
Don't do this. It's a criminal offence. And just a bit scummy.
I have the G6 Plus; I reckon the G6 is probably excellent, especially at that sort of price
For your budget you can't get a very high end model but if you stretch a bit you can pick up an A2 Lite for £180. The benefit with that is that it's an Android One phone running stock Google software, and it's more likely to get regularly updated.
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
Details of the offer here: https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/sony-xperia-xz1-compact-32gb-139-upfront-13-vodafone-1-month-carphone-warehouse-3100713
Good if you're happy to drop back to 720p screen but want a smaller form factor.
Why would you be wanting an upgrade?
My phone is nearly 4 years old. I had to replace the battery a year or so ago. If still works. I'd like a better camera but it's not the end of the world. I'd rather spend the money on something else than upgrading a phone.
With the technology maturing all the time, the need to upgrade will be even less in the future. The next phone I get will have a better camera.
I'm typing this on a 6 year old PC that is still faster than the average £300 laptop that you get in PC World. 20 years ago, a 6 year old PC would have been all but useless, but the market has matured. Phones will go the same way. There is no reason that we need to get rid of our phones every 2 years - apart from dodgy phone makers trying to force us to by making phones that have to be binned because the battery has died.
Like I said above, my next phone is likely to be a no name Chinese phone at this rate so I can get a replaceable battery. I refuse to buy something that is designed to die after 2 years.
My problem last time I changed was that I'd gone off having large phones and wanted something that slipped in the pocket much easier, hence going back to a 4.6" screen. Also I wanted 4G on O2 which a number of the Chinese phones don't support so make sure you check the specs before possibly restricting yourself. My main limiting factor was wanting both of those things, a smaller screen and 4G on O2 (band 20).
I think for the general marketing side of things, replaceable battery has just meant a touch contact connection on the battery so that you can lift it without having to physically disconnect anything. Does annoy me somewhat that they're otherwise considered permanent. I always took the approach that they must have got the battery in there somehow so you must be able to get it out.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-Moto-Plus-SIM-Free-Smartphone-White/dp/B01GZZKDHI/