Upgrade time - advice please

[Naan_H]

Hi guys, needing some information as im out of the loop when it comes to mobile phones.

Currently with 02 on a 18 month contract - 600 mins, 1000 texts, free 02 to 02 calls and free unlimited web bolt on, all inc for £25. When i got this i got a n95 8gb thrown in for free too.

Now i have just got 17months into the contract and its upgrade time.

I like the n95 - does all i want it to - browse the web (via opera) and more importantly i cant stream bbc radio stations via the inbuilt realplayer (normally use bbc 5 live for footy commentary). To be honest it meets all my needs, but as i can get a free upgrade im thinking i might aswell. The only improvement i guess it needs is in the video department, buts its not a big deal.

I would like an iphone as im a gadget freak and its just a nice bit of kit, but i dont want to lose my tariff and go to a crappy iphone tariff and pay for the phone itself - ill just be throwing money away essentially.

What other decent phones are there out there? Never had a touch screen - wouldnt mind having one (samsung omniaHD, HTC?). I guess the camera has to be equal if not better than the n95 ( iphone being an exception).

o2 dont seem to have the best range of phones. If thats the case whats prob the best phone to get from them to sell on (i.e which will get me the most money!)

If i was to get an iphone sim free would i be able to chuck my current o2 sim in and start using it properly (i.e internet full speed)?

Sorry for being vague but its been 18 months since i looked at phones - your help would be appreciated

 

[miniyazz]

I like the n95 - does all i want it to - browse the web (via opera) and more importantly i cant stream bbc radio stations via the inbuilt realplayer (normally use bbc 5 live for footy commentary). To be honest it meets all my needs, but as i can get a free upgrade im thinking i might aswell. The only improvement i guess it needs is in the video department, buts its not a big deal.

If it does everything you need and you're happy with it, consider keeping it and getting a sim-only contract - it'll work out cheaper with more minutes. Though that seems like a pretty good deal you got there..

I would like an iphone as im a gadget freak and its just a nice bit of kit, but i dont want to lose my tariff and go to a crappy iphone tariff and pay for the phone itself - ill just be throwing money away essentially.

What other decent phones are there out there? Never had a touch screen - wouldnt mind having one (samsung omniaHD, HTC?). I guess the camera has to be equal if not better than the n95 ( iphone being an exception).

HTC Touch HD gets a +1 from me, including good camera quality, but there are newer smartphones round the corner - Omnia 2, etc.

o2 dont seem to have the best range of phones. If thats the case whats prob the best phone to get from them to sell on (i.e which will get me the most money!)

Just check eBay for the most expensive one.

If i was to get an iphone sim free would i be able to chuck my current o2 sim in and start using it properly (i.e internet full speed)?

Yes.

 

[Naan_H]

Thanks for the reply mate. I had heard in the past that if you were to chuck a regular o2 sim in you couldnt use the net on it - as my sim is already 3G enabled i guess it should work with no configuration needed - surely o2 would know i was using an iphone despite not being on one of their contracts? - if i can get full functionality of the iphone with my current sim i guess it might be a serious option for me.

 

[Seft]

What other decent phones are there out there? Never had a touch screen - wouldnt mind having one (samsung omniaHD, HTC?). I guess the camera has to be equal if not better than the n95 ( iphone being an exception).

If you were keen to stay with an S60 phone, then your best bets are the N97 or N86 8MP (the Samsung i8910 HD is Orange-exclusive). The N97 is a very capable touch handset and the N86 is probably the spiritual successor to the N95 - it's a very refined non-touch dual slider with a great camera.

 

[miniyazz]

Thanks for the reply mate. I had heard in the past that if you were to chuck a regular o2 sim in you couldnt use the net on it - as my sim is already 3G enabled i guess it should work with no configuration needed - surely o2 would know i was using an iphone despite not being on one of their contracts? - if i can get full functionality of the iphone with my current sim i guess it might be a serious option for me.

I can't see why they'd get fussed about you using an iPhone out of contract. If someone knows better, prove me wrong, but essentially they're just a portal for you to stick your sim into whatever phone you want, and use all the features the phone has. Only time things would get messy is if you tried to use a different network in the iPhone, because they're anal about that.

 

[Tunney]

It sounds like your perfect phone would be the N97.

 

[Christo]

Avoid anything HTC as you want a decent camera. Personally Id avoid anything Windows Mobile as the OS is just so far behind the iphone/dated.
So for touch screen the N97 (S60), Samsung Omina HD (S60) and Samsung i7500/Galaxy (Android) all match your needs pretty well.. Id also consider the N86, the camera looks rather good.