Spec me a phone (perhaps a little different to most?)

Akagi

Akagi

Akagi

Caporegime
Joined
29 Jul 2011
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In acme's chair.
Hi guys,

I have spent a long time going through various phones which I have bought on eBay for £30 - £50 a time, and I am fed up now and would like to get something which will last me a good while!

My budget is around £120 - £180

I need:

- Android
- Good battery life, I am a heavy user of my phone
- A screen no bigger than 5" (all of my previous phones have had 4" - 4.5" screens, and I use my phone with one hand)
- A nice smooth quad core or octa core CPU
- At least 2GB of RAM
- Decent rear facing camera
- Android 5.0 or newer out-of-the-box or available upgrade

I would like (not essential):

- Micro SD card slot

Phones I have looked at so far, but have not been entirely sold on are:

- Moto G gen3 16GB/2GB (I think the CPU is a little weak perhaps? It uses the 410 chipset)
- Vodafone Smart Ultra 6 (decided that the screen would be too big for me!)
- Oneplus X (I am on the waiting list......)

Is there anything else I need to be looking at? I am open to obscure brands if they offer what I am after and are decent quality. :)

My past few phones, if it is of any interest or relevance:

- Moto Milestone 1
- HTC Sensation 4G
- Moto Droid 4
- Moto Razr i

Many thanks all! :)
 
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The 410 is about the CPU you are going to get in that price bracket.

The Samsung A5 and J5 both feature it and are in that price range.
 
If you are looking at the moto g 3, then take a look at the wileyfox swift. Same hardware but cyanogenmod version of android (likely will recieve updates faster than Motorola) and lower price. If you can put up with a 5.5 screen the wileyfox storm is a good option too.
 
Gigabit said:
OnePlus devices are indeed, terribly unreliable. I have had a OnePlus One and now OnePlus X and both are unreliable (both overheat and lag).
Click to expand...

It was the compass for me. Total rubbish. I'd walk up and down roads if trying to navigate on foot :rolleyes:
 
I can thoroughly recommend the Motorola I bought the 8GB/2GB as a stop gap after dropping my Xperia Z3 and tbh after a month in I'm more than happy with it
 
I got a moto g 2nd gen for my wife as "she wasn't in to phones" and she hated it, so slow and clunky. I then picked up a mint unboxed z3 compact from cex for £210 which she absolutely loves and its light years ahead in build and spec (or feels it at least)

I'd get a z3c if I was you, it'll be a little bit extra mind.
 
TripleT said:
I got a moto g 2nd gen for my wife as "she wasn't in to phones" and she hated it, so slow and clunky.
Click to expand...

As an owner of the 2nd Gen Moto G have to agree, although it's not the hardware that is at fault, it is the lack of a decent firmware update (it's currently stuck on 5.0.2 with a horrible memory leak), no idea whether 5.1 or 6.0 will actually be available despite rumours/leaks of test builds of both having been available.

Hence my suggestion of the Wileyfox phones - with Cyanogenmod being responsible for the software side, in theory as soon as Google releases updated source, Cyanogenmod build it and release it, so updates should be nearly as swift as a Nexus phone.
 
Sorry guys, I got suspended for a bit! :p

- The Honor 7 apparently has a poor battery life, so I'm afraid that one is a no.
- I'm still not convinced about the Moto G, but I have been talking to my friend who has one and he's going to let me have a play with it when I next see him.
- Thanks for the feedback on OnePlus devices, I had always assumed they were very good!
- The Z3C is far too expensive

The phone I am looking into at the moment is the Xiaomi MI4i - http://www.mi.com/en/mi4i/

Any thoughts on these? They seem very good. A couple of reviewers mentioned issues with gaming (getting a bit hot and stuttering) but I never use my phone for games, and don't intend on. :)

It has a 5" 1080P display, Snapdragon 615, 2GB RAM, 13MP camera, 3120mAh battery, Android 5.0, polycarbonate unibody, and several other bits and pieces that I really like, such as the two tone flash and one handed mode. Can be had for about £160.
 
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There's an xperia z3 compact at carphonewarehouse for £249 sim free! It's a bit over your budget but it's a great phone! Had mine for a few months and love it!
 
Using a xiaomi mi4c and it's a great phone but think you will be disappointed with battery life. The miui OS doesn't have great standby battery drain. It's also a bit of a hassle installing custom Roms etc to get rid of the Chinese stuff.

Not sure if the mi4 is better in that regard.

Edit*
A more mainstream phone that fits the bill is the Sony M4, not got any personal experience with it to know what battery life is like.
 
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Check your local CEX for the Z3c, that's where I got my wife's from.

These are no doubt good phones but the Sony will be a step up in software and build quality. Up to you though.

Even the CEX website has 4 in stock described as "Mint" unlocked for £195. I wouldn't say £15 is miles over your budget.
 
The Sony has glass front and back and it doesn't seem to be very resilient to being dropped judging from the number for sale with cracked glass. It suffers from iPhone syndrome a little it seems.

My current phone, and my backup phone have both bricked themselves in exactly the same way inside of a week so I need a phone in a bit more of a hurry now... :(

Both of them were working, then cut out, then wouldn't boot again... Both Motorolas as well, though different models... Does that sound like a coincidence to you? It doesn't to me... It seems very strange...
 
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Very nice, I'll have a look on eBay for those. I don't trust any of these foreign re-sellers. At least with eBay there is buyer protection.
 
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