Looking to upgrade phone in next few days...S8 a good choice?

GinG · 17 Dec 2018 at 07:38

morning all,

I am due my upgrade on 19th. For the last 3 or 4 months I have been using my old Nokia Lumia phone after I smashed my Sony xperia ZX1 so ita been quite painful!

I am currently on EE paying £42 a month however I am looking to considerably reduce this.

I have an offer on my account for a Samsung S8, unl min and text and 20gb data for £38...i have friends and family so this brings it down to around £26.

I could just get a P Smart or P20 lite which would be around £15-£20 a month but with only 4gb data.

Is the S8 still a decent phone which would see me well for a further 2+ years?

usage wise having the Lumia i don't really do much other than phone and use WhatsApp...I just want a phone which works, could maybe do a bit more than this phone and have a decent battery life which would allow me to maybe watch Netflix or YouTube and also in turn be used as a satnav in my downtime and on my 12hr shift when needed.

MrRockliffe · 17 Dec 2018 at 07:51

I wouldn't personally say the S8 just works - myself and a few others at work have quite a few issues with it. Your mileage may vary of course.

You should be able to get the XZ2 for a similar price

Edit: S8 almost 2 years old at this point

lmfy2k · 17 Dec 2018 at 07:57

Defo call and and see what deals they can do.

May be better going sim only and getting a used decent handset from CEX or the like. This way only tied to a 12 month contract

biron_w · 17 Dec 2018 at 09:55

lmfy2k said:
Defo call and and see what deals they can do.

May be better going sim only and getting a used decent handset from CEX or the like. This way only tied to a 12 month contract

I'd go with this idea. I'm on Smarty at the moment, who run on 3. I currently only spend around £8 a month due to the fact that they refund unused data. And I just buy a phone. The Members Market is a good place to get one.

Kill_Phil · 17 Dec 2018 at 12:41

Highly recommended the oneplus 6t if you can find a good deal about. Missed the Black Friday deals but sure there will something out there.

GinG · 17 Dec 2018 at 12:52

thanks for the recommendation guys...unfortunately not it a position to fork out on a phone upfront so looking at the deals about. I can see that on the online portal i can get a S9 for the same price but with only 4gb data, however looking at previous usage I rarely go over 2.

will also speak with them and see what options they can offer me.

Kill_Phil · 17 Dec 2018 at 18:42

GinG said:
thanks for the recommendation guys...unfortunately not it a position to fork out on a phone upfront so looking at the deals about. I can see that on the online portal i can get a S9 for the same price but with only 4gb data, however looking at previous usage I rarely go over 2.

will also speak with them and see what options they can offer me.

Check out buymobiles.net. They have the s9 with 30gb data for £31.75 a month. Deals to be had!

tamzzy · 17 Dec 2018 at 18:57

GinG said:
usage wise having the Lumia i don't really do much other than phone and use WhatsApp...I just want a phone which works, could maybe do a bit more than this phone and have a decent battery life which would allow me to maybe watch Netflix or YouTube and also in turn be used as a satnav in my downtime and on my 12hr shift when needed.

GinG said:
£38...i have friends and family so this brings it down to around £26

uhh...do you need such an expensive phone to show off or what? lol.
#justsaying

GinG said:
thanks for the recommendation guys...unfortunately not it a position to fork out on a phone upfront so looking at the deals about. I can see that on the online portal i can get a S9 for the same price but with only 4gb data, however looking at previous usage I rarely go over 2.

seeing as you made this statement, would it not be worth getting a cheap sim and a mid-range phone and cut your monthly outgoing?
eg £8/mth sim and a moto g6 - that would cost <£350 for 24 months (£150 for phone £8x24 = £342) - less than £15/mth

A2Z · 18 Dec 2018 at 08:12

You would be crazy to get a S8 at the moment to be honest, its pretty old in phone terms, much better to invest some more cash into something new that will perform better for longer.

FishLicker · 18 Dec 2018 at 10:45

Just buy a phone on a card and pay over X amount of months, and then get one of the contracts recommended above. That's what I would do. Then you're free to choose whichever phone you want.

Each to their own but I wouldn't consider an s8 now.

Psycho Sonny · 19 Dec 2018 at 14:40

MrRockliffe said:
I wouldn't personally say the S8 just works - myself and a few others at work have quite a few issues with it. Your mileage may vary of course.

You should be able to get the XZ2 for a similar price

Edit: S8 almost 2 years old at this point

doesn't matter if the S8 is 2 years old. compare it with S9 they are exactly the same spec wise minus 1 difference iirc.

he will be getting provided a brand new one not a second hand one which is 2 years old.

the S8 is still a top spec phone and IMO the much better choice over the S( because it's substantially cheaper yet essentially the exact same phone.

how they managed to do this I have no clue but anyone who went s8 to s9 is a sheep

Psycho Sonny · 19 Dec 2018 at 14:40

A2Z said:
You would be crazy to get a S8 at the moment to be honest, its pretty old in phone terms, much better to invest some more cash into something new that will perform better for longer.

it's the exact same spec as an s9.

go compare them on gsm arena

GinG · 19 Dec 2018 at 14:42

Thanks for all the replies.

In the end I went with a P20 with 10gb data for £26 per month no upfront cost.

I hadn't realised the Samsung deals needed a £50 & £100 upfront.

I was currently paying £42 per month so a decent saving per month and a phone which will allow me to do a bit more than the Lumia im currently using.

MrRockliffe · 19 Dec 2018 at 14:50

Psycho Sonny said:
doesn't matter if the S8 is 2 years old. compare it with S9 they are exactly the same spec wise minus 1 difference iirc.

he will be getting provided a brand new one not a second hand one which is 2 years old.

the S8 is still a top spec phone and IMO the much better choice over the S( because it's substantially cheaper yet essentially the exact same phone.

how they managed to do this I have no clue but anyone who went s8 to s9 is a sheep

At no point did I even recommend getting an S9 :confused:

I don't think either device is worth buying

FishLicker · 19 Dec 2018 at 17:11

Psycho Sonny said:
it's the exact same spec as an s9.

go compare them on gsm arena

It definitely wont be, and even if it was, you'll get a further year of updates on the S9; for one thing, you'll get OneUI on the S9, you might not on an S8.

Edit: just from skim reading this article, it has a different SOC, smaller bezels, better camera and speakers, just to name a few. Clearly, these aren't important to you, but you still can't say they're exactly the same.

Psycho Sonny · 19 Dec 2018 at 17:13

FishLicker said:
It definitely wont be, and even if it was, you'll get a further year of updates on the S9; for one thing, you'll get OneUI on the S9, you might not on an S8.

i compared them and the majority is the exact same. just an updated cpu with slightly faster core speed. same screen. same size. same battery. same amount of ram. iirc it even had the same cameras or the new one is slightly different.

i was amazed they were essentially the exact same phone with 1 or 2 very very slight differences like clock speed.

FishLicker · 19 Dec 2018 at 17:17

Psycho Sonny said:
i compared them and the majority is the exact same. just an updated cpu with slightly faster core speed. same screen. same size. same battery. same amount of ram. iirc it even had the same cameras or the new one is slightly different.

i was amazed they were essentially the exact same phone with 1 or 2 very very slight differences like clock speed.

Similar yes, but that's the way it is now with phones... I'd want the newer phone just for having that extra year of updates personally.

If you're gonna go with the S8 I definitely would not pay more than £20 a month for it.

GinG · 20 Dec 2018 at 20:46

Got the P20 today and so far loving it, amazing setup from the lumia obviously but a nice upgrade from the Sony I had before I managed to bend it whilst catching it in the car door when shutting it!

Psycho Sonny · 23 Dec 2018 at 00:12

FishLicker said:
Similar yes, but that's the way it is now with phones... I'd want the newer phone just for having that extra year of updates personally.

If you're gonna go with the S8 I definitely would not pay more than £20 a month for it.

Updates? What a load of rubbish.

What updates are worth paying £600 additionally for?

FishLicker · 23 Dec 2018 at 12:16

Psycho Sonny said:
Updates? What a load of rubbish.

What updates are worth paying £600 additionally for?

I see where you’re coming from, but £600 extra? You’re having a laugh mate, probably about half that, and yes, to some people, having updates is fairly important. I don’t know how true but S9 will get OneUI and S8 will not, and given that it appears to be the future of Samsungs OS offerings, I would probably say that was nice to have.