Recommended specs for a smartphone?

Associate
Joined
24 Feb 2014
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701
So I'm looking to get a new smartphone, probably mostly going to be using it for a bit of gaming/youtube/music outside the obvious calls & texts, not looking at a flagship one, just a cheap durable one ideally, & I'm wondering if theres any specs I should shoot for, as I've not really looked into smartphones before.

Basically I'm looking to get an idea what the minimum chipset/ram etc I should be looking for is, couldnt care less about camera, which seems to be the focus of most reviews atm.
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Mar 2010
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M4 Corridor
Highly depends on what sort of games as these stress the processor/gpu the most. Any handset over £100 will do all 3 of your requirements with ease, size/screen res get better as costs go up, so will support.
 
Associate
Joined
2 Aug 2016
Posts
125
It's quite subjective because likely some people are fussier than others. I had a phone with the Snapdragon 615 and I wasn't impressed with the performance. From reviews I have seen I would go for at least a Snapdragon 625. It has had a lot of positive feedback from reviewers, with them saying it feels as responsive as a high end chipset and even does a decent job gaming. I think it was a surprise to reviewers because the 615/617 wasn't good.

Here is probably the cheapest phone with the 625 link (downsides of this phone: it is shipped from china and takes weeks to arrive. You can pay extra for fast delivery but you are much more likely to be hit with VAT/customs, warranty. Upsides: great specs for the price, xiaomi is actually a relatively good brand imho and you get OTA software updates, it comes with all the right bands to work in the UK (a lot of chinese phones don't include B20), comes with a global edition ROM).

There's the Moto g5 plus (SD625, 3GB's of ram) costs: £250 - £300

3 network were selling the lenovo p2 for about £210 that has great specs for the price but afaik it's sold out for now.

edit: The Moto G5S Plus is coming out soon, it has dual camera's on the rear and a nicer build/design imo.
 
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Associate
Joined
2 Aug 2016
Posts
125
The huawei p8 lite (2017) also looks good. It has a Kirin 655 which is almost, if not, as well performing as the SD625. It also has 3GB of ram. The one on Argos selling for 119.99 + 10 topup is probably the old model and they got the spec's wrong. So don't buy that one unless you know for sure it's the new model (which it probably isn't). The old model's spec's aren't nearly as good. You can get the 2017 model from Curries for 179.99 link.

Edit: can get it from vodafone for 150 plus 10 topup, might have to unlock it. link
 
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