Another new phone thread

Fluffybob · 1 Jul 2021 at 11:38

Hi all,

My good lady's Oneplus 3T is on it's last legs and I am going to hand down my Moto G8 Plus as she likes it and it's not too old and in good nick.

This means I am looking for a decent replacement for myself but there are so many to choose from I'm a bit lost.

Budget is 200 - 300 (with a bit extra if it's worth it) Just wondering what the OCUK thoughts are.

doodah · 1 Jul 2021 at 11:59

Poco F3s were going for under £300 on Amazon recently, bought one myself a few weeks ago.

For the price it offers excellent value (fast SoC, 8GB of RAM, a decent and bright 120Hz screen, 33W fast charging and 128/256GB of storage).

There a few niggles but I am happy with it.

Squink · 1 Jul 2021 at 13:05

Pixel 4a on VOXI at £270 if you want stock Android. Can pay it off at £9 a month as well if you wish.

Fluffybob · 1 Jul 2021 at 15:10

doodah said:
There a few niggles but I am happy with it.

Issues as in ?

doodah · 1 Jul 2021 at 16:31

Fluffybob said:
Issues as in ?

With mine at least. The proximity/light sensor is sometimes off, being way too dark in sunlight. Strava crashes a lot on cycles (I have noticed a correlation with using the camera, switching back to Strava and it recovering from a crash), the touch sensitiveness is weak at times especially with unlocking via a pin, my camera randomly started showing a green screen today.

None of them deal breaking and likely fixed with tweaks or updates.

Edit - forgot an annoying one. The max volume on headphones is almost criminally quiet

.

Fluffybob · 2 Jul 2021 at 10:00

@doodah cheers for the update, I'm off to drown myself in youtube video reviews :cry:

MrRockliffe · 2 Jul 2021 at 10:02

Fluffybob said:
@doodah cheers for the update, I'm off to drown myself in youtube video reviews

Based on personal experience, I’d stick to some of the bigger players for a better chance of having a decent software experience. It’s never a guarantee, but you’ve got more of a chance

Fluffybob · 2 Jul 2021 at 10:14

Cheers @MrRockliffe I quite like the Moto phones but not sure which to move to to get a decent upgrade (too many options hurting my poor brain)

radderfire · 2 Jul 2021 at 10:58

realme GT 5G will be out soon for £325, The Tech Chap has a YouTube review.

Gray2233 · 2 Jul 2021 at 11:04

I bought a Poco X3 Pro 8gb/256gb a little while back for £200, as mentioned by @doodah there's the odd niggle but for raw performance it's pretty much unbeatable for the price. The F3 is better again if you're willing to stretch.

Fluffybob · 6 Jul 2021 at 14:13

Managed a one day only deal on a Mi 11 lite 5G for only 300 squids so lets see how I get on

PGdude · 8 Jul 2021 at 10:56

Hey @Fluffybob,

Would you be willing to help me out?
My OP3's screen display is dead and I need a reference for navigating to wireless screen casting by using the touch screen blindly.
Send me a message via trust e-mail if you're willing to help, no worries if it's too much of a bother though.

Hunterlit · 8 Jul 2021 at 11:36

Got a Sony Xperia 10 about a year ago @ around £300 (I think) pretty good phone without all the bells and whistles the major downside is the build quality and mine broke after a relatively short fall.

Tuvoc · 21 Aug 2021 at 13:26

Fluffybob said:
Managed a one day only deal on a Mi 11 lite 5G for only 300 squids so lets see how I get on

Got one myself a couple of weeks ago. How are you finding yours ?

Only real negative I've found is that the battery life sucks. No way I get a full day from it. But it least it charges super-fast. I've put the screen back temporarily to 60hz from 90hz to see if that makes a difference. But will put it back to 90. I came from a 2 year old Galaxy A70, and to be honest I don't see the M11 5G lite as being a very much better use experience. Not much of an upgrade if any, apart from being much lighter phone, a bit more responsive, and with possible future benefit of 5G. Surprisingly I do miss the unreliable in-screen fingerprint scanner on the A70. I may well go back to it.

Fluffybob · 23 Aug 2021 at 09:12

Tuvoc said:
Got one myself a couple of weeks ago. How are you finding yours ?

Only real negative I've found is that the battery life sucks. No way I get a full day from it. But it least it charges super-fast. I've put the screen back temporarily to 60hz from 90hz to see if that makes a difference. But will put it back to 90. I came from a 2 year old Galaxy A70, and to be honest I don't see the M11 5G lite as being a very much better use experience. Not much of an upgrade if any, apart from being much lighter phone, a bit more responsive, and with possible future benefit of 5G. Surprisingly I do miss the unreliable in-screen fingerprint scanner on the A70. I may well go back to it.

Hey @Tuvoc, I get a couple of days out of mine so maybe you got a dodgy one, i only have a few quibbles so far but they are mostly with MIUI and I need to just get used to it.

Tuvoc · 23 Aug 2021 at 13:24

Fluffybob said:
Hey @Tuvoc, I get a couple of days out of mine so maybe you got a dodgy one, i only have a few quibbles so far but they are mostly with MIUI and I need to just get used to it.

I have Microsoft Launcher on mine

I know what the battery issue is now - it is 5G. It seems to drain the battery twice as quickly ! I have an EE SIM and a Vodafone SIM. I get a very fast EE 5G signal at home, but Vodafone a slow 4G. I switched the data over to the Vodafone SIM and now the battery lasts a lot longer, more like what I would expect.