Best Smartphone under £300

himen256 · 22 Oct 2017 at 22:16

Hi, I'm looking for a new phone to replace my old HTC M8. Nothing to fancy and no more expensive then £300. Things I care about is headphone jack with good sound quality, bright and colour rich screen, 64GB storage if less memory card slot, fingerprint reader and good battery life. Now the bits I dont care for: camera and all the fancy features with no use in real world.

At the moment I'm looking at LG V20 64GB for £270 new. Gone be buying at the end of this month so will need to pick something till then.

chongker · 23 Oct 2017 at 23:51

What about the oneplus series? The oneplus 3 would likely be well within budget for you now if you shop around

himen256 · 24 Oct 2017 at 14:46

chongker said:
What about the oneplus series? The oneplus 3 would likely be well within budget for you now if you shop around

After that scandal with collecting personal information from users I will stay far away from that company

Noughtboy · 24 Oct 2017 at 20:19

Can vouch for the V20. Battery life is highly dependent on use and SOC but the sound is excellent, screen good and finger print reader very fast.

Enjoying it after 7 years on Galaxy range.

Nice features too with the extra screen on top. Very useful in real world use.

ebilcake · 25 Oct 2017 at 10:25

OnePlus 3, Axon 7 or Mi5s Plus

Manbatius · 25 Oct 2017 at 20:13

V20 seems a good shout, something I am looking at, £270 seems a good price, I've been looking at it for £360! My reason for wanting it is camera, I suspect you can do better with battery life else.

If audio quality is your main priority though, I think there are better phones for that then this. I cannot recall which model gets rave reviews for audio quality... Maybe a htc. Check some reviews on gsm arena.

himen256 · 25 Oct 2017 at 21:28

Manbatius said:
V20 seems a good shout, something I am looking at, £270 seems a good price, I've been looking at it for £360! My reason for wanting it is camera, I suspect you can do better with battery life else.

If audio quality is your main priority though, I think there are better phones for that then this. I cannot recall which model gets rave reviews for audio quality... Maybe a htc. Check some reviews on gsm arena.

V20 looks like a win for now. I did have a look at HTC ultra but the fact there is no headphone jack is a no no for me. Battery life should be fine, if I'm only listening to music. I dont have facebook or other apps that require constant internet and just drain battery.

warren_1979 · 28 Oct 2017 at 17:46

Where is the best place to buy the V20?

Casterina · 28 Oct 2017 at 20:46

You can get the Axon 7 for £175.99 on offer at the moment.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/zt...or-20299-17599-with-code-see-comments-2816768

himen256 · 28 Oct 2017 at 21:10

Casterina said:
You can get the Axon 7 for £175.99 on offer at the moment.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/zt...or-20299-17599-with-code-see-comments-2816768

Do you know how this compare to LG V20? MOre to the point, is it worth paying £100 extra for LG?

Casterina · 28 Oct 2017 at 22:20

himen256 said:
Do you know how this compare to LG V20? MOre to the point, is it worth paying £100 extra for LG?

Both have built-in DAC but Axon 7 has dual front facing speakers and Dolby Atmos which I believe will sound better and the V20 has a removable battery whereas the Axon 7 is non-removable so my opinion is it isn't worth £100 extra just for the dual camera and 0.2 inch more screen size. Also, look for video comparison between the two on Youtube.

https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=8067&idPhone2=8238

himen256 · 28 Oct 2017 at 23:12

Casterina said:
You can get the Axon 7 for £175.99 on offer at the moment.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/zt...or-20299-17599-with-code-see-comments-2816768

Now the question can I get it without paying import charges? 22% on £175 is not a small amount.

Casterina · 28 Oct 2017 at 23:55

himen256 said:
Now the question can I get it without paying import charges? 22% on £175 is not a small amount.

I have ordered several phones from Gearbest with British Express shipping (delivery via Yodel when it arrives in the UK) and never been hit with custom charges, they normally declare it under $20 but just to be safe put in the order notes to declare as low value under x amount.

this_is_gav · 29 Oct 2017 at 07:49

Just don't go DHL. DHL you're almost guaranteed to be hit at customs while every other method has at least a chance of missing (free shipping from AliExpress seems to be the least likely, but it does take weeks that way).