I need a new phone, what to get?!

davido_labido

davido_labido

davido_labido

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So, after 2 years of problems with phones, I am coming towards the end of the contract and I am probably going to just buy out my last 2 months and get a new phone.

The history of this 2 year contract :

Had a HTC M8, screen broke in my pocket in less than a month, htc wouldn't even give me an estimate on price unless I sent them my phone, if the price was too much, I would have had to pay £40 to get my phone back regardless. I said to one of their management then I wouldn't go back to HTC and I won't.

I then bought a Huawei Honor 6+ as my HTC started becoming unusable (crashing, general lag and power button not working properly). The honor had been great, however now the lock/power button has started to fail (unless I press it hard, it doesn't work) but I have managed to work around that with binding the volume keys as unlock and then a on screen button to lock.

My needs:

-powerful, I use my phone a lot for many applications, it is one of my greatest tools at events to show people what I have been doing on my computers and I need it to be responsive and usable.

- big ish - again, I don't want something too small as I show people things on it often.

- not apple - just doesn't suite all of my needs.

-available from Three - I don't really want to change as I hammer the unlimited data some months and they have been good to me tbh.

- decent screen - my HTC was OK, but the honor seems to have a far better screen, colours are bright but not overpowering, lines are crisp and images look great (except when taken with the stock camera) something similar to this would be preferable.

Not so important but would be nice

- decent camera - not a huge necessity, I can go without, but it would be nice.

- maybe wireless charging? - not sure if this has taken off with good phones or not tbh, it would be nice, but again not a necessity.
 
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When is that going to be Tauren? I have 3 days off after today so was ideally going to pop into town and have a look at what they have available but if something is on the very near horizon I could possibly wait

Note is a possibility, but I would have to look at one again, I do seem to remember them being far too big, but that was when I had my s3. Now I've gradually had bigger phones I might be more open to them
 
Showing your screen a lot i'd go AMOLED (or tablet tbh - high end samsung / apple tablets are perfect for displaying content) purely for the visibility aspect. Galaxy devices are april onwards, current S6's are on decent deals if it's an immediate requirement.
 
I have a couple of tablets and a laptop as well when I go to somewhere where I know I'm gonna be showing stuff off, but quite often it's on the fly and my phone is always with me. I don't think my current phone will last till April, the glass has started to fall out in little shards so I would imagine that will get worse over time.
 
Sorry for the late reply. But apparently the s7 has a release schedule for February. So not too long off! I'd personally hold off for then. New gen handsets aren't long off being released.
 
the original Nexus 6 would be a good option, these have been available recently for a little over £200.

LG G4 is also similarly priced, and another good option if you want something a little smaller

Samsung S6 is still quite expensive, and the S7 will be a lot more expensive again no doubt. I don't see the value in paying double for something that is maybe 10-20% better.
 
LG G4 - ticks all of your boxes imo (depending upon what you mean by "big-ish" - at a 5.5" screen it's not what I'd call small but I'm aware there are bigger phones out there!)
 
Thanks all, yeh, it looks like this glass isn't going to last long at all, this morning it was a very small crack in the top corner, 8hours later and it has fallen out to leave about a 10mm long bit of missing glass and loads of long almost invisible cracks coming from it. It kinda looks like a cracked windscreen after a stone halls hit it :(

I think I've short listed the following from the thoughts here and other places :

LG G4 - never used LG for a phone so unsure about quality

Samsung s6 or S6 edge or edge plus - not sure on the actual screen on the edge, I feel like I would break it easily, but Is the s smaller? Does it lack any other features?

Try and hold out for the new phones, which honestly I don't see happening, this has gone from being one of the hardest glassed phones I've had to going like rice paper lol. Typing this feels strange as one of the cracks has gone through the keyboard area
 
My understanding it that the S6 and S6 Edge are the same except for the literally the "egge" of the phone! (unless someone can correct me??)

The reason I was put off the S6 was the lack of a micro-SD card slot so you are limited to the onboard storage if that's important for you?

As far as the G4 goes, it's the best phone I've used - I have it in a plastic case so wasn't bothered about the leather backs etc that you can get!

Amazing screen, superb camera, expandable storage, 3GB RAM - the list goes on!

I'm still amazed at the low cost too - Vodafone have apparently had this on sale for as little as £225 recently! Definitely worth having a look at one in a shop to see if you get a feel for the "quality" imo!

(or wait until the G5 is announced!)
 
Expandable storafey isn't a huge turn off, I'm sure I could just find a way to back my phone up to my server (images) via wifi/Dropbox/cloud so I can then delete them from the phone.


Thanks for your help all, I always appreciate getting more input as my own head gets confused quite easily with phone timelines. I need to go to town for some new glasses tomorrow (yay, 350 quid just to see as I look a numpty in most glasses) so will see what phones are kicking around. If Three don't continue my unlimited Internet I will possibly switch providers so I might have more options.
 
If you liked the Honor 6+ perhaps the Honor 7 is a good move? The 'only' issue many people give is the EMUI interface but presumably you're familiar with that already from your 6+ days. It's available on Three (or at least was) but you might prefer to buy it outright (will be available for £210 after a £40 discount on the VMall flash sale on Thursday) which will allow you to go SIMO on your current plan...
 
Assuming you're out of contract then it's just a case of swapping to a SIMO package. This could be with another network (and get a PAC to transfer your number over to the new network) or just ring up your network and request you be moved to one of their plans. As an example, you can see the Three SIMO mobile phone plans here:

http://www.three.co.uk/Store/SIM/Plans_for_phones

You'll be able to use your SIM in any phone that you want so long as it's unlocked for that network. Many phones available are already SIM free (that is, they can be used on any network) however those that are not can often be unlocked (methods vary between phones).

Effectively SIMO is a bit like what a normal contract becomes once you're outside of the contract (i.e., you're no longer 'paying off' the phone but just getting your allowance for the money) however they're typically cheaper (after all, if you were willing to pay the normal contract price then why wouldn't you opt for one that came with a phone rather than continue using your old one?).

The main advantage to SIMO is that you can swap and change phones whenever you want (no waiting for a 24 month contract to elapse) and that (usually) the SIMO monthly cost over 24 months plus the outright cost of the phone tends to be less than the 24 month contract. Additionally, many SIMO plans are rolling 30-day contracts which mean you can also swap networks easily if you see a better deal elsewhere. (Many networks will offer you the same SIMO plan slightly cheaper if you tie-in for 12 months, keep an eye out for this if it's something you're happy with). A typical reason that you might want to avoid SIMO, though, is if you want an expensive phone and do not have the funds to buy it outright, in which case spreading the payments over 24 months might be better.
 
I ended up getting the Nexus 6p then i will just go sim only when my contract runs out :D all i need is the unlimited internet really, so it will only cost around 20 quid a month, which is fine for me :D
 
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