Phone spec request - upgrade from Galaxy S5

strumpusplunket · 26 Jul 2020 at 15:47

My eldest has been using my old Galaxy S5 for a couple of years, but it is getting increasingly frustrating for him due to decling battery life and general sluggishness.

We've agreed he can get an upgrade, but not sure what would be a good option.

He likes the look of the S7 and S8, but I wonder if those are really the best option?

Ideally, he'd like a decent screen size like the S8, but I don't think he really needs a lot of gimmicky features. Decent battery and basically snappy responsiveness life would be good selling points for us, too.

We don't want to spend too much. Below £250ish if at all possible, but we don't really have a fixed budget in mind. We're thinking just buying outright would be the best bet.

What would be the best options for model and retailer? Any of the Xiomi phones any good, or are they having problems like Huawei with the Google Play Store and Android?

strumpusplunket · 26 Jul 2020 at 17:37

nlel1975 said:
I’d recommend the Motorola Moto G8 Power, large 5000mah battery, big screen and similar in performance to a Samsung Galaxy S8 but three years newer. Can be bought new for around £200.

Cheers. I will check that out.

strumpusplunket · 26 Jul 2020 at 18:38

nlel1975 said:
Motorola is a name you can trust, Android doesn’t automatically mean Samsung.

Yeah, I am not especially a Samsung fan. Just a bit out of touch with what the current decent models are since I have no interest myself in phone upgrades these days.

First things I'm reading about the G8 look good so far.

strumpusplunket · 27 Jul 2020 at 08:51

Yeah,I spoke to my lad about this last night. He doesn't want the G8 because his friend has one. He'd even rather have a different phone that's not as good instead of the same one as his mate. I guess that's teenager logic, I dunno.

I might leave it to sit with him for a day or two since I think that's a daft bit of reasoning, but good to see a back-up option here too.

strumpusplunket · 27 Jul 2020 at 17:47

nlel1975 said:
Have you thought about selling the Samsung Galaxy S5? A new battery on eBay costs less than £ 10 and after a factory reset it should be back up to speed.

I sold my Samsung S5 Mini for £ 50 locally.

Yeah, I usually sell my old phones through one of the online selling portals. Shopping around them usually nets me a reasonable amount off the next phone. Though I haven't done this for a long time as the only time I've upgraded in years was when I lost my old phone.

strumpusplunket · 27 Jul 2020 at 18:13

Squink said:
Samsung are offering 15pc off at the mo, if you check out the code on their website. Best for your son is the £75 trade in price for the s5, coming on top of the 15pc off.

That definitely sounds worth looking into, cheers!

strumpusplunket · 27 Jul 2020 at 18:27

nlel1975 said:
Could get a Samsung Galaxy A41 for £ 154 with your 15% off and £ 75 trade in normal price £ 269. Performance as good as M31 or G8 Power but only 3500mah battery but who cares about at this price.

That's a bargain. 3500mah should last a day of normal use anyway, I'd think?

tamzzy said:
i know it's above your proposed budget, but can't really go wrong with the A71. samsung currently doing a sale on their website
A71 = £419, less 15% discount and then £75 trade in for any phone = ~£280

Not a bad price, but hard to justify the extra over the cheaper models. I will have a look together with my son before making the final decision, though.

strumpusplunket · 27 Jul 2020 at 21:27

nlel1975 said:
Could get a Samsung Galaxy A41 for £ 154 with your 15% off and £ 75 trade in normal price £ 269. Performance as good as M31 or G8 Power but only 3500mah battery but who cares about at this price.

Thanks again. Just grabbed this deal. Nice discount and £75 for the old S5.

Cheers!