Mobile Phone Advice

[Mark Hancock]

I'm finally taking the plunge and am looking at ditching my pay as you go arrangement for a sim only deal on the Vodafone network and having some internet access; up to now I've refused to do that with my phone and have only used it as a phone and occasional camera . That part has been a relatively easy decision to make after taking advice from friends and family with a couple of £10 per month deals looking suitable but looking for a refurbished hand set is a nightmare as I don't know what I'm looking at! Advice has been to go for a Samsung but which one? Found 2 sites which I've been told are ok:
Musicmagpie

CEX

I found out about the grading so looking for an A grade unlocked one but no idea when it comes to which model.

Any advice or recommendations gratefully received!
Mark

 

[XH558]

I'm an Apple user on iOS 14.whatever. The device is an 8+

My sons have now gone Android and have both bought 1+ (One plus) handsets. 1+ is the actual make. They are 26 and 24 not kids and they are really nice. The cameras are amazing. Hope that helps.............

 

[craigs]

I am a 1+ user, the 7 pro, camera is amazing and it won't break the bank, that being said my daughter has a Samsung a51 which is also really good and half the price. one thing to note for the camera at least is that a good amount of the magic is software based...and no one has better camera software than google. with an open phone like a 1+ you can install the google camera app (not sure if i can do that on my daughters samsung as i have never tried).

 

[billw]

I'm afraid I'm an Apple user too so really couldn't tell you which Samsung was better. However both of those sellers are reputable (I've used both) so I can vouch for them.

 

[Doug71]

I just got my son a Samsung phone and sim only contract, the cheapest way (or so they told me!) seems to be taking out the phone on contract as well but paying it off straight away.

This was O2 so not sure if Vodaphone do the same. I went in to an O2 store where they put me on a sim and phone contract which was something like £40 a month but you pay off the phone straight away and change the sim contract to whatever level you want, we went for £12 a month. It seem a daft way to do it but it is cheaper then just buying the phone as a handset only. He got a Samsung A21 which he seems quite happy with.

Was going to go down the second hand route but this was nearly as cheap and less hassle.

 

[Spectric]

Don't do it, keep the basic phone and use a static device for the internet otherwise it will take over your life and you could become a slave to the not so smart phone.

 

[marcros]

I also have a one plus. I chose it because I didn't want to pay apple or Samsung money but to be honest I would have another on merit alone. When this one breaks or fails to be supported, it is several years old now and still going strong.

The camera was a particular selling feature to me, I was less concerned about other features.

 

[bp122]

I am a Samsung user for a long time.

My advice would be to get an 6 to 8gb internet plan and unlimited calls for anywhere between £6 and £10 a month, which is offered by the likes of :
Three - so far the best network in terms of quality that I have come across.
Vodafone - been with them on and off and wasn't impressed with their coverage or their shocking customer service
EE- lower prices generally
SMART- Best bang for the buck I have seen where you can cancel your contract ANYTIME and not have to wait for 12 or 24 months!

Go on uSwitch website and take a look around for the SIM only deals. They also have lower contract deals from all major networks than they have in their own websites.

In terms of Handset, you could look at CEX as you said. Other place is Giffgaff which seem to have reasonable reviews for used phones. But if you are looking for a good phone that doesn't break the bank, you could look at Google pixel-2 which, for £350 odd, has everything you'd need and costs below any current top tier smartphone on the used market. If you shop around for a deal, you could get it for a bit less too.


And no, I don't work for a network or phone company, I recently did the full research for my wife's phone which was dying.

Unfortunately the Google pixel info came a bit late for my wife who I bought an new S10 regular phone (couple of years old tech now but still great) on a three contract. Had I remembered about the pixel before I'd have gone with that.

Hope this helps

 

[Chris_Pallet]

I have the S10 plus.
It's fantastic phone, I do near on everything Internet based on it.
Forums, you tube, emails, the lot.
I am an absolute slave to it lol

Unfortunately I got it the first day it came out £55 a month everything unlimited, but I'll easily use 30gb a month especially with tethering anyone who needs it.

But the s8 or s9 you should be able to pick up cheap enough, don't forget a good otterbox case. Plus I have insurance through the wife's bank which I used this year with no issues (Barclays)

 

[Terrytpot]

Technology advances at quite a rate these days which helps when looking for a used phone as anything sporting obsolete tech will probably have died by now. Most , if not all, of the devices you consider will at the least be 3G compliant and whilst 5G is currently “being rolled out” in trial areas , I would imagine it’ll be quite a few year’s until 3G services are withdrawn. Your choice of operating system has also become somewhat easier too as the choice is pretty much limited now to either Android or IOS as devices sporting Symbian or Windows Mobile have been crushed into submission by Google and Apple quite effectively. We don’t know what budget your working to but I would recommend paying a visit to Martin’s money saving expert website as he quite often has links to deals cheaper than anywhere that you wouldn’t be able to find yourself and also bear in mind that there are plenty of phones that can be obtained brand new for less than the price of newer “flagship” models currently topping the charts.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/

 

[Selwyn]

Just buy something like an Honor 10 or a Xiami for about £120. And then get a sim only which is about £1 per gb.

Don't bother getting second hand

 

[Jester129]

FWIW you can get rolling contracts so that you're not tied up for a year if you don't like the service/coverage.
Please get a sim only deal, it's definitely the cheapest way to go.
HTH.

 

[bp122]

Another vote for the Otterbox phone case here. My phone has undergone (s9 plus Samsung, bought in June 2018) every kind of abuse short of being driven over and the case protected it without fail. If you own a phone that costs a significant portion of your mortgage, a good case is a no brainer investment, even if you have insurance as the excess will be more than the cost of the case.

Regarding buying an older phone, beware. Although you can get it for cheaper, the latest apps, webpages are designed to work with the latest phones with upgraded hardware. So these apps will run much slower on anything older than, say, two years. It is their own version of built-in-obsolescence. You might come to regret your purchase if the phone is too old (even if it is bought brand new, if that makes sense)

So look for a phone which is at most, two years old (released in 2018 or after)

 

[Mark Hancock]

Thank you for all the responses. They are a great help

I'm not a big fan of Apple and their products are over priced for my needs.

I'm sticking with Vodafone because I've never had a problem with their coverage when traveling around the country demonstrating.

The sim only deals I've looked at use the Vodafone network and are for 4G, up to 8gb and unlimited calls and text....I think roaming is included and suitable for the countries I'm likely to visit. One does come as a monthly or 12 month option. They were sourced from the Martin Lewis web site which I found a great help.

I'm not going to be using the phone as an alternative to my laptop so won't be doing emails etc. so not expecting to be a great data user if I understand that correctly, but the comment regarding tethering caught my eye. Recently my internet was down due to a fault on the line and there was the possibility I'd be without for 6 days which caused a bit of panic but was thankfully resolved within a day. However having never using the internet with a phone I'm unsure what uses data heavily? I certainly have no intention of becoming a slave to the phone

Budget wise I was thinking around £300 for the handset. I'll have a look at those other brands mentioned; never heard of one plus.

Cheers Mark

 

[NikNak]

Phones are a bit like American politics (generally...) you're either a Republican or a Democrat i.e. an Apple or a Samsung lover (other 'parties' are available...) they all do the same thing, or not, depending on what you want.

As for phones try this site... Buy refurbished and pre loved from SmartFoneStore for less we've bought numerous phones from them over 5 or 6 years with no problems at all.

SIM only contract, we're with Tesco who piggy back onto the O2 network. £7 a month (using the 'friends and family' perk) and give me all i need regarding data/mins etc. and customer service is just the best.! I'm on a 2gb data, 500 mins and 5000 texts plan. Using the Tesco app on the phone i can quickly and easily see what i've used. And we have Vodafone Superfast2 broadband (76gb) and landline @ £23 p/m Unless you intend streaming videos / music / gaming then you wont need a large data package. But trust me... the ability to reply to an email while out and about IS useful and won't eat into your data unless you then decide to attach large/lots of picture files.

 

[Droogs]

If you have a BT landline, they have excellent SIM only deals. I pay £20/mth for unlimited everything and I always have a signal even on Ben Nevis and Ben Armine. You also get to use any BT or National phone company router in any location as a wifi access point using the FON sytem within Europe. No extra chages at all

 

[RogerS]

Mark..I've got a couple of Android phones you're welcome to have/give a try before you buy. If you like them then you'e very welcome to keep whichever one.

Re your loss of internet. Is this the main driver for wanting a smartphone ? There is another soultion but depends on your router. Vodafone do a dongle and I just happen to have one I'm not using. You plug it into your router and so carry on as normal. Just don't watch too many videos !

Actually makes sense if I give you a quick call.

 

[clogs]

who uses texts now....? even I've stopped at 72.....
will roamimg charges for Europe apply in Jan....? prob not.....
we're SIM only 2xUK and 1xGreek....

Like it or lump it, we're all Apple.....3x phones, 2x 27"mac's, iPad, and laptop....plus some little thing that plays music....oh, and a Mini mac....
all interconnected .....never gonna have windows again ever....
BUT I'll change to something better n cheaper if it ever happens.....
since I went apple never had a virus etc......over 10 years now....
and they don't go obsolete any quicker that everyone else....

 

[Mark Hancock]

Mark..I've got a couple of Android phones you're welcome to have/give a try before you buy. If you like them then you'e very welcome to keep whichever one.

Re your loss of internet. Is this the main driver for wanting a smartphone ? There is another soultion but depends on your router. Vodafone do a dongle and I just happen to have one I'm not using. You plug it into your router and so carry on as normal. Just don't watch too many videos !

Actually makes sense if I give you a quick call.

Roger
Thanks for the call. Got home later than expected so I'll call you in the morning.

I have a smartphone but only because when I got it that was all that was available - £40 maybe 5 years ago? I have never attempted connect to the internet with it, having no desire to do so. It's just a phone for calls, texts and the odd picture or video. The battery is now failing and there is something wrong with the speaker. That combined with the threat of losing internet access are the main reasons for joining the 21st century My landline package at home is with EE covering broadband and all calls etc which I'm very happy with, particularly with the recent interruption to broadband and how quickly they resolved the issue. I have little idea what a "dongle" is

Speak in the morning.

Cheers Mark

 

[Mark Hancock]

who uses texts now....?

My kids do all the time with me so hence I do a lot

will roamimg charges for Europe apply in Jan....? prob not.....

I wish we knew

since I went apple never had a virus etc......over 10 years now....

Maybe I've been fortunate but never have a virus issue in over 25 years of windows use.

BUT I'll change to something better n cheaper if it ever happens......

Same here; always looking for the best deal