Mobile Phone Help

Athletico Charlton

For the first time in about 17 years I need to buy a mobile phone.  The last time I did it was all about how many text messages I got and free minutes..and I bought a Nokia 3310... now a museum item! how times have changed!  I have happily shunned all knowledge since as I have been fortunate enough to rely on a work phone to double as my personal one but, quite fairly, this is becoming more difficult as my work phone is increasingly locked down and I am unable to access most things now. So:

a) where am I best to go?  Carphone Warehouse? Direct to a provider etc?
b) any tips on a good phone.  I am used to IPhones but frankly as long as it has internet and the best camera at a reasonable cost thenI will be happy
c) any thoughts on beat payment plans etc?

I know this is nowt to do with footy but thought the good souls on here may be able to point me in the right direction!

thanks...

MrOneLung

Go on uswitch or similar. Put in your requirements and look at the options that come up. 

Can filter by by monthly payment or data allowance or no upfront fee etc etc. 

Talal

If you're not bothered about regularly getting the latest handset then a sim only tariff might be the best option.
Can get a decent enough sim free phone for under £150, then probably pay less than a tenner a month on a sim. Obviously depends on your usage though. 

letthegoodtimesroll

Talal said:

If you're not bothered about regularly getting the latest handset then a sim only tariff might be the best option.
Can get a decent enough sim free phone for under £150, then probably pay less than a tenner a month on a sim. Obviously depends on your usage though. 

This may not apply to you but judging by the deal I’ve been offered Sky seem to be very keen to take on customers or get people to switch atm, part of the bundle was a SIM card with basically unlimited everything. If you get a cheap phone and go down the SIM only route then getting one of those SIMs would save you a bit more.

SantaClaus

Athletico Charlton said: up

For the first time in about 17 years I need to buy a mobile phone.  The last time I did it was all about how many text messages I got and free minutes..and I bought a Nokia 3310... now a museum item! how times have changed!  I have happily shunned all knowledge since as I have been fortunate enough to rely on a work phone to double as my personal one but, quite fairly, this is becoming more difficult as my work phone is increasingly locked down and I am unable to access most things now. So:

a) where am I best to go?  Carphone Warehouse? Direct to a provider etc?
b) any tips on a good phone.  I am used to IPhones but frankly as long as it has internet and the best camera at a reasonable cost thenI will be happy
c) any thoughts on beat payment plans etc?

I know this is nowt to do with footy but thought the good souls on here may be able to point me in the right direction!

thanks...

If you want to continue with an iPhone the handset or monthly cost will be quite expensive. Personally I'd buy a reasonably cheap Android phone (i.e. a Moto 7 or a Xiaomi/Honor sub £200 model) and a 10 gig+ sim only contract which you can get for about £10/month (you can shave up to half that cost if you buy through a cashback site).

Redrobo

I bought an iPhone second hand trade in from a shop in Chatham for £200 which was in fantastic condition and not a mark on it and put in my BT £5 a month sim.

Charltonparklane

If you can wait 2 months for black Friday I would. 
2 years back  black Friday I got 8gb data, ultd min, ultd texts, new Samsung s8 (phone of the year at the time I think) , £28 a month for 2 years.

Loads of better details whatever floats your boat. 

Athletico Charlton

Charltonparklane said:

If you can wait 2 months for black Friday I would. 
2 years back  black Friday I got 8gb data, ultd min, ultd texts, new Samsung s8 (phone of the year at the time I think) , £28 a month for 2 years.

Loads of better details whatever floats your boat. 

Thanks.  Hadn’t thought of Black Friday, frankly having not owned a personal phone for so long, a couple more months seems a sensible wait.

SantaClaus said:

Athletico Charlton said: up

For the first time in about 17 years I need to buy a mobile phone.  The last time I did it was all about how many text messages I got and free minutes..and I bought a Nokia 3310... now a museum item! how times have changed!  I have happily shunned all knowledge since as I have been fortunate enough to rely on a work phone to double as my personal one but, quite fairly, this is becoming more difficult as my work phone is increasingly locked down and I am unable to access most things now. So:

a) where am I best to go?  Carphone Warehouse? Direct to a provider etc?
b) any tips on a good phone.  I am used to IPhones but frankly as long as it has internet and the best camera at a reasonable cost thenI will be happy
c) any thoughts on beat payment plans etc?

I know this is nowt to do with footy but thought the good souls on here may be able to point me in the right direction!

thanks...

If you want to continue with an iPhone the handset or monthly cost will be quite expensive. Personally I'd buy a reasonably cheap Android phone (i.e. a Moto 7 or a Xiaomi/Honor sub £200 model) and a 10 gig+ sim only contract which you can get for about £10/month (you can shave up to half that cost if you buy through a cashback site).

 Not really fussed on phone type, my work one is an Iphone but for personal my main requirement is a good camera.  I saw the Honor ones today on Google which may fit the mould well although need to look into the ‘Chinese trade wars’ risk according to the reviews!

Dazzler21

Athletico Charlton said:

Charltonparklane said:

If you can wait 2 months for black Friday I would. 
2 years back  black Friday I got 8gb data, ultd min, ultd texts, new Samsung s8 (phone of the year at the time I think) , £28 a month for 2 years.

Loads of better details whatever floats your boat. 

Thanks.  Hadn’t thought of Black Friday, frankly having not owned a personal phone for so long, a couple more months seems a sensible wait.

SantaClaus said:

Athletico Charlton said: up

For the first time in about 17 years I need to buy a mobile phone.  The last time I did it was all about how many text messages I got and free minutes..and I bought a Nokia 3310... now a museum item! how times have changed!  I have happily shunned all knowledge since as I have been fortunate enough to rely on a work phone to double as my personal one but, quite fairly, this is becoming more difficult as my work phone is increasingly locked down and I am unable to access most things now. So:

a) where am I best to go?  Carphone Warehouse? Direct to a provider etc?
b) any tips on a good phone.  I am used to IPhones but frankly as long as it has internet and the best camera at a reasonable cost thenI will be happy
c) any thoughts on beat payment plans etc?

I know this is nowt to do with footy but thought the good souls on here may be able to point me in the right direction!

thanks...

If you want to continue with an iPhone the handset or monthly cost will be quite expensive. Personally I'd buy a reasonably cheap Android phone (i.e. a Moto 7 or a Xiaomi/Honor sub £200 model) and a 10 gig+ sim only contract which you can get for about £10/month (you can shave up to half that cost if you buy through a cashback site).

 Not really fussed on phone type, my work one is an Iphone but for personal my main requirement is a good camera.  I saw the Honor ones today on Google which may fit the mould well although need to look into the ‘Chinese trade wars’ risk according to the reviews!

If you want a good camera, then the OnePlus range are good value, think the latest iPhone has done well but is very expensive. 

If you're not worried about google etc then the Huawei P20 Pro can be picked up on a good deal and will come loaded with a Leica camera that outperforms most. 

P30 will probably creep into a black friday deal somewhere but will likely be quite expensive still.

The_President

I have a P20 Lite, which i am very happy with, except the camera i find to be less than average quality.

Callumcafc

Think it’s mostly been covered on here.

Go on uSwitch and look for the best SIM only deal.

Have a look at Currys/Amazon/Argos for a mid range Android phone with a good camera and then watch some YouTube video reviews when you think you’ve found a phone you like the look of.

IdleHans

Just add to the confusion (though i agree get the phone and SIM separately) you might also try somewhere like smartfonestore.com who sell a range of refurbished and brand new phones, often excess stocks with full manufacturers warranty. 

I bought a nexus 5x (a 2015 model) brand new in box from them for £75 and it's been great. I did it through eBay who had a discount voucher running, normal price about £89 I think.

DoctorCharlton

I have just upgraded to the iPhone 11 Pro.

I do work for the NHS and I get friends and family 20% discount. All of my family have NHS discounts applied already but I do have another 3 codes I can give out.

Anybody who is in the market for a new phone, give me a shout and I can PM you a code. This is exclusive to EE network.

Now to sell my iPhone X. Perfect condition and only want £350 for it. £320 for any lifers!!

redman

I would assume one thing you need to check with SIM only deal though, what is coverage like around where you want to use it. Where I live they all say it's good but straying from O2 or Vodaphone has seemed a problem. 

What I don't know, and would be good to hear from an expert, is - I understand Tesco back onto O2 network. However does that mean it is exactly the same service or only when there is not quite the O2 demand. 

redman

another question for the experts. My contract is up. I have a Samsung phone which is perfectly adequate. However if I just moved to a SIM deal, will my data be lost (contacts, messages, calendar) or how easy is it to transfer. 

Talal

I used to have a plusnet sim and they use the EE network. Network was often going down but only for plusnet users, EE users were fine so can only assume it would be the same for Tesco and O2.

As for data if it's all saved to a Google account nothing will be lost.

Talal

Waiting for black Friday to get a new phone, am temporarily having to use a 1st gen Moto G and it feels like I've stepped back in time.

seth plum

What is a sim? is it something where the letters 's' and 'i' and 'm' stand for something else?

Talal

Subscriber Identity Module.

ElfsborgAddick

Athletico Charlton said:

Charltonparklane said:

If you can wait 2 months for black Friday I would. 
2 years back  black Friday I got 8gb data, ultd min, ultd texts, new Samsung s8 (phone of the year at the time I think) , £28 a month for 2 years.

Loads of better details whatever floats your boat. 

Thanks.  Hadn’t thought of Black Friday, frankly having not owned a personal phone for so long, a couple more months seems a sensible wait.

SantaClaus said:

Athletico Charlton said: up

For the first time in about 17 years I need to buy a mobile phone.  The last time I did it was all about how many text messages I got and free minutes..and I bought a Nokia 3310... now a museum item! how times have changed!  I have happily shunned all knowledge since as I have been fortunate enough to rely on a work phone to double as my personal one but, quite fairly, this is becoming more difficult as my work phone is increasingly locked down and I am unable to access most things now. So:

a) where am I best to go?  Carphone Warehouse? Direct to a provider etc?
b) any tips on a good phone.  I am used to IPhones but frankly as long as it has internet and the best camera at a reasonable cost thenI will be happy
c) any thoughts on beat payment plans etc?

I know this is nowt to do with footy but thought the good souls on here may be able to point me in the right direction!

thanks...

If you want to continue with an iPhone the handset or monthly cost will be quite expensive. Personally I'd buy a reasonably cheap Android phone (i.e. a Moto 7 or a Xiaomi/Honor sub £200 model) and a 10 gig+ sim only contract which you can get for about £10/month (you can shave up to half that cost if you buy through a cashback site).

 Not really fussed on phone type, my work one is an Iphone but for personal my main requirement is a good camera.  I saw the Honor ones today on Google which may fit the mould well although need to look into the ‘Chinese trade wars’ risk according to the reviews!

Samsung are fantastic with picture quality.

PopIcon

redman said:

another question for the experts. My contract is up. I have a Samsung phone which is perfectly adequate. However if I just moved to a SIM deal, will my data be lost (contacts, messages, calendar) or how easy is it to transfer. 

On paper fairly straightforward. Vodafone made it a nightmare for me though.....

Sark99

redman said:

I would assume one thing you need to check with SIM only deal though, what is coverage like around where you want to use it. Where I live they all say it's good but straying from O2 or Vodaphone has seemed a problem. 

What I don't know, and would be good to hear from an expert, is - I understand Tesco back onto O2 network. However does that mean it is exactly the same service or only when there is not quite the O2 demand. 

Tesco do not have there own Mobile Network so they use the O2 network. This I think is the same for Sky Mobile who also use the O2 Network.

Sark99

Talal said:

I used to have a plusnet sim and they use the EE network. Network was often going down but only for plusnet users, EE users were fine so can only assume it would be the same for Tesco and O2.

As for data if it's all saved to a Google account nothing will be lost.

PlusNet are part of the BT offering so they would deliver mobile services via EE and their Broadband offering is basically a BT product under a different name.

Talal

Recently got a Samsung a20, really like it apart from when on a call the speaker often turns itself on. Tried reseting phone and it still happens. After googling it seems like it's an old Samsung issue so anyone else with a Samsung experience this and find a solution?

DoctorCharlton

Talal said:

Recently got a Samsung a20, really like it apart from when on a call the speaker often turns itself on. Tried reseting phone and it still happens. After googling it seems like it's an old Samsung issue so anyone else with a Samsung experience this and find a solution?

I did a quick search myself and found this? turning off telephone access for third party apps may do the trick:

https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Galaxy-S9/Speaker-turns-on-automatically/td-p/702455

Talal

Thanks, tried that but no difference.

johnnybev1987

Depends what you use it for, I personally changed from £50 per month unlimited + included phone to £20 for the sim only through EE and pay rental of Samsung which I can upgrade yearly for about £20. Sometimes have to try and be a bit clever as you can save some money. Mine is expensive but still I think its fair as I am always on the phone/internet.

StigThundercock

Talk your significant other, or nearest tech gullible bod into upgrading their current gadget, cos 'y'know it's so last week' and do them a favour by taking on their current relic.  Works every two or three years for me.  So long as it makes calls/receives txts/streams porn/costs nowt, nothing else matters.  Genuinely haven't paid for a phone in 20 years, nor paid more than £16/mth for service.