New mobile phone advice for a novice

[southstandandy]

Apologies to all who have been on the cusp of mobile technology for many a year but I've had a brick of a mobile for a number of years which has worked ok, but I thought it would be nice to treat myself to a new mobile but have little idea as to the best deals to look for or type of phone required.

I have been looking on-line a bit and the Samsung galaxy note II seems to get very good reviews and as an android phone doesn't tie you into the apple products/services for apps etc.

Would this be a good phone to consider - main usage in fairness would be for calls, texts, and internet usage. I'm not too worried about sticking loads of movies or music on it especially as I do have an I-pod for gym use etc so the memory size is not vital.

Can anyone recommend any good monthly deals for such a phone - I seem to find quotes of around £30 a month - is there any better deals that people know of, or a better phone that would be more suited to my needs.

Also is the provider relevant - O2 / Vodaphone / Orange - is one better than another ?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - I'm catching up with the digital age albeit slowly !

Thanks
Andy

 

[beorhthelm]

love the Note and desperatly want to afford one. however, if you are stepping up from brick phone land and as you state arent interested in movies, i doubt you want to write on the device (Notes's major advantage), so i dont think you need a Note. and btw they are HUGE.

look for something around £20 pm tops. or consider buying outright then go with a pay as you go tariff. for network consider where you are most and how good the signal is reported in those areas. the customer service for all is poor.

 

[wellquickwoody]

Also is the provider relevant - O2 / Vodaphone / Orange - is one better than another ?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - I'm catching up with the digital age albeit slowly !

Thanks
Andy

Today's phones will blow you away, and you cannot do anything wrong with a Note. We all might have personal preferences, but for you moving a very long way forwards, they will all seem shockingly clever. I know my phone seems scary to me after having it for over 2 years!

Network choice? Unless you are absolutely confident in the kind of coverage you receive in the areas you need it, home, train, work or Amex etc, you can really only hope that you do not get a 'hole' where you need a signal most. I was unlucky with Orange, my home was just in the wrong place. When working on 'averages' there is one clear winner, Vodafone, and I am so glad to be back with them. Don't allow any network to tell you that you can piggyback your phone onto your home Wi-Fi to boost the signal, all you will get is a difficult, badly timed, disjointed conversation.

If you can afford it, go for a 12 month contract this time, then at least you are not tied for too long before you learn a lot more.

 

[Laughing Gravy]

I have had a Galaxy Note 2 for a month now and i love it.
The are doing a very good deal at phones 4 u at the moment. Phone cost £29 then £27 a month. Loads of texts and calls plus unlimited data.
Its a great phone. The camera and music player are brilliant

 

[happypig]

Decide on the phone you want and buy it sim-free.
Decide which network you want then get a sim-only contract.

For example, a Google Nexus 4 (which is a good android phone), from google will cost you £239
A giff-gaff contract can be had for £10 (if you shop around you can get a deal for under £7). Giff gaff are on the O2 network.
Total cost over 2 years is £479

If you go to O2 and get a samsung galaxy s3, which is an equivalent model phone, you'll pay £40 a month for it for 2 years, total £960.

 

[Paskman]

The Notes are huge, go have a look in a phone shop and see which takes your fancy. You might not need a top of the range phone first time out.

 

[Deleted member 18477]

iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy s4.

 

[easynow]

http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mobile-phone/htc-one-black-paym#/specifications

 

[Phat Baz 68]

iPhone 5 without a shadow.
Can't stand android phones

Network EE used to be T-Mobile but is now that and Orange combined great service.

 

[CheeseRolls]

Andy I think you can get all you want and more for around 10 quid a month. Do you have internet and WiFi at home ?

If you do and are sensible you will likely never exceed 500mb download a month, which is often offered in the basic packages. Contact both your current mobile service provider and your Internet service provider and ask them for their best deal on android phones, see what they have on offer and then Google some reviews. Then go back and haggle.

Remember that plenty of people on here telling you that you need a 30 quid a month phone have never tried anything different.

For the reviews watch out for poor battery life, ignore complaints about back covers, a nice protective shell costs about 3 quid and reserve judgement on pixel density and processor power. If you are not planning on gaming, there is no real need to stress over these.

 

[MJsGhost]

Avoid the iPhone 5 like the plague. Unless you want to buy mine if course - it's a piece of turd with crap reception and woeful battery life, but don't let that stop you. It's only any good when plugged into a charger and hooked into wifi...

I agree with the post above - you'll be able to get a phone that does all you need for cheap, so don't get sucked in by all the gimmicks and high spec stuff you don't need

 

[1901]

Avoid the iPhone 5 like the plague. Unless you want to buy mine if course - it's a piece of turd with crap reception and woeful battery life, but don't let that stop you. It's only any good when plugged into a charger and hooked into wifi...

I agree with the post above - you'll be able to get a phone that does all you need for cheap, so don't get sucked in by all the gimmicks and high spec stuff you don't need

Spot on. If you are about 14 and clueless, get an Iphone.

 

[dougdeep]

Galaxy Ace. Only £13/month at 3.

 

[PWA]

Quad core technologies have been available in LG, HTC and Samsung phones for a long time now, iphone's slow response and resistance to a decent size screen makes them lag way behind the competition

 

[brightonmark1234]

Sony xperia L is a good phone

 

[MJsGhost]

Quad core technologies have been available in LG, HTC and Samsung phones for a long time now, iphone's slow response and resistance to a decent size screen makes them lag way behind the competition

The only thing I like about my iPhone is its size (not too big, but big enough to surf the web without too much squinting). Why anyone wants a phone the size of a tablet is beyond me!

If one of the manufacturers designed a phone which prioritises the basic uses (i.e. call quality/reception (it is a telephone after all) and battery life (it's no good to man or beast when it's out of juice), and had reasonable web capability, screen etc (but not to the detriment of battery life, size etc) they would make a MINT.

I feel most have got carried away with bells & whistles, which only a minority of people use (once they've got over the initial 'Ooooooooh isn't it whizzy!' stage)

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Can't stand android phones.

Any particular reason why?

Andy, as others have said I don't think you need to buy a new to the market handset, if you're upgrading from a relic pretty much sny modern smartphone will impress you. As Cheese Rolls has said, 500mb is usually plenty of data, if you end up using more you can add a data bolt on but I'd be surprised if you did. Being that you already have an ipod an iphone might be a good choice as the os will be very similar (assuming you have a newish ipod), you could probably get a a good deal on an iphone 4. From the android market something like a Samsung galaxy ace will do everything you could need from a handset and will be readily available and very cheap.

 

[gripper stebson]

The new HTC One is lovely... but bigger than you expect. Highly recommended.

 

[The Legend that IS Lawro]

Prefer the Sony Xperia over iPhone in a major way, although unable to compare with other android models.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Is the Galaxy S2 still available? That is still a very good handset with an excellent screen for web browsing.