New phone time.....what to get?!

[Piggy]

The market is tough out there and wondering what the techy boys think...


I defo want android. Love and always have. Hate apple...sorry apple lovers.


I like the idea of the Xperias, as the latest bunch are water and dust proof. And my wife has just got the Z1 compact, despite it not being very compact, its a cracking phone.

So I actually nearly ordered the S2 yesterday. However theres so much out there.


The S5 is also a obvious choice as I have a S3 now and had a S1 before. But its BIG!

Maybe the LG G3?? Thats got amazing spec and reviews.

Im swimming amongst sharks and have a spoon to defend meself. Help!

[Paul_13]

My mate works in the phone trade (software design) and he said steer away from the Galaxy S5. Shit hardware apparently and they bulk it out with loads of shitty software which slows the thing down.
Go either xperia s2
Nexus 2(?)
Htc one

I'm in the same boat, got a GS3 and due an upgrade soon. I hate apple with a passion. Such restrictive phone and they're basically a gimmick. The whole thing with iTunes enrages me

---

LG is good my mate rryan has also got one

[bigcheez2k3]

I have the HTC one (M7) and I'm pretty happy with it, newer version M8 is out now.

[Niall]

S5 is shit. Someone at work has one and it's shocking quality.
I'm not a android fan but used to have a Htc one and it was a really nice phone and the M8 is even better. That would be my choice if going for a phone.

Instead, I went for a iPhone though which is miles better :p
/canofworms

[Eeyore]

Nexus 5 is what you want. Its one of the best specs and its one of the cheapest. You get all the android updates first and its pure android. It hasn't got all this bloat ware and custom ui bollox that manufacturers love to put on.

[Lwilliams]

I have s5, and it's not shit. Every one who has seen it/been on mine has always good thing to say about it..

It is big though I wanted that for games when I'm in work though

The Camera is very good for a phone, took it on holiday couldn't get over how clear it is, I have never felt it being slow even with loads of apps open and if you check the chipset on the leading android phones they run the same processor/ or very minimal differences.

Watch reviews on youtube

Hope this helps

[306carter]

I have a Galaxy S5. Thought it was great when I first got it. The battery lasted 2 days the screen is really clear. I liked the fingerprint scanner.

4 months down the line I am struggling to get a day out of the battery (although the super energy saving future is really good). The fingerprint scanner is the worst. Just does not work unless your finger has just been washed and dried.

The camera is really good though. Takes brilliant pictures and videos. One down side is the auto focus that sometimes can't focus on things close up. Things my old S3 could.

Just thought I'd share my opinion without saying ' buy the same phone as me it's the best'

[cully]

ive got an S3 mini cracking phone fits in the pocket nice its not to big, but big enough to read the screen

[darrenjlobb]

Nexus, best phone ive ever owned. (old style one)

Its lg, so one would thinkk shite, super cheap, so again would think is shite, but ive had it over 12 months now, which for me, is genuinly incredble,

Why anyone would choose Ios over Android i have no idea !!

[RetroPug]

I bought an S2 plus outright with no sim-restrictions. It is great.

Getting a brand new phone on contract is really, really expensive. Go ahead and multiply the amount you're paying per month by 24 and I think you'll be surprised at how much you're paying just for a phone that you'll change again in a couple of years. For example, 35 pounds a month for 2 years is 840 pounds, assuming no overuse etc. I consider that to be a lot of money!

[Andy annear]

Agree with above ^ buy phone outright and then go sim only contract, i paid 170 for a brand new sealed s4, then 6.90 a month for 12 month sim only contract 200 mins, 500mb data and unlimited texts

[darrenjlobb]

Yeah, eactly what i did, im sim only, and jsut bought a nexus new outright when they just released the new nexus, was cheap as chips and best phone ive ever had!

[xgem]

I upgraded to a Xperia SP and was the worse decision I'd done.. it's slow, constantly freezes. Would deffo go back to samsung within a flash if I could.

[WiNgNuTz]

Tl;dr.

I have an HTC one m7, which is great (granted mines rooted, but they're fantastic stock anyway), my little brother has recently landed himself the m8, which is even better. Effectively the same to look at, but lots of nice little touches with the software, etc. If nothing better has shown up by the time I come to upgrade, ill be getting an m8. Simples.

[Curt]

I have an M7 and love it. Best phone I've ever had, build is brilliant and feels great. "Upgraded" to and M8 and had it a day, decided I didn't like it. Just that bit too big, moved the wake button which made it awkward for me. The gestures to wake was a gimmick to me and just annoyed me. Build was out of every other phones league though, just like the M7.

I had a Z1 too. Liked it at first, mainly got it for the decent camera. Then it started crashing, got really hot when I used the camera and kept saying unavailable. It was also very uncomfortable to hold with the size and square edges. The Z2 is even bigger, so I can only imagine it's even worse in that regard.

I wouldn't touch a Samsung, they feel horrible and I hate Touchwiz. I have tried them, just can't get on with them.

I've still got my M7, it's beaten and dented to shit... but still going strong. If phones continue to get bigger, I will be picking up another one as a back up as there's nothing out there I like.

HTC is my vote though, obviously.

[ConorTRG]

Im going for a new one aswell, have narrowed it down to a htc one or nexus 5, the one m7 is a nicer looking phone than the new m8 imo aswell. Theres a nexus 6 coming out shortly aswell I think but I think its going to be a bit bigger in size which I dont like, thats if the rumours are right.

[Orta]

Errr iphone ?

[1616six]

Just save your money & get a 3310, or go for a real barge/executive shitbox and get a 5110?

[lolsteve]

Recently got a S4 as an upgrade from the htc desire hd. Did not realise how dated the htc was until playing wit the S4. Paying effectively £19 a month for free phone, 1gb data, 500 minutes (?) and unlimited texts.
Like others have said there does seem to be alot of bloatware on it though which is a shame

[Piggy]

Errr iphone ?

That would result in me killing myself for being a complete social climbing trend following fool.

Sorry. Just cant stand the whole apple 'image'.


Interesting feedback guys, thanks, will look into the nexus.

Im guna fix my S3 with another mates busted one basically and go sim only for a while to see which best network suits the area Im in as its quite poor. Then I can buy outright I think.

[Niall]

Errr iphone ?

That would result in me killing myself for being a complete social climbing trend following fool.

Sorry. Just cant stand the whole apple 'image'.


Interesting feedback guys, thanks, will look into the nexus.

Im guna fix my S3 with another mates busted one basically and go sim only for a while to see which best network suits the area Im in as its quite poor. Then I can buy outright I think.

Haha i do find it comical when people make comments like that when in fact, the people who have come up with this idea of 'trend following apple image' have infact created an image for them selves of some sort of elitist class.

If you're going to look at going to a different network, avoid EE like the plague. When they first launched, they were great but now they have subscribed a lot more people to 4g, its just turned to rat shit. Its even got to the point you will spend bloody ages on hold to try and sort problems out or you can pay them to jump the cue lol. Tbh I'm really not sure who i would go with next. o2 Are terrible. My work phone is with them and its always having network issues. Was with 3 years ago and were bloody awful but heard they are fairly good now?

[Piggy]

Hmmm thats interesting about EE...

Wife has just swapped from Orange to EE and her signal everywhere has improved (even though I thought its the same) and Im with vodafone, friends with 3...all get crap signal other than EE/Orange.

[Niall]

Signal is fine on EE. Its just having it work though thats the problem. Try making phone calls and i get network errors, trying using the net and get data issues etc. Most annoyingly their attitude to it is basically "what do you want us to do about it? There is clearly a fault and it will be fixed soon"
Still, every time i phone up because its not working and get so pissed off with their attitude i ask to cancel my contract because its not fit for purpose i get money off of my next bill so may just carry on doing that :p

[toseland]

As an honest opinion, the build quality in order of phones


Samsung lowest
every other cheap nasty shitty chinese peice of crap
Peugeot electronics
HTC/Apple products/Sony


you WILL have problems with the speaker, the screen will crack on the edge of case and it is a ballache to replace the screen on samsungs because they are part of the frame.


i would suggest the HTC one M8..

solid quality, nice feel, and easy to use.. i am on Tmobile/EE, never had an issue.

[Paul_13]

been with o2 for years and years. been fine for me. been a little bit off here and there but nothing compared to orange/3/vodafone

[MisterGTR]

I have HTC one m7.

I get access to latest phones and have stuck with this. Best value and not in any way inferior is nexus 5.

New LG getting good reviews but no o personal experience.

Love the speakers on my phone. Great for working on the car.

[Mike]

Ive got the nokia 1020 on Windows Phone.. Absolutely love it.
Brought it for the camera as its a 41MP beast and the quality is amazing. Windows itself takes some getting used to.. but works out good as it syncs with your comp (winds8) and also xbox.
Its slightly big an the camera at the back bulges out a wee bit.. But other then that its a really nice phone.. an with being nokia.. bulletproof.

[Eeyore]

Get a Nexus 5 for £250 or whatever offer they are on atm. Then sort out a monthly sim only contract.

Giffgaff imo have gone down hill recently but they are cheap. £12 for unlimited texts, 250 mins and 5GB of data.
Ive been looking for 4G and I swapped my unlimited 3G for 1GB of 4G. Big mistake... But having done some research i have found that Three are the only provider to offer unlimited 4G for £18 a month.

Coverage for me from o2 which is also tesco and giffgaff is absolutely wank. Apparently Three is better and then EE is the best but I refuse to pay for EE as its so expensive!

[Ruan]

The Galaxy Sx phones seem to be made like shit, my mum has an S3 which she likes, it's all chipped and scratched - she's not hard on the phone and it's been in a case all of it's life! Friend of mine had an S4 and has had never ending issues with signal.

The older Nexus phones seem to be relatively good, not 100% on the Nexus 5, seems to be a little flimsy, seems very thin and light and the buttons rattle etc - I don't see it lasting 2 years... I've had a Xperia Z1 which I can't fault and had an Xperia Z before that - both have been brilliant for me, the Z2 should be even better, my only gripe is the factory fitted ASF on the front which will scratch, but at least it'll stop you shattering the screen instead... The Z2 doesn't have ASF anymore interestingly.

The Z1 camera is great, it's so quick to load and if you put it in Manual mode it'll focus reliably every time, the Auto mode is actually wank, but leave it in Manual and it's absolutely perfect - I've had some cracking shots off it for a camera phone... It's fast in every day life, battery will do 2 days if you're kind to it, I've had mine for 9 months now and the battery I'd say is as good as the day I got it. It's scratched around the edges, but I'm harsh on phones and can't stand cases.

I went off HTC after I had loads of problems with my Sensation, I had a One X for a while which to be fair I loved, but I smashed the screen on - so went Sony and to be fair, had absolutely no problems with it, it's been great for me, I'll also say that after 9 months I've NOT changed the stock rom on it, which for someone who used to change roms every 30 seconds on HTC is saying something - I've just left it alone and been totally happy with it... Maybe in the future I'll change it out, but we'll see.

[Piggy]

Gota say...the wifes Xperia Compact battery lasts almost 3days and she uses it a lot.

She is having issues with focusing...so will see how change of settings goes.