Decent Low Budget Smart Phone?

[thododd]

Is hiding from people who arent looking for you really worth not having a phone full of modern features?!?

[Toms306]

Lol, if only you knew...

you don't need a phone you need a long range CB . . .

Nah, anyone can pick that up if they find the right frequency!!

I just need to go underground and stay completely off the radar...

Unless the car breaks down, I'd be f*cked without a phone then!

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Is hiding from people who arent looking for you really worth not having a phone full of modern features?!?

I'm not being entirely serious now tbf lol...

However I am serious about not leaving location and google stuff on...I don't leave Google signed in on the PC either, they know far too much about us as it is! Sure they're probably not looking for me right now, but if for any reason they decide to in the future I like to leave as little info available as possible...

[thododd]

I was hoping you werent being entirely serious.... though couldnt be sure, lets face it, youre a bit wierd about this stuff

I love (some of) the features on my s5, the better-than-tomtom google satnav saves my ass on a regular basis.

My only beef with smartphones is the battery life, but ive come to terms with having to charge it every night

[Toms306]

I'm a bit weird about most stuff, it's not limited to this. But reading back I think I should probably add paranoia to my list.

Back on topic though, charging every night is alright, as long as it lasts a day without worrying about a bit of wifi or a few pics that's fine for me, can't expect the tiny batteries to cope with todays tech (well, unless someone can make a super conductor and we can stop wasting power as heat! ).

[thododd]

My samsung does a full day of play ... just.
But Bexs M4 Aqua will easily last twice as long as my s5.... and it has a better camera ... and only costs half as much (both monthly contracts). it still surprises me how far tech moves on in 18 months

[Toms306]

So I finally found a carphone warehouse with so few staff they couldn't bother me while browsing. Only to find none of the phones I wanted to test on display are actually working...what a pointless display that is, like Currys where you're buying electricals and none of them are plugged in!

I did briefly poke around an iPhone 6s or something (sticky from other people poking it ) and didn't really see why it was worth so much! And also a Hawaii something which was again stupidly expensive but was less laggy that my current phone admittedly. Also got to try a Lumia but I still don't like tiles and the camera wasn't good enough for me, wasn't any better than the Wildfires tbh.

I couldn't try the Moto G 3rd Gen but that's what I'm currently drawn to for ~£130 - on paper it has a decent camera, plenty of storage, fast processor, latest Android, large battery and is waterproof. Are there any major bad points about it that I should think about?

[Toms306]

So I'VE still not bought one as the price went up, then I missed out on some new ones sub £100 on ebay. The other seller I was going to buy from appears to be an arsehole lol...

So its looking like I'll have to buy from cpw but its cheaper to buy with a new sin card and topup than without. But I can't seem to find the price of texts on these payg tarifs, just that for the first month I'll get 990 free more than I'll actually use... But I assume the top up remains after that? So does anyone know what a text costs on ee or o2? Doesn't seem to say anywhere except maybe a pdf that I can't open

[r3k1355]

It's usually 10-15p a text on most PAYG sims.

[Magenta Sunset]

all I can add is that I have a work issued iPhone 4 with dedicated work apps, and a s/h blackberry 85xx (cos it was purple) for personal use.
the iPhone I have to charge twice a day, the blackberry once every couple of days.
also, the iPhone is good with the apps & browsing, but I don't get on with typing on it, I use a Bluetooth keyboard for that, the BB is good for typing but tends to be rubbish for web browsing.
gawd knows what i'll get to replace the BB when it eventually 'dies'.

[Toms306]

It's usually 10-15p a text on most PAYG sims.

Err, whut? I currently pay 4p per text!!

Also just checked, I sent 6 texts in January lol. 0 minutes obviously. 0 data. Need to try and reduce my usage I think.

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all I can add is that I have a work issued iPhone 4 with dedicated work apps, and a s/h blackberry 85xx (cos it was purple) for personal use.
the iPhone I have to charge twice a day, the blackberry once every couple of days.
also, the iPhone is good with the apps & browsing, but I don't get on with typing on it, I use a Bluetooth keyboard for that, the BB is good for typing but tends to be rubbish for web browsing.
gawd knows what i'll get to replace the BB when it eventually 'dies'.

Thanks Kathy, I have decided which I'm getting (Moto G 3rd Gen), just trying to find the cheapest deal now.

[Magenta Sunset]

happy hunting Tom

[Toms306]

Hmm, it seems with the new 'pay as you go'...they're actually all pay monthly 'rolling' contracts and the credit expires each month.

Bit annoying seeing as the phone is £20 cheaper on PAYG than SIM free, but I'd have to add a £10 top up of which I'll use 5-10 texts of that... Still £10 cheaper than SIM free but a waste of a tenner.

Surely there must be other people in the same position, I can't imagine old people get through that many minutes and texts in a month.

[tigerstyle]

Three PAYG?

321 deal
3p a minute
2p a text
1p a meg

[Dum-Dum]

Three PAYG?

321 deal
3p a minute
2p a text
1p a meg

I'm on a Three monthly rolling contract and the service/price is great. Think I get all you can eat texts which is pointless as I never text.
As long as it never goes wrong when you have to deal with their dreaded customer services.

[Toms306]

I'm fine with the current tariff (4p per text, couldn't care what data and minutes cost) but as its cheaper to buy the phone with a jew sim and tenner top up that's what I'll do, had assumed that 10 pound would continue after the months free texts etc expired but it doesn't work like that. So I'll essentially be paying a tenner for like 5 texts, 2 quid a text! Then go back to my current provider after the month is up. It's still a tenner less than sim free for some reason, and a fiver back through TCB as well.

[r3k1355]

Is that the same deal with Giff Gaff, I'm sure they don't take the credit off the phone after your monthly package thing expires.

[Toms306]

I don't know, the only options I'm given on carphone warehouse are O2, EE or Virgin so that's what I looked into.

[Mattcheese31]

Giff gaf rolls on I believe, not on it myself, I have a Virgin sim only contract for £6 a month lol, can't believe people still use PAYG anymore, it's for smackheads

[Toms306]

It's for tight people with no social skills.

[tigerstyle]

three credit doesn't expire, well 12 months or something?

[Toms306]

But the options are O2 or EE lol...

Pretty sure TalkMobile credit doesn't expire either, I topped up £10 in March last year and still have £4 left, thought I must've topped up since but it seems not.

[r3k1355]

I put a tenner on an O2 sim about 6 or 9 months ago and it's still working if thats any help?

[Toms306]

Was that part of a 'bundle' or is it on an old tariff? Think I might have to ask someone in the shop seeing as it's so complicated online.

[r3k1355]

I have no idea, I think I just did it online.

[Magenta Sunset]

my father is on O2 payg,
he's got about 15-20 quid credit from last year.
so long as he makes a few phone calls (every 6-months (?) ) he keeps his number.

[silverzx]

Feels a bit like one of those triangles where you can only pick two...

Decent
Smart phone
Low Budget

[r3k1355]

Considering he only gets through a couple of quid credit anyway you only need one of the triangle anyways.

[Paul Baldwin]

If you only send 5 texts a month having any deal with texts seems pointless to me. If I ever run out of credit and need to send the odd text I've used this site for years http://www.cbfsms.com/ theres no signup or login required so sounds like something that you may use?
Then just go for a data only package?

[Toms306]

You guys are making this more complicated than it already is... Doesn't help that I suck at explaining things tbf.

The phone has been chosen. My current tariff is fine.

The phone is cheaper to buy with either an O2 or EE SIM than with no SIM at all so makes sense to buy with a SIM. I wanted to know which SIM would last longest on £10 before reverting to current SIM. It seems irrelevant now though as both only last 30 days, after which it'll get binned for my original, despite not using much of the 'bundle' that comes with all PAYG SIMs these days. So it turns out it doesn't matter which SIM it comes with.


Also, the fact I don't use the phone as a phone, doesn't mean I won't need a decent one, I'm essentially after a camera, with internet surfing and a calculator that fits in my pocket. The fact it makes phone calls is largely irrelevant. As I say, have chosen one now anyway.

[Magenta Sunset]

personally, i'd go for O2, coverage is better. (my other fone is ee)