Mobile phone dilemma.

[Dum-Dum]

So I have a mobile phone dilemma but this is not your usual what should I get thread.


My current phone is f*cked, its an 18 month old Sony Ericsson Xperia Z, the back is shattered (this is now the 3rd back), the chassis of it is dented (this damage occurred even with it kept in a polycarbonate case). I have no sound in calls without it on speaker phone, the battery life is down to being 2 hours of use and the headphone jack doesn't work. It is f*cked beyond economical repair.

Anyway my dilemma is I have 6 months left on my contract so cant get a new phone on that but I need a new phone I want something that is far far less fragile as I do very physical job that often sees me rolling around on the floor at no notice and in places where I cant pop my phone out somewhere safe however I also find having 4g internet on the phone to be incredibly useful for both mapping and internet access.

Anyway the choices are:
- do I take out another contract to get a new phone and have to pay off this current contract (which will cost £100-200) and get another smart phone that will probably be just as fragile (does anyone know any that are less so).
- do I buy the Caterpillar S50 phone that is both impact and water resistant so should be a bit more hardy but is £350 and you cant get it on contract here.
- do I get an older generation JCB sitemaster phone that will be indestructible but only support internet up to 3g (about £100)
- do I get one of the chinese smart phone copies, many of which are ruggedised like the JCB/Caterpillar phones and cost substantially less than the Cat S50

Or is there a better idea out there?

[Piggy]

My Z2 is and has been rock solid. I give it abuse. Its not in a case just has a special toughened screen protector.

Dropped, kicked, submerged, still perfect

[Niall]

Do what I've done today.

Had 3 months left on my contract, went in to EE on the off chance for an early upgrade. Had a bit of barter with them and came out with a 64gb iPhone for £100 (should of been £200), free early upgrade, and 8gb extra a month 4g plus internet for £1 a month extra.

Always get a good deal when you go in store and barter!

[1616six]

Just get what ever phone you want & buy a Griffin Survivor case. They are awesome!

[Seb_Ryan]

Do what I've done today.

Had 3 months left on my contract, went in to EE on the off chance for an early upgrade. Had a bit of barter with them and came out with a 64gb iPhone for £100 (should of been £200), free early upgrade, and 8gb extra a month 4g plus internet for £1 a month extra.

Always get a good deal when you go in store and barter!

This.. I had 5 months left on my contract.. Ended up being able to pay that off and make 20 quid cashback!

[7057sam]

Good old phones4u let me do it when I had 6 months to go on my contact.Payed me in cash in the store what I had remaining on my contract and got a new phone aswell  

Pretty shure there in administration now

[Dum-Dum]

Cheers guys, might well pop into store aster christmas and see what I can blag.

Just get what ever phone you want & buy a Griffin Survivor case. They are awesome!

Nah I've seen them, my best mate has (had) one and it looked/felt shit, certainly no better than the polycarbonate case I have.

[Piggy]

Gorrilla case. Can drive over those things!!

[306carter]

Good old phones4u let me do it when I had 6 months to go on my contact.Payed me in cash in the store what I had remaining on my contract and got a new phone aswell  

Pretty shure there in administration now

Done this a few times myself. Got £150 cash the last time I went in. This was a few months before they went into administration.

I'd recommend what ever phone you get, just add a decent case.

[RetroPug]

Or buy a new phone outright, get a 10 pounds per month giff gaff sim card and stop giving phone companies hundreds and hundreds per year!

[Matt-Rallye]

Ive got an iphone4s and despite what people say i havent managed to kill it yet!

After witnessing razorback robs iphone5s fly off the roof of a moving car without a mark on it i will be getting one next

[bashbarnard]

Or buy a new phone outright, get a 10 pounds per month giff gaff sim card and stop giving phone companies hundreds and hundreds per year!

This. Apart from mine is sim only from o2.
Also otterbox do awesome cases. Had one on my 3gs for years.

[Razorback_Rob]

Ive got an iphone4s and despite what people say i havent managed to kill it yet!

After witnessing razorback robs iphone5s fly off the roof of a moving car without a mark on it i will be getting one next

Only an iPhone 5. I still can't believe it's absolutely fine and it must've flew off with me driving 40ish mph

[laurence_13]

my iphone 5 does pretty well with zagg screen protectors and a tech2 impact case thing... still haven't managed to kill it.

[Razorback_Rob]

Mine has a £3 eBay case [emoji23]

[welshpug]

buy a handset with cash and youll be a lot less careless with it

I've had a barely used HTC for 3 years and got an S3 as a replacement, both £100 unwanted contact upgrades.

[Niall]

My old iPhone 5S was just in a rubber case with a lip around the screen to stop the glass making contact if it dropped. Was pretty resilient considering!
My old iPhone 4s had the same sort of case. I dropped it down a smoke extract shaft....2 stories. Almost didnt bother going and getting it because i thought it would be f*cked but amazingly it was fine!

[RetroPug]

Or buy a new phone outright, get a 10 pounds per month giff gaff sim card and stop giving phone companies hundreds and hundreds per year!

This. Apart from mine is sim only from o2.
Also otterbox do awesome cases. Had one on my 3gs for years.

My gf had an O2 locked phone and it transferred to giff gaff with no issues, however giff gaff uses the O2 network.
I'm actually on vodafone sim only as every year I phone and pretend I want to leave and they drop the price...must remember to do that again soon.

buy a handset with cash and youll be a lot less careless with it

I've had a barely used HTC for 3 years and got an S3 as a replacement, both £100 unwanted contact upgrades.

Precisely this, and then 120 per year rather than 300-500.

[welshpug]

per year? you missed that the htc lasted 3 years before It gave issue with charging.

[RetroPug]

per year? you missed that the htc lasted 3 years before It gave issue with charging.

I'm talking about the money you are saving by buying your phone outright and then having a cheap sim-only deal (maybe you have pay as you go?).

Anyway, what I meant was a sim-only deal with data and minutes and unlimited texts is 10 pcm, so 120 per year, whereas most contracts that give you a good, free phone are anywhere between 25 pcm to 45 pcm, which is a lot more per year.

[welshpug]

ohh, dont think I even spend that much tbh as im near wifi most of the time! havent topped up since early October.

[Atterz]

My S4 in an Otterbox case is fantastic, great phone and IED proof.

[Dum-Dum]

Cheers for all the advice guys, its been very helpful.

So Ii went out and bought a brand new Nokia Lumia 635 on PAYG as it was £25 cheaper than an unlocked one and its only cost a fiver to get an unlock code. Its a little smaller than my current phone and was pretty much the cheapest thing I could get that had 4g access.

When my current phone contract is done I'm going to switch to a sim only contract as you can get unlimited internet ones from £15 a month which will save me a couple hundred quid a year.

Thanks for all the help and advice guys

My S4 in an Otterbox case is fantastic, great phone and IED proof.

Is that from personal experience?
Is it "being hit by a nutter with a metal bar" proof?

[bashbarnard]

Glad you saw the light and didnt buy into the "free phone" with your contract. Mines unlimited net for £12 month 02

[Niall]

Glad you saw the light and didnt buy into the "free phone" with your contract. Mines unlimited net for £12 month 02

Don't think any of them ever claim a phone being free. Just no upfront cost
A contract is a good way of getting the phone you want if you want a pricy phone. If you're happy with something cheap, sim only is the way to go!

[RetroPug]

ohh, dont think I even spend that much tbh as  im near wifi most of the  time! havent topped up since early October.

Are you on pay as you go?
I did consider scrapping data altogether and getting one of the 5 pounds or 7.50 per month deals on sim only.