- Joined
- Mar 1, 2014
- Messages
- 4,579
- Points
- 828
I'll be getting a new phone meself in July. I'm on PAYG, and am looking at moving to an Alcatel.
What's made you smile today?
- Thread starter angel
- Start date
Currently reading:
What's made you smile today?
I'll be getting a new phone meself in July. I'm on PAYG, and am looking at moving to an Alcatel.
Been on a contract since I got my first job. It's probably my one extravagance getting a flagship phone. A good phone can replace a camera, mp3 player, GPS system, laptop and be a phone..and a games machine and much more besides.
Samsung J5 2017 is a good mid range phone, wife has one it's probably about as good as a flagship from 2 years ago so very usable if lacking the wow somewhat. They're about 350 all up or 20 odd quid pm.
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2014
- Messages
- 4,579
- Points
- 828
I'd be looking to spend about £100.
Fair dos. I'm afraid I tend to like something that does the all singing and dancing bit. So got no idea about what's good at that end of the market.
I'll never get a contract so long as Giffgaff exists
It does depend on what you use it for and there are contracts and there are contracts. I've been on anytime upgrade contracts since they came out and I've had no issues. The actual usage part of my bill is capped at 13 quid pm. The phone payment is the other part paid over 24 instalments at 0%. I can end it at any time by paying what I owe on the phone and that's it no early exit fees e.t.c. So I'm in a 24 month finance agreement on the phone if I paid the finance off the contract immediately becomes a 1 month rolling contract @ 13 quid pm.
So while in the past (mainly on Vodafone who I wouldn't touch again with someone else's stick) I did get screwed on a contract it is possible to not be locked in for 2 years and pay reasonable money.
Last edited:
Unlimited texts, unlimited minutes, it was unlimited data - now its 6GB 4G data and after that unlimited, but slower speeds sadly. Still better than I can find elsewhere for £20 a month.
Plus the cost of my phone, an iPhone SE which was £429 bought sim free.
Unless I could get more including the phone new for less than £38 a month over a two year period I'd not consider switching.
Not sure what I'll do next phone wise. Gone off Apple due to their policies and never liked Android to be honest, mostly Googles spying and tracking efforts for that. I'm legitimately considering Windows Phone as I miss the iPhone to Mac laptop integration and having a Windows one would restore that link at probably under £200. Nobody buys em so they're quite cheap!
Plus the cost of my phone, an iPhone SE which was £429 bought sim free.
Unless I could get more including the phone new for less than £38 a month over a two year period I'd not consider switching.
Not sure what I'll do next phone wise. Gone off Apple due to their policies and never liked Android to be honest, mostly Googles spying and tracking efforts for that. I'm legitimately considering Windows Phone as I miss the iPhone to Mac laptop integration and having a Windows one would restore that link at probably under £200. Nobody buys em so they're quite cheap!
Last February I bought (outright, £329) a Oneplus2. I plan on keeping it until at least next year when the Oneplus5 has been out for a while and there are deals to be had. I currently pay Vodafone £17 a month for unlimited texts/minutes and 8GB of 4G. Only a 12 month contract as it's SIM only, so I can keep the same phone and take advantage of better packages usually for the same or less money (I used to be on 500mins, unlimited texts and 5GB of 4G for £17.50 so yeah).
Last edited:
I saw offers like that and decent looking introductory plans that after a year or so may no longer exist and I didn't want to jump ship on that basis that it might not be worth it when it ends. If they didn't bring it back for example.
Plus, where I live in N.I. if you have a carrier that has decent coverage in your area grab it and run!! We recently got 3G & 4G outside of the city which is a godsend the rest of the UK probably got in 2012 lol
Oh god no, coverage has only really just come to some parts you'd think would have had it for ages. The only reason I got the OP2 last year was because they'd only just brought 4G to the area, which for reference was right between Huddersfield and Wakefield so hardly the arse end of nowhere! The points I was more trying to make though were:
1. Don't get suckered into paying £40+ a month just because you get a shiny phone out of it, when you can get the same performing hardware for less if you do some research
2. Don't shy away from spending a lot of money up front, £100 won't get you a lot of phone (even 2nd hand)
bonus point - don't get a Windows phone, they are truly awful!
1. Don't get suckered into paying £40+ a month just because you get a shiny phone out of it, when you can get the same performing hardware for less if you do some research
2. Don't shy away from spending a lot of money up front, £100 won't get you a lot of phone (even 2nd hand)
bonus point - don't get a Windows phone, they are truly awful!
Strange reason from an iPhone user... I have heard it said that they are possibly the most spied-on people outside a dictatorship ?
And apparenly they still aren't allowed to change the settings!
Go Android. At least you can see what's in it. If you're nerdy enough you can build it from scratch and leave out anything you don't like. Or get a pre-built custom ROM. Just avoid the cheapest Chinese ones which come with adware built in.
Apple certainly don't spy on their users. Their business is in selling hardware and software and premium ad free services.
Google, on the other hand, is an advertising company. Everything it does is focussed on tracking and analysing. Android is another product that facilitates that! It's no secret, but it is hidden away in the terms and conditions.
I'd rather trust Apple with my info (even if they want you to sell a kidney to afford to do so).
I hear similar things from Windows 10 computer users saying how much better / cheaper / flexible it is compared to Apple and the Mac but personally nothing can rival Apple's attention to detail and rock solid reliability. As a recently converted bank to Windows user sure I'll admit it's good and ticks the boxes. I left Apple because the expense can't be justified as a student and because their policies don't allow me to buy parts and fix my own products when they break :-( can't fault them otherwise
Probably not the right forum for a discussion on Apple vs Google, but the title of the post is "What made you smile today" and that did...
Anyway, Android is Open Source. You can build it from scratch with an easily available compiler on a trusted platform (such as Linux).
That way you can know exactly what is in it, and there are no Google Terms and Conditions involved. You can avoid Google entirely if you want. (I have, in the past, but I'm using a Samsung S7 at the moment and the standard ROM allows everything I need at the moment)
Within the Apple multiverse you get what you are given. It is pretty smooth and seamless. It rarely malfunctions. It's a "premium product" (i.e. expensive). And very restrictive (which may actually be why it rarely malfunctions). That's all a good thing for some, but a bad thing for others.
I'm an "other". I need more flexibility than Apple will allow me for some of the things I need to do from time to time. Even jailbreaking an iPhone will only go so far. And it stops it being smooth and seamless.
I certainly don't knock Apple for their products, or even their way of managing their users. It's a good system for people who don't want/need the hassle of working stuff out for themselves, and that's not being condescending - some of the smartest people I know use iPhones simply because they do all that they require with minimal effort.
On the other hand, some of Apple's Ts&Cs would probably worry me if I still had one... and it's not strictly accurate to say iPhones dont track user activity/information... there's much more information available on this for anybody who can be bothered with it.
However, wading through all of the conspiracy theories to find real information would not make me smile today, so I'm going for a drive in my Panda instead.
Anyway, Android is Open Source. You can build it from scratch with an easily available compiler on a trusted platform (such as Linux).
That way you can know exactly what is in it, and there are no Google Terms and Conditions involved. You can avoid Google entirely if you want. (I have, in the past, but I'm using a Samsung S7 at the moment and the standard ROM allows everything I need at the moment)
Within the Apple multiverse you get what you are given. It is pretty smooth and seamless. It rarely malfunctions. It's a "premium product" (i.e. expensive). And very restrictive (which may actually be why it rarely malfunctions). That's all a good thing for some, but a bad thing for others.
I'm an "other". I need more flexibility than Apple will allow me for some of the things I need to do from time to time. Even jailbreaking an iPhone will only go so far. And it stops it being smooth and seamless.
I certainly don't knock Apple for their products, or even their way of managing their users. It's a good system for people who don't want/need the hassle of working stuff out for themselves, and that's not being condescending - some of the smartest people I know use iPhones simply because they do all that they require with minimal effort.
On the other hand, some of Apple's Ts&Cs would probably worry me if I still had one... and it's not strictly accurate to say iPhones dont track user activity/information... there's much more information available on this for anybody who can be bothered with it.
However, wading through all of the conspiracy theories to find real information would not make me smile today, so I'm going for a drive in my Panda instead.
Last edited:
An iPhone SE with 32gb storage and 12gb of data would be 35.50 pm or 30.50 to match your current allowance on Tesco with no upfront at all and anytime upgrade.
Not that you'd want another but just a thought the deal you are getting isn't particularly good in effect and you can get an awful lot for 38 quid pm. Hell the S8 is costing me 42 in total. LG G6 is low 30s probably about 35 if you put 6gb of data on.
Last edited:
Sounds good but I prefer buying the device out right in general, which I've done for the iPhone SE. So in actual terms I pay £20 a month. The £38 would be for phone + data. But still, that offer seems good!
Only two things I want to take finance out on life: a house and a car
Everything else I hope I can avoid financial commitments! So far so good
Those figures were all in so phone and data combined with 0 upfront. Although looking a little further into it it's 38.50 for a LG G6 with 4 gb data but that's LGs current flagship, anytime upgrade starts at about 15 quid pm including a phone!
Tbf they do SIM only like everyone else, but I find it handy, last time round I paid the balance off with 6 months to go and just paid 9 quid a month until something I fancied came along.
Point of note would be it's good to have had some things on finance even if you just take out a credit card and pay it off every month otherwise you have no credit history and will find it hard to get a mortgage or a car loan.
I have an iPhone 6s (due for upgrade soon) I got the 128gb model as I'm sick of always running out of storage space, I also pay for extra iCloud space. What I love about it is it just works, it makes calls it sends messages, it links in with my iPad via iCloud to share documents, it works with my Apple Watch to track all that fitness crap apparently everyone needs (most useful is calls and notifications during meetings without checking my phone) it then plugs into my car and works brilliantly with CarPlay, getting the car to send and red texts, use Apple maps for navigating and playing my iTunes library all seamlessly and without any effort.
Yes I pay a premium for all this but then you get what you pay for and I'm happy to pay for what works without any hassle or effort.
That all said, I'm seriously impressed with what Amazon have been doing recently and rumour has it a new fire phone is in the pipe line, so it will be interesting to see what comes.
Yes I pay a premium for all this but then you get what you pay for and I'm happy to pay for what works without any hassle or effort.
That all said, I'm seriously impressed with what Amazon have been doing recently and rumour has it a new fire phone is in the pipe line, so it will be interesting to see what comes.
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2014
- Messages
- 4,579
- Points
- 828
Atm, I have a Galaxy S3 mini, which does everything I want tbh. The only reason I'll be getting a new phone in July is purely because this 1 has seen better days. If it was still working absolutely perfectly, then I wouldn't even be thinking of changing it: I tend to keep things until they die.
