So many phones, so little time

[The Beard]

Quick question.

Wandered into my local O2 shop today to ask about a 'phone upgrade as I've had my Samsung Galaxy Ace for over 2 years. There were a number of appealing handsets from the Koreans including the Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy S4 and the new S5.

So, which one to get? Forgetting the costs, I'm only really interested in which is the best handset. The costs aren't that important as the cheapest one is less than I pay now, one is about the same and the S5 is around a fiver more, but, they offer a discount to Police Officers and staff that will knock about a fiver off.

I'm very happy with the network as I've found reception to be great everywhere except places like underground car parks and the like. I'm also happy with the brand as I've got used to Android and the quality of Samsung is also great as I'm concerned

 

[Focus Owner]

o2 is amazing I agree,
Think apple is better im on an s3 mini
nice to know you get a decent discount.

so GN3 S4 and S5
i'd go for newer since cost aint an issue.

but things do get faster than the ace, was glad when i got rid of mine.

 

[Ziggy122]

i went form a galaxy ace to a Mini S3

Worth it
The s3 is a good phone so the Mini s4 should be too!

Ziggy

 

[The Beard]

Thanks for your thoughts folks, that's made my mind up then.....Huawei it is!





















Only joking. Think I'll go for the S5.

Mrs. Beard has an IP5, as have both her nephews, and the trendy 21 year old round the corner, but although they all like the phones (easy to use, great camera) they all say that at one particular task they fall down. Anyone like to hazard a guess as to what their failing is?

You got it, making calls on them. Two of them are used round here and two in and around Teesside, one is on EE, two are on Vodafone and one on O2 so I've no idea why they have problems.

 

[Stu DemonD]

Personally, I am waiting to see what the LG G3 has to offer once it is launched

 

[Andy Monty]

Look at the Motorola moto g

 

[Avaxbox]

Have you not considered the htc one (m8) ? Possibly the most well built phone there is not plastic like the samsungs


Sent from my iPad using FIAT Forum

 

[The Beard]

Have you not considered the htc one (m8) ? Possibly the most well built phone there is not plastic like the samsungs


Sent from my iPad using FIAT Forum

I'm afraid I'm ideologically opposed to anything coming from a Chinese (PRC) company. Their copying and forgery of western (and Japanese) products is breathtaking and their nerve in denying what they've done leaves me incredulous.

They've pirated DVDs and CDs and copied the Panda as well as the X5 yet deny what they've done completely and latterly copied virtually all forms of electronics including mobile phones and computers. At the same time they have carried out numerous cyber attacks on the US and probably Europe as well in attempts to both steal secrets and technology. I know Samsung have been criticised (and fined) for infringing copyrights placed on Apple products but at least they've admitted as much and paid the fine unlike China.

They are also busy "buying up" huge amounts of Africa's raw materials while at the same time propping up totalitarian states such as Zimbabawe. They are themselves an authoritarian state with few freedoms for their people and as one who grew up in the shadow of the Cold War I find myself very disappointed by the way in which the west has allowed China (and Russia) to bounce back and wield an amount of power way, way above what they would have been able to without the "Peace Dividend".

I'll buy from European, American, Japanese and Korean companies, but as long as I have breath in my body I won't knowingly buy Chinese.

Just a personal standpoint of course. :life:

Oh, ended up with a S4 anyway, despite what I said at the beginning of this post as it seemed I hadn't been paying anywhere near what I thought I had so the S4 would end up costing me about £20 per month less than the S5 and with the "company" discount that would make a fair difference.

 

[ChrisUK]

HTC One M8 hands down, despite it's lack of imagination the on the naming front!

 

[Gavv8]

I'm afraid I'm ideologically opposed to anything coming from a Chinese (PRC) company. Their copying and forgery of western (and Japanese) products is breathtaking and their nerve in denying what they've done leaves me incredulous.

They've pirated DVDs and CDs and copied the Panda as well as the X5 yet deny what they've done completely and latterly copied virtually all forms of electronics including mobile phones and computers. At the same time they have carried out numerous cyber attacks on the US and probably Europe as well in attempts to both steal secrets and technology. I know Samsung have been criticised (and fined) for infringing copyrights placed on Apple products but at least they've admitted as much and paid the fine unlike China.

They are also busy "buying up" huge amounts of Africa's raw materials while at the same time propping up totalitarian states such as Zimbabawe. They are themselves an authoritarian state with few freedoms for their people and as one who grew up in the shadow of the Cold War I find myself very disappointed by the way in which the west has allowed China (and Russia) to bounce back and wield an amount of power way, way above what they would have been able to without the "Peace Dividend".

I'll buy from European, American, Japanese and Korean companies, but as long as I have breath in my body I won't knowingly buy Chinese.

Just a personal standpoint of course. :life:

Oh, ended up with a S4 anyway, despite what I said at the beginning of this post as it seemed I hadn't been paying anywhere near what I thought I had so the S4 would end up costing me about £20 per month less than the S5 and with the "company" discount that would make a fair difference.

To quote Dix from the movie Saigon.. " You're floatin' in a big sea of sh*t and instead of just stayin' in the boat, no, you reach out and you pick up this one little turd and you say "This turd, well THIS turd pisses me off. I'm gonna do somethin' about THIS turd!"

 

[sludgeguts]

In the latest issue of computeractive they review the S5 "great pick 4/5" with "A powerful android phone with a lot going for it, but some of its new features are half-baked gimmicks."
As an alternative, they suggest (for £170 less @ £390) the Sony Xperia Z1. "A smaller, cheaper Android phone yet just as fast, waterproof and with a better camera". They also rate this 4/5.

in their "buy it" section, they suggest the Motorola MotoG for £150 "better than many phones at twice the price", with an alternative buy being the iPhone5s (£549)

 

[Mooresey]

I have an iPhone 5s, love it works well withe the car, no problems so far.

 

[The Beard]

To quote Dix from the movie Saigon.. " You're floatin' in a big sea of sh*t and instead of just stayin' in the boat, no, you reach out and you pick up this one little turd and you say "This turd, well THIS turd pisses me off. I'm gonna do somethin' about THIS turd!"

There was a time, not that long ago, when people bought items, many were bought by conviction.....and credit card as well of course. There were Ford buyers and Vauxhall buyers, and people who would only buy items made in Britain, or America, Some would only buy French wines and so on. Conversely many chose not to buy or deal with South Africa during Apartheid, likewise Rhodesia.

I know things change, but I really don't care if I'm tilting at windmills. I own a Polish made Italian car, Japanese cameras and hi-fi and my Acer laptop was made in PRC, but then I didn't know that at the time I bought it. I have an Italian suite and British made central heating boiler and fire and so on.

Only one of those countries has an authoritarian government and thousands of political prisoners. Only one of those countries has propped up dictatorships in Africa that have tortured, imprisoned or murdered thousands and has bought up so much raw material that virtually every manufactured item we buy has gone up in price unless it's made in China of course. Oops, nearly forgot that other member of the family of nations, and Chinese client state North Korea.

Of course, if people are happy to help those countries carry on doing what they are, that's up to them. Personally, I'll treat China in the same way as South Africa and Rhodesia.

Nice cinematic analogy though.

 

[Blue2U]

There was a time, not that long ago, when people bought items, many were bought by conviction.....and credit card as well of course. There were Ford buyers and Vauxhall buyers, and people who would only buy items made in Britain, or America, Some would only buy French wines and so on. Conversely many chose not to buy or deal with South Africa during Apartheid, likewise Rhodesia.

I know things change, but I really don't care if I'm tilting at windmills. I own a Polish made Italian car, Japanese cameras and hi-fi and my Acer laptop was made in PRC, but then I didn't know that at the time I bought it. I have an Italian suite and British made central heating boiler and fire and so on.

Only one of those countries has an authoritarian government and thousands of political prisoners. Only one of those countries has propped up dictatorships in Africa that have tortured, imprisoned or murdered thousands and has bought up so much raw material that virtually every manufactured item we buy has gone up in price unless it's made in China of course. Oops, nearly forgot that other member of the family of nations, and Chinese client state North Korea.

Of course, if people are happy to help those countries carry on doing what they are, that's up to them. Personally, I'll treat China in the same way as South Africa and Rhodesia.

Nice cinematic analogy though.

Well said!

If the **** in Admin had kept her snout out I would never have ended up with an HTC mobile... But as I didn't pay for it :shrug:

 

[Bushboy]

I own a Huawei Ascend P6. It's a great phone and I couldn't care less who or where it was made. It was a decent price for a well speced bit of kit and has proven to be reliable

The same couldn't be said my the Iphone 4 it replaced which got slower and slower with every update and became impossible to charge thanks to apples poor quality control on it's charging ports.

I did get a nice bit of money selling it on though, even in that condition. The west love to think they are buying quality products because of fancy marketing when infact they are buying something else just built in another chinese factory with a premium brand stamped on it

 

[ChrisUK]

I hope people realize 90% of all handsets are made in exactly the same place?

 

[The Beard]

I'm afraid I'm aware of that Chris, and the rise of The People's Republic of China is inexorable, but given the choice I'll buy elsewhere. One of the problems is that European, US and Japanese companies have chosen to make many of their products in China and will have to bear the consequences of the Chinese copying their products and making their own.

Several years ago I bought an Epiphone Dot electric guitar made in South Korea. Epiphone are part of the American Gibson organisation. Going back a few years Fender decided to produce a good quality range of guitars that undercut their main line. They were made in Japan. The quality was every bit as good as the US factories. They then opened a factory in Mexico to produce and even cheaper range that took advantage of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Area which was an attempt at an American EEA. A few years ago they also opened a facility in China.


Gibson/Epiphone then took the decision to make Epis in China to reduce costs even further and I've seen nothing that convinces me that the quality is any worse than my Korean version.

I'm not really a political animal, but I find it hard to take when I see how China has made so much progress yet, like the former USSR, still gives little more freedom to its population. Instead of sending their troops unarmed against an enemy or utilised Russian made equipment as they did in Korea, they can now deploy their own weapons and arm the forces with equipment that is virtually as good as the West.

If China decides to cut up rough with the likes of South Korea or Japan there will be little anyone can do about it.