Looking for a new phone

pajor

Me wants a new phone, have to get rid of this awful Galaxy Y. Problem is I don't really know what I want, expect for it to have a nice big screen (>4.5 inch). I'm on vodafone PAYG atm and want to stay with them for the moment, best coverage where I am et al. But their choice of phones atm is pretty poor. A SIM free one would be nice too. Have been looking at amazon and pixmania, not really any the wiser either.

Not really sure about my budget, I think I'll know when I find what I want, but under €200 anyway.

Have been thinking about the Huawei Ascend G510, but I don't like the reviews for it.

So if anyone has any suggestions on a phone and where do get it, that would be greatly appreciated.

pajor

Shameless bump.

Mezcita

Save up your cash and get a Nexus 5.

Colemania

I was in a VERY similar situation to you not so long ago but you may want to have a good look around before you commit to buying a certain phone.

I too had a Samsung Galaxy Y and upgraded to a Huawei G510 about 6 or 7 months ago. Got one on adverts for about €115 (unlocked it for just under €5 as it's a vodafone phone and I'm on Meteor) but long story short, i sold it last weekend for €110 on adverts. It's quite a large phone in comparison to the Galaxy Y. Excellent screen quality and the camera can actually be excellent at times, depending on the light. Now the main downfall of it was it only had 512mb RAM making it a bit slow and also the battery is pretty shocking. Great value for the money I got it for but I wanted to upgrade now that i have a bit more money.

Bought a Nexus 4 for €230 last night after being told how great it was on boards countless times but it's in the post so I can't give my opinion on it yet. There's quite a few HTC phones out under €200. Not the HTC One obviously but a few decent sized ones. Stay away from the Windows phones. I had a Lumia earlier this year and sold it after a month before its value plumetted.

I hope this helped a bit anyway.

biko

Play around a while with phones in phone shops and get a feel for them.

RaggyDays

http://www.1949deal.com/jiayu-g4-android-smart-phone-mtk6589t-quad-core-1-5-ghz-ram-1gb-rom-4gb-4-7-inch-hd-ips-retina-screen-black-color-3000mah-battery.html

Comes in at €175 add €25 more for customs and its just on Budget. Fantastic phone for the money

or this one with 32gb of ROM

http://www.1949deal.com/umi-x2-smartphone-android-4-2-mtk6589t-quad-core-1-5-ghz-ram-1gb-rom-32gb-5-0-inch-1080p-fhd-screen-gorilla-glass-black-color.html

pajor

biko wrote: »

Play around a while with phones in phone shops and get a feel for them.

I suppose it's the only thing I can do really. Just such slim pickings with vodafone atm.

DECEiFER

+1 on the Nexus 4 if you can pick a 16GB version up on Adverts for less than €250, which these days shouldn't be a problem. It's a bit more than you wanted to spend but from an owner's perspective, totally worth it, the best value you're going to get alongside all the other Nexus devices (5, 7, 10).

I encourage you to look up reviews and comparison videos (to the S III, iPhone 5, etc.) on YouTube for you to get the idea.

I posted this the other day for Colemania:

DECEiFER wrote: »

Let's put it this way, anything you buy from an operator on PAYG or from an electronics store for that price will not be anywhere as good as the Nexus 4. Paperweights! You'll get nothing very good for €260 off-contract. Maybe those second-hand prices are inflated but in all honestly, I don't see the Nexus 5 affecting them by a whole lot in the near future. Hell, the Galaxy Nexus from 2011 still goes for a pretty penny (it was never cheap because Google at the time did not sell its devices directly). New, when I got my Nexus 4 in April, it was €330-€340 for the 16GB model (converted from £284 at the time).

Pros of Nexus phones:
- They outclass or rival any high-end phone at the time of their release in terms of performance
- They're cheaper by nearly 50% compared to their rivals
- They are updated by Google directly and unlocked from all networks (18-month update lifecycle, at least)
- The Nexus 4 has a 4.7" screen, so it's big enough
- The Nexus 4 has a glass back, so it gives it a lovely, premium feel

Cons of Nexus phones:
- They have no SD card expansion, 16GB is as big as the Nexus 4 gets
- Camera quality on the Nexus 4 is not as good as some of its rivals, like the S III
- Battery is non-removable but can be replaced nonetheless with a new official battery for €20-€30 with some screwing around (plenty of instructional videos on YouTube)
- The Nexus 4 has a glass back, so it does scratch easily if not protected and it could crack if dropped (screen protectors and a case are advised)

Overall, I'm a happy user. My front and back is covered with high-end (less than $10 worth to boot) screen protectors and I use a the official Google/LG bumper case but I keep a tough silicon case around also, which covers the back, for better drop protection. So far I've been careful and lucky enough not to drop it! Google sell these phones cheap to get people into Android and using their cloud services, like Music, Movies, TV, Magazines, Books, Drive, etc., which is why they only sell in countries where these services are fully available (they aren't yet here) and why they leave out expandable SD storage. This is why they're cheap, they're likely making no profit on them. Google take these sorts of risks, their entire business model is about giving things away and having their users make money for them without opening their wallets. Monetizing like a boss.

http://www.xtremeguard.com/LG-Google-Nexus-4-Screen-Protectors-p/lg-nexus-4-screen-protector.htm

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/XtremeGuard-LCD-FULL-BODY-Screen-Protector-Shield-Skin-For-LG-Google-Nexus-4-/350649083772

These puppies come from the US and are delivered within 7-8 days. Reasonable postage charges also. The eBay link is cheaper and it's the official seller, same as the website. I bought two sets at different times (the second set is still unused, I just wanted a spare).

Also, see my above post for an edit.

So give it a think over and watch YouTube comparison reviews of it if you do want to see how well it stacks up with the competition. You'll see it compared to the S III and the iCrap 4s/5, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nexus+4+vs+galaxy+s+iii&oq=Nexus+4+vs+&gs_l=youtube.3.0.35i39j0i3j0l8.62.4065.0.4896.12.9.1.0.0.1.221.1161.3j5j1.9.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.qa35pEo8xEM

It's worth consideration but if you're really adamant about sticking to under €200, then I can honestly say that you're going to want to find a decent-spec'd no-name device because the major brands don't make anything good in that price bracket, thus no operator is selling anything good either.

pajor

DECEiFER wrote: »

It's worth consideration but if you're really adamant about sticking to under €200, then I can honestly say that you're going to want to find a decent-spec'd no-name device because the major brands don't make anything good in that price bracket, thus no operator is selling anything good either.

I've just been looking at these sort of phones on eBay. I'm being blown away by the specs. :eek:

DECEiFER

pajor wrote: »

I've just been looking at these sort of phones on eBay. I'm being blown away by the specs. :eek:

Mind. Blown. I swear, it's still a great buy even though the Nexus 5 is now released.

fdevine

Thread around here somewhere on Acer Liquid E2 (Duo). €205+€11 2 day courier delivery.

I got the dual SIM version after seeing the thread on here. Reviews are good. Very popular phone in Germany, France & Italy. 3 in the UK have started selling it too.

I have had to replace my original phone but in short I love it.

SIM free, dual SIM, quad core, 4.5" screen, 8Mp camera with flash, expandable memory & most importantly decent battery life. Runs almost stock Android 4.2.2. Two year warranty.

http://www.expansys.ie/acer-liquid-e2-duo-black-249885/

Acer Gallant is similar with 5Mp camera for €160+delivery