Phone for circa €150

Mourinho

I'm looking to get my mother a new phone as a surprise.

Now she only uses it really for calls and texts. She wouldn't need big storage and I'd say would get away with a 8MP camera.

Is there anything good out there even as a refurb? I thought I'd find the previous gen Nexus 5 as a refurb for around the price but no luck unfortunately.

I just want something she'll enjoy and won't be a lag fest. The sister gave her her old 4s but it's a joke on iOS 9.

Niemoj

2 things that come to mind here.

The Moto G 3rd Gen is available in Argos with plenty of stock around the country but it's €200. The Moto G is a great phone, it will have great performance and definitely suit her needs. But given the sounds of things it might be a bit of overkill though.

Alternatively you can look at AliExpress/DHGate/TMart/TinyDeal etc and get her a "no name" Chinese phone. These can be hit or miss imo, but they're cheaper than the branded stuff, a potential problem might be that they tend to come in larger/phablet sizes which might be an inconvenience.

Phones bought from China/Hong Kong are liable for import duties/VAT but you *sometimes* don't get caught! Have a look at the Chinese Android Phone thread for more info.

DopeTech

Mourinho wrote: »

I'm looking to get my mother a new phone as a surprise.

Now she only uses it really for calls and texts. She wouldn't need big storage and I'd say would get away with a 8MP camera.

Is there anything good out there even as a refurb? I thought I'd find the previous gen Nexus 5 as a refurb for around the price but no luck unfortunately.

I just want something she'll enjoy and won't be a lag fest. The sister gave her her old 4s but it's a joke on iOS 9.

What network is she on?

Memnoch

You can get a Samsung Galaxy S4 mini for 100 euro delivered on eBay, second hand. A fantastic and underrated phone IMO.

Mantis Toboggan

Smart ultra 6, can't go wrong.

DopeTech

Tyson Fury wrote: »

Smart ultra 6, can't go wrong.

If its mainly for calls and texts the su6 is slightly overkill IMO, the vf smart prime would be a much better choice but only if she is with vf as it can't be unlocked as easily as the su6.

Tails142

I'd second the moto g as the best option, 2nd gen can be got for 140, or about 90 refurb. 3rd gen refurb can be got within your budget.

Mantis Toboggan

FrostyJim wrote: »

If its mainly for calls and texts the su6 is slightly overkill IMO, the vf smart prime would be a much better choice but only if she is with vf as it can't be unlocked as easily as the su6.

Yeah but why get a decent phone when you can get an awesome phone within budget?

UsedToWait

Tyson Fury wrote: »

Yeah but why get a decent phone when you can get an awesome phone within budget?

Is it an awesome phone though?

I was tempted after the huge Bargain Alerts thread, but the amount of people having problems, ranging from the flimsiness of the plastic to missed calls and notifications put me off in the end..

The other issue that stopped me was the apparent difficulty in rooting some people had, though this may not worry the OP...

Mantis Toboggan

UsedToWait wrote: »

Is it an awesome phone though?

I was tempted after the huge Bargain Alerts thread, but the amount of people having problems, ranging from the flimsiness of the plastic to missed calls and notifications put me off in the end..

The other issue that stopped me was the apparent difficulty in rooting some people had, though this may not worry the OP...

I didn't root it so that doesn't bother me.

Flimsiness of the plastic? Seems fine to me.
Put it this way, I had a G3 before this which cost 350 and the ultra is probably better.

UsedToWait

Tyson Fury wrote: »

Flimsiness of the plastic? Seems fine to me..

Ah several people said the back had cracked on theirs, but if you read enough reviews of anything online, i suppose, you'd never purchase!

ted1

The huwaei Y6 is a great phone

Cantona's Collars

The SU6 is within budget from Amazon,get a nice cover for it and you are sorted.

NomadicGray

Ultra 6 is great but it's a pretty big phone

Mourinho

Right lads thanks for the replies firstly.

She's with Tesco mobile on their €15 pre pay offer.

The smart ultra I had thought of of and reckon she's like it, unlocking is my only problem cause I can guarantee she won't switch to Vodafone.

DopeTech

Mourinho wrote: »

Right lads thanks for the replies firstly.

She's with Tesco mobile on their €15 pre pay offer.

The smart ultra I had thought of of and reckon she's like it, unlocking is my only problem cause I can guarantee she won't switch to Vodafone.

Unlocking the su6 won't be a problem. Less than €3 on eBay. I'm posting from mine now on iD. Has excellent battery and if she likes the size then you could do a lot worse. Mine has developed cracks on the two bottom corners but even with that the phone does have a sturdy feel to it.

biebiebie

Mourinho wrote: »

Right lads thanks for the replies firstly.

She's with Tesco mobile on their €15 pre pay offer.

The smart ultra I had thought of of and reckon she's like it, unlocking is my only problem cause I can guarantee she won't switch to Vodafone.

The Smart Ultra is easy to unlock via eBay so you'll have no problems getting her Tesco sim working.

Mourinho

Ok lads Smart Ultra 6 or Moto G 3rd Gen?

Was talking to her there and she mentioned how she would like to try using her phone for looking up bits and bobs on the Internet and YouTube so either of those should be fine.

The Moto G seems to be getting Android M and has a better battery tho, hmm

Mantis Toboggan

Mourinho wrote: »

Ok lads Smart Ultra 6 or Moto G 3rd Gen?

Was talking to her there and she mentioned how she would like to try using her phone for looking up bits and bobs on the Internet and YouTube so either of those should be fine.

The Moto G seems to be getting Android M and has a better battery tho, hmm

The ultra has a bigger battery, same size as the new galaxy s7