Best phone ~€350

NeverWaining

Looking to upgrade my phone as it's a bit busted. Budget is about €350. Cheaper would be welcome. Would stretch a bit too though if needs be.

Won't be gaming or anything on it. Just want a decent phone that won't slow to a crawl after a year. Decent camera would be good too.


Not really aware of what's out there. Any thoughts?

NeverWaining

Is the Nexus 5X a decent option?

TitianGerm

NeverWaining wrote: »

Looking to upgrade my phone as it's a bit busted. Budget is about €350. Cheaper would be welcome. Would stretch a bit too though if needs be.

Won't be gaming or anything on it. Just want a decent phone that won't slow to a crawl after a year. Decent camera would be good too.


Not really aware of what's out there. Any thoughts?

One Plus 2 for the higher end or One Pus X for around €100 less.

T-Bird

emmetkenny wrote: »

One Plus 2 for the higher end or One Pus X for around €100 less.

Just got a one plus 2 yesterday. Boy is it a fantastic piece of kit!

Sound is fantastic.

Edit.. Battery seems quite ****e though....

NeverWaining

Thanks! Just had a quick look at One Plus 2 reviews and it seems the go-to phone in that price range. Definitely up for consideration. Only drawback for my personal use would be the screensize. Ideally I'd like a 5 inch max.

TitianGerm

NeverWaining wrote: »

Thanks! Just had a quick look at One Plus 2 reviews and it seems the go-to phone in that price range. Definitely up for consideration. Only drawback for my personal use would be the screensize. Ideally I'd like a 5 inch max.

One Plus X so. My girlfriend got one yesterday switching from apple and she's in love with it.

Use the could Marina to get €80 off the Ceramic One. (Worked last Thursday anyway)

retalivity

I got a Xiaomi redmi note 3 pro about a month ago and it is fantastic. Dual sim, battery that lasts about 2 days with moderate to heavy usage, and a good camera to boot. Was shipped from the EU so no customs problems.....was about €270 all in including shipping, insurance etc.

runswithascript

One Plus X, very happy with it, premium quality and feeling phone, no premium price. This is of course if you can live without the latest technologies like wireless charging and fingerprint recognition etc.

I could not find a bad review of it on YouTube, in fact all of the reviews praised it as the best bang for buck phone on the market, and a hell of a deal at the price, check them out.

If you are going for it pick up the Spigen rugged armour rubber and carbon fiber case.

Bear in mind, if considering the One Plus 2, unless I am mistaken there is no expandable storage, which the One Plus X does offer.

NeverWaining

What about the Galaxy S5? Older than some of the others but seems highly specced still. I don't care a jot how old it is if it performs. Any negatives?

NeverWaining

dusf wrote: »

One Plus X, very happy with it, premium quality and feeling phone, no premium price. This is of course if you can live without the latest technologies like wireless charging and fingerprint recognition etc.

I could not find a bad review of it on YouTube, in fact all of the reviews praised it as the best bang for buck phone on the market, and a hell of a deal at the price, check them out.

I've only checked out the top review results from Google and they seem to be agreeing that it's good but not quite the value as it's bigger brother.

Poor processor performance issues.
Camera not the best and poor in low light.
Battery not life not great.

But I know all phones have their pluses and minuses.

CantGetNoSleep

If your current phone is only a bit broken wait for the One Plus 3

NeverWaining

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

If your current phone is only a bit broken wait for the One Plus 3

Looks a sensible option if the screen size won't be too big. Any confirmation on that?

NeverWaining

I see the Galaxy S6 is only €418.99 on Amazon.de. Bit of a stretch and would need a night in from the pub or two but would be manageable if it was a bit of a bargain. I see battery is reviewed as only being okay, which is a shame. Looks a great phone though.

EDIT: Some of the battery comments from the S6 thread seem to rule that one out.

sentient_6

NeverWaining wrote: »

Looks a sensible option if the screen size won't be too big. Any confirmation on that?

No

Do-more

I'm considering a phone in the same price bracket and am also concerned about battery life of the one plus X.

Thinking about the Honor 7 it seems to compare quite well to OPX and has a bigger battery.

runswithascript

NeverWaining wrote: »

I've only checked out the top review results from Google and they seem to be agreeing that it's good but not quite the value as it's bigger brother.

Poor processor performance issues.
Camera not the best and poor in low light.
Battery not life not great.

But I know all phones have their pluses and minuses.

No issues with performance here, in fact it seems quite fast.

No issues with camera also, although before I bought my phone there were some but I think they have fixed these with updates.

Battery life is good, but not great, all depends on use but for me it lasts from early morning until I charge it at night fine, unless I am on my phone constantly for several hours. Check out these reviews below:

StereoSound

Go for the oneplus 2, it's too obvious a choice.. Think of the updates, I have the oneplus 2 and the current price it's great. Ye the oneplus 3 is near now but I think it's a small phone at 5" so I wouldn't get it unless it was in 5.5" form. That's just me though .

Cina

NeverWaining wrote: »

Is the Nexus 5X a decent option?

Not if you buy it from the Google store, no. It's price is simply too high there to justify its specs, especially when you consider the specs on some Chinese phones these days for half that cost.

If you can get it for around €300-350 then definitely. I have it, great phone. Ultimately you're paying for Stock Android (and a nice camera + scanner!) which IMO is by far the best OS on the market.

keavebm253

Samsung all the way.u will pick up an s6 for about 300 on done deal!The problem the battery are ****e on all smartphones.good for a couple of months then it's down hill

Canis Lupus

I've a Redmi Note 3 Pro. I live in Australia so check that the bands suit you in Ireland but the phone is a cracker for the price. Admittedly camera isn't very important to me but pics seems okay although low light performance isn't great. The battery is ginormous and can't last 2 days or so on one charge. The rest of the performance of the phone is great and it has a nice screen. I really recommend it although you need to install something like Nova Launcher on it to make it less iphoney and MIUI takes a wee while to get used to.

runswithascript

StereoSound wrote: »

Go for the oneplus 2, it's too obvious a choice.. Think of the updates, I have the oneplus 2 and the current price it's great. Ye the oneplus 3 is near now but I think it's a small phone at 5" so I wouldn't get it unless it was in 5.5" form. That's just me though .

Better screen on the One Plus X, AMOLED display which the 2 lacks. X has a sharper display at 401ppi.

Expandable storage on the One Plus X, which the 2 lacks.

Also, there is a radio on the X which can be handy.

The X is the slimmest and lightest One Plus phone.

And all of this for €76 cheaper.

Do you have reason to believe One Plus 2 will receive updates ahead of or instead of the X?

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=7630&idPhone2=6902

xtal191

Nexus 5X is around 330 on amazon now

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-Electronics-Nexus-5X-SIM-Free-Android-Smartphone/dp/B016B7INC2?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&tag=ho01f-21

StereoSound

dusf wrote: »

Better screen on the One Plus X, AMOLED display which the 2 lacks. X has a sharper display at 401ppi.

Expandable storage on the One Plus X, which the 2 lacks.

Also, there is a radio on the X which can be handy.

The X is the slimmest and lightest One Plus phone.

And all of this for €76 cheaper.

Do you have reason to believe One Plus 2 will receive updates ahead of or instead of the X?

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=7630&idPhone2=6902

I believe the 810 in the oneplus 2 annihilates the oneplus x, but ye I do like the x also. I nearly went for it before the onplus 2 but I don't like oled screens very much.

Bluefoam

HTC One A9... Has great build quality, a decent camera...

+ it's getting Android N on release. Now that the price has come down its a very worthwhile buy.

Amazon

xtal191

Could also consider an LG G3 or G4

NeverWaining

Thanks all. Plenty to think about there.

mickser42

the lg g3 or g flex 2 are around € 300 on the orange or expansys sites and both would be top spec phones

Bluefoam

mickser42 wrote: »

...both would be top spec phones

Eh... no they wouldn't. not even close to top spec... two years old...

they may be reasonable phones, but not top spec phones

Cienciano

emmetkenny wrote: »

One Plus 2 for the higher end or One Pus X for around €100 less.

Where would you get it for that price?

TitianGerm

Cienciano wrote: »

Where would you get it for that price?

The One Plus website.

iainBB

One plus 2 fully recommend. Slow motion and time lapse camara. No spamapps. Amazing bit of kit for 350 range

Cienciano

emmetkenny wrote: »

The One Plus website.

Cheers, i read it wrong. I read it as one plus x for €100

NeverWaining

I still have to research all these, will hopefully get a chance today but maybe some of you know more about these off the top of your heads. When getting back to basics and forgetting the bells and whistles, the advertising, the gimmicks - which phone mentioned best fits the following set of requirements:

1. Good battery
2. Good camera
3. Screen size < 5.3"

The best battery will go a long way in the decision here, it's definitely priority number 1. I presume plenty of them have decent cameras but after the ones with better batteries are sussed out I'll next check the cameras. The One Plus 2 is just too big for me at 5.5". It suits some but not me, no interest. Which is a pity because it looks a great phone. 5.2" is max, and even that's a bit bigger than I'd be comfortable with.

listermint

NeverWaining wrote: »

I still have to research all these, will hopefully get a chance today but maybe some of you know more about these off the top of your heads. When getting back to basics and forgetting the bells and whistles, the advertising, the gimmicks - which phone mentioned best fits the following set of requirements:

1. Good battery
2. Good camera
3. Screen size < 5.3"

The best battery will go a long way in the decision here, it's definitely priority number 1. I presume plenty of them have decent cameras but after the ones with better batteries are sussed out I'll next check the cameras. The One Plus 2 is just too big for me at 5.5". It suits some but not me, no interest. Which is a pity because it looks a great phone. 5.2" is max, and even that's a bit bigger than I'd be comfortable with.

You say that until you get one, you use it for a week and then you will never ever ever go back to a smaller screen.

Speaking from alot of experience.

You just wont go smaller again.

NeverWaining

listermint wrote: »

You say that until you get one, you use it for a week and then you will never ever ever go back to a smaller screen.

Speaking from alot of experience.

You just wont go smaller again.

Appreciate this might be the case with many but you have to understand that there are actual practical reasons for people not wanting huge phones too.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

NeverWaining

Just been reading reviews on the Xiaomi Mi 5. It sounds like a no brainer really!

Poulgorm

Choose a Google Nexus phone, if you want android updates (and security updates).

I had a Huawei phone for 2.5 years and the software never got upgraded.

Motorola (owned by Lenova) are next best for upgrades.

The Google Nexus 5X (both 16 Gb and 32 Gb editions) are within your budget.

I find that the Orange Online Store are cheapest

NeverWaining

NeverWaining wrote: »

Just been reading reviews on the Xiaomi Mi 5. It sounds like a no brainer really!

4G issues. :mad::(

NeverWaining

Poulgorm wrote: »

Choose a Google Nexus phone, if you want android updates (and security updates).

I had a Huawei phone for 2.5 years and the software never got upgraded.

Motorola (owned by Lenova) are next best for upgrades.

The Google Nexus 5X (both 16 Gb and 32 Gb editions) are within your budget.

I find that the Orange Online Store are cheapest

Thanks Poulgorm. It looks a decent option, though I would be afraid that the 2GB of ram might be lacking in a couple of years time.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

h57xiucj2z946q

I'm about to commit to this, what do you's think ?

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

h57xiucj2z946q

Why's that ?

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

h57xiucj2z946q

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Ok thanks for letting me know. I was reading about the phone the last few days and only really seen people complain about the poor battery life.

What would you recommend for around the same price and spec?

Liam O

It is bigger than what the OP wanted and there are some niggles with it but in terms of bang for buck I don't think you can go too wrong with the G4

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-Electronics-SIM-Free-Android-Smartphone/dp/B00WHEQ43O

Delivery to Parcel Motel/Wizard obviously not included.

h57xiucj2z946q

You this this is a better price on .de ?

EagererBeaver

Oneplus X?

h57xiucj2z946q

Actually looks like the boot-looping is still around on current G4's:
https://www.reddit.com/r/lgg4/comments/4malov/are_there_g4_safe_from_bootloop/

Liam O

Angela Thousands Cowboy wrote: »

You this this is a better price on .de ?

It'd be very close, depending on your bank charges. If you have a Revolut card you might be better going for the UK one. If not the German one would probably be cheaper but not enough to make any big difference.