How to pick an iPhone?

Spon Farmer

I have an iPhone 4 running iOS 7.

A few years ago the microphone was damaged in a fall and I have to use a external mic when recording video. I wouldn't might except the mic can sometimes come off when taking the phone out of my pocket and it is 50/50 whether it will record sound unless I restart the phone.

I've been left behind by most apps and games too.

I also want to get an iPad, but I'm waiting to see the new ones in October.

I had intended to buy a 128 GB iPhone SE because the 6, 7, etc. just seem awkward and to big when I see other people use them. However, now I'm not sure if an SE is a sensible buy.

I'd like bigger screen for games but it has been so long since I've had games on my iPhone that I don't remember how much I used to play or even what apps I'd make use of especial when I'll have an iPad at home.

And how more life does an SE have now that Apple have discontinued it?

I need a camera and a video camera in my pocket though.

How does the camera compare to the 7 & 8 ?
How much storage space do most people actually use on their iPhones?
There isn't that much difference in the price of the 8 & XR. Would the camera on the 128GB XR be better to have than the extra storage on a 256GB iPhone 8?

Essentially I'm asking how do people choose their iPhones?:P

Creamy Goodness

It used to be just buy the iPhone with the middle storage tier and be done with it but times have changed.

The SE is basically a 6s in an iPhone 5s body. Whilst iOS 12 has made the 6s last longer I wouldn’t be buying one new now. They’re 3 years old before you even have it a year and 3 years is ancient when it comes to mobile phones.

If the Xs doesn’t tempt you I’d suggest waiting for the Xr. You’ll get a bigger screen, bigger, battery, same internals as their flagship Xs (except for zoom lens and gigabit lte which no Irish carrier has) all for a little bit cheaper. Mid tier storage is what I go for. Gives you enough space to store offline Netflix Spotify etc. but majority of stuff lives in iCloud/Dropbox etc.

Spon Farmer

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

It used to be just buy the iPhone with the middle storage tier and be done with it but times have changed.

The SE is basically a 6s in an iPhone 5s body. Whilst iOS 12 has made the 6s last longer I wouldn’t be buying one new now. They’re 3 years old before you even have it a year and 3 years is ancient when it comes to mobile phones.

If the Xs doesn’t tempt you I’d suggest waiting for the Xr. You’ll get a bigger screen, bigger, battery, same internals as their flagship Xs (except for zoom lens and gigabit lte which no Irish carrier has) all for a little bit cheaper. Mid tier storage is what I go for. Gives you enough space to store offline Netflix Spotify etc. but majority of stuff lives in iCloud/Dropbox etc.

ALL Apple products tempt me!!!:D

I like the size of the SE, but as you say it is aging.

I don't know if an Xs or Xr is a good buy because I'd be so worried about how much cost that I might not be able to enjoy it. I want 512 GB storage but don't know if I need it.

I thought the 7 or 8 might be a nice in-between but are they waging fast too?

I would have loved an iPhone X the size of an SE.

murpho999

You don’t need 512gb storage. Nobody does in these days of Icloud and other on line storage services. Streaming music online via Spotify or Apple Music also means you don’t need to store music on the device.

You say you worry about cost, well you can make it a lot cheaper by forgetting about 512gb. I have a 64gb 8 plus and am no where near filling it.

The SE size is gone and truth is that you will very quickly adapt to the bigger size and not look back. Everything is just better on the bigger screen.

So go for what you can afford and enjoy it.

brevity

The Xs is actually quite tidy. You’d embe surprised

Spon Farmer

murpho999 wrote: »

You don’t need 512gb storage. Nobody does in these days of Icloud and other on line storage services. Streaming music online via Spotify or Apple Music also means you don’t need to store music on the device.

You say you worry about cost, well you can make it a lot cheaper by forgetting about 512gb. I have a 64gb 8 plus and am no where near filling it.

The SE size is gone and truth is that you will very quickly adapt to the bigger size and not look back. Everything is just better on the bigger screen.

So go for what you can afford and enjoy it.

Not that I money to burn or anything, but it is isn't a worry about the cost of it. It is that after spending all that much money I know I'll worry something will happen to it. It usually does.

I have no interest in subbing to streaming music services. I aady own the music and it doesn't make sense to pay o listen to it.

All those bills just add to money that could have been spent on the extra storage.;)

Spon Farmer

brevity wrote: »

The Xs is actually quite tidy. You’d embe surprised

Honestly I think anything bigger than an SE looks ridiculous.:)

Spon Farmer

If I ended up choosing an Xr or an Xs it would spend most of it's time in some kind of waterproof and shockproof case.

Does such a cover affect the photos in any way? Or is the material something that is invisible to the camera?

Sinus pain

I’ve a 64gb xs. I had an 8 plus and I was worried about downsizing the screen - but I love it. The screen size is a bit bigger than the plus even though the phone is smaller and neater. Only you know why you want 215gb of storage but I would think that’s unnecessary. Whatever phone you get above a 4 you will see a marked improvement

Spon Farmer

Sinus pain wrote: »

I’ve a 64gb xs. I had an 8 plus and I was worried about downsizing the screen - but I love it. The screen size is a bit bigger than the plus even though the phone is smaller and neater. Only you know why you want 215gb of storage but I would think that’s unnecessary. Whatever phone you get above a 4 you will see a marked improvement

The Xs is bigger than a plus?

EDIT: Sorry I understand what you mean.

Marty Bird

Spon Farmer wrote: »

The Xs is bigger than a plus?

Yes the screen on the Xs is 5.8 inches and on the plus it is 5.5 inches the Xs has a smaller footprint than a plus model.

Spon Farmer

Sinus pain wrote: »

I’ve a 64gb xs. I had an 8 plus and I was worried about downsizing the screen - but I love it. The screen size is a bit bigger than the plus even though the phone is smaller and neater. Only you know why you want 215gb of storage but I would think that’s unnecessary. Whatever phone you get above a 4 you will see a marked improvement

I'm not 100% certain right now I'm going to be able to get an Xs but if I am then chances are I'll be able to able to afford the extra money to go for the 512GB version.

Spon Farmer

Sinus pain wrote: »

I’ve a 64gb xs. I had an 8 plus and I was worried about downsizing the screen - but I love it. The screen size is a bit bigger than the plus even though the phone is smaller and neater. Only you know why you want 215gb of storage but I would think that’s unnecessary. Whatever phone you get above a 4 you will see a marked improvement

Have you ever used a waterproof oe shockproof iPhone case?

Just curious how it affects the photos?

Sinus pain

Why the need for so much storage? What type of storage do you have on your 4

Sinus pain

Spon Farmer wrote: »

Have you ever used a waterproof oe shockproof iPhone case?

Just curious how it affects the photos?

I have a slim otterbox on my Xs. I had a regular one on all my other phones - I also use tempered glass on my screen. Have never used waterproof cases. There is no affect in photos there is a special cut out for the camera

Sinus pain

This is the one I have

Spon Farmer

Sinus pain wrote: »

Why the need for so much storage? What type of storage do you have on your 4

32 GB and it was never enough.

I don't know if I'd ever use it all but I meant if going to be in the position where I'm able to afford an Xs in the first place then I'll be able to go the extra €200 for the 512GB.

I'm just reading about eSim. It says on the Apple Ireland site it is coming later this year with an iOS update but am I correct that no provider here is going to be offering eSim any time soon?

duridian

Spon Farmer wrote: »

It says on the Apple Ireland site it is coming later this year with an iOS update but am I correct that no provider here is going to be offering eSim any time soon?

I'm fairly certain you are correct. The phone will probably have the ability but none of the mobile operators here will have this, probably for years.
I think Vodafone in UK were mentioned as possibly getting it somewhere in the year ahead, but that's obviously just bread in the window to us here.

Spon Farmer

duridian wrote: »

I'm fairly certain you are correct. The phone will probably have the ability but none of the mobile operators here will have this, probably for years.
I think Vodafone in UK were mentioned as possibly getting it somewhere in the year ahead, but that's obviously just bread in the window to us here.

If I understand it correctly, eSIM means no more actual cards. We probably won't get it until the likes of Apple, etc. stop putting the card slot on the devices.

Creamy Goodness

The majority of the time the eSim will be used when you’re travelling for data. It’s not really that useful for Irish operators to offer it unless you live near the border with NI and want both a U.K. and IE sim.

One eyed Jack

Spon Farmer wrote: »

Essentially I'm asking how do people choose their iPhones? :P

I was coming from years of going between Android and Windows Phones (my last phone I was using as my daily driver was the Lumia 950, still a cracking phone, but that’s beside the point, just to give you some idea of where I’m coming from). So I was looking to get a new phone literally “just because”!

I’d been looking at various phones for the last year and was sorely tempted to either pony up for either the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, or the iPhone 8 Plus (I do like a bigger screen personally, but I understand that’s not what you’re looking for). I actually went for the iPhone 7 Plus 32GB second-hand for a couple of reasons, the first and foremost being value for money. I don’t like buying a phone online so it may well be argued that I paid over the odds for it at €480. Storage doesn’t bother me as I have 1TB of Cloud Storage in OneDrive anyway, but having the 5GB iCloud storage for phone backup is handy anyway. I’m only using about 13GB on the phone and that’s pretty much the OS and apps and that’s likely all I’ll ever use. You’re obviously using video and photography a fair bit so maybe 64 or even 128GB if you’re not using a Cloud solution might offer better value.

Second reason was of course screen size, but the iPhone 7 with an Otterbox housing would be there or thereabouts the same feel in your hand as the SE, and it wouldn’t obstruct the camera. The 7 Plus has dual-camera lens on the back, but I’ve no particular use for the cameras either on the front or the back, so I wasn’t interested in ponying up for the better camera hardware and software effects on the newer iPhone models. If photography and video are your thing though, it might be worth the extra money if you’re able to tell the difference between photos and videos taken with either the 7, 8 or X.

You would be losing out on the better hardware and obviously the newer battery would mean you would have better battery health. In saying that, this phone was probably about a year out of the box already when I bought it because the battery health is at 91%. A month after buying it I’m still finding it hard to get used to the battery lasting far longer than I expect it to, and I would be a heavy data user with Bluetooth on permanently listening to Spotify on my Bluetooth earphones (nice touch too that I can see how long the battery has left on those in the notification area!). I get about 36 - 48 hours out of the battery before I’ve to go looking for the charger. It doesn’t do wireless charging either which the 8 does, if that’s something you’d like to have. I’m not stingy with the brightness either, I don’t have to be as the screen is bright and vivid with the setting at about 20%. At 50% I’d be blinded in both eyes :pac: But I have it set on auto-brightness too so the screen brightness can vary depending upon environment and tbh I probably wouldn’t notice the difference between indoor and outdoor as long as I can actually see the screen.

That leaves I suppose only the OS, and while I was glad to see the 6S getting iOS 12, and could happily have lived with that if I’d had a 6S already, I figured I’d be better off going for the 7 and it wasn’t worth going for the 8, even though the 8 and the X do have many features that take more advantage of the new OS than the 7. The 7 was for me kind of the sweet spot between the 6S and the 8, the X is just overkill. Fantastic phones and all from the perspective of hardware and what Apple have done is nothing short of phenomenal in terms of not just the technology they’ve packed into the X series, but the way they’ve actually made the most efficient use of that technology to eke the best out of it in terms of power consumption and features of their phones.

If I were simply looking for a phone that had more bells and whistles than I’d ever need, I’d have had no problem buying the XS Max 256GB. I wouldn’t consider it a bad investment at all for what it is, but for me personally, it would be just more than I’d actually ever get to use, so in that sense it wouldn’t be a good investment for me to buy a device like that, as I typically tend to invest in a device I plan to get about three years use out of. You appear to stretch that out a lot longer so it may well be considered a worthwhile investment to go for one of the X series devices, maybe the R, and for all the complaints about it having the same screen resolution as the 4S, that’s exactly why I’d wait until I could see it physically for myself before I’d be able to decide whether or not the criticisms are valid or not. It’s not something that would bother me personally unless it was really, really apparent that I could make out the pixels on the screen!

You would of course also avoid all the potential warranty issues with buying a new phone over buying one second hand, but unless you’re incredibly unlucky to damage the screen (unlikely with an Otterbox cover), it’s not something that has ever tended to worry me. I don’t have the phone insured either, but if I were buying an X series phone I’d give insurance some serious consideration rather than endure the pain if some light fingered layabout were to get their hands on it. That’s also another reason why I went for a phone that’s not the latest model (and some smart arses would say why I stuck to Windows Phones for as long as I did ) - they’re just not as attractive to would-be thieves.

Eire Go Brach

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

The majority of the time the eSim will be used when you’re travelling for data. It’s not really that useful for Irish operators to offer it unless you live near the border with NI and want both a U.K. and IE sim.

Not sure about that. Work phone springs to mind. Why carry 2 when you just have one and BYOD. Burner phone also. I think it would be very useful.

Spon Farmer

One eyed Jack wrote: »

I was coming from years of going between Android and Windows Phones (my last phone I was using as my daily driver was the Lumia 950, still a cracking phone, but that’s beside the point, just to give you some idea of where I’m coming from). So I was looking to get a new phone literally “just because”!

I’d been looking at various phones for the last year and was sorely tempted to either pony up for either the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, or the iPhone 8 Plus (I do like a bigger screen personally, but I understand that’s not what you’re looking for). I actually went for the iPhone 7 Plus 32GB second-hand for a couple of reasons, the first and foremost being value for money. I don’t like buying a phone online so it may well be argued that I paid over the odds for it at €480. Storage doesn’t bother me as I have 1TB of Cloud Storage in OneDrive anyway, but having the 5GB iCloud storage for phone backup is handy anyway. I’m only using about 13GB on the phone and that’s pretty much the OS and apps and that’s likely all I’ll ever use. You’re obviously using video and photography a fair bit so maybe 64 or even 128GB if you’re not using a Cloud solution might offer better value.

Second reason was of course screen size, but the iPhone 7 with an Otterbox housing would be there or thereabouts the same feel in your hand as the SE, and it wouldn’t obstruct the camera. The 7 Plus has dual-camera lens on the back, but I’ve no particular use for the cameras either on the front or the back, so I wasn’t interested in ponying up for the better camera hardware and software effects on the newer iPhone models. If photography and video are your thing though, it might be worth the extra money if you’re able to tell the difference between photos and videos taken with either the 7, 8 or X.

You would be losing out on the better hardware and obviously the newer battery would mean you would have better battery health. In saying that, this phone was probably about a year out of the box already when I bought it because the battery health is at 91%. A month after buying it I’m still finding it hard to get used to the battery lasting far longer than I expect it to, and I would be a heavy data user with Bluetooth on permanently listening to Spotify on my Bluetooth earphones (nice touch too that I can see how long the battery has left on those in the notification area!). I get about 36 - 48 hours out of the battery before I’ve to go looking for the charger. It doesn’t do wireless charging either which the 8 does, if that’s something you’d like to have. I’m not stingy with the brightness either, I don’t have to be as the screen is bright and vivid with the setting at about 20%. At 50% I’d be blinded in both eyes :pac: But I have it set on auto-brightness too so the screen brightness can vary depending upon environment and tbh I probably wouldn’t notice the difference between indoor and outdoor as long as I can actually see the screen.

That leaves I suppose only the OS, and while I was glad to see the 6S getting iOS 12, and could happily have lived with that if I’d had a 6S already, I figured I’d be better off going for the 7 and it wasn’t worth going for the 8, even though the 8 and the X do have many features that take more advantage of the new OS than the 7. The 7 was for me kind of the sweet spot between the 6S and the 8, the X is just overkill. Fantastic phones and all from the perspective of hardware and what Apple have done is nothing short of phenomenal in terms of not just the technology they’ve packed into the X series, but the way they’ve actually made the most efficient use of that technology to eke the best out of it in terms of power consumption and features of their phones.

If I were simply looking for a phone that had more bells and whistles than I’d ever need, I’d have had no problem buying the XS Max 256GB. I wouldn’t consider it a bad investment at all for what it is, but for me personally, it would be just more than I’d actually ever get to use, so in that sense it wouldn’t be a good investment for me to buy a device like that, as I typically tend to invest in a device I plan to get about three years use out of. You appear to stretch that out a lot longer so it may well be considered a worthwhile investment to go for one of the X series devices, maybe the R, and for all the complaints about it having the same screen resolution as the 4S, that’s exactly why I’d wait until I could see it physically for myself before I’d be able to decide whether or not the criticisms are valid or not. It’s not something that would bother me personally unless it was really, really apparent that I could make out the pixels on the screen!

You would of course also avoid all the potential warranty issues with buying a new phone over buying one second hand, but unless you’re incredibly unlucky to damage the screen (unlikely with an Otterbox cover), it’s not something that has ever tended to worry me. I don’t have the phone insured either, but if I were buying an X series phone I’d give insurance some serious consideration rather than endure the pain if some light fingered layabout were to get their hands on it. That’s also another reason why I went for a phone that’s not the latest model (and some smart arses would say why I stuck to Windows Phones for as long as I did ) - they’re just not as attractive to would-be thieves.

Thanks for the input.

I'd definitely go with new - no question. And I intend to use for longer than three years.

What Otterbox case do you have? When I ask about the affect on photos I'm referring to the material that covers the camera lens on waterproof cases, not the cases themselves.

Creamy Goodness

Eire Go Brach wrote: »

Not sure about that. Work phone springs to mind. Why carry 2 when you just have one and BYOD. Burner phone also. I think it would be very useful.

I also carry two phones for work. There’s no way my work would allow me to have an eSim of their plan and vice versa I don’t want my personal stuff on my work phone.

My work phone sits on a shelf from 5:30pm to 7:30am, if I had one phone two sims I’d constantly be distracted by work email, even if I did DND the temptation to check it is too big.

Spon Farmer

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

The majority of the time the eSim will be used when you’re travelling for data. It’s not really that useful for Irish operators to offer it unless you live near the border with NI and want both a U.K. and IE sim.

Travelling abroad is what people would need it for.

Extended stays abroad, a holiday back to Ireland for those abroad, etc.

Makes it all easier if a SIM can be downloaded (or whatever...)

Spon Farmer

Eire Go Brach wrote: »

Not sure about that. Work phone springs to mind. Why carry 2 when you just have one and BYOD. Burner phone also. I think it would be very useful.

I can't think of any un-shifty reason why someone would need a burner phone. :eek:

Spon Farmer

I can't decide whether to stick with Three or move to Vodafone

Three has unlimited data and Vodafone has free calls and texts - on Three the top up would cover calls and texts to other networks and on Vodafone the top up would probably cover mobile data I use over 6GB.

As I type this I see a headline that the Xs and Xs Max have recharging problems....

EDIT: That might be old news to others here.

Creamy Goodness

An iPhone as a burner phone? You’d have to be making serious bank.

One eyed Jack

Spon Farmer wrote: »

Thanks for the input.

I'd definitely go with new - no question. And I intend to use for longer than three years.

What Otterbox case do you have? When I ask about the affect on photos I'm referring to the material that covers the camera lens on waterproof cases, not the cases themselves.

Oh I don’t have an Otterbox case myself, just a clear silicone plastic one, and even that adds weight to the phone, I’m looking for something much thinner. But I’ve seen plenty of Otterbox cases that are far too thick and add too much weight to the phone for my liking personally. Good question though as I’ve never seen a waterproof Otterbox case in person so I couldn’t tell you. I wouldn’t be too keen on testing it’s waterproofing capabilities if I was buying a brand new iPhone like the XS though!

Spon Farmer

One eyed Jack wrote: »

Oh I don’t have an Otterbox case myself, just a clear silicone plastic one, and even that adds weight to the phone, I’m looking for something much thinner. But I’ve seen plenty of Otterbox cases that are far too thick and add too much weight to the phone for my liking personally. Good question though as I’ve never seen a waterproof Otterbox case in person so I couldn’t tell you. I wouldn’t be too keen on testing it’s waterproofing capabilities if I was buying a brand new iPhone like the XS though!

Nor I and I won't be going swimming with it either.

Such a case is necessary. I'm taking no chances.

Sinus pain

One eyed Jack wrote: »

Oh I don’t have an Otterbox case myself, just a clear silicone plastic one, and even that adds weight to the phone, I’m looking for something much thinner. But I’ve seen plenty of Otterbox cases that are far too thick and add too much weight to the phone for my liking personally. Good question though as I’ve never seen a waterproof Otterbox case in person so I couldn’t tell you. I wouldn’t be too keen on testing it’s waterproofing capabilities if I was buying a brand new iPhone like the XS though!

Otter box have a slimmer case for the xs. I have it and it’s very slim. After having an 8 plus and a regular otter box I can really notice the difference.

Regarding charging the xs I charge mine in work - use it fine until the nex day - I don’t charge overnight - have no problems with the battery lasting and it always on the phone - it charges fine also

Spon Farmer

Sinus pain wrote: »

Otter box have a slimmer case for the xs. I have it and it’s very slim. After having an 8 plus and a regular otter box I can really notice the difference.

Regarding charging the xs I charge mine in work - use it fine until the nex day - I don’t charge overnight - have no problems with the battery lasting and it always on the phone - it charges fine also

The headline regarding the recharging problem was overly dramatic and a quick look at the story shows it the source making the claims is questionable.

I meant to go back to my post and add that but I got busy.

starlit

The 6s, 7 and 8 are good they similar. The 7 and 8 be more up to date than the 6s. Otterbox phone case are good. Penneys do a plastic screen cover which I find great prevents scratches used one from otterbox it fell away after a while wasn't great on a Samsung I had.
32-64 gb of storage is plenty for apps and photos. icloud do a deal for .99c per month to up storage if you wish to do that for extra 50gb of storage compared to 5gb of storage on the icloud which isn't much.

16gb wouldn't get you far these days only for very general use maybe. You wouldn't need more than 64-128gb of storage to be honest. I don't have experience of the x versions of the iphones I wouldn't go to that expense for them. The others usually drop in price from time to time if you payg and with bill pay you only pay so much on it.

Spon Farmer

starlit wrote: »

The 6s, 7 and 8 are good they similar. The 7 and 8 be more up to date than the 6s. Otterbox phone case are good. Penneys do a plastic screen cover which I find great prevents scratches used one from otterbox it fell away after a while wasn't great on a Samsung I had.
32-64 gb of storage is plenty for apps and photos. icloud do a deal for .99c per month to up storage if you wish to do that for extra 50gb of storage compared to 5gb of storage on the icloud which isn't much.

16gb wouldn't get you far these days only for very general use maybe. You wouldn't need more than 64-128gb of storage to be honest. I don't have experience of the x versions of the iphones I wouldn't go to that expense for them. The others usually drop in price from time to time if you payg and with bill pay you only pay so much on it.

The X range are expensive and I still don't know if I'll have the money to spend on it but I am willing if a waterproof/shockproof case exists that will allow the audio on the phone to actually work when shooting video, on phone calls and games or movies.

The water & shock proof case is a must - only way I wouldn't be worried about using the phone. Otherwise I'll go with a 128gb SE or the largest storage 7 or 8.

I'll have to compare the 7 and 8 again - can't remember the difference.

starlit

Far as I am aware there is very little difference between the 7 and the 8. I knew a few that have the 7 might be more advanced than the 6s of course but I be more incline to go for a 7 or 8 over the X series don't think its worth spending too much on a phone that's already overly expensive at least the 7 and 8 have gone down on price a little bit maybe more affordable than the X series. Compare them and see what you want from a phone best way to decide.

Spon Farmer

starlit wrote: »

Far as I am aware there is very little difference between the 7 and the 8. I knew a few that have the 7 might be more advanced than the 6s of course but I be more incline to go for a 7 or 8 over the X series don't think its worth spending too much on a phone that's already overly expensive at least the 7 and 8 have gone down on price a little bit maybe more affordable than the X series. Compare them and see what you want from a phone best way to decide.

I have been been comparing and that is the problem - they all are winners for different reasons. :P

I'm going to stop thinking about it until the new iPads are released. Having one of those will also impact on which phone I should pick.