Mobile phone recommendations

[g4ry13]

My beloved Samsung A3 (2017) looks like it's on the way out and i'm in the market for a new phone. Phones generally do not interest me so I haven't been keeping up to date and i'm actually rather loathe to changing but it's looking inevitable.

One observation I have noticed over the years is that phones have got huge! Gone are the days where technology tried to make things smaller, lighter etc. The current phones are giant, heavy bricks and i'm not keen on walking around with that in my pocket. A few possibilities i've seen are Oneplus (Nord CE 2 5G), Xiaomi (Poco X4 Pro 5G) and maybe an Asus (Zenfone 8).

I also read that some brands use throttling to slow their devices down over time and force people to upgrade which doesn't sound great. I would also like to be able to use Google maps and I believe Huawei / Honor now have their own alternative and had some issues with Google.

The criteria for the phone are:

- Must be Android - I don't like Apple for various reasons.
- Budget - £500 max - I would rather not go over this because I frankly don't care about having a top spec phone and worry about losing / damaging / or being targeted for it.
- Size / weight - Current phone is a 4.7'' screen, phone body is 5.33'' in height and weight is 138g. I know that i'll have to go for bigger screen, due to thinner bezels around 6'' or less screen would keep it manageable size / weight and would like to keep weight <200g if possible.
- Battery life - I'm not a heavy game / media user but don't want to have to worry about charging it up by midday because a bit of internet surfing / Whatsapp has drained the battery.
- Expandable SD card slot - A lot of phones seem to have got rid of this and i'd like to have the option of saving to an SD card to free up space.
- Screen / Camera - A decent screen / camera but I think most modern phones are better than what I currently have.

Nice to have features:

- Wireless charging - due to problems with charger ports on every Samsung i've owned it would be nice to have wireless charging as an option
- 3.5mm headphone jack - would rather not mess around with headphone jack adapters.

Appreciate any suggestions on this. I'll probably head to a shop over the weekend and try get my hands on some of the phones out there to get an idea of the size and how clunky they are.

[QuartzDad]

GSMArena have a phone finder function with various filters, I think this matches most of your criteria, 22 phones listed:

https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=202...

[Mammasaid]

g4ry13 said:

My beloved Samsung A3 (2017) looks like it's on the way out and i'm in the market for a new phone. Phones generally do not interest me so I haven't been keeping up to date and i'm actually rather loathe to changing but it's looking inevitable.

One observation I have noticed over the years is that phones have got huge! Gone are the days where technology tried to make things smaller, lighter etc. The current phones are giant, heavy bricks and i'm not keen on walking around with that in my pocket. A few possibilities i've seen are Oneplus (Nord CE 2 5G), Xiaomi (Poco X4 Pro 5G) and maybe an Asus (Zenfone 8).

I also read that some brands use throttling to slow their devices down over time and force people to upgrade which doesn't sound great. I would also like to be able to use Google maps and I believe Huawei / Honor now have their own alternative and had some issues with Google.

The criteria for the phone are:

- Must be Android - I don't like Apple for various reasons.
- Budget - £500 max - I would rather not go over this because I frankly don't care about having a top spec phone and worry about losing / damaging / or being targeted for it.
- Size / weight - Current phone is a 4.7'' screen, phone body is 5.33'' in height and weight is 138g. I know that i'll have to go for bigger screen, due to thinner bezels around 6'' or less screen would keep it manageable size / weight and would like to keep weight <200g if possible.
- Battery life - I'm not a heavy game / media user but don't want to have to worry about charging it up by midday because a bit of internet surfing / Whatsapp has drained the battery.
- Expandable SD card slot - A lot of phones seem to have got rid of this and i'd like to have the option of saving to an SD card to free up space.
- Screen / Camera - A decent screen / camera but I think most modern phones are better than what I currently have.

Nice to have features:

- Wireless charging - due to problems with charger ports on every Samsung i've owned it would be nice to have wireless charging as an option
- 3.5mm headphone jack - would rather not mess around with headphone jack adapters.

Appreciate any suggestions on this. I'll probably head to a shop over the weekend and try get my hands on some of the phones out there to get an idea of the size and how clunky they are.

Pixel 6, currently on offer at £499.

Yes, it's larger than a Samsung A3, however it will be a much better phone.

It's got a better screen and camera and will get updates for at least 3 years (5 years for security updates).

Battery life will easily see you through the day and has wireless charging.

Cons no SD card, but with 128Gb I've never run out of room. Also no headphone slot, but I exclusively use Bluetooth headphones, so not an issue.

[Funk]

Mammasaid said:

g4ry13 said:

My beloved Samsung A3 (2017) looks like it's on the way out and i'm in the market for a new phone. Phones generally do not interest me so I haven't been keeping up to date and i'm actually rather loathe to changing but it's looking inevitable.

One observation I have noticed over the years is that phones have got huge! Gone are the days where technology tried to make things smaller, lighter etc. The current phones are giant, heavy bricks and i'm not keen on walking around with that in my pocket. A few possibilities i've seen are Oneplus (Nord CE 2 5G), Xiaomi (Poco X4 Pro 5G) and maybe an Asus (Zenfone 8).

I also read that some brands use throttling to slow their devices down over time and force people to upgrade which doesn't sound great. I would also like to be able to use Google maps and I believe Huawei / Honor now have their own alternative and had some issues with Google.

The criteria for the phone are:

- Must be Android - I don't like Apple for various reasons.
- Budget - £500 max - I would rather not go over this because I frankly don't care about having a top spec phone and worry about losing / damaging / or being targeted for it.
- Size / weight - Current phone is a 4.7'' screen, phone body is 5.33'' in height and weight is 138g. I know that i'll have to go for bigger screen, due to thinner bezels around 6'' or less screen would keep it manageable size / weight and would like to keep weight <200g if possible.
- Battery life - I'm not a heavy game / media user but don't want to have to worry about charging it up by midday because a bit of internet surfing / Whatsapp has drained the battery.
- Expandable SD card slot - A lot of phones seem to have got rid of this and i'd like to have the option of saving to an SD card to free up space.
- Screen / Camera - A decent screen / camera but I think most modern phones are better than what I currently have.

Nice to have features:

- Wireless charging - due to problems with charger ports on every Samsung i've owned it would be nice to have wireless charging as an option
- 3.5mm headphone jack - would rather not mess around with headphone jack adapters.

Appreciate any suggestions on this. I'll probably head to a shop over the weekend and try get my hands on some of the phones out there to get an idea of the size and how clunky they are.

Pixel 6, currently on offer at £499.

Yes, it's larger than a Samsung A3, however it will be a much better phone.

It's got a better screen and camera and will get updates for at least 3 years (5 years for security updates).

Battery life will easily see you through the day and has wireless charging.

Cons no SD card, but with 128Gb I've never run out of room. Also no headphone slot, but I exclusively use Bluetooth headphones, so not an issue.

If he can live without wireless charging, then hang fire for the upcoming Pixel 6a which will be £399 - still no SD card/headphone jack but will do everything else and with a slightly smaller screen @ 6.1": https://store.google.com/gb/product/pixel_6a?hl=en...

[g4ry13]

Funk said:

Mammasaid said:

g4ry13 said:

My beloved Samsung A3 (2017) looks like it's on the way out and i'm in the market for a new phone. Phones generally do not interest me so I haven't been keeping up to date and i'm actually rather loathe to changing but it's looking inevitable.

One observation I have noticed over the years is that phones have got huge! Gone are the days where technology tried to make things smaller, lighter etc. The current phones are giant, heavy bricks and i'm not keen on walking around with that in my pocket. A few possibilities i've seen are Oneplus (Nord CE 2 5G), Xiaomi (Poco X4 Pro 5G) and maybe an Asus (Zenfone 8).

I also read that some brands use throttling to slow their devices down over time and force people to upgrade which doesn't sound great. I would also like to be able to use Google maps and I believe Huawei / Honor now have their own alternative and had some issues with Google.

The criteria for the phone are:

- Must be Android - I don't like Apple for various reasons.
- Budget - £500 max - I would rather not go over this because I frankly don't care about having a top spec phone and worry about losing / damaging / or being targeted for it.
- Size / weight - Current phone is a 4.7'' screen, phone body is 5.33'' in height and weight is 138g. I know that i'll have to go for bigger screen, due to thinner bezels around 6'' or less screen would keep it manageable size / weight and would like to keep weight <200g if possible.
- Battery life - I'm not a heavy game / media user but don't want to have to worry about charging it up by midday because a bit of internet surfing / Whatsapp has drained the battery.
- Expandable SD card slot - A lot of phones seem to have got rid of this and i'd like to have the option of saving to an SD card to free up space.
- Screen / Camera - A decent screen / camera but I think most modern phones are better than what I currently have.

Nice to have features:

- Wireless charging - due to problems with charger ports on every Samsung i've owned it would be nice to have wireless charging as an option
- 3.5mm headphone jack - would rather not mess around with headphone jack adapters.

Appreciate any suggestions on this. I'll probably head to a shop over the weekend and try get my hands on some of the phones out there to get an idea of the size and how clunky they are.

Pixel 6, currently on offer at £499.

Yes, it's larger than a Samsung A3, however it will be a much better phone.

It's got a better screen and camera and will get updates for at least 3 years (5 years for security updates).

Battery life will easily see you through the day and has wireless charging.

Cons no SD card, but with 128Gb I've never run out of room. Also no headphone slot, but I exclusively use Bluetooth headphones, so not an issue.

If he can live without wireless charging, then hang fire for the upcoming Pixel 6a which will be £399 - still no SD card/headphone jack but will do everything else and with a slightly smaller screen @ 6.1": https://store.google.com/gb/product/pixel_6a?hl=en...

Yes, I saw the Pixel 6A was scheduled for release although i'm not sure what release date they're going for. I wouldn't mind the SD card slot though.

Are Google phones generally good? I've seen mixed opinions when scrolling through Amazon reviews.

[Mammasaid]

g4ry13 said:

Yes, I saw the Pixel 6A was scheduled for release although i'm not sure what release date they're going for. I wouldn't mind the SD card slot though.

Are Google phones generally good? I've seen mixed opinions when scrolling through Amazon reviews.

The Pixel 6s are, yes you'll always have people with issues moaning, however I've had my 6 Pro for over 6 months and am very happy with it. The fingerprint sensor was rubbish when released, but software updates have now fixed it. What I like most, is that it just works, for example compared with the Huawei P30 Pro which I had before it connects to Android Auto every time, Google assistant is great, certainly better than Siri, and the battery lasts all day easily.

Take a look at the last few pages of the Google Pixel Thread

[Funk]

g4ry13 said:

Yes, I saw the Pixel 6A was scheduled for release although i'm not sure what release date they're going for. I wouldn't mind the SD card slot though.

Are Google phones generally good? I've seen mixed opinions when scrolling through Amazon reviews.

I had a few gripes early on with my 6 Pro but overall (and with updates/patches) it's proving to be pretty good. There isn't another Android phone I'd have over it.

With increases in on-board capacity etc things like SD cards just aren't worth the hassle and actually come with their own set of issues. From what I recall this was mostly around security - it used to be the case that apps could access ALL content on an SD card, even if it wasn't the app that the data belonged to. As you can imagine, that's a security nightmare and wide open to abuse by unscrupulous apps. Google changed the way it all worked some time ago and I've never really bothered keeping track since every phone I've had in the last 'x years has come with 128Gb+ - a far cry from the days of 16 or 32Gb, and a third of that was taken up with the OS/phone.

Headphone jacks aren't common for two main reasons - 1) the amount of space taken up inside the chassis for it and 2) waterproofing. 3.5mm jacks take up a lot of space inside a phone and are logically limited to being somewhere along the top or bottom which limits packaging/design options inside the handset. With bluetooth headphones and earbuds so cheap and good quality, the 3.5mm jack is (rightly imo) going the way of the dinosaur. I wouldn't ever go back to a wired solution on a phone now.

As the 6a is on the Google Store now it will be released within the next month or so; Google tend to do the 'generation' jump in November (6, 6 Pro) and the mid-range device around 6 months later.

[bodhi]

If it doesn't have to be brand new, I'd suggest looking out for a Sony Xperia 1 II (One Mk2). Should be easily under £500 these days and fits all the criteria you mention. I've had one for 2 years now and it's been hands down the best phone I've ever had.

Battery Life - superb, even after 2 years it will make it through a day of heavy browsing without too many complaints
Wireless Charging - check
3.5mm Jack - check. Some may feel it's an anacronism but it gives you more flexibility in choosing headphones, and whilst Sony's Bluetooth Codec (LDAC) is pretty impressive, it still doesn't sound as good as a wired connection
Waterproof - check
SD card - check
Still getting updates - check
Screen - 4k resolution, bright enough to use

Camera is pretty good too.

It is still a fairly large phone but due to the different screen layout (21:9) it hides it well, it has some slight bezels but no annoying notch or any other nonsense.

I've just ordered an Xperia 1 IV to replace it, but only because of the free headphones offer, if not this would be good for another couple of years at least.

[g4ry13]

bodhi said:

If it doesn't have to be brand new, I'd suggest looking out for a Sony Xperia 1 II (One Mk2). Should be easily under £500 these days and fits all the criteria you mention. I've had one for 2 years now and it's been hands down the best phone I've ever had.

Battery Life - superb, even after 2 years it will make it through a day of heavy browsing without too many complaints
Wireless Charging - check
3.5mm Jack - check. Some may feel it's an anacronism but it gives you more flexibility in choosing headphones, and whilst Sony's Bluetooth Codec (LDAC) is pretty impressive, it still doesn't sound as good as a wired connection
Waterproof - check
SD card - check
Still getting updates - check
Screen - 4k resolution, bright enough to use

Camera is pretty good too.

It is still a fairly large phone but due to the different screen layout (21:9) it hides it well, it has some slight bezels but no annoying notch or any other nonsense.

I've just ordered an Xperia 1 IV to replace it, but only because of the free headphones offer, if not this would be good for another couple of years at least.

It's an interesting proposition. I'd probably look to buy a new phone just because it's something I rarely do and would like to try and future proof myself for as long as possible.

I did see that Sony are releasing a new model potentially this month: the Xperia 10 IV.

I haven't fully researched it but the screen doesn't look huge, headphone jack, SD card slot, good sized battery, <200 grams and seems to be within budget.

If i'm willing to wait for the Sony then maybe the Pixel 6A will be a consideration. I'd like to get my hands on them both and see how they feel.

Sony generally make good phones? Techadvisor claims that Sony’s Xperia phones are among the best Android smartphone handsets on the market.

[Funk]

Sony make really great phones; their support when things go wrong is apparently not so great... Take that with a pinch though; it's just what I've gleaned from watching many, many 'best of' or 'top phone' vids and reviews on YouTube etc.

I guess if you never have an issue, it's never going to be a problem.

[g4ry13]

Funk said:

Sony make really great phones; their support when things go wrong is apparently not so great... Take that with a pinch though; it's just what I've gleaned from watching many, many 'best of' or 'top phone' vids and reviews on YouTube etc.

I guess if you never have an issue, it's never going to be a problem.

Only issue I had encountered with my Samsung is the charger port which wasn't holding the cable and I had to pay an independent shop to repair it. I'm not sure what i'd call support for if it was software related. Maybe hardware related if in warranty but I have no direct comparison for the support offered by other brands.

I watched a YouTube video on the Xperia 10 IV and the criticism was the chipset could have been a bit better, refresh rates are 60hz and not 90hz, charging can be a bit slow, speakers not that great and a few camera issues (which I probably wouldn't notice with my eyes).

For a mid-range phone it looks like a reasonable option and does tick a lot of the boxes. Still open to other ideas though.

[wyson]

S22 is currently £569 with £200 rebate for trading in any phone in any condition. Its the only smallish phone I know of that has wireless charging.

What do you use a SD Card for? Is 128GB internal storage not enough?

I’d only get Samsung (higher end only) or Google now as they have the best support. Switch out the battery after 2 or 3 years and you’ll get 5 years use out of one. They are better value in the long term if you plan on keeping and using your phone for a while.

Also bluetooth earbuds are much more convenient unless you need wired for some reason (gaming? audiophile?). I never use the headphone jacks on my devices. It doesn’t make any sense because not having a wire is so much better for casual use.

Edited by wyson on Tuesday 7th June 19:57

[Gunk]

If this thread had been posted 7 or 8 years ago we would have been about 5 pages by now, funny how we’ve completely fallen out of love with mobile phones, perhaps it’s because the innovation and development seems to have slowed down, I’m still using an ancient IPhone X which seems do everything I need reasonably well, it’s just not a priority to change, and if I did, it would be just like the old one but newer.

[g4ry13]

wyson said:

S22 is currently £569 with £200 rebate for trading in any phone in any condition. Its the only smallish phone I know of that has wireless charging.

What do you use a SD Card for? Is 128GB internal storage not enough?

My current phone has about 32GB storage and it seemed like enough when I first got the phone, but then the OS grew, apps updated etc. before you know it there's very little space left on the phone and unable to have many apps on the phone. So I put in an SD card and moved some of the apps and saved my pictures to the card.

Maybe it's a case of apples and oranges and 128GB will be more than enough. I just like the idea of having the option to expand the storage rather than having to revert to removing apps and clearing down things because over time the OS / apps have ballooned in size.

[wyson]

g4ry13 said:

My current phone has about 32GB storage and it seemed like enough when I first got the phone, but then the OS grew, apps updated etc. before you know it there's very little space left on the phone and unable to have many apps on the phone. So I put in an SD card and moved some of the apps and saved my pictures to the card.

Maybe it's a case of apples and oranges and 128GB will be more than enough. I just like the idea of having the option to expand the storage rather than having to revert to removing apps and clearing down things because over time the OS / apps have ballooned in size.

So including your SD cards, how much storage are you using now? You can buy 256GB version if you aren’t sure, although 128GB is plenty for most people.

[paulrockliffe]

wyson said:

Also bluetooth earbuds are much more convenient unless you need wired for some reason (gaming? audiophile?). I never use the headphone jacks on my devices. It doesn’t make any sense because not having a wire is so much better for casual use.

That and you can do audio out over USB anyway.

I use the wire in my car because the stereo only has AUX, USB is better there really as you only have to connect one wire to do power in and audio out.

[wyson]

paulrockliffe said:

That and you can do audio out over USB anyway.

I use the wire in my car because the stereo only has AUX, USB is better there really as you only have to connect one wire to do power in and audio out.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-Soundsync-Bluetooth-Connection-Headphones/dp/B07H5C2BQX/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1R24X8OJVVNGB&keywords=anker+car+bluetooth+aux+adapter&qid=1654628837&sprefix=anker+car+bl%2Caps%2C72&sr=8-3

[g4ry13]

wyson said:

g4ry13 said:

My current phone has about 32GB storage and it seemed like enough when I first got the phone, but then the OS grew, apps updated etc. before you know it there's very little space left on the phone and unable to have many apps on the phone. So I put in an SD card and moved some of the apps and saved my pictures to the card.

Maybe it's a case of apples and oranges and 128GB will be more than enough. I just like the idea of having the option to expand the storage rather than having to revert to removing apps and clearing down things because over time the OS / apps have ballooned in size.

So including your SD cards, how much storage are you using now? You can buy 256GB version if you aren’t sure, although 128GB is plenty for most people.

I will caveat and say that on my phone I don't have any games and have had to delete apps like Uber, Deliveroo etc. which I wasn't using often but are quite large to make space. On my phone i'm using 15.6GB out of 16GB. Using a little over 24GB on the SD card. So in theory 128GB should be plenty!

This is a bit of an extreme example, but on my tablet I installed Call of Duty. It's currently using 6GB of space. That strikes me as an insane size for a mobile game. Even worse, when opening the game it performs more updates and grows in size. I probably wouldn't bother gaming on a mobile phone but it's mental how big apps / games are getting.

[GregK2]

Pixel 4a sounds like it might suit the bill quite well.

[FamousPheasant]

My suggestion was going to be the sony xperia 10 iv. I'm considering one myself as the battery life looks like it will be a proper 2 day phone and it's small by today's standards.

Downside would be the cameras and potential update support later down the line, which is where the pixels come in.