Android Phone, 64GB, £160 max

[Bannock]

Hi all,

I'm utterly uninterested in mobile phones, but we all need one, right? I've been using a Samsung J6 for what must be 5 or 6 years, it is absolutely all I needed in a phone, nothing more and nothing less. Now it finally seems to be letting me down and becoming glitchy. So I'm looking for a replacement. I want to spend as little as possible, but might suck my teeth and cough £160 at most.

I want Android again. I am not interested in Apple. Which is just as well with my budget.

I thought it would just be a matter of going on Amazon and hitting "order", but blimey, the variants available out there are bewildering. So I thought I'd seek counsel here.

I want, above all else, something hard wearing and reliable which I won't have to change for another 5 years at least. My current phone is 32GB and is out of space, I have deleted useless apps and content but it seems I rely on so many apps nowadays that I am going to need a bigger boat phone, So 64GB it must be. I want a decentish camera, but I'm no David Bailey.

I see there are Samsung A03, M12, A13, A32 variants just for starters. Prices vary for those and I can't really see what the difference is between them. Is there a current Samsung model which is the "king" of their range, at this budget? Are they all plasticky ste these days, or is there a metal built quality one still under £160? Some seem to have 15MP camera, some 50MP? Sounds a big difference - is it in reality?

But that's before even considering other brands. I don't want a Chinese brand, so no Huaweis, Xiaomis, whatever. Are there any other brands/models I should consider? Motorola maybe? If so, what model?

Any advice or recommendation gratefully received.

[Ryyy]

Had my a13 about a week now after my s9 died, can't complain it does what's needed and the battery is very good, what more could you want for £129 there's an ao3 which amongst the budget samsungs is a worse spec than another that's cheaper I just can't remember which phone i compared it against.

I can't be effed with phones, £129 from argos and a giffgaff goodybag, crack on

Probably not much of a problem but the a13 is quite a thick especially in comparison to the missus jwhatevernumberitis, still comfortable in the hand tho it's hardly a 3310.

Edited by Ryyy on Thursday 15th September 15:12

[Hoofy]

Just picked up one of these: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1148710?clickPR=pl...
Seems ok for the price. Does more or less what I need (beyond just social media and videos).

[Bannock]

Thanks Ryyy, you seem to have a similar approach to me!

Hadn't thought to look on Argos, good idea. Samsung A13 is £130 now, but they're doing Motorola G31 for £120. Anyone got any thoughts on which of those 2 are a better phone and why? Is Sammy the Samsung worth the extra 10 sheets for any reason?

Doesn't look like I can find anything metal like my trusty old J6, rather than plastic, at this price point. Which is sad.

[Hoofy]

Bannock said:

Hadn't thought to look on Argos, good idea. Samsung A13 is £130 now, but they're doing Motorola G31 for £120. Anyone got any thoughts on which of those 2 are a better phone and why? Is Sammy the Samsung worth the extra 10 sheets for any reason?

Check GSM Arena.

[Bannock]

Thanks, Hoofy. Never used that site before. Have got the 2 of them up on comparison. Moto is a bit smaller which is an upside in my book, also water repellent. Samsung has newer Android system and Gorilla glass - presume that's some kind of toughening thing? OLED vs LCD? Is that a big deal? Swings and roundabouts probably then.

[Hoofy]

Bannock said:

Thanks, Hoofy. Never used that site before. Have got the 2 of them up on comparison. Moto is a bit smaller which is an upside in my book, also water repellent. Samsung has newer Android system and Gorilla glass - presume that's some kind of toughening thing? OLED vs LCD? Is that a big deal? Swings and roundabouts probably then.

I wasn't impressed with Samsung in the past and would only get a Sony really. I've only tried the Motorola E20 (utter st £80 device; you know how some phones you think are meant for giving to your kids, give this model to the child you like the least) and this G31.

The G31 deals with most of the flaws of the E20 and similarly priced cheap phones. I think it's primarily because it was originally twice the price so it's only to be expected.

I wouldn't have minded if the advanced stuff was problematic but basic stuff like the phone screen turning on when you move it and NO WAY OF SWITCHING THIS OFF (doable with the G31) and when calling using the speakerphone, if you accidentally put your hand a few inches in front of the speaker, the person will get feedback which could be their voice in delay or screeching, so they can't even get the basics right with their budget option making it pretty useless.

There are a couple of issues with the G31
-recorded voice sounds like you're speaking in a box.
-stuttering when using text to speech for longer chunks of text. Not figured out the cause yet.

I guess the problem is that I'm not going to spend double or triple the amount to ensure these two things are fine. There's also no guarantee that they will be fine as others say the recorded voice sounds fine with the G31 but that might be because they're happy with dogst audio whereas I'm using my device for professional purposes.

Edited by Hoofy on Thursday 15th September 16:08

[the-norseman]

Motorola and Nokia have a look at them, they tend to come with vanilla Android (the basic Android without lots of bloatware).

[Bannock]

Thanks again Hoofy. No need for professional use here, my company provides me with a Samsung A32 for work, not that I use it much. My personal needs are pretty light, I don't go out much these days! Bit of browsing, occasional video, WhatsApp/FB Messenger texting and video calls, and enough room for plenty of apps is all I need really. Sounds like the G31 is a goer for me.

[Riley Blue]

Motorola E22 is due for launch imminently and might be worth a look:

https://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_e22_renders...

[Mr-B]

I think there is a new Nokia due out for £99 soon, maybe already out. No bloatware in their phones but maybe Chinese owned now not sure.

[Oliver Hardy]

Have a look at the Realme range on Amazon.

[Riley Blue]

Oliver Hardy said:

Have a look at the Realme range on Amazon.

OP doesn't want Chinese

[Largechris]

This is taking wealth whispering to extremes.

[Oliver Hardy]

Riley Blue said:

Oliver Hardy said:

Have a look at the Realme range on Amazon.

OP doesn't want Chinese

Is Realme Chinese, I thought it was an Indian company. I assumed it was from You Tube reviews.

[the-norseman]

Oliver Hardy said:

Is Realme Chinese, I thought it was an Indian company. I assumed it was from You Tube reviews.

Realme, a subsidiary of BBK Electronics (Chinese) who also own Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus.

[croyde]

Even the high end phones are made in China.

I've just found out that the £13,000 BMW bike that I test rode and was pretty sure I wanted to buy, well the engine is a Chinese copy of an old Rotax design.

[nickofh]

Hello. I have had various various low to mid range popular brand android over many years. Moto , Samsung , Sony gigaset etc. My last two have been Nokia and I have no complaints about them at all. I had the Nokia G10 for about a year then wanted a a little more storage and a better camera so I bought a Nokia X10.

The G10 continues to be my work phone , my X10 feels as well built and runs as smoothly as my wife's same year Samsung that cost twice as much. There is seems to be less pre installed rubbish than the Samsung too. I was always quite pleased with my Motos a few years ago too but I have always liked the Nokia brand. Having had a very quick look at prices , I would probably go for a G21 or an X10 ( slightly above) if you want splash resistance as I do. There is an open box like X10 on Amazon for £153 at the moment.