I’m looking at getting a cheap smart phone to get me through to the end of my contract,

Are they wildfire’s any good? Do android systems go out of date like Ios on Iphone stopping me from downloading apps?

Any other suggestions, i’m only likely to use, Phone features, plus emails, facebook and strava.

I don’t own one myself, but know several people who do. Without exception, they dislike the phone.

It isn’t able to (officially) get the latest updates to Android anymore, which can mean some apps are incompatible.

Mrs Labsey had one for a while. Was ok for a few months but then became glitchy and unreliable. Can’t comment on the OS update as it’s not been used for while. Apparently the Wildfire S was better.

Typing this on a wildfire s. My use is pretty much the same we yours – the strava app is useless at logging tracks so I use mytracks (free) to record them then its about 3 clicks to send them to strava. I haven’t had any problems with incompatible apps.

got a wildfire S from work. ‘salright, will get you through your contract. bit small, bit slow, bit rubbish for surfing, it’s a 2ish year old budget phone. I use it for (in order of useage) reading books, taking pics, making calls, making notes (catch), texting, watching avis. Does the job.

I had one (girlfriend) has it now. It was OK, did the job. As mentioned you can’t officially update it to any recent versions but I’d be surprised if anything that old can be.

12 yr old daughter had one. Ok to start with, but became unusable

Bear in mind, there’s different Wildfires. The original is widely regarded as pants and is like three years old now; the Wildfire S is better, but I don’t think it’s ever been particularly desirable over alternatives.

I’ve not looked at them in a while, but Orange usually have an own-branded budget Android phone in their line-up which is well regarded, previous ones have been called “San Francisco” and “Monte Carlo”; I’d expect then to to be doing something similar still.

If it’s just a stopgap, I’d suggest exploring the second-hand market. I can’t think of many compelling reasons to buy an entry-level handset from new.

Your question about updates is handset-specific, as OS updates require either the manufacturer or the modding community to release new firmware for that device.

just sold mine after having an upgrade, great little phone, ebay, internet fine on it.

never missed a beat in two years.

I had a wildfire, until a month ago – was OK but painfully slow for browsing, and I could never get it to connect to our home wifi

Mrs Freeagent has a Wildfire S – bit faster than my old phone but has a problem with the internal memory.

I’d say if you can get it free/very cheap, and don’t expect too much from it, i’m sure it’ll be OK…

Cheers for the info I’ll keep looking through the different ones, It was only a cheap 2nd hand one i was looking at until my sim only contract runs out and I begrudge paying for tinternet and not being able to use it.

You can probably get an HTC Desire HD for not much money SH. By far a better phone in every way

I’ve got one boxed, mint condition which you can have for £25 posted.

Reason for selling: I hate it 😀

My wife had one it was Slooooooooowwwwwwww! she hated it
apparently the S is better, we’re both on Desire X’s now, she loved it.

The Wildfire (S) is obsolete now. It has been replaced with the Desire C. Both are OK as entry level phones. If you want something similar size and price wise then check out the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2.

Mine’s crap. Slow, glitchy and won’t delete texts. Hateful thing.

Rubbish, sorry.

Mine wasn’t the ‘S’ version though if it makes a big difference!

I have a Wildfire S and it works fine.

Memory map didn’t work, then they updated the app and it works well now.

Mine is £7.50 a month on Tesco.

I am happy with it.

I’ve a wildfire S, it’s alright, but you know you’ve got a budget smart phone.

It’s slow(but useable), and the internal memory for apps is tiny. And you’re restricted to android 2.3.5.

battery will last all day if you aren’t using it, but only for about 4/5/6 hours if you start using the web alot on it.

Wife has one.

Battery lasts a day with luck and hers has picked up a habit of turning itself off at random times during the day. It’s small and light, so good in that respect, but rus a very old version of Android and has a pretty poor screen.

All in all, it’s not bad for free and on PAYG, but not as a contract phone. Not really.