Hi all – I’m looking for recommendations on what phone to get to replace my current phone (HTC One) as contract is about to expire.

Im looking at the LG G3 / HTC One M8 / Galaxy S5 although not limiting myself to those options.

Im after something quick and reliable with decent battery and a good front / rear facing camera.

Any feedback would be appreciated!

*keeping current phone and getting a sim only deal isnt an option (battery is too bad and im planning on selling it!)

Can recommend the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact.

Not to big, runs really fast, consistently reviewed as the best of the smaller Android phones. Battery is very good compared to most other phones, waterproof for biking stuff a bonus.

Regards

Hmm good shout – I hadnt considering the Sony offering and the waterproof feature is appealing!

The girlyfriend has a Sony waterproof job and its fantastic for taking to the beach and that sort of stuff. Nice little tool. For me I like the pure android experience of my nexus 5.

Still liking my Z2 lots after a couple of months use, bit on the big side I reckon if I were getting a new phone now, Z3 compact would probably be my choice, but I can certainly live with what I’ve got fro a good long while, you’ll not get Lollipop straight away, Sony being Sony will update the OS way after everyone else, but KitKat is hardly terrible…

Z3/Z3 compact, Specs’ on par with the S5, looks better IMO and waterproof, although I’ve not challenged it with more than a slight splashing so far… I’ve definitely gone off Samsung now…

Htc one m8 great phone, shite camera

Had to choose between the LG g3 and the Xperia Z3. Worth checking out the features on the LG. Some good stuff from what I remember but went with the z3 instead.

It’s ok, but isn’t blowing my mind. Don’t feel I’m getting any benefit of the bigger app market compared to my previous lumia 820. Camera on the lumia was fantastic so if that kind of thing is important to you, don’t dismiss the lumia 935 – wish I hadn’t

Love my Xperia Z, still more than fast enough… Although my mate’s Xperia Z3 is even nicer 🙂

So I’d obviously recommend a Sony.

I had x3 Sony Z2 all of which self destructed (screens cracked, single crack from the base to one side) all replaced by O2, after Z2 No.3 failed I gave up on Sony and went for the LG G3, its a fantastic phone, better than the Z2 in most ways although the waterproofing was nice to have. That said I’m currently phoneless after the LG G3 has ALSO cracked.

The phones have not been broken as a result of being dropped, rather they have ALL cracked spontaneously. in the following scenarios:

Sony Z2 No.1 = cracked overnight whilst it charged on my bedside table, when I went to sleep it was fine, in the morning it was unusable.

Sony Z2 No.2 = cracked whilst playing music laid on a wooden table outdoors.

Sony Z3 No.3 = cracked whilst sat taking photos on a beach in Eire, phone had got noticeably hot. (obviously not due to the climate!!)

LG G2 No.1 = sat outside again, watching an Orson Wells feature on youtube, screen cracked before my eyes again.

I’d like to say that its because I’m hideously ugly, however a large beard obscures most my features, that and I have been advised by O2 that there was a bad batch of Sony Z2’s and that it was a known fault, My insurers service dept have advised me that Sony issued a recall and although LG’s are not failing in anywhere the same number of Sonys they are beginning to see more of them.

IT seems most of these phones have all failed in under a 3mth period, I’m having the LG screen repaired out of my own pocket.

If I had the choice again, I’d buy another LG G3 as its a fantastic phone, oh and an otterbox case.

Pleased I sent my Z2 back after reading that! Great battery life but too buggy for my liking.

How does the G3 compare to the Z2 for battery life?

Sell yours on eBay, get some other nearly new phone off eBay and get a SIM only plan.

Phone contracts are for mugs.

Love my z3 compact. Very fast and good size (didn’t want another big phone like my s3). Battery is excellent, much less rubbish built in than the Samsung, and waterproofing is a great feature! Magnetic charging is pretty cool too.

Battery on sony xperia Z3 compact is great (at least compared to my aged Galaxy S2). No problems with mine so far.

Nexus 5, running Lollipop, very happy with it, fast, simple & clean.
Not the worlds best camera but perfectly decent and should be getting some software updates.

I’ve got an X3 compact as my first android phone coming from iPhones. The hardware seems very good so far so another recommendation for a Sony X3 from me.

As above, the Z3 Compact is meant to be a great phone. If you fancy something different the Moto X 2014 and Droid Turbo are also good phones. Or wait out the Nexus 6?

In the spirit of this thread I will rec my own phone – a Galaxy S5
Battery is a massive improvement over the S3 and the camera is great too

Its a decent size and fits in my jeans pocket – kinda 🙂

Do you Spotify?
I do and happily paid £10 a month

Vodafone do free Spotify premuim on their 7GB tariffs
4G is pretty adictive, I used to get through 500-750MB on 3G but use a lot more now so make sure you get enough data. My usage has settled to about 3 gigs a month but with Spotify it made for sense to go for 7 with Voda

Ive had my S5 for 3 months and when I bought several of the intermediaries had it at £36 a month on the 7 gig unlimited minutes tariff with no upfront cost for an unlocked phone plus £40 Quidco

I suspect you could do a bit better 12 weeks down the line

Cheers

Motorola Moto G LTE. Around £150 then get a monthly SIM only plan, not locked into any provider who have carte blanche to change the contract at will.Phone great with basic Android but camera not very good

Very happy with my HTC One M8. Lovely big screen and really quick. Battery lasts for a couple of days and that’s running spotify most of the day.

iamsporticus – Member
Do you Spotify?
I do and happily paid £10 a month

Vodafone do free Spotify premuim on their 7GB tariffs
4G is pretty adictive, I used to get through 500-750MB on 3G but use a lot more now so make sure you get enough data. My usage has settled to about 3 gigs a month but with Spotify it made for sense to go for 7 with Voda

If you’ve got premium why are you using data? Make available offline!

^^^ yes, I know what youre saying and in fact I do have several playlists stored offline but I also like to surf Spotify on the fly just like you surf the web – start off with one band and then keep thinking of other stuff you like to listen to as well, in no time at all youve guzzled 150MB per hour for ????? long

What yourguitarhero and reluctantwrinkly said ^

iamsporticus – Member
^^^ yes, I know what youre saying and in fact I do have several playlists stored offline but I also like to surf Spotify on the fly just like you surf the web – start off with one band and then keep thinking of other stuff you like to listen to as well, in no time at all youve guzzled 150MB per hour for ????? long

Fair!

I have a nexus and it’s great – a nexus 4 and I’m still getting the updates, just had lollipop and it’s working fine. Really can’t see why you’d go contract and I like the fact that it’s just plain android

Just to close the loop in case this is helpful to anyone…

I ended up getting the LG G3 as I found a good deal for 5GB of 4G data per month. I’ve only had it for 2 days but I must say I’m very happy with it. The phone is lightning quick and a joy to use for reading documents or websites.

I also bought a tempered glass screen protector which I would recommend for any phone. It was considerably easier to apply compared to the old screen protectors and also has a nice feeling on the finger (as its glass)

I can only compare the two android phones we have in our house – Mrs STR’s HTC one and my Samsung Galaxy note 2. The Galaxy is far better than the One and I’ll be replacing it with the Note 4 next month.

The only other one I’d even consider would be the Sony

Phone contracts are for mugs.

Why ?

Nexus 6 £500.
2 yrs on a GifGaf SIM £300 (est).

Or…no upfront cost & £26.50 a month with 300 mins / 500mb on a deal through moneysupermarket…

😕