Ready to replace my dying Nexus 4 as its universally knackered and has been repaired so many times its falling apart.

Moto G 2nd gen is the obvious choice at £150 but is there anything else worth looking at up to around £200? I was considering the HTC Desire 620 with a much faster chip but its an older version of Android and I’ve not really kept up to date so not sure which are the old outgoing phones.

Pretty happy with the OK Google commands etc so don’t really want to loose any functionality from the latest Lollipop update.

(PS – Needs to be sim only or PAYG and unlockable)

I’ve had many many phones (android, apple and WinPho), out of them all my favourite has got to be the HTC One M8.
Should be able to pick one up fairly cheap now I’d imagine.

Have a look at http://www.smartfonestore.com, can get a fiver back through quidco. I bought a grade B phone from them and it was virtually mint.

Looks lovely Chojin but unfortunately nearly double my budget 🙁

I’ve had a few and my least favourite has been the HTC One M8 😛

(The camera is bobbins, Lollipop is an awful buggy mess, it feels too big even though I have big hands, and even though I’m not one for dropping phones, the surface finish on it is slippery; coupled with the size that means I’ve dropped it quite a bit).

The best one I’ve had was a HTC One X running KitKat.

Find a used nexus 5?

Take a look here: http://www.hotukdeals.com/mobiles/deals/hot

Moto G can be had for a lot less than £150 but I would be tempted to look at a mid range sony if the battery life is like the top end ones which are pretty much best in class.

HTC are pretty good too.

I have found the nexus phones to be very poor in comparison and I think the moto g has a good rep as it’s compared to the nexus phones.

Thanks Andy – pushing the budget towards £260, the Xperia Z3 compact looks fairly interesting with good spec, huge camera MP, and waterproof design. And ‘Stamina’ mode giving up to 4 days between charges?! Anyone got one of these…have they messed with Android too much? I’ve seen lots of comments (not always negative) about transferring music which makes me wonder if it forces you to use its Walkman software etc.

I hate my, (admittedly really low budget) Sony phone. As it’s got older it has become slower almost to the point of inaction now. Loaded with bloatware that can’t be uninstalled. I’m really looking forward to smashing the fecker to bits when my new phone (moto g) cones this week.

one plus starts at £229, gets top reviews I believe

Crappy camera on the moto G but pretty happy otherwise – battery lasts pretty well.

That oneplus really got my attention but its nearly 2cm taller and 1cm wider than the Nexus 4, after three years the Nexus still feels a little to big 🙁

I have a 2nd gen Moto G to replace my Nexus 4. It’s nicely put together, practically stock Lollipop, battery lasts well etc.

But, and this quite a big but. It’s. So. Sloooow. Processor has just not got enough oomph. Particularly noticeable when launching or switching apps. Can’t really complain for the price, but it is a glaring weak point.

For any one that has a Moto G, my top tip is to ditch the standard launcher and install Nova launcher

I bought an ARCHOS 50 Diamond recently to replace a HTC One S that was 2.5 yr old and failing to function.

I’m very impressed with it so far. It was £10 more than the new Moto G 4G model but has a much better spec. Going from a 4″ to a 5″ phone took a day or two to get used to but I really like it now.
Gsmarena website is great for comparing phones

torsoinalake – Member

But, and this quite a big but. It’s. So. Sloooow. Processor has just not got enough oomph. Particularly noticeable when launching or switching apps. Can’t really complain for the price, but it is a glaring weak point.

That’s disappointing to hear, it’s 2.5x quicker than my Galaxy Nexus according to benchmarks, and that is only just becoming a bit slow for day to day use.

I’ve just got a Desire 620. It’s big (came from an S3 mini)

Its OK and will do the job for me. Was on a cheap monthly contract which was my main concern. Still getting used to the Sense 6 UI which is a bit different.

Camera is more than OK and speakers are good on it though.

I’ve got a Z1 Compact. The battery life is good, and it’s waterproof, though i find the camera a disappointment. In sunlight its fine, but if its cloudy or indoors, the pictures look terrible compared to my old iPhone 4, really washed out and lifeless. Plus it tends to crash when opening it the first time.

You can use any music app you like, but its annoying having to “disable” (rather than uninstall) the Sony software.

Mine came with an “On-the-go” cable in the box, which it turns out is pretty useful for connecting hard drives or a Garmin Edge 705 on holiday so you can upload stuff to Strava.

Oh and to add, I’m getting two days battery life out of the 620 at the moment. Mobile Data, Wifi & Bluetooth turned on all the time. Browsing and occaisional game playing.

That’s disappointing to hear, it’s 2.5x quicker than my Galaxy Nexus according to benchmarks, and that is only just becoming a bit slow for day to day use.

Don’t get me wrong, it does everything fine, smooth video, plays games, all that sort of stuff, it’s just really noticeable when you switch into the multitasking screen. Press the square – 1,2,3,4,5 – it’s not doing anything, oh there it is – press new app – 1,2 – app opens – 3,4,5,6,7 – app screen renders, wait a bit, good to go.

The STW website kicks it in the balls, 30 seconds to render this page completely after clicking through from the home page.

Close some of the open items showing in the Overview stack.

How often do you reboot?

the new Moto E has a faster processor than the new Moto G. There are other drawbacks, but if speed is your issue the the E is worth a look.

That chip will be in a new G soon. Ish.

Close some of the open items showing in the Overview stack.

Why? It’s just a list of apps. Doesn’t mean they are consuming any resources.

I shouldn’t be needing to reboot anything to make it work better, it’s 2015.

But we’re digressing, the Moto G gets a solid ‘ok’ from me, just don’t expect it to be a snappy performer if you are coming from a Nexus 4.

Archos diamond, a friend has just bought one and its a nice piece of kit.
Zte do a mid ranger with a similar stopped to the archos also.

the Moto G gets a solid ‘ok’ from me, just don’t expect it to be a snappy performer

I agree with this, I had one and it wasn’t exactly nippy. Did the job, but was a bit sluggish bringing up the keyboard, web pages etc.

I’m on the lookout for a new one as well since mine recently got stolen so I’ll keep an eye on this thread – thinking about a one plus but might just save the money, pick up another Moto G and put up with it being a bit average.

Why? It’s just a list of apps. Doesn’t mean they are consuming any resources.

I shouldn’t be needing to reboot anything to make it work better, it’s 2015.

Says the guy with a Moto G that takes 10x as long as it should to display a web page. Might you be wrong on both those counts?

I do have one, it takes about 5 seconds to display STW fully, when NOT logged in.

Your call….

EDIT:It could also be a host of other things, eg tasks in the background or free storage space. But the suggestions above are free and easy so why dismiss?

Overall – the G only got “Rave reviews” because it was next-level compared to “Landfill Android” crap when it was launched. It’s a budget phone, and now it’s getting a little long in the tooth – it’s not a flagship. Best usage policy is to install nothing unnecessary on it. Personally I wanted something a little faster when I broke mine, so rather than waiting for an A53 [new CPU] version, I bought a Moto X, which is 2x the CPU power.

In the browser though, compared to the remaining G in the house, there’s not a lot in it. But then we reboot and close tasks….

I’m an iPhone user that dabbled with a couple of android phones.
I had a Moto G (2nd gen) for a while as I looked to wean myself off iOS. It was OK, but not good enough at anything to justify all the rave reviews it gets IMHO. On the other hand, the Samsung S4 Mini which I bought junior 1 for christmas is very good. Nippy, light, feels robust, good battery life – if I was ditching my iPhone 5, id have one myself. Definitely worth a look.

All good suggestions thanks…

Any views on LG G3 S? Same size as the Nexus 4 and £200.

Get another nexus 4 but don’t upgrade to lollipop.

where are people getting these Archos diamonds from then?

Their online shop says they don’t ship til next month –

http://www.archos.com/gb/store/index.html?pn=502927

I’ve never heard of them before but that looks like a pretty good spec for the price. Good reports then? What do they compete with, performance-wise?

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/archos-50-diamond-hands-on,news-20254.html

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7784/snapdragon-610-615-qualcomm-continues-down-its-64bit-warpath-with-48core-cortex-a53-designs

Not that much data right now.

doris5000 – I bought it directly from them. It took about 2 weeks to arrive here.

Well I’m staying away in a hotel for a training course so popped into Carephone Warehouse;

Moto G 2nd Gen – bit underwhelmed, but then it was a dummy phone with a cracked screen. Liked the Nokia phones but want to stick with Android.

Whilst covertly browsing during the training, got interested in the Archos but now I’m on the laptop and found a ‘real size’ comparison website, its significantly too big (http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Google-Nexus-4_id7531/size#/phones/Google-Nexus-4_id7531/size/ARCHOS-50-Diamond/phones/9040) (you have to calibrate your screen to get it real size)

Moto X, just the ticket and only a smidge larger but bit of a budget issue there.

Don’t want to go to another Nexus 4, seems a bit of a backwards step!

Search goes on…

I got an Xperia Z1 Compact when they were on a very good Amazon Warehouse price, and rooted it with SlimKat. Very happy with it, super fast, battery’s awesome and it’s a good size. Recommended if you can get one at a good price.

Moto X, just the ticket and only a smidge larger

Sexy, innit? The battery is the weak point.

The battery is the weak point.

Keep the multitasking tray clean and only turn it on for 5 minutes every hour and the battery will last a long time.

Or, to put it another way, the battery is about 500-800mah smaller than most other phones with the same screen size.

Moto tries to use a lot of clever tech to stop you actually waking the phone, though:smart screen, OLED, voice activation etc etc

http://anandtech.com/show/9129/the-moto-e-2015-review

Detailed. review of new Moto E.

TL;DR. – the current Moto G is now effectively obsolete.

gofasterstripes – Member

http://anandtech.com/show/9129/the-moto-e-2015-review

Detailed. review of new Moto E.

TL;DR. – the current Moto G is now effectively obsolete.

Looks good for the price, just a shame about the display resolution and lack of camera flash. I wonder if they will properly refresh the G soon, the latest update to it barely added anything.
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/mobile-phone/3605165/new-moto-g-4g-2015-review-battery/