MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
I have finally had enough of my trusty Windows powered phone. It's not that I think its a bad OS or phone, I'm just utterly fed up that many popular and useful apps are either not available, or work really badly on WInPhone.
An iPhone would be nice, but the cost for what you get seems silly, especially when it comes to memory. I work away from a decent internet connection, so storage on the phone is a must.
Therefore, Android is the way to go, well spec'ed phones for the money as far as I can tell.
But tell me please, if it's not going to be a massive discussion, about the Android versions and the stories of bloatware from some of the manufacturers. I've read that some of the phones are frustratingly overloaded with questionable features, and some are more of a bare bones build.
Got a Moto g5
Cheap
Reliable
No bloatware
SD card
Get the one with most ram
Tho it doesn't have NFC or compass
Get a OnePlus, most recent. Almost no extra software, excellent well-priced phones.
I've also got a Song XZ1 Compact, which is probably the best smaller phone. That does have a few annoying Sony extras but it's not a huge issue.
I'd wait for a while before deciding. There's a mobile expo in Barcelona next week where new phones are due to get launched. Rumour has it the Nokia 7 plus is getting officially shown to the public. I'm interested in this as like you I'm using a windows phone (Lumia 950). Rumours are this Nokia is using the old windows phone camera UI so will be familiar. Good thing with android are the availability of skins to mimic the look of a windows phone.
I can honestly say I've had/tried them all either via work or personal phones. I won't ever switch back from android, iPhone8 also in the household so know of its look feel etc. I'm a samsung man these days.
Pixel 2 here. Purest android experience.
Wife has a galaxy s8. Also very good but not for me. The most glam android phone out I think.
With a pixel you are guaranteed os updates before the other phones as it's Google's own.
My default answer here is the motor g but I really don't rate the 5. Thinking now about an Honor or something.
Blackview 8000 pro here after the iPhone 5min battery fiasco....
Great outdoor waterproof rugged phone, twin sim, very good battery life.
The s9 is about to be launched , should be some dealson the s8 .
Another happy G5 user here. The G6 is imminent which means sim free g5 and g5s are dropping to silly prices for what they are.
Xperia XZ here. Waterproof ,fast, great camera, massive memory etc.
Infinitely better than the MeMeMePhone work provide.
One plus 3 here, can't fault it
A year ago I would have said Moto - we have gen 3, 4 and 5 in the house.
However, at work I've just ordered 3 Vodaphone Smart V8's and they are much better than a Moto5 - smoother and faster it seems, nicer build too.
Depending on budget, middle_oab just bought a Nokia 8 from Argos eBay shop as box open, for £250... A properly nice feeling and working thing, up there with a Pixel for 'pure' android and speed, and latest Android.
have been very happy with my moto g5. dual sim version from amazon, not that i use it for dual sim, but it also has an extra Gb of ram. motorola are keping it up to date so far. some manufacturers seem to quit updating older phones as soon as they release a new one.
matt, how do the nokia and the vodaphone compare size-wise to the g5?
I've not got a v8 here - heavier and marginally taller than G5 I think, looks nicer and nicer screen to view.
Nokia 8 marginally taller, but thinner, lighter and noticeably faster and better screen.
V8 and Nokia8 have rounded edges to screen - which makes the glass screen protectors sit too small when on...
Personally I'd also look at the Xiaomi A1 (~£150 I think). Xiaomi are good hardware for a good price and are huge in India n China and are moving into western markets. The A1 is on the Android One programme so is stock Android. I have the Mi5 which is great but is on MIUI which is their skinned Android, it was also a pain to source.
Thanks all. The Motorolas are looking pretty good. A colleague has one of the Z series, and swears by it. Ideally, £300 is the budget, but a bit more could be done.
The Huawei and Xiaomi seem like a lot of phone for the price, and it would be a difficult choice between one of them, Motorola, and OnePlus.
Priorities are a good quality build, a better than average camera, and a decent display. Battery life not such a problem as I'm not often a long way from some form of charger.
Not looking to buy right away, so if things get cheaper soon all the better!
Personally I’d also look at the Xiaomi A1 (~£150 I think). Xiaomi are good hardware for a good price and are huge in India n China and are moving into western markets. The A1 is on the Android One programme so is stock Android.
Thanks, chvck. Just ordered the A1 on eBay from a seller in Ireland, black version for £168.95.
I've had an Honor 5C for just over a year and have been pleased; that's also got a (reasonably stock) Android so minimal interference.
if it's camera as preference then that Nokia 7 plus is suppose to have carl zeiss optics. Akin to the high end Lumia phones. And it's going to be running android one, which is Android with zero add ones by the phone manufacture.
Spirit of recommend what you've got: G5+, bought for myself and two of the kids. Feels slightly premium compared to the straight G5. Specs are good. Finish day on 65% battery regularly enough. Cheap for what you get.
Moto are good for that price point, altho I've got fed up of waiting for the promised Nougat update (Moto X Play).
My personal pref would be to try and stretch to the Oneplus if possible (64gb is £449)
Love my Mi A1
Long time iPhone user and have recently bought a Dual SIM Samsung A8 2018. Great phone, really like the OS and it's about half the price of the equivalent iPhone.
What's not to like?!
Got a Moto 5+ to replace an X-Play. Much better phone and has Nougat (7.0)
It's probly one of those "yours for £40k, includes free land rover'...
https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8276351-land-rover-explore-outdoor-phone/
Alternatively, Aldis have an android phone on promo, at the mo.
Have a look on Hotukdeals. Buy from Motorola direct and you can get a few percent quidco, MOTOUK25 discount code and stack with UKWELCOME10 . Have a look on HUKD to check I've got that right..... G5S looks a good shout for the money.
Oh, and pop in the biggest sd card you can (a nice fast class 10 u3 one) and set up the phone with adopted storage so it merges the phone and card and you won't have to faff about with where things are installed.
Am in the same position, fed up with apps no longer being supported but otherwise really like the nokia 930 the camera has been great.
The trouble with the hewui phones is lack of camera resolution.
Just upgraded to a Huawei from a Samsung s6, Leica camera and up from 3gig to 12 for £32 a month
Unlimited text even though I only maybe write 50 a month and probably unlimited talk too
Think I might hold out for the Nokia 7plus launch in April, looks like it has everything I want at roughly the right price (think it might be £350)
AndroidOne ie pure Android, guaranteed at least 2 years OS updates fairly instantly on launch - 6" screen - massive battery life - also has half decent processor/storage/RAM for the price
Another DyncaTAC 8000X user here. It has all the features I'm ever going to need. Great battery life and a good compact size.
Buy a SIM free phone to avoid all the operator bloatware, and slot in your SIM from existing/new SIM only deal.
Definitely want it SIM free. Just tried the Motorola site with the MOTOUK25 promo. It works, but the G5S Plus is out of stock... :-(. Would have made a very nice price for that one.
Try Samsung A3, decent spec but need to supplement the 16gb memory with an SD card
I have a Moto G5+ & I am mostly very happy with it. I would be happy to repace it with the same.
Got a Moto G5S a few months ago - very happy with it.
I'm in the market for a new Android phone after my 5x bootlooped (Amazon refunded me).
Rumours of cheap motos in this link are on the whole not likely. It looks like Motorola have run down stock in anticipation of a G6. There are blush gold G5S+ on Amazon and other G5 models but colours are limited. Mrs F has a G4 which has been faultless. I think I'm going to hang on and wait for the G6.
In the meantime I'm using a Samsung S6 Edge. It's OK, but everything is a bit different compared to the 'raw' Android experience. There was a nasty bit of software on it, some kind of tv remote (peel remote?) that came shipped that got more intrusive every update. Not a problem googled it, suggested just rolling back to factory version (no uninstall option) and it's gone away!
Not keen on Samsung after too many tales of hassle from their implementation of Android. I know that remedies and fixes are not too difficult, but I can't be arsed. If I'm playing £££ for a thing then I don't want to have to start fiddling with it to make it work nicely.