Home Forums Chat Forum I need a new phone, camera and GPS, time to buy a smartphone?

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  • I need a new phone, camera and GPS, time to buy a smartphone?
  • thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    GPS is buggered, havent had a halfway decent point and shoot compact camera in a long time (well, ever, always had something bigger/better), and my phone’s died.

    So given that the combined cost of all three would be in the region of £600 (£330 edge 800, £200 camera, cheep phone), it seems reasnoble to buy something for a fraction of that.

    Must be a PAYG phone as I can’t get an upgrade and still have 12 months of a contract left, and I won’t get a better contract elswhere, it’s currently £2.50 a month for 600 minutes and 600 texts, and would be £5/month to add unlimited interntet to that, but if I cancel it I have to buy out of it at £25/month!).

    What’s worth looking at for £200, I considdered an Xperia active as it’s got built in ANT+ but developers seem to have ignored it so it’s largely redundant appart from the waterproofness.

    Thing’s I’d need it to do day-to-day:
    Strava/endomondo logging, CBA with uploading after a ride so I’d probbaly get more out of them if it was uploading in real time. Not that fussed about it being on the bars though.
    taking an acceptable photo
    phone/texts
    e-mail
    internet faffing

    So what’s like an iPhone, but half the price?

    woody2000
    Full Member

    What about this??

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    whatever HTC are doing, or samsung. Camera won’t match a £200 one tho.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    gsmarena.com is good.

    CountZero
    Full Member

    A second hand iPhone 4? Look around and you should be able to find a 16Gb one for around £220-250;
    http://www.usedmac.org.uk/auctions/used-iphone-auctions/?model=4&gclid=CObBmIP07rACFdKBfAodugNIwg
    You get a damned good camera, an outstanding range of GPS and mapping apps, and a huge range of aftermarket accessories for use in the car, on the bike, (waterproof cases), etc. my iP4 is still in use every single day, and having software like CoPilot Live and Viewranger, along with UK Map, installed in a phone, is just incredible.

    kanza
    Free Member

    Replaced all the above with a S2.

    Mackem
    Full Member

    Been using an Motorola Defy+ for the las few weeks and it’s been excellent. Some people hate them though. Havent tried to camera function really, but I guess it’s typical smartphone quality. If it’s not going to live on the bars then any old smartphone will probably do.

    monogramman
    Free Member

    I have an Xperia S it’s a great phone, but let down by the battery which is also non removable.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Camera phones are pretty rubbish in all but strong light conditions. I cheap compact, eg Ixus, can be had for £100 ish or less and take much better photos (I even got a photo on the contents page of STW from a £90 Ixus).

    BigJohn
    Full Member

    If you want cheap but good take a look at the Orange San Francisco. I have one and it does all I want. An enthusiastic review here.[/url]

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Not sure if a t-mobile sim would work in an orange phone, it might but not worth a £200 risk.

    Thought of an S2 but they’re still £300

    I’m not going 2nd hand, smartphone batteries seem pretty small anyway and 2yr old 2nd hand batteries are even worse.

    I’ll have a look at the defy and xperia.

    alpin
    Free Member

    hmmm.. i’m pretty much in the same boat and smartphones and contracts are getting cheaper here in germany (contracts used to be v. expensive without any goodies, i.e. no free/unlimited texts, maybe 100 minutes a month for 30€ or more).

    i don’t want an iphone (i’m sure/know they’re good, but i don’t want to support apple and every bugger seems to have one) and don’t like the bulk of them or similar SP from HTC and the like.

    i’m looking foer something more like a phone size wise

    was looking at a Sony Xperia Mini or a Galaxy Gio GT-S5660, both of which can be had for around a ton. reviews seem to say that the Sony is nicer to use, has a better camera and Android can be updated , but the Galaxy has better battery life.

    can anyone say anything more about either of these two phones?

    Bez
    Full Member

    I like my Xperia Active. It’s replaced both my HTC Desire and my Garmin eTrex. Won’t replace my cameras but it does a passable job for snaps (not quite as good as the HTC, though).

    Sony have two new ruggedized models coming out soon; the Xperia Go is the cheaper one and may come in around your budget. The Defy+ is also worth considering.

    Bez
    Full Member

    Not sure if a t-mobile sim would work in an orange phone, it might but not worth a £200 risk.

    All the Orange phones I’ve had over the years have been locked, but I’ve not had one recently. But isn’t the SF also available under a different monicker as a T-Mobile phone?

    jswan
    Free Member

    I bought a Galaxy Ace for £100. 5mp camera isnt too bad but the phone and its functions are great for the price.

    glenh
    Free Member

    Not sure if a t-mobile sim would work in an orange phone, it might but not worth a £200 risk.

    I’m reliably informed that it does work in the phone I’m selling in the link above (2nd post).

    ktaylor
    Free Member

    Last week I bought the Sony Ericsson Experia Arc S. Bought it from a Phones 4 U store . Cost me $180 plus mandatory £10 top up. 8mp camera, can take 32gb card (£20), great android selection of gps apps. Only single core processor though.

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