Value sweet spot for Android phones?

I’m thinking of getting my mum a new phone for Xmas and am just at the stage of budgeting. I don’t really have any experience with Android, but my mums used to her Samsung, so something similar would be ideal. I don’t think she’s tied to the brand but would prob prefer a brand she’s heard of – which I guess means no xaomi or similar.

Current phone is about 7 years old, something with decent battery and storage is what she’s after – I assume a newer phone will have a better camera.

Any advice on where to start and what kind of price ranges to aim for would be great.

Thanks in advance!

Google Pixel 6a or 7a. You should be able to find some deals on them and get a 6a for around £200.

I really rate Samsung’s data swap thing.

Smart Swap maybe?

Makes setting up a new ‘phone really easy .

APF

Agreed that at £200ish it’s hard to go much wrong.

Where can you get a Pixel 6a for £200?

Following for 200 quid 6a’s

I like my Pixel 6a (I got it for £299 but with something like a £100 trade in on an ancient Samsung). However, it doesn’t look like the Google Store sells them anymore (7 & 8s are now the official range). There are still available online for £299 (nearer £200 for refurbs).

However, if your mum’s familiar with her Samsung another Samsung at whatever price point you’re happy with should do it. For a casual user like myself I can’t imagine that there’s a significant difference between brands for a given price.

Next month’s Black Friday should probably throw up so bargains.

— Edit —

Sorry, got that completely wrong! Pixel 6as are still available at Google for £299. I got mine for £299 when they were usually sold at £399 so I’d expect some discounting on this price at times (again, maybe Black Friday events at Google)

Have a gander at what Xiaomi are punting out of their UK store. There’s always a deal.

Redmi Note 12 5G @ £229
Redmi Note 12 @ £179

Amazon are selling pixel 6a refurbished for £220

Probably either a customer return or a damaged box in the warehouse

I got a 6a new a few weeks ago @ 250 but deals are thin on the ground now. My sister in law bought a refurb 6a from Amazon warehouse received a Samsung…! Sent it back and bought on from Argos.

Got a Samsung a34 executive edition (corporate bulk buy no different really) off Amazon for 215 quid recently. Seems fine to me.

If your Mum has a Samsung, get another Samsung. As above A34 or similar should give decent service and Samsung are leading the way on providing a guaranteed number of OS updates.

OK thanks for the thoughts! Will prob go for a samsung unless a pixel comes up super cheap. Are there any samsungs to totally avoid?

Only thing to be aware of with Samsung is that they rapid charge on what seems to be a specific voltage that is different to other android phones, so if your mum has a specific charger hang on to it

other than that, whatever spec/newest model you can get for the budget

Redmi Note 12 5G @ £229
Redmi Note 12 @ £179

I have Redmi Note 10 Pro which was £159 in a silly sale.
It is brilliant – the only issue being getting rid of the bloatware at the start of using it.

I got a Pixel 7a recently, I think it was £300 or something like £13/month. I can’t fault it, it’s excellent.

I really rate Samsung’s data swap thing.

What does it do that Android doesn’t do natively? I went from a Nokia to the Pixel and it imported everything I wanted as part of the setup.

I’ll second Cougar’s comment. Son has a pixel 7 and it’s a great phone. Also with Google everything is backed up to the cloud, assuming you sell your soul to Google and have an account with them.

I’ve got a Poco X3 NFC which was great and reasonably cheap when I bought it over two years ago. Still going strong and I don’t feel the need to replace it.

Got a Samsung galaxy A136b for work apart from being physically bigger, can’t see that it’s much different to my pixel 6a – but the Samsung can be bought for under £150 on Amazon

The Pixel 8’s launch in a few days, i’m hoping to pick up a cheap 7 second-hand… wishful thinking?

Probably.😁 It’s still a current phone.

I should elaborate on my earlier post. There are three Pixel 7’s: the 7a, the 7 and the 7 Pro. Between the 7a and the 7 I couldn’t see much difference which would matter to me, and the camera is actually worse on the more expensive 7. The Pro was out of the running from the get-go because it’s stupid money, £300 was more than I really wanted to spend but I’m glad I did.

I looked at the 6 range. They seemed to be much the same money for a considerably worse (discontinued) handset.

Now that the Pixel 8 is out, when will the Pixel 6a prices drop?

Moto G less bloat laden than Samsung’s, cheaper than a pixel.

Just had a pixel 7a for £17.99 a month on ID mobile (three network)

100 GB data and unlimited minutes. Bargain.

Same chipset as what was the flagship 7 and slightly better camera depending on what you read.

Think the only thing I find that lets it down is the gorilla glass is 2013 spec. But a screen protector will help.

Not sure about PAYG but it’s definitely a bargain phone.

thought id resurrect this thread rather than start a new one.

wifes after a half decent android phone after dropping hers the other day and cracking the screen.  historically shes had a variety of moto’s the last few years, so whats out there at the moment for not much money?

thanks

Saw an excellent looking A15 4G on ebay.£105.00 new, tempted to get the yellow one myself.She will be covered for updates for a long time as well.

Saw an excellent looking A15 4G on ebay.£105.00 new, tempted to get the yellow one myself.She will be covered for updates for a long time as well.

thanks, just having a look but theres a few….. is it a samsung or an Oppo?

Sorry mate,it was a Samsung.The group selling it I think we’re called Leather Traders!🤷‍♂️

@sadexpunk I’m going to guess it was a Samsung as Oppo/Realme have dropped official retail in the UK (this may be sorted now, something to do with patent hassles iirc).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325965077256?mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&siteid=3&campid=5336549684&customid=2674331718&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

A bit more for 5G if that’s worth it where you are:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355484401771?mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&siteid=3&campid=5336549684&customid=2674332043&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

The A15 will get 4 major OS updates and 5 years of security updates.

*edit* @monkeycmonkeydo that’s who I was thinking of and linked to! 😁

Thanks @johnnystorm.

thanks @monkeycmonkeydo and @johnnystorm

shes now ordered the yellow one 😉

cheers

I would  probably buy a clear case and screen protector as well.Hope she enjoys it.

ive been looking at pixel 5a and 6, mostly for the battery life and camera.Consequently very wary of refurbished ones on amazon etc with maybe80% battery left
Also the Nothing 2a
Is the pixel 6a battery really good?
my old samsung battery is down to 67% capacity which =2000mAh, and is no good for a day in the mountains

Poco F1 or F3. Excellent phones for not much money, so long as you’re unconcerned by the prospect of Chinese state surveillance 🙃

Following this as my dad told me the other day he was thinking it was time he got a smart phone.

@johnnystorm what does 4 OS updates look like – roughly a year or two?

I’m an iPhone user so no idea on android/Samsungs update frequency!

Have to say I’m not blown away by the pixel 7a I picked up last month.

It’s fine, but it’s both heavier and bulkier than the 2018 phone it replaced, despite having a smaller screen. The battery life is a bit better, but no more than you’d expect when replacing a 6 year old phone with a new one, and I presume the camera is better, too, but I haven’t looked at that in enough detail to see for sure. It also lacks a few features that my old phone had, which is a shame.

But if you can get one on a good deal then it’s perfectly fine. And the new version of Android has some nice improvements.

@muddyjames it means that when Google release the “new” android generation annually this will get 4 starting on Android 14 and a further year of security updates.

I was going to get a pixel 7a, but the full fat 7 was basically the same price so I got that. (£379 i paid)

Had it about a month or so now.

I’m happy with it, its a black rectangle that performs all the usual smart phone functions.

It felt much bigger than the 4a for a few days, but over all, it was a good purchase as the screen is a bit bigger.

I bought it to replace a tired pixel 4a, so it’s a pretty decent upgrade over that… the camera is quite a bit better, not that I really care that much but you might.

It’ felt heavier but it’s not really much, 143g V’s 197g)

Thanks! How does the thing perform?

In the past when I’ve bought cheap laptops or phones, they run the operating system but are glacial to start with and that goes down hill to pretty much unusable with updates, or very frustratingly slow at best.

Thanks! How does the thing perform?

Pixel 7? fine..fast, better than the 4a and bigger battery too…. 3140 mAh to
4355 mAh, which probably contributes the lions share of the extra weight I guess.

Following this as my dad told me the other day he was thinking it was time he got a smart phone.

@johnnystorm what does 4 OS updates look like – roughly a year or two?

I’m an iPhone user so no idea on android/Samsungs update frequency!

I think my Samsung S21 has probably updated at least three times this year so far. One major update, and a couple of security updates. That’s on a 3 year old phone. Last update was just last week.