My First Smart Phone

I am 75yrs and never owned a smart phone but now I am thinking of buying a simple UK refurbished sim free smart phone. Has anyone else done this who could give me any information and a good, safe place to purchase one from. Tried Carphone warehouse and they just wanted to sell a monthly contract and told me I was made to purchase a phone outright???

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  • LizMac42 wrote: »
    I am 75yrs and never owned a smart phone but now I am thinking of buying a simple UK refurbished sim free smart phone. Has anyone else done this who could give me any information and a good, safe place to purchase one from. Tried Carphone warehouse and they just wanted to sell a monthly contract and told me I was made to purchase a phone outright???

    Really depends what you want, how often you will use it and what for.
    Also screen size etc, you can purchase a pay as you go from the likes of argos, even big supermarkets like asda, I would say you'll get something that will do a decent job for £50-£100 and be looking to pay about £10 a month, for the data calls etc.


    For that price you wont be getting a super fast all bells and whistles phone but something you can use to call/text message surf the internet etc and will do the job, this is what my 13 year old is using, he is autistic and pretty heavy handed but it seems to be doing the job. http://www.argos.co.uk/product/7425633
  • knightstyle
    knightstyle Posts: 6,988 Forumite
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    Buy from a local reseller shop so you can go back if you need help. Buy unlocked and note who you call often and see which company they use as calls between users are free. Or get a sim from someone like Giffgaff. £7.50 a month will probably give you all the calls and texts you need and some internet time.
    Make sure your smart phone is set to use your wi-fi when you are home as otherwise home use will eat into your monthly internet allowance.
    We are in our 70s and use smart phones all the time, DW has a secondhand iPhone 6s, about £160, and I have a Motorola G4 about £60. Both work well but the iPhone has a much better camera and connects better to our other Apple devices. I would not go for one of the very cheap smart phones that you can find on places like Ebay.
  • LizMac42
    LizMac42 Posts: 42 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    Thanks for all the advice above = I have some leads to go on there and I really sympathize with your father Liam. We bought a Samsung Galaxy tablet a little while ago and it took me ages to get to grips with it (still haven't really) and my husband refuses to use it. I love using our desktop computer and keyboard, but I suppose that's going out of fashion now too.
  • Arklight
    Arklight Posts: 3,171 Forumite
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    I usually buy my phones outright from Giffgaff. They do have some refurbs occasionally.

    https://www.giffgaff.com/mobile-phones

    One nice thing is you can opt to pay for them with a monthly Ratesetter loan when you check out.

    Simple doesn!!!8217;t really relate to Smartphones. They're designed to be smart and easy to use, and the better quality you can afford the better your user experience will be. A cheap phone will lag and probably have other frustrating input problems.

    I would buy the best phone you can with the largest screen. Motorola are a good bet as they make good midrange phones at budget prices and give you nearly stock Android with a few nice touches like gesture controls to turn the camera on, check the time, or flick the torch on and off, without having to touch the screen.
  • pramsay13
    pramsay13 Posts: 1,936 Forumite
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    Why do you want one?
    What will you be using it for as that will help others give you better advice.
  • LizMac42
    LizMac42 Posts: 42 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    I need a new camera and have only 12 year old Nokia phone so thought I would combine the two requirements and get a smartphone with a reasonable camera. After reading some of the reviews of refurbished phones on Amazon and looking at the prices - I have decided to go for a mid range 2016/2017 Samsung (??Samsung Galaxy A3 or A5) as they offer two year warranties and are much cheaper than 2018 phones. Thanks for all advice above - it was very useful.
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