clueless about what smartphone i shd get - advice?

caroline1973lefty

hi i wonder if anyone can help me,

i need a new phone and i have no idea what to get. it's mostly for work-related stuff, ie phonecalls, text, checking & sending gmail, twitter, opening up the odd web page, and sometimes, using to tether my pc to internet.

i don't use it for camera, video, games, etc

the *main* things i would like, if possible, are:

*****decent battery life******!

*either* an excellent, robust touchscreen, OR quite possibly, a keyboard style phone?

not too HUGE if possible (my hands aren't HUGE!)

i'm probably due an upgrade on t-mobile though might shop around if there's a good deal. probably need a lot of minutes.

Im_just_careful

Consider one of the Nokia Lumia Windows phones.

They would probably meet your needs.

grumbler

caroline1973lefty wrote: »

... and sometimes, using to tether my pc to internet. ...

Very few tariffs allow tethering.

Re the phone, what is your definition of 'decent battery life'? You have to be prepared to charge any smartphone every 1-2 days or even more frequently depending on the usage.

Also, you have to decide on your budget and airtime requirements.
The prices for very good phones start from £100ish. For what you say you only need a good screen with good resolution. The processor and memory are pretty much irrelevant.
Decent amount of airtime is available for free at Ovivo.

caroline1973lefty

thanks - decent battery time = more than the half a day my current phone manages!

re tethering - yes i'm realising that now. it is mostly for when i use my laptop on the train (something i do quite a bit) but am realising that a PAYG dongle would probably meet my needs.

have been wondering about blackberry - i want something that is robust, i'm pretty heavy handed to be honest.

also found t-mobile beat phone for a fiver! blackberry style phone. is it any good? https://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/pay-as-you-go/t-mobile-beat-payg/

caroline1973lefty

i can spend more (up to £100ish) but if the fiver phone is good... really not that keen on touchscreens, i've realised. my current phone keeps cutting out mid conversation when i touch it with my cheek, just seems like something complicated that can go wrong!

Saint_Chris

I'm looking for a new phone to replace my old Samsung, iv'e still got my rolling contract with Tesco for £10 a month, and would like to keep this.

what do you people think of the nexus phone, the lady in carphone wareshouse said it was the best on the market for money.

I could get this.

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_4_16gb

Or should I stick with the Samsung and get the S3

terrylamps

caroline1973lefty wrote: »

i can spend more (up to £100ish) but if the fiver phone is good... really not that keen on touchscreens, i've realised. my current phone keeps cutting out mid conversation when i touch it with my cheek, just seems like something complicated that can go wrong!

I used to have this problem until i realised that i could turn my phone of at the side so the screen goes black once the call is connected. Stops me ending the call by mistake or opening folders and having it vibrate everytime my cheek accidently touched one of them.

grumbler

Saint_Chris wrote: »

...
I could get this.

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_4_16gb

Or should I stick with the Samsung and get the S3

In terms of value for money Nexus is definitely better. The main and probably the only disadvantage is lack of SD card slot.

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=4238&idPhone2=5048

Frozen_up_north

There is a bewildering choice of "smart phones" these days, from my limited experience the more you pay the easier they seem to be to use... It looks like the manufacturers cut corners on the cheaper ones. My partner's brother and mother both have phones that cost less than £100 (outright purchase) and they are awful, even setting the time is virtually impossible.

At the other end of the scale, the often maligned iPhone 5 is very intuitive to use. However at £500 it may be too much.

The deal that offers unlimited internet, including tethering, is the 3 "The One Plan" on a 30 day rolling contract (SIM only) at £25 per month. You might find that a pay as you go dongle for your laptop, plus whatever phone plan you opt for, could cost as much the above plan.

Whatever you pick, with the current market being fairly volatile (like 4G arriving this year on most networks), it probably will be better to purchase a 4G compatible phone outright and take a 30 day contract on a SIM only deal.