Stuck in a Talkmobile contract - phone no good

Goldwing1

I'm not sure there is anything that I can do about this.

I have a two year deal with Talkmobile which included a Samsung S3 mini. The contract expires in February 2018.

My problem is that the phone can't cope with the software app upgrades. Accessing Facebook for instance takes minutes. I've done the hard reset and reload etc. The Talkmobile helpdesk referred me to the Samsung helpdesk who simply said "it's not broken, it's just past it and the processor can't cope.

I've gone back to Talkmobile who tell me it will cost £48.54 to upgrade now or wait until November.

Any words of wisdom or am I stuffed? Either way, I think I'll be buying the next phone outright.

eDicky

It's surprising that they sold such an old model.

You can try to uninstall any unused apps and move others to SD card, uninstall updates on those you cannot remove and disable auto updates for them, free up RAM by clearing apps that are running, etc.

Or just buy a modern handset of your choice and affordability, put your SIM in it, and sell the S3 Mini if you can.

Goldwing1

Thanks for that. I didn't realise I could disable many of the apps although I think the problem is processor power rather than space. Talkmobile continued to sell the S3 mini for a good few months after I got mine.

wongataa

Remove the Facebook app. Just use the website. It will work better than the app. The Facebook app is well known to be a bloated resource hogger.

You could always get a new phone now and use your current SIM.

pmduk

It's always worthwhile buying a handset separately then looking for a SIM only deal. You can change handsets whenever you like then and are not limited to the handset stocked by your network and don;t get the bloatware some networks put onto phones. If you get a 30 day SIMO you have the flexibility to move networks at your will.

macman

Your contract is for the airtime, not the phone. It doesn't expire in 2/18, the minimum term just ends then.

ryan121

That phone is four years old. It only has 1gb of ram and 2 processors. Most modern phones have 3 or 4gb of ram and about 8 processors!

I'm not surprised it can't cope. Motorola has some impressive budget phones such as the moto g4 which is still quite powerful.

Goldwing1

I've now disabled a lot of the apps I don't use (Didn't know I could do that and the "helpdesk" didn't suggest it). I've also got rid of the Facebook app.

That has given the phone a new lease of life.

Thanks for the advice. I won't be renewing my contract with Talkmobile when it falls due.

System

Next time get a phone with no less than 2GB of RAM.

For Facebook, they do a lite version but you need install it manually as it's intended for developing countries (with your type of phone!)

Google Facebook lite and look for an apk file.