Basic advice sought

njw321

Might this expert community advise me please?

I’ve happily lived with an outright-bought  Blackberry Bold for 10 years and pay O2 £7 ish p.m.

My new internet banking requires a Smart(er) Phone unless I use a cumbersome keypad device procedure.

Further, if I’m to buy my E-cig vape liquid through Ebay, I have to use an age verification process which only works via a Smart(er) Phone App.

My usage is laughably low: 10 calls/texts per day, 1 photo per week. I don’t do social media but let’s say I’d like some future-proofing in the next purchase.

I’ll gladly pay for quality and reliability, but not glitz and guff.

What should I buy to see me through the next 10 years?

Frozen_up_north

“Smart” phones are only designed to last 2 or 3 years, until the built-in battery has lost its edge and needs replacing 😡 You might be lucky and get 4 years before it needs open heart surgery to replace the battery.

Add the obscure market preference for ever larger screen sizes (assuming you want a phone that fits in your hand and slips into a pocket) and you will narrow the choice significantly.

Everyone will have their favourite brand and model, sadly all will require battery replacement and may be easily damaged by being dropped, rained on, or being sat on. The days of easy battery replacements and rugged phones are a dim and distant memory.

My personal preference is the iPhone SE (2020 model), bought from either Apple themselves or via John Lewis.

The_Fat_Controller

If you are brave enough, order an Android phone from one of the lesser known Chinese manufacturers.
I am on my second ULEFONE and both have been very reliable.
The first one even had a replaceable battery and although it didn't get regular Android updates, it's still working after 5 years.