Lowest spec phone I can use for banking/music/podcasts 9 February at 4:01PM in Techie Stuff 16 replies 378 views

beckstar1975

I want to give up my iphone for Lent (and possibly ever) and have decided that the only things that I have to be able to do on my phone are banking, whatsapp and listen to music and podcasts. What's the lowest spec phone I can buy second-hand to do this on? I don't trust myself to just ban myself from the apps on my phone. A decent battery would be a bonus as would nfc for paying for travel but not essential as can use a contactless card/oyster

Thanks

flaneurs_lobster

The cheapest phone is the one you already own. 

Clear down your iPhone apart from the apps you mention. 

beckstar1975

Aah I was going to sell mine , buy the cheaper one to use and give the difference to charity - and stick with the lower spec one going forward

Sorry - forgot to mention that bit

elsien

It’s not so much the spec as the operating system it works on. Both android and iPhones eventually get to the point where they stop updating the operating system on your phone and the apps stop working. So the older the secondhand phone that you buy, the less time you will have to use it before that happens.

 If you look at the banking app that you want to use, it should tell you the lowest iOS or alternative that you need for it to work.

outtatune

If you're happy with ios you can get a refurbished iphone 8 on Amazon for about £135. That should (I think) be compatible with the latest ios 16 so you should be able to run any of the banking apps on it for the time being. The only question really would be if there's enough storage for your backlog of podcasts.

Username03725

I'd hold fire and keep what you have. In your first sentence you say you're giving up the iPhone for lent "...and possibly forever" then in your next post you say you are going to sell it and give any profit to charity. That suggests you haven't made a clear decision yet.

Like Mr Lobster said, the phone you own is the cheapest. It seems that your best option is to carry on using what you're familiar with and make a separate donation to charity when you can. If you can't afford to do that then don't - charity begins at home and those at the lower end should look after themselves before giving away what little money they have. I might be missing something obvious but giving up an iPhone that you already own in favour of another phone doesn't really make a lot of sense, other than being a bit of an empty gesture. Apologies if I've got that wrong.

beckstar1975

I think it's really that I only need a phone for a few things and I have bought a phone way above what I need and so I want to one get off my phone so much (a phone that's not quite so slick may get annoying so I give up and read/tidy up etc etc) - I do use insta etc currently but I want to stop. I have 2 ipads and a kindle fire anyway (one mini is v old and is really the family's not mine)

I know it sounds bonkers written down but I want to !!!!!! my mindset away from my phone so I'm hoping that by downgrading and donating the money (or putting it towards our share of daughters laptop she's buying for 6th form)I'm setting an intention to me to start doing other things instead

Username03725

Fair points, but it's unlikely that your excess phone use - as you describe it - will be curtailed by having a lesser quality phone. It's the content that draws us all in not the interface, unless you mean you're spending lots of time on phone calls, which is unlikely.

Android phones are also slick, fast, and have nice UIs that respond quickly. If you get an older second-hand model you might find it doesn't work either now or for very long in the future with current apps etc anyway due to the rolling updates to the phone's OS and the apps themselves. That might be what you want ultimately, with the decision taken out of your hands.

In the end though it's your choice. Take a punt on whatever Asda or Tesco have as their lowest priced phones. They'll work, you'll have a warranty and can sell the iPhone. 

facade

If you want to do banking, won't it need a fingerprint reader or other biometric scanner? Not all cheap phones have them.

If you want to do payments with it it has to have NFC (near field communication), again, the cheapest phones don't have it.

elsien

facade said:

If you want to do banking, won't it need a fingerprint reader or other biometric scanner? Not all cheap phones have them.

If you want to do payments with it it has to have NFC (near field communication), again, the cheapest phones don't have it.

Not necessarily - my starling bank app uses a PIN code and my Halifax one also doesn't require biometrics. 

km1500

Changing the phone isn't the answer. It is will power. Lots on Google about how to cut down (uninstall apps, don't touch phone before midday, only look at phone every 2 hrs etc etc). It is like giving up drugs - deciding to buy worse quality heroin isn't the way to do.it.