Protection for my Android phone

Vitor

If you are happy with the S8 then the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G or Samsung Galaxy A54 5G will be familiar to you but with a good increase in performance. You can buy outright for £250 or £350 respectively.

As you're out of contract with the SIM card, I think you can do better than £25/month if you push Vodafone. And you can save money by not bothering with ani-virus, Google Play store scans the phone. 

FDa65rdk

400ixl said:

You could get a Google Pixel 8 with 50Gb for £23ppm, or a Pixel 7a with 50Gb for £17ppm. Those are just examples of Android devices with the longest committed updates for under £25 a month for phone and contract.

Thanks. I've looked back over my data usage over the last 4 months (the settings on my phone don't go further back than that) and I've never used more than 8.5Gb in any given month.

The Pixel 8 sounds like a good option especially if security updates are guaranteed for another 6 years.

In one of your posts you said:

'Some Samsung phone are getting updates for 6 years now, but do check the exact version as it is still a bit hit and miss as they get towards the Google promise'

What's the Google promise?

Also, is there any way of seeing an overview of the security update guarantee for Samsung phones similar to the link you gave me for Google Pixel phones?

Thanks

400ixl

The Samsungs are the equivalent of the Pixel 7a, released in 2023 and get security updates until 2028.

Samsung phones are also falling back behind in getting the releases with Android 15 not coming until 2025 due to the bloatware Samsung UI and the A34/54 only getting quarterly security patches, not monthly.

The Pixel 8 is a better phone than both the A34 and A54. 

FDa65rdk

400ixl said:

You could get a Google Pixel 8 with 50Gb for £23ppm, or a Pixel 7a with 50Gb for £17ppm.

Sorry to keep pestering you with questions but could you tell me where you saw this?

FDa65rdk

I found this offer online:

Sorry if this is a really stupid question but does this cover all the costs of the phone?

It's for 24 months. 

Am I right in thinking that, after paying nearly £560 over 24 months, I would then own the phone and could look to arrange a new deal for the data?

In the full plan details, hy does it mention the following charges outside my allowance if there are unlimited messages and unlimited texts?

Am I missing something here?

RumRat

400ixl said:

Yes, both the Android updates and the security updates. The Pixel 8 gets updates and security fixes until at least October 2030 and the 7a being slightly older gets security updates until at least May 2028.

https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705?hl=en-GB#zippy=,pixel-a-pixel-and-pixel-pro,pixel-a-pixel-pixel-pro-pixel-a-pixel-pixel-pro-and-pixel-fold

It makes it a choice of an extra £6pm for the Pixel 8 over 3 years to get an additional 2 years of OS updates and security updates. It is also a better and newer model as well though.

Some Samsung phone are getting updates for 6 years now, but do check the exact version as it is still a bot hit and miss as they get towards the Google promise.

Samsung has 7 years of updates not 6.
OP...If you don't watch a lot of streaming programmes or play games on your phone then you are paying for a contract you don't need.
Buy a decent budget phone (around £200) and then just get a SIM from someone like GiffGaff or Smarty (search online) for £5-£10 a month and that will give you unlimited texts and minutes with enough data to get you through.
I wouldn't get a phone on a contract, there is no need, buy outright and have a monthly rolling sim.

FDa65rdk

RumRat said:

Buy a decent budget phone (around £200) and then just get a SIM from someone like GiffGaff or Smarty (search online) for £5-£10 a month and that will give you unlimited texts and minutes with enough data to get you through.
I wouldn't get a phone on a contract, there is no need, buy outright and have a monthly rolling sim.

Thanks.

What would you suggest as a decent budget phone?

You can see from the following link that I've looked into phones and ended up getting more confused!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81070910/#Comment_81070910

400ixl

RumRat said:

Samsung has 7 years of updates not 6.

Only for 2024 released phones. So for the newest phones they are now up with Google but they are a bit more blurred on Android releases vs Security updates.

2023 phones are 6 years which the A34/54 are.

400ixl

FDa65rdk said:

400ixl said:

You could get a Google Pixel 8 with 50Gb for £23ppm, or a Pixel 7a with 50Gb for £17ppm.

Sorry to keep pestering you with questions but could you tell me where you saw this?

Pixel 8 - https://www.vodafone.co.uk/mobile/phones/pay-monthly-contracts/google/pixel-8#deviceselected
Pixel 7a - https://www.vodafone.co.uk/mobile/phones/pay-monthly-contracts/google/pixel-7a#deviceselected

As others are showing, Vodafone aren't the cheapest, but you need to check that other networks have the coverage for where you live. Typically Vodafone is one of the worst for coverage with EE and Three being the better with O2 somewhere in the middle. But can be different for your area.

FDa65rdk

400ixl said:

As others are showing, Vodafone aren't the cheapest, but you need to check that other networks have the coverage for where you live. Typically Vodafone is one of the worst for coverage with EE and Three being the better with O2 somewhere in the middle. But can be different for your area.

Thanks. How can I check whether networks have coverage in my area?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm finding this a bit overwhelming!

All this website might have the answer: 

https://www.signalchecker.co.uk/