How to choose a new mobile phone

Suzycoll

Hi all 

My mobile (Google pixel 4a) is on the way out & I need to get a new one.

I have a SIM only contract with EE that expires in September (£9 pm).
I looked at upgrading with another Google Pixel. I'm happy to pay monthly for the phone but I'm not 'allowed' to keep my £9 SIM contact & am offered a deal I don't want.

I'm a bit of a luddite when it comes to mobiles. The only reason I'm sticking to Google pixel is I assume everything i.e apps, contacts will transfer over OK? I quite like the Google phone too.

I then decided I will buy a phone outright & stick with a sim only.  But EE say they will not help me to transfer everything over unless I buy the phone from them!

I guess my question is 

1- any recommendations on a reasonably priced mobile phone that is easy to use?

2-If there is anywhere I can get help with a transfer of my apps etc

 I can only have Three or EE due to the reception in my area.

I know this sounds pathetic 😞 

Fingers crossed you lovely people can advise 😀

Frozen_up_north

Suzycoll said:

Hi all 

My mobile (Google pixel 4a) is on the way out & I need to get a new one.

I have a SIM only contract with EE that expires in September (£9 pm).
<snip>

But EE say they will not help me to transfer everything over unless I buy the phone from them!

That’s a good reason to not buy from them!

Also, don’t forget that other (virtual) networks use EE and Three, so come September you can switch to another SIM only deal without penalty for leaving early.
I am an iPhone user, but I think a Pixel will work in a similar manner, where you put your new and old phones next to each other to transfer the contents. This article explains the method:
https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/7129955?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid

J_B

Suzycoll said:

I guess my question is 

1- any recommendations on a reasonably priced mobile phone that is easy to use?
Well, if you like the Pixel, then stick with another one

2-If there is anywhere I can get help with a transfer of my apps etc
You've asked for help here - hang in there (here) and 'we' will guide you, it should be fairly simple

 I can only have Three or EE due to the reception in my area.
Look here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/ but mess with the parameters on the left

tencharacters ✌

lr1277

I only have had iphones but recently bought a new phone and got it setup. So whilst not the same, hopefully this post gives you some pointers.

In terms of transferring, there are 2 aspects. The apps and the data (like chats on whatsapp). I would imagine the apps are linked to ID which should be your google email address. They should transfer over. However the data may not necessarily transfer over easily. On the iphone I had to backup the data (this includes message, photos, possibly your music depending on your setup and other things I have not remembered).  I use the iCloud backup and due to the amount of data I had, the free storage given was not enough and am paying for increased storage. Is your current phone backed upto something like the cloud or a portable hard drive?

In terms of transfer, because I got my phone from John Lewis, they have a technical department who for a fee will set up your new phone from your old phone. They do charge for this service. I think it was £30 in my case.

There is a rumour they will only work on kit bought from them, but they did give me a card with a phone number where they might be able to answer any technical questions like say about your phone, computer, washing machine. Though I have never tried calling this number.

Even though I bought my phone from the John Lewis website, I picked it up from one of their stores. Then walked over to the technical department to get the phone setup.

On these boards I have seen posts from people who have ordered the phones over the internet then received empty boxes even after ordering from well known retailers. I urge you to buy in-store or at least pick up in-store.

Emmia

It's easier if you stick with Android, rather than trying to switch over to an iPhone, and if you're happy with a Pixel then I'd probably stick with that - Samsung (and other manufacturers) put their own spin on android, which having gone from Samsung to Pixel for my current phone I found initially a bit confusing - I'm not going back to Samsung though.

The other advantage of buying from a physical shop, like John Lewis rather than online is you can collect/buy in person - I'd rather do this than waiting for an expensive item to be delivered, and the risks of it being "substituted" somewhere en route, as the previous response also alludes to.

If you sign in to your Google profile on your new phone, you'll find all the apps in the Play Store which you've downloaded previously and you can reinstall - it's not an instantaneous process, but isn't too difficult, especially if you have both phones.

Suzycoll

J_B said:

Suzycoll said:

I guess my question is 

1- any recommendations on a reasonably priced mobile phone that is easy to use?
Well, if you like the Pixel, then stick with another one

2-If there is anywhere I can get help with a transfer of my apps etc
You've asked for help here - hang in there (here) and 'we' will guide you, it should be fairly simple

 I can only have Three or EE due to the reception in my area.
Look here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/ but mess with the parameters on the left

tencharacters ✌

Thanks for your contribution.
I have no idea what you mean by ten characters?

J_B

Suzycoll said:

J_B said:

Suzycoll said:

I guess my question is 

1- any recommendations on a reasonably priced mobile phone that is easy to use?
Well, if you like the Pixel, then stick with another one

2-If there is anywhere I can get help with a transfer of my apps etc
You've asked for help here - hang in there (here) and 'we' will guide you, it should be fairly simple

 I can only have Three or EE due to the reception in my area.
Look here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/ but mess with the parameters on the left

tencharacters ✌

Thanks for your contribution.
I have no idea what you mean by ten characters?

I answered within your quote so have to put ten characters in my own message (outside your quote) otherwise the forum software says my message is too short! (it's just a workaround to beat the system!!!)

prowla

Interesting - I bought my Samsung from EE and it's a separate agreement to my SIM.

However, I did do both at the same time, so it could be a sales bundling thing.

You can go elsewhere and price up the options for the same model you are looking at.

Frozen_up_north

The comment I made about putting two (iPhones) close to each other, is that they transfer all the pictures and data directly from one phone to the other by Bluetooth. A new iPhone prompts you when first switching it on. I suspect Android phones have a similar facility.

In the case of my iPhone upgrades, it was very straightforward and not something that needed technical assistance. Apple stores offer free assistance to upgrade, but no idea about shops selling other makes.

Emmia

Frozen_up_north said:

The comment I made about putting two (iPhones) close to each other, is that they transfer all the pictures and data directly from one phone to the other by Bluetooth. A new iPhone prompts you when first switching it on. I suspect Android phones have a similar facility.

In the case of my iPhone upgrades, it was very straightforward and not something that needed technical assistance. Apple stores offer free assistance to upgrade, but no idea about shops selling other makes.

But this wouldn't work Android - iPhone, lots of apps are also available on one, but not the other platform.

Frozen_up_north

Emmia said:

But this wouldn't work Android - iPhone, lots of apps are also available on one, but not the other platform.

I was referring to my experience of iPhone to iPhone, and expect Android to Android to have a similar feature (especially as the OP was looking to upgrade their Pixel with another Pixel).