What mobile phone do you use?

[subseastu]

As the title says.

I've a iphone 5 something or other that I've had for a good while now and I'm getting fed up with it. So I'm looking for something new. It needs to be sim free as I'm PAYG but because of this a new phone can hit £700 odd!!! For a phone!!! So to be honest I'm looking at 2nd hand or older phones. The other thing is size, why have phones got so bloody big recently? I want something I can get in my pocket. Thoughts so far are the sony xepria z5 or its compact version. I like samsung as well but their smaller phones seem to suffer badly with spec levels but still hold premium prices. I will not be watching films etc on it, just calls, messaging, bit of internet and the odd game.

So, thoughts?

[Skier]

Personal mobile: iPhone 6S (replaced an iPhone 5)
Work mobile: Sony Xperia SP (replaced a hateful old Blackberry)
US Cell phone: HTC something or other

The Sony and HTC are Android and by choice I would take iOS over Android all day long. For work purposes the ability to install our own apps etc. makes it the OS of choice. In comparison to the current iPhone the other two are older and much slower. I suspect the latest Samsungs would be every bit as quick as the 6S though the cost won't be much less.

i purchased the 6S (128GB) whilst in the US on Black Friday last year and saved over £150 on the UK price and suspect the same proportionate saving could be made on other phones.

[subseastu]

Personal mobile: iPhone 6S (replaced an iPhone 5)
Work mobile: Sony Xperia SP (replaced a hateful old Blackberry)
US Cell phone: HTC something or other

The Sony and HTC are Android and by choice I would take iOS over Android all day long. For work purposes the ability to install our own apps etc. makes it the OS of choice. In comparison to the current iPhone the other two are older and much slower. I suspect the latest Samsungs would be every bit as quick as the 6S though the cost won't be much less.

i purchased the 6S (128GB) whilst in the US on Black Friday last year and saved over £150 on the UK price and suspect the same proportionate saving could be made on other phones.

Thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention I don't want an apple

[Alansmithee]

"So I'm looking for something new. It needs to be sim free as I'm PAYG but because of this a new phone can hit £700 odd"

Em?

You'd have to buying the absolute top end with highest memory capacity to hit £700. The truth is mobile has plateaued and most mid to even low end smartphones do everything for most people.

[apm101]

I use an iPhone 5S 64gb, which works for me.

[Rod]

I use a Samsung Galaxy S3. A good second hand choice if I was you would be the Galaxy S4. A vg condition one should be £80 to a £110.

[UKMike]

I tried, but I just can't get on with an iPhone at all. I had a new iPhone 5s just after Christmas but only kept it a day.

For the past couple of years or so I've been using a Samsung Galaxy S4 and it has been perfect. I may get an S5 sometime when the prices fall, but I'm in no rush to upgrade. My daughter has a Sony Experia "Z something" and that seems equally good.
A friend has a 3 year old Galaxy Mini and that seems slow and is apparently locking up regularly now that it is running out of memory. Possibly one to avoid?

[mattlad]

Oneplus 2, when I bought it I paid £340 with a case, it is now down to £250 (sans case) and I use it on a SIM only contract. Great phone

[Davis]

I use a Blackberry Passport for personal and have some google rubbish thing that work supply me with. Previous work phones in the last few years have been an HTC One and an Iphone 5, I just don't get on with touchscreen keyboards.

If I had the choice I'd have a blackberry as a work phone as well, I'd even supply the phone myself but my firm's IT department aren't helpful with accommodating things like that.

[subseastu]

Thanks for the ideas folks, some things to think about

[pacifichrono]

Last year I traded my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 for the new Note 5. I love it, although I'd prefer a smartphone screen of about 6.5" instead of 'only' 5.7".

[Alansmithee]

I use a Blackberry Passport for personal and have some google rubbish thing that work supply me with. Previous work phones in the last few years have been an HTC One and an Iphone 5, I just don't get on with touchscreen keyboards.

If I had the choice I'd have a blackberry as a work phone as well, I'd even supply the phone myself but my firm's IT department aren't helpful with accommodating things like that.

Problem is BB10 is dead - you might see one more cobbled together from old parts but that is it.

[dice]

Its a shame about Blackberry, I always had a soft spot for them but they have rung their own bell after the Priv.

I have a Nexus 6P from work purely as its always up to date and won't slow during demos and presentations. I would've liked to given the Priv a shot but its RIM's first Android handset, and they have no track record with Android updates, hotfixing, etc.

[oiljam]

I have a moto g, around £130 on Amazon. A super phone, I really see no point buying a really expensive mobile. It has never let me down, it surprises me how good it is. Prior to that I had a Galaxy S3. Wouldn't go back though, this is plenty good enough.

[Dave E]

Sony Z3 Compact for the last year as a personal phone, very pleased with it. Good size and excellent battery life, still runs everything I want it to, so maybe look at one of these rather than the newer Z5 Compact as I assume it will be much cheaper?

(Work phone is an iPhone 5S, but upgrading next week to a 6 or 6S, not sure which.)

[ArcofZen]

I tried, but I just can't get on with an iPhone at all. I had a new iPhone 5s just after Christmas but only kept it a day.

For the past couple of years or so I've been using a Samsung Galaxy S4 and it has been perfect. I may get an S5 sometime when the prices fall, but I'm in no rush to upgrade. My daughter has a Sony Experia "Z something" and that seems equally good.
A friend has a 3 year old Galaxy Mini and that seems slow and is apparently locking up regularly now that it is running out of memory. Possibly one to avoid?

To be fair you didn't try very hard if you only kept it for one day!

I'm still using an old iPhone 5, does everything I want it to do but the battery life is now quite poor. I'll probably buy a newer iPhone just because it's easy to use. Although all the new phones are on par now so you can't really go wrong can you?

[chrig]

I've got a Z5 compact - went from the original HTC One and was a little disappointed with it tbh. The software isn't as good a HTC's (a lot of little features I presumed were standard on andriod are actually proprietary to HTC, though we're talking little things, like lifting a telephone number straight out of a message/webpage and calling to it in one step - it's strangely arduous on the Sony).

The camera also isn't anywhere near as good as I thought it would be - though 20mp, it's a minor improvement over the 8mp HTC at best. It's fast enough and one major plus I will give it is vastly improved battery life!

[Sweepinghand]

Moto G vote here

My mate swears by his

Fab phone for "night out" money

I'm sim only on my iphone6 now as see no benefit in upgrade

[deepreddave]

Samsung s4 mini for the last couple of years, cost £130 in a Three sale of I remember correctly. Anything not cutting edge but well reviewed usually does the job every couple of years for me.

[zanderpants]

HTC M8, better than the new one, can be had for a decent price second hand a d will do everything you want really well

[number2]

Work phone i5s
Personal phone Z1 compact,

So far seen no significant reasons to spend either my or the companies money on newer models.

[brigant]

I have a moto g, around £130 on Amazon. A super phone, I really see no point buying a really expensive mobile. It has never let me down, it surprises me how good it is. Prior to that I had a Galaxy S3. Wouldn't go back though, this is plenty good enough.

Me too. I had the older version for two years and just upgraded. Does everything that any android can do, fits in pocket, isn't the size of half a tablet and is very robust.

[mjc1216]

I have a moto g, around £130 on Amazon. A super phone, I really see no point buying a really expensive mobile. It has never let me down, it surprises me how good it is. Prior to that I had a Galaxy S3. Wouldn't go back though, this is plenty good enough.

Another vote for Moto g

[Skier]

To be fair you didn't try very hard if you only kept it for one day!

I'm still using an old iPhone 5, does everything I want it to do but the battery life is now quite poor. I'll probably buy a newer iPhone just because it's easy to use. Although all the new phones are on par now so you can't really go wrong can you?

Changing the battery on an iPhone is very straightforward once you have the correct screwdriver for the two screws on the base either side of the charging port. Look on YouTube for guides.

[Toshk]

I regret buying iPhone 6 Plus. Too big and heavy to use on the go. Looking forward to the new 4" model coming out soon.

[72bpm]

Nexus 5 16 GB for the last 2 years. Starting to slowdown now
Thinking of getting the nexus 5X 32 GB.

[Snowdon]

Nexus 5 16 GB for the last 2 years. Starting to slowdown now
Thinking of getting the nexus 5X 32 GB.

Do it, great phone. Very good value at £350 for 32gb

[Devonian]

I've an iPhone 6 which is really great and so easy to use. Previously had the 5 and 4 and I suspect that to an extent whichever make you use, you get used to and find that preferably.

[pcworks]

Work phone is a Nokia 100, with a data contract even though my phone doesn't have data usage!!

Personal use is my iPhone 6 which often gets used for business use!!

And the I have a Bluechip VX1 which has my Orange.es PAYG sim card in that I use on our holidays. I can get 1.8GB of data, texts and calls for €8.95 for 30 days when holidaying in Spain, it saves roaming fees on my iPhone, and I just swap over the sim cards. The VX1 just keeps the PAYG active and I send a text every month which stops the sim card being de-activated.

[rfrazier]

Samsung Note II. I have a strong preference for phones and tablets with a good digitizer and stylus input.

Best wishes,
Bob

[markc]

OnePlus One here - had it for about 18 months now and haven't seen the need to swap for a OnePlus Two.

Great value phones, unlocked by default and I know a lot of people happy with them (the One, the To and the X).

Cheers,

MarkC

[Fish]

OnePlus One here, moved back to it after buying a OnePlus X that I found too small.

Fish

[Glamdring]

HTC M8, which replaced a Samsung S3. My next will be whichever wins the best camera reviews. I have no loyalty regarding mobiles. They're there to amuse me. I like fiddling with the pics I take.
A corner of my back garden.

[Enoch]

This one....works great, hardly ever lose signal, battery lasts for weeks on end..

[Chris W]

Currently got a Samsung S3 - have to keep on top of it pretty much daily to stop it slowing down or hanging.
Looking to replace with a Wileyfox Swift ot Nexus 5 - undecided at the moment....

[72bpm]

This one....works great, hardly ever lose signal, battery lasts for weeks on end..

Had the 6230i in 2009. Best replacement for the 3310. Still wish I had it.
Bought a 3310 off ebay for 8.99£!!!

[guinea]

Sony Z3 here. Great OS, crap build quality. First and last Sony phone for me.
The Nexus 4 was good, but the 5 was very fragile. Lots of nerds in the office had them and they all sported broken screens.
I have an iPhone 6 for work. It's fine, but IOS is showing it's age now. The 5s I had before was similarly good, but battery life was shocking after 9 months.
I might try a Galaxy S7 next.

[ArcofZen]

Changing the battery on an iPhone is very straightforward once you have the correct screwdriver for the two screws on the base either side of the charging port. Look on YouTube for guides.

Ta, I'll have a look at that.

[MattMoore]

I've recently picked up a huawei honor 5x from amazon : Honor 5x 5.5-Inch SIM-Free 4G Smartphone - Silver https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01AT487..._EcC5wbJ9QNKTF

I've been with iPhones for a while but this has been a pleasant change. I wanted a phone that I didn't have to baby and was cheap enough that if it was dropped or damaged when I'm on a building site I wouldn't be too stressed about it. The microsd slot is a welcome return and with a 128gb card can keep more stuff stored than I ever need too. It's dual SIM too which has been very useful before I swap network providers to see which is best for some of the rural sites I work at. What I like most is that I can still use whatsapp when my main sim has no signal and the second one does. Still very tempted by the oneplus offerings but will give this a good trial first. It regularly goes into a lighting deal also, I paid £139 iirc

[Slamdoor]

I have a Motorola something. Too smart for my occasional use - I'm not into phones but it does have two sim slots so I can use two networks which can be handy in areas of poor reception.

[Josh B]

I use an HTC One M8 and despise it.

[Glamdring]

Why, if I may ask, and which version, there were two? Mine is running Marshmallow.

[Filterlab]

iPhone 6 Plus. Great phone, does everything you'd ever need, battery life is very good, and big enough for an old crusty like me to read. :0)

7 Plus coming in October, I'm sure it'll be great too.

[Josh B]

Why, if I may ask, and which version, there were two? Mine is running Marshmallow.

It's running Android 6.0.

No idea which version of the M8 it is. It's about a year old.

The camera is appalling.
The sound inferior to my iphone 4s
Build quality is poor, have had 2 warranty replacements so far
The design is idiotic as you can't type with it on a table given the curved back
The software is often counter intuitive and slow witted in many respects

[reggie747]

Galaxy S5 for last 2 yrs preceded by an S3 for the 2 yrs before that coming from an HTC.
I'm happy with Android OS, it does all and more than I need it to.

[subseastu]

Thanks for all the input folks, certainly a lot to look at.

I liked the sound and look of the Nexus 5x, moto & honor 5x but they are just too big (an inch taller than my iphone 5s at least) for me. In fact the entire moto range seems very big to me. The Oneplus x phones look great and one to consider. A friend has recommended the Nokia Lumia 1020 so I'll take a look at that range as well.

Thank you again everyone for all the ideas and input

[Snowdon]

I hated my Samsung s6 edge. Despised it. Sold it after 1-2 weeks

Life is too short not to be happy with your phone given you use it an awful lot

[solwisesteve]

You did say a phone yes.... I mean you don't mean a pocket tablet computer? ;-)

In that case on the very few times I use a mobile (emergencies and that's it) then I've got an LG GS101. It's a real phone, not a camera or internet browser etc.... It cost my 35p new, including delivery and came with a £10 payg sim. Used the sim and it now has a zero payment per month sim. Actually used it at the weekend for the first time in 6+ months.... got it out of the dash and switched it on. Battery was still fully charged... just worked!

[Embles]

Had a Sony Xperia Z3 for the last 18 months and have been really pleased with it. Great battery life and takes excellent photos. Can also put an SD card in to increase the memory and it's waterproof...took some great underwater snaps last year on hols.

[hicksmat]

iPhone 6 64GB.

Unusually for me I did not upgrade to the 6S this last year, I felt Apple had run out of ideas and I had no compelling reason to upgrade, particularly on this occasion when I bought I phone with 64GB storage I felt I had no reason to upgrade.

I'm an Apple user anyway, so I often use MacBook Pro's/Air's and I also her an iPad Air (1) 128GB and I have not felt the need to update those this year either for the same reasons really, no innovation from Apple, no real reason to replace perfectly good devices.......

I have tried Android on several occasions, and its great for what it is but I cannot get on with the fact there are so many OEM variations for Android across many many devices.... Apple does a good job I think of getting most users to a common platform and their recent thinking has been to make newer OS updates more inclusive to older models whereas Android tends to trop support for phones maybe even only 2-3 years old.