ADVICE SOUGHT: Which SIM free smartphone to buy

[briwy]

Have a look at GiffGaff for your SIM Mike.
No contract and you can buy various priced Goodybags starting at a fiver. You can start at a low price and work up if it doesn't suit your requirements. It can be set to automatically renew each month if you want to so a bit like having a contract without a contract.
It uses O2 so coverage is OK. I've used it now for about three months after my EE contract expired without any problems.

[mikeonb4c]

Have a look at GiffGaff for your SIM Mike.
No contract and you can buy various priced Goodybags starting at a fiver. You can start at a low price and work up if it doesn't suit your requirements. It can be set to automatically renew each month if you want to so a bit like having a contract without a contract.
It uses O2 so coverage is OK. I've used it now for about three months after my EE contract expired without any problems.

Thanks Briwy. I did wonder about Giffgaff as I'd heard they did good deals, but I was concerned not to lose the coverage I get with EE, which is generally good. BT have a 12 month offer of £9 per month for 500 mins/unlimited texts/2Gb data for existing broadband customers and they use EE network (plus about to take over EE!). I was going to do that but when i phone EE to say I was leaving they said (surprise surprise) they had an offer on: £10 pcm for 6 months then £20 for 6 months for unlimited/unlimited/4Gb data anf of course there would be no hassle with PAC numbers, changing provider etc - I can just swap SIM to new phone. So I reckoned that was reasonable for now and in 12 months who knows what packages BT/EE might offer in order to get all your telecomm business If I'm not happy, I'll consider a move to the likes of Giffgaff. Will take a look at their packages though to see what I may have missed.

[Tony x]

Nice shiny new phone Mike.
Has a good camera for when you're up in the sky.

When your EE contract is up you can get maps which show the coverage of the various networks across the UK. With a phone like yours, you'll be wanting to check the 4G coverage in particular.

[mikeonb4c]

Nice shiny new phone Mike.
Has a good camera for when you're up in the sky.

When your EE contract is up you can get maps which show the coverage of the various networks across the UK. With a phone like yours, you'll be wanting to check the 4G coverage in particular.

What finally persuaded me was finding I could buy one for £286 and with an LG spare battery charger and battery thrown in, and a smart leather back. Putting that together with the SIM deal works out at not much than £20 a month, for a phone similar to an iPhone 6s plus

[amauvis]

I stopped doing the bundle "free" phone deals a couple of years back, now buying the unlocked phone of my choice and doing a sim deal. At the time, doing it that way saved £2-300 over a two year contract with the major networks, with the same phones they were offering. Wouldn't go back.

[andyb36]

hi mike

looks like you've got it sorted

was surprised to see you had a htc mini

me too lol - best phone yet

so I went and had the htc m8 - its a little larger

and a little dubious

but best choice ever made

loads on ebay with 12 month warranty and sim free

ive got mine with ee and have been there for years

26 quid incl of tax etc

4 gig data
unlimtd mins
unlimtd tects

and on 4g

and as its android - every thing is free one way or another

in my house there are 4 iphones - all types but not no 6

the only reason I stick with ee - is the price and deals I get - but most of all - next day new phone if mine goes kaput

my htc m8 is the monkeys nuts for all that I use it for
camera
video
downloading free music
kodi - free tv - thousands of channels
music player for when im at the gym
did use maps when I was lost in London once -

its got 16 gig memory but I popped inj a 32 gb card - 8 quid

I do like the facetime on the iphone - but there is the android equivalent

but as no one else has android - im buggard

there are tonnes of features I don't use - and I know theres loads of software out there free for just about anything


htc for me all the way

andy

[amauvis]

htc for me all the way

andy

Me too. Love my M9. Missus has an M8, only because the M9 wasn't out when she got hers.

[andyb36]

htc for me all the way

andy

Me too. Love my M9. Missus has an M8, only because the M9 wasn't out when she got hers.

I did have the choice of the m9 - but not really into phones a great deal

and ee offered me a cheaper deal than I was paying for the mini

I can even stream music from my phone to my sony amp

lol - prob norm to most modern phones

ee - 3g - 4g -

when I was at santa pod in northhamptonshire - no bloody signal whats so ever

wheres that kev bacon when you need him lol

[mikeonb4c]

I stopped doing the bundle "free" phone deals a couple of years back, now buying the unlocked phone of my choice and doing a sim deal. At the time, doing it that way saved £2-300 over a two year contract with the major networks, with the same phones they were offering. Wouldn't go back.

Absolutely. Total headache getting my head around what's out there and deciding what (affordable) phone might haved a reasonable chance of still being good to use in 3-4 years time, so I'm glad to have put this one to bed. Assuming my SIM contract is £15 pcm, I reckon my montly costs, if this phone lasts, will be:

£24 over 24 months
£20 over 36 months
£18 over 48 months

For a top Android phone where the cheapest 24 month deal is around £30 pcm. Plus, hopefully, I won't have to go through all this pain again in 24 months when the phone contract expires - I've got better things to do

[mikeonb4c]

htc for me all the way

andy

Me too. Love my M9. Missus has an M8, only because the M9 wasn't out when she got hers.

I love my HTC One Mini and was VERY close to buying an M8 - like you say, they can be got for good prices, even new, although tellingly carphone warehouse didn't have any in stock anywhere. HTC are beautifully styled and I love the front facing boomsound speakers. In the end though, I fancied an adventure with another brand, and the removable battery, excellent price (new), the outstanding camera, and the larger screen swayed me. And although the LG G4 has a single rear facing speaker, it actually manages a reasonable sound volume, which is what I need for Satnav in car. For the rest I'll just have to use headphones for media stuff if I need top quality. I'll very much miss the boomsound speakers though - perhaps the biggest single thing that pulled me towards an M8. Hope I've not made a mistake

P.S. from all reports, the M9 is not hugely better than the M8, which makes the M8 a bargain at todays prices.

[the1andonly]

Not a clue about smart phones
but Giff Gaff yes.
been there since 2011/12
only use a phone cost me £10 for last 18 months
i talk to no one they talk to me
Giff Gaff to Giff Gaff calls are free (with conditions)
all family on Giff Gaff, with and without smart phones
as a community very cheap

[mikeonb4c]

Not a clue about smart phones
but Giff Gaff yes.
been there since 2011/12
only use a phone cost me £10 for last 18 months
i talk to no one they talk to me
Giff Gaff to Giff Gaff calls are free (with conditions)
all family on Giff Gaff, with and without smart phones
as a community very cheap

I hadn't a clue about any mobile phones let alone smartphones until I had to get a mobile phone for privacy 4 years ago and chose a cheap smartphone as the best way of being able to expand what I was looking at for my ageing eyes (and no other reason). Then I realised what I'd bought and what it could do. From that day, my PC hardly ever got switched on, I didn't bother with the satnav, or my camera, and all my posts on BF got done from the phone, in spare moments, anywhere. 4 years later and the top end ones are truly awesome. The LG G4 I'm buying is an absolute beast from the stuff I've watched on youtube. There's a strong case for saying you don't need a computer or a landline or a camera or a satnav or a hi-fi these days, and maybe not even home broadband provided your demands are not too great - a good smartphone with a large screen will just about do it all, though I'd want a way of doing a bit of word processing and the odd fancy spreadsheet, and maybe a bespoke database or two