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Smartphone upgrade


Toon Saint

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Slightly bored of my iPhone 4s 16gb and it is time to upgrade. Anyone with any recommendations? I've been quoted the same price from Vodafone for the Samsung Galaxy S5/HTC One M8/Sony Xperia Z2/iPhone 5S 16gb - no charge for handset, unlimited calls & texts, 3gb of data, and free Spotify/Sky Sports mobile for 6 months, all for £34 p/m.

 

I like the idea of the noise cancelling technology on the Xperia, but would also like to be able to do more with my camera and notice that the Samsung and HTC both have some decent features where you can play with the aperture and depth perception. Still open to staying with the iPhone but not sure I actually like the design too much of the new one - a little angular for my liking.

 

I'm otherwise clueless, so any personal insights would be much appreciated.

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Will watch this thread with interest as I've just dropped my phone into the bog :( and I don't think it'll dry out (trying out all recommendations / solutions ATM)

 

Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2 are both water resistant, so might be helpful for any other bog related accidents. ;)

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Had an HTC One now for well over a year. Absolutely love it! Will upgrade to newer model of same when contract renewal due.

 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

Cheers! Can I ask what the camera features are like? From the reviews I have seen it looks like you can tinker with the photos quite a bit - something that seems to be pretty limited on the iPhone's.

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Slightly bored of my iPhone 4s 16gb and it is time to upgrade. Anyone with any recommendations? I've been quoted the same price from Vodafone for the Samsung Galaxy S5/HTC One M8/Sony Xperia Z2/iPhone 5S 16gb - no charge for handset, unlimited calls & texts, 3gb of data, and free Spotify/Sky Sports mobile for 6 months, all for £34 p/m.

 

I like the idea of the noise cancelling technology on the Xperia, but would also like to be able to do more with my camera and notice that the Samsung and HTC both have some decent features where you can play with the aperture and depth perception. Still open to staying with the iPhone but not sure I actually like the design too much of the new one - a little angular for my liking.

 

I'm otherwise clueless, so any personal insights would be much appreciated.

 

Sit tight and wait for the iPhone 6, even if you don't like it your be able to sell it for a fortune around launch date

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Rooting was a problem on the Z1 if you wanted to use a different sim. You were effectively locked into paying the extortionate roaming rates charged by your operator.

 

Not sure if the Z2 is any different.

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Will watch this thread with interest as I've just dropped my phone into the bog :( and I don't think it'll dry out (trying out all recommendations / solutions ATM)

 

mrs cb did this and we managed to salvage it

 

box of rice and a few sessions in the oven

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Will watch this thread with interest as I've just dropped my phone into the bog :( and I don't think it'll dry out (trying out all recommendations / solutions ATM)

 

Apparently this is very common among women. My wife has dropped several phones down the toilet. She has a Samsung and a work Blackberry. The other day, she dropped them BOTH down the toilet!

 

I'm afraid to inform you that, more than likely, it'll be terminal.

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Have got an HTC One (Mini) - is the best phone I have ever had, and would thoroughly recommend it. The quality of the camera is not the best i have seen on a phone, Samsung's seem to take the best pictures, but in terms of effects and things like that there are a lot of things you can tinker about with.

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Have got an HTC One (Mini) - is the best phone I have ever had, and would thoroughly recommend it. The quality of the camera is not the best i have seen on a phone, Samsung's seem to take the best pictures, but in terms of effects and things like that there are a lot of things you can tinker about with.

 

I have the HTC One Mini 2. Love it, it has a more traditional camera then the ultra pixel thing in the last ones but it does everything I need and far far more.

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Apparently this is very common among women. My wife has dropped several phones down the toilet. She has a Samsung and a work Blackberry. The other day, she dropped them BOTH down the toilet!

 

I'm afraid to inform you that, more than likely, it'll be terminal.

 

Seems pretty drastic but it's your marriage I guess ;)

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Apparently this is very common among women. My wife has dropped several phones down the toilet. She has a Samsung and a work Blackberry. The other day, she dropped them BOTH down the toilet!

 

I'm afraid to inform you that, more than likely, it'll be terminal.

 

She's clearly having an affair mate.

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I'm also due an upgrade (iphone 4) and really don't have a clue regarding the ins/outs of smart phones now on the market.

 

The waterproof Sony sounds good but battery life is a big thing for me and the iphones is sh*te!

 

The battery life on most smartphones is ****e. The iPhone has the added annoyance of giving you no way to change the battery for a full one. If you really want battery life you'll have to get a phone with a physical keyboard like the blackberry q10, which has a touch screen as well. Don't know about you but I hate typing on a small touchscreen anyway ... My fingers are too big. But there are very few apps for Blackberry, so if you want much more than a browser, email and phone, you're tied into 'battery anxiety' until some firm cracks the technology.

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What are you hating?

 

It's not so easy to navigate although I do understand that I'll get used to that. One thing I didn't give a second thought to was the fact that all my children have iPhones so we were able to do group conversations which I now can't do. And the charge life seems shorter than my previous iPhone too.

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Replaced with a Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini - getting used to it :)
Hating this Samsung ATM :( Might employ the 14 day return and go back to an iPhone

Me too :( Wish I'd returned mine. Stuck with it till May, first phone I've ever had where I can't wait for contract to end. Might even cut my losses and replace it early. I like Android , I'm used to it so it's not the OS I don't like just this handset (so ****ing slow) , had HTC before will definitely try them again.

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I had the Samsung S3 Mini and also found it getting too slow once I had added a few apps and music to it... biggest problem is that Samsung do not allow you to install apps to an SD card, so the more apps you install the less memory for running things.

 

I've just bought (outright) the Nexus 5. It's excellent, and I'm led to believe the other LG handsets are better (but obviously more expensive).

 

Cost was a key factor for me, so paying £289 for a brand new and relatively powerful phone was perfect for me. If you want something better and are happy to pay for it, go for it, but it all depends what you're going to use it for... fill any phone with enough crap and it will slow down eventually.

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You're all missing out by not going Sony. I've had HTC, Samsung and now Sony and the Sony kicks them all out of the water.

 

How so? Most Android phones I have owned or used all seem largely similar to me. Fast Internet, good battery life, good screen and responsive.

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You're all missing out by not going Sony. I've had HTC, Samsung and now Sony and the Sony kicks them all out of the water.

 

My other half has the Sony Xperia SP. It's the worst phone i've come across. Unstable, incapable of sustaining a signal and randomly cuts out calls. Good hardware but I cannot in any way recommend it or the brand. Avoid.

 

I've gone from an S3 to the HTC One Mini 2 and it is a world better. The S3 was so slow in the end, this HTC has not missed a beat despite loading it with apps.

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My other half has the Sony Xperia SP. It's the worst phone i've come across. Unstable, incapable of sustaining a signal and randomly cuts out calls. Good hardware but I cannot in any way recommend it or the brand. Avoid.

 

I've gone from an S3 to the HTC One Mini 2 and it is a world better. The S3 was so slow in the end, this HTC has not missed a beat despite loading it with apps.

 

Agree s3 was turd. S4 is perfectly fine for my needs though, I can't imagine anything better tbh. As with all these brands, the quality of the product varies widely across the various models but now I find that the flagship phone of the last couple of years are all pretty excellent.

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I had the Samsung S3 Mini and also found it getting too slow once I had added a few apps and music to it... biggest problem is that Samsung do not allow you to install apps to an SD card, so the more apps you install the less memory for running things.

 

I've just bought (outright) the Nexus 5. It's excellent, and I'm led to believe the other LG handsets are better (but obviously more expensive).

 

Cost was a key factor for me, so paying £289 for a brand new and relatively powerful phone was perfect for me. If you want something better and are happy to pay for it, go for it, but it all depends what you're going to use it for... fill any phone with enough crap and it will slow down eventually.

 

I love my Nexus 5, probably more than I ever did my iPhone.

 

Gorgeous screen on a mid-range chassis. It has survived longer than my daughter's iPhone 5s.

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HTC One M8 - Just read the reviews!

 

If only it had a traditional camera, that ultra pixel thing is a deal breaker.... despite it's market leading position in every other area.

 

Thankfully it does have the SD slot it predecessor so dearly needed. I stand by my choice of the One Mini 2.

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I'm also due an upgrade (iphone 4) and really don't have a clue regarding the ins/outs of smart phones now on the market.

 

The waterproof Sony sounds good but battery life is a big thing for me and the iphones is sh*te!

 

Get yourself a mophie. It's saved me a few times.

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If only it had a traditional camera, that ultra pixel thing is a deal breaker.... despite it's market leading position in every other area.

 

Thankfully it does have the SD slot it predecessor so dearly needed. I stand by my choice of the One Mini 2.

 

No removable battery sadly. Makes a huge difference.

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I have it and the camera is fine. The best camera I've had on a phone.

 

The lack of detail was a no for me. Works great in low light, but no. In practice for what I use it for it felt a massive downgrade on the S3 camera, need the detail.

Edited by Colinjb
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Took delivery of my Sony Xperia Z2 yesterday, I'm loving it so far. I chose that because the Samsung build quality is awful, the HTC One M8 does look great but my last phone was an HTC and the battery was wrecked after 8 months, and the Nexus isn't easily available on a contract. iPhones are not my cup of tea, to put it mildly.

 

Considering the SIM-free Z2 is £600, I'm paying £36 a month with a free phone for unlimited calls, texts and 4G data with 3 - and I got £45 cashback on top of that too!

 

EDIT: I've gone and actually read the entirety of your first post now, and I can tell you that the manual mode on the camera is pretty detailed, and it does have an auto background-defocus setting. It records in true 4K too, although I actually have no way of playing that back! Its lowlight shots aren't a patch on the HTC One M8's though.

Edited by igsey
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Another vote for the HTC One mini 2. Nuts name but otherwise seriously impresssive phone. Not "mini" in any sense, great camera, a big slice of the same styling and features as the M8, and so far the battery and performance is a lot better than previous HTC phones. Getting a lot of compliments for how it looks compared to the plastic Samsung and LG stuff

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