I need some help choosing a new smartphone

[The Drifter]

My phone stopped working last week, I probably only had it a month, it's a samsung galaxy S4, I bought a new battery from Ebay for it, it hasn't turned up yet. I bought a galaxy S3 mini, collected it last night. This morning I put my sim card in and it doesn't detect it. Restarted phone, wiped sim card contacts, still doesn't work. I will keep the S3 mini rather than send it back, I'll just use it for wifi and mp3s. The S4 might work with a new battery but regardless I need a new smartphone at a cheap price. I consider a samsung note 9 but the current problems I've been having with phone batteries, plus the cost of a refurbished model £230 really put me off. I don't use a smartphone too often but it is useful for a things. I just need something reliable that can deal with a few current apps and it would be great if the battery could be taken out rather than sealed in.

 

[Anthorhitchhiker77]

Most phones now a days have the batteries sealed in hell in the iphones they glue em in I would recommend a cheap Walmart phone and a straight talk plan they work great and last just as long as a good phone I am using a cheap Walmart phone now after using Verizon and I am happy I switched they wanted me to pay 540 bucks for a phone
Just slap a decent case on the phone and it will last a bit longer

 

[The Drifter]

Most phones now a days have the batteries sealed in hell in the iphones they glue em in I would recommend a cheap Walmart phone and a straight talk plan they work great and last just as long as a good phone I am using a cheap Walmart phone now after using Verizon and I am happy I switched they wanted me to pay 540 bucks for a phone
Just slap a decent case on the phone and it will last a bit longer

I live in the UK, so Walmart is out.

 

[Anthorhitchhiker77]

I live in the UK, so Walmart is out.

Yall don't have a place like Walmart
What in captilism is going wrong

 

[binhouse]

I'm not sure about shipping to Europe, but I've had good luck buying Motorola phones direct from the manufacturer. They put the old models on sale when the new models come out and I've never paid more than $150-$200 for a really nice previous gen phone. There are cheaper models too.

 

[The Drifter]

Yall don't have a place like Walmart
What in captilism is going wrong

Asda would be probably the closest thing to Walmart.

 

[Anthorhitchhiker77]

I'm not sure about shipping to Europe, but I've had good luck buying Motorola phones direct from the manufacturer. They put the old models on sale when the new models come out and I've never paid more than $150-$200 for a really nice previous gen phone. There are cheaper models too.

That's what I have a Motorola it's treated me good

 

[ali]

Honestly, i wouldn't worry about what brand it is as long as it's unlocked. A locked phone is pretty much useless for a traveler, especially if you plan on going international. I'd just go to a big box store and look at all the unlocked phones and pick whichever one seems the sturdiest. Since you're in Europe it'd be worth getting a dual SIM phone too. They're usually not much more expensive and they're way more useful for traveling.

You might want to check GSMArena.com - mobile phone reviews, news, specifications and more... - https://www.gsmarena.com to make sure that it is at least the same version or higher of Android that you had before, otherwise you might miss some features. Notably on older versions of Android there is either no gesture control at all, or gesture control which is broken if you install a custom launcher.

My one big piece of advice is that whatever brand phone you get you, ignore the manufacturer-specific apps (Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi) and use manufacturer-agnostic apps by Google or Microsoft instead. (This for stuff like mail, browser, notes, cloud storage etc.) Then next time you get a phone, which you definitely will, you can just sync all of your settings and files via your Google or Microsoft account, and you won't need to spend as much time setting it up or fretting over lost data.

 

[Matt Derrick]

I live in the UK, so Walmart is out.

i forget, do they have gumtree or some other used listing place in the UK? sounds like a used phone would be ideal. the only ones i can think of now that have removable batteries is the Moto G series and the LG series, like the LG7. i got a used Pixel 3 XL about two years ago used for $150 and i hacked it with a custom rom and it's been great. i plan on holding onto it for another few years.

 

[The Drifter]

i forget, do they have gumtree or some other used listing place in the UK? sounds like a used phone would be ideal. the only ones i can think of now that have removable batteries is the Moto G series and the LG series, like the LG7. i got a used Pixel 3 XL about two years ago used for $150 and i hacked it with a custom rom and it's been great. i plan on holding onto it for another few years.

Yes we have Gumtree here, I didn't know it stretched to other countries.

 

[MetalBryan]

I agree with the Motorola votes. I bought x2 Moto e6 phones when they were $100USD. Now I think they're $120USD. You can buy direct from their website internationally. There are better companies out there if you're concerned about morality but I'm into durable, inexpensive smartphones.

The first Moto e6 lasted me over a year and I drop my phone a lot. Once the screen cracked (broken glass) I covered it in clear packing tape and that worked fine for a long time until finally the screen itself broke and I got to watch over 2 days as it slowly died so I even had time to save my shit. It runs apps fine and has a decent amount of space unless you're shooting video or an app hoarder. If you buy two phones you can have an extra battery to swap out. My first battery lasted about a year before I noticed a drop in charge. I predict if you buy two phones the moto e6 will be obsolete by the time you need a 3rd.

Good luck!

 

[The Drifter]

I agree with the Motorola votes. I bought x2 Moto e6 phones when they were $100USD. Now I think they're $120USD. You can buy direct from their website internationally. There are better companies out there if you're concerned about morality but I'm into durable, inexpensive smartphones.

The first Moto e6 lasted me over a year and I drop my phone a lot. Once the screen cracked (broken glass) I covered it in clear packing tape and that worked fine for a long time until finally the screen itself broke and I got to watch over 2 days as it slowly died so I even had time to save my shit. It runs apps fine and has a decent amount of space unless you're shooting video or an app hoarder. If you buy two phones you can have an extra battery to swap out. My first battery lasted about a year before I noticed a drop in charge. I predict if you buy two phones the moto e6 will be obsolete by the time you need a 3rd.

Good luck!

There is no Moto e6 on ebay but there is e6 plus, it also has good reviews and a slightly bigger screen.

 

[CouchPunx]

i have a unihertz atom, its the smallest smartphone i think in existence and you can throw it off a train and it'll survive

 

[Big George W]

I've owned several Blackberry's, Motorola Droids, Windows/Microsoft phones [those were my favorite !!] and even a iphone, but the 2 Samsung Galaxy 8 active's that I have now have been very good to me for now close to 3 years, and yes I realize that's the wrong answer since those Samsungs a very expensive, but I got tired of crap which bombed out after just a few or if I was lucky several months.

I am going to look up that unihertz atom though !!

 

[The Drifter]

I've owned several Blackberry's, Motorola Droids, Windows/Microsoft phones [those were my favorite !!] and even a iphone, but the 2 Samsung Galaxy 8 active's that I have now have been very good to me for now close to 3 years, and yes I realize that's the wrong answer since those Samsungs a very expensive, but I got tired of crap which bombed out after just a few or if I was lucky several months.

I am going to look up that unihertz atom though !!

Not really wrong answer, it's a good shout. On ebay a used one in good condition is going for £109, one with a messed up back glass is going for £80. The added benefit of S8 is samsung dex. The trouble with phones that have removable batteries is that there is a lot of counterfeit batteries around.

 

[Matt Derrick]

dunno if this is what you are looking for but there's a deal on the Moto G Play for a dirt cheap $36:

https://slickdeals.net/f/15581413-a...play-2021-36-00-at-walmart-ymmv?src=catpagev2

 

[The Drifter]

dunno if this is what you are looking for but there's a deal on the Moto G Play for a dirt cheap $36:

https://slickdeals.net/f/15581413-a...play-2021-36-00-at-walmart-ymmv?src=catpagev2

Thanks but I live in the UK not the U.S.

 

[Matt Derrick]

Thanks but I live in the UK not the U.S.

Ah shit I forgot about that, sorry.

 

[The Drifter]

I had to take a lateral flow test yesterday as I had just come back from Malta. Uk rules say all vaxed travellers need a test when they get back before or day 2. You can only get a test from government approved places. So yesterday I travelled to a private clinic to get my test. Then I get home preparing to take the test only to find I have to download an app. I download the app, it doesn't work properly, it does not allow me to log in, thus there is no point in doing the test because the app is the only way I can report results. Leaving out the obvious government scam and corruption, one of the things I hate about the smartphone industry is the way that companies push people into downloading an app to get a service.

On another note I tried the new battery on the galaxy s4, the phone is still playing up, gets hot and doesn't charge. So I've had enough of all that. I think I'll get the moto e6 plus or the galaxy S8 depending on how good a deal I can get.

 

[Svintah5635]

I bought a Motorola power for a little over €100, the battery works astounding, I can go a week without recharging. (I don’t use it too often but other phones would’ve ran out in a day or three of you don’t use them.) it sometimes is a bit slow but it’s an amazing price quality balance. Can even hold SIM cards and you can expand the memory by an sd card!