Need New Phone

[oldtimer]

Just lost my Galaxy ‘phone.  Fortunately it was PAYG and was a few years old (ready for replacement) so no major loss there.  However, I now need a new one

Sim Free Payg

Qwerty keyboard

sub £100 if poss.

Texting in/out (I suspect all phones do that)

Simple to use

Any suggestions please

Its easy when you know how

[oldtimer]

Further to above, how bad (or good) is the Alcatel Pixi4 3G from Argos for a tad under £50 or Alcatel 4G under £$100?

Its easy when you know how

[PlaneMan]

I got a Pixi 4 4″ from O2, like new, £9.99 delivered. They are out of stock ATM but they are O.K.. Not very fast but adequate. If your Galaxy was a full fat one, it’ll seem slow. It’s cheaper at Tesco, unlock codes are about a £1 on ebay. Cases and screen saver sets are about £3 on ebay.

[oldtimer]

Cheers PMan.  Don’t know whether my old galaxy Ace constitutes full fat or just beef dripping.  Anyway, I only phone and text so I guess speed is not of the essence.  I was looking at the 5 inch which is probably why it is sooo expensive!!

Just come across Motorola E3 which is more expensive but might be a bit better.  I suspect it is old tech but probably not cause me a problem

Its easy when you know how

[Alan Wood]

Just bought a Cubot Dinasaur around £80 from eBay and very very pleased with it It is 4G Dual sim, sim free unlocked and a 5.5 inch screen.

 

[Ed P]

Many of the Chi-phones are excellent value. Just three things to look out for in the short/long term.

a) Get a good root kit scanner and watch out for unwanted links being pushed at you. Kaspersky does a good scan. If you need to root to get rid of it that may or may not be a problem. So fat out of three Chi phones two had pups on board

b) Android updates can be very patchy

c) As soon as the battery starts to fade get a new one – battery replacement is sometimes hrd.

[Kumagoro]

Xiaomi 4a and 4x pro seem popular.

https://m.aliexpress.com/s/item/32798733413.html#autostay

£75 and had band 20. Many saying global room don’t have band 20 so you need to be careful.

4x pro about £96

https://m.aliexpress.com/s/item/32814650927.html#autostay

 

 

 

 

 

[oldtimer]

Thanks all.  Went into local O2 this morning to get an Alcatel pixi4 or a Sony XperiaE5.  Didn’t realise how big they are until I tried them in my pocket (perhaps I have small pockets) then spied an LGK4 (4.5 inch screen but supposed to be 4G). Read a number of reviews which rate it poor to middling but at least it works and fits my pocket in all senses of the word.  Best of all, O2 recovered my cash balance for me and killed the old phone.  Just waiting for the SIM to register.  88 page instruction manual – its only a phone not a 747.  It will cost more than the phone to print it out so I will see if I can load it onto the phone.

 

Should have said it was £50

Its easy when you know how

[The Duke]

Not seen a manual with a phone for years. Thinking about it, 10 years, as the origanal Android G1 and eve of the had any documentation. Luckily android was simple and didn’t take much to work out. It’s a bit more complex today, but still never had a manual.

But tbh any question you need answered is just a Google search away.

Iirc Samsungs, at least the best earlier ones, came with a pdf manual.

The new moto E  looks a good phone. Looks like a moto C is going to replace th and old moto E price point.

[Bob Williams]

Wileyfox manuals all available online.

I have to update SWMBO’s CM Spark tomorrow, or at least before the 28th, when CM is ending. It is not covered by automatic updates to Nougat, as my Swift was. I have all the information to do it, but looks like a long process. I had my summer haircut today, first for about 3 months. I look like losing more tomorrow… ???

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[oldtimer]

New phone does all I ask and a whole lot I don’t ask. The battery runs down in a little over a day just sitting in my pocket.  I have shut down some apps that are shutdownable but that leaves many that refuse to go.  I am sure this is part of the problem.  The old phone would go a couple of weeks if not used which was great because I only use it for emergencies and a few texts.

So the question is can I get rid of the rubbish?  It would appear not – at least not for someone with my technical inability – but if you know an idiot proof way please tell me.

Its easy when you know how

[The Duke]

I’m not sure what phone you opted for. The apps that you can’t install, you can disable in the main and round settings menu.

Settings / app & you notifications / app info / then select app. Each phone is sightly different, but the route should be similar.

 

The hit disable.

To help you narrow down what apps are draining your battery. Check the battery monitor

 

Main settings / battery / monitor /apps (something like that)

Hope this helps.

[Bob Williams]

I have to amend my post regarding SWMBO’s Wfox Spark: I contacted Wfox and they say that an update will be automatically sent within two weeks. Nice, I keep a little more hair. For now.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

oldtimer wrote:

Thanks all. Went into local O2 this morning to get an Alcatel pixi4 or a Sony XperiaE5. Didn’t realise how big they are until I tried them in my pocket (perhaps I have small pockets) then spied an LGK4 (4.5 inch screen but supposed to be 4G). Read a number of reviews which rate it poor to middling but at least it works and fits my pocket in all senses of the word. Best of all, O2 recovered my cash balance for me and killed the old phone. Just waiting for the SIM to register. 88 page instruction manual – its only a phone not a 747. It will cost more than the phone to print it out so I will see if I can load it onto the phone. Should have said it was £50

Looks like he bought an LGK4 Steve.

 

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[The Duke]

Cheers Bob, I just couldn’t be bothered reading back. The steps are all the same, ever since 1.1, they just move around a bit.

The screen shots was from android “O” I think will be 8.0, once released. Along way for 1.1.  which didn’t even have an official desert codename. Though internally it was Bender, and in Futerama robot. 1.0 was never released, that was called Astro.

1.1 was updated to 1.5 cupcake very quickly (about 2 months) the 1.6 doughnut about 2 months later. It wasn’t until 1.6 I knew I’d not backed the wrong horse. As the wife iPhone 3g (version 2) was looking quite attractive. After 1.6 the os has been ahead of ios. It was rougher, but far more capable.

[oldtimer]

Thanks Duke.  Tried those but will go back and try again.  In fact I must have switched some leccy gussler of because it lasts two days now.  Ever onwards.

Damn thing keeps vibrating now, but I might have figured what causes it – a slim pencil slipped into the jacket presses on the volume button which reduces volume to nil and triggers vibrate. Just one of life’s little irritations.

Its easy when you know how

[Bob Williams]

Posting this elsewhere: it would be a Hijack.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Ed P]

I now need a new phone!

What are the views on a Wileyfox Swift2 plus versus other 5inch choices and same ~£200 price range?

Afraid I have given up on Chiphones as mine will no longer update and the state of Android insecurity is becoming dire . (unfortunately I have not managed to root the old phone)

[Bob Williams]

Ed I have the Swift and SWMBO has the Spark, about 17 months and 11 months old respectively. I know the new Spark is better than SWMBO’s, but TBH if I was buying now with around £200 I would take the Swift 2x:

https://www.wileyfox.com/

The Spark is underpowered, battery life short and it is slow. Swift, even my older model, is fine and was even better after CM was upgraded to vanilla Android 7.1.1. Hope that helps.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Ed P]

Thanks Bob that was helpful. The 144x72mm dimensions are just about at the limit of my shirt pockets!

[Author]

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