Which Smart Phone?

[Borboski]

I'm really pleased with my Nokia 620 windows phone, dead cheap and seems to do everything I need it to, seems quick.  I'm not sure what you get on the new phones that warrants the extra price, in all honesty.  I was expecting it to be pretty shit, £16 a month, but it seems great so far.

[Consignia]

As I've discovered, the Nexus 4 is one of the most fragile items in existence. A light tap on the floor the other day and the screen shattered and has made operation thereof impossible. I've resigned myself to ponying up for a replacement, and I might try and repair and sell off my old one.

My question is, do any of these seemingly pointless covers or screen protectors  you can get for smart phones actually provide any help against clumsiness. I doubt it, but would a rubber bumper have lessened the impact saving the screen? I prefer using it without all this shit on, but as cack handed as I am, I might have to lest I end up breaking it again.

[jonbob]

I've got an otter box, it's 2 parts a rubber cover and a hard plastic shell. It makes your phone a bit bigger and it's not cheap, but I have dropped my phone 2 metres onto a concrete floor with no damage to the phone and only a minor crack in the shell.

[syntaxerror]

I'm really pleased with my Nokia 620 windows phone, dead cheap and seems to do everything I need it to, seems quick.  I'm not sure what you get on the new phones that warrants the extra price, in all honesty.  I was expecting it to be pretty shit, £16 a month, but it seems great so far.

I've been thinking about getting one of these for a while; it seems to get good reviews for a cheap phone - any major drawbacks?

[Famous Mortimer]

I've got a CaseMate case for my phone, and it's survived numerous drops onto the floor with no ill effect. But it is a hefty case (but then again, my phone is light so I don't really mind).

[Borboski]

I've been thinking about getting one of these for a while; it seems to get good reviews for a cheap phone - any major drawbacks?

I can't find any. I'm coming to terms with a new interface, stuff like getting to my photos took me a second at first, but have worked it out, and customised the start page.  Took some pictures at a party last night and they came out fine, zoom and focus seems to work well.  Just watched America's Game on youtube in bed, speakers are fine.  Pretty pleased with it all in all.

[Too Many Cochranes]

What's the best mobile for wanking to pictures of naked birds with? I find it difficult on the Desire HD to get a sufficient grip in order to zoom in and out of pictures with one hand. My connection here is patchy so videos are no go.

[Gurke and Hare]

I lost my phone yesterday (Galaxy S3 on o2) so I need to get a new one as I'm on a contract until September 2014. I can't afford another S3, I've got about £150 to spend, any suggestions? How much of a downgrade would an SII be, as I think I could buy one from a man on the internet for £135.

[Famous Mortimer]

As long as you're not using anything massively powerful, app-wise, you'll probably not notice.

[Replies From View]

What's the best mobile for wanking to pictures of naked birds with? I find it difficult on the Desire HD to get a sufficient grip in order to zoom in and out of pictures with one hand. My connection here is patchy so videos are no go.

The iPhone is a good size for one-handed grippage.

[Too Many Cochranes]

Ah, so that's why they only made it taller for the iPhone 5.

[holyzombiejesus]

I went to check when I can upgrade my phone today and found out that  it's Thursday! The man I spoke to said that I should go for a Sony Xperia (which apparently is a 4G phone) with 500 mb data and everything else unlimited for £26 pm (slightly less what I'm paying at the moment). Is this good? I've got a HTC Wildfire at the moment and am really looking forward to smashing the useless fucking thing to bits when I get a new handset. I don't know anyone with a Sony phone though so thought I should check. The man in the shop said it's really good but, well, he would do, wouldn't he?

[Replies From View]

500 mb data and everything else unlimited for £26 pm

It really depends how much internet you use.  500mb seems ridiculously tiny to me, but then I bluetooth all my devices to my mobile phone and use its unlimited data deal as my general internet.

If you're fussed about it being a 4G phone, you probably want more than 500mb.  If you do go over your allowance, they'll have great fun charging you for it.

[MojoJojo]

Worth noting that you can only get 4G in London (and maybe a few other places) at the moment.

[holyzombiejesus]

I'm not bothered about the 4G thing, although with it beng 1 2 year contract, it's probably worth getting one ? Just wondered if Sony Xperia's were any good. I've never used anywhere approaching 500mb on my current phone so don't know whether that limit will be a problem. Then again, I only really use it for Facebook and emails and stuff becasue it's so shit. Would using stuff like iplayer eat up 500 p/month? I'm fucking clueless when it comes to stuff like this.

[MojoJojo]

Yes, you could easily eat up 500Mb with iplayer.

[holyzombiejesus]

I don't know if I should go for a different deal then? Hmmm. I've been put off HTC by my current handset so may go for a Samsung with unlimited data.

[Utter Shit]

I'm sure it depends on how you use it, but I have no problem with the 500mb data limit - my phone is tethered to various wifi spots at home and work, so I just download whatever podcasts I want to listen to before I go out. Having done that, when I'm on the move I only really need the internet for viewing websites and apps like Facebook and Twitter and it probably only takes up maybe 100-150mb a month, so if I forget to download a podcast and really want to listen to it, I'm able to use the remainder as long it doesn't happen too often. I don't really use iPlayer or Youtube while on the move though, I imagine that will cane your allowance.

Worth downloading Onavo if you have trouble sticking to your limit - it keeps you constantly updated on how much of your allowance you've used throughout the month, and warns you if you're using 'data hoggers'.

[holyzombiejesus]

Ah, thankyou. So if I use my home wireless broadband to download stuff, it won't come out of my 500mb limit? (I told you I knew fuck all...)

[MojoJojo]

My HTC One has data usage monitoring that sounds like Onavo - not sure if that is a 4.1 Android thing or something HTC added.
I've got a 500Mb limit which I stay in easily, since I'm almost always near a wifi hotspot. Hopefully the BBC will get off they're arses at some point and let you download programs off iplayer to watch later on android at some point.

[Replies From View]

Ah, thankyou. So if I use my home wireless broadband to download stuff, it won't come out of my 500mb limit? (I told you I knew fuck all...)

Correct.

Let me warn you again though, if you go over your allowance (and your provider will let you sail past it just as a bank lets you go overdrawn so they can fine you - don't assume for a second that they will stop your internet before you reach it), you will be paying loads for the excess.  The deal might seem great, but a few years ago I had a similar one and several times ended up paying around £75 per month until I managed to figure out what the hell was going on.  Now I pay £35 per month for completely unlimited data and haven't looked back since.

If you can use your wifi at home / work and limit the data you use elsewhere you're in a different situation to me, though, and as long as you don't have podcasts downloading automatically etc. you may be fine.

[Utter Shit]

Ah, thankyou. So if I use my home wireless broadband to download stuff, it won't come out of my 500mb limit? (I told you I knew fuck all...)

Na it won't, as long as you make sure you're connecting to your wifi automatically. The app you use to download podcasts (or whatever it is you're downloading) should have a setting where you can ensure it only downloads through wifi, just to make sure. Don't be thick like me and turn that setting off so you can download something on the move that you'd forgotten to download through wifi, then forget to turn it back on and unknowingly rinse your allowance by downloading things you only intended to queue for when you're next tethered.

[mcbpete]

Nah, the download limit is just for 3g usage anything on wifi doesn't count. For reference I normally use about 300mb/month for website browsing, checking twitter etc - though never any video streaming (except if I'm in a wifi spot).

On the last few versions of the Android OS you can manually set a monthly download usage limit check so you don't have to worry about going over and getting stung with a huge bill (I have mine set at 495mb just to be safe !)

[holyzombiejesus]

Apparently, the deal I might get will text at 80% and, unless you authorise it do so , will cut off at 100%.

[Utter Shit]

Onavo does the same thing but you can change the warnings to whatever you like. And it's free.

I don't work for Onavo.

Onavo.

[SetToStun]

Let me warn you again though, if you go over your allowance (and your provider will let you sail past it just as a bank lets you go overdrawn so they can fine you - don't assume for a second that they will stop your internet before you reach it), you will be paying loads for the excess.

My deal with O2 doesn't charge for excess data - they just slow your connection a bit if you go over 500MB. I did manage that once (a fucking Angry Birds game was downloading YouTube videos as adverts every few levels, if you can believe that) but didn't really notice the slowing down at all. In any case I might just buy a 'phone and go for one of these GiffGaff type deals next time, rather than get the 'phone as part of a £46pm, data-limited bundle.

[Jamesieab]

In case anyone's interested my S2 downloaded the update this afternoon and I've just installed it. Looks good but it has removed apps from the main screens, they're still in apps though.

[Zetetic]

I can add that Vodafone tell you when you're approaching the data usage limit. Worth checking that possibility out.

[Utter Shit]

Is anyone else on Android and feels like the latest update has completely fucked the music app? All my playlists just get called "New Playlist" now regardless of what I name the file when creating it (which is where it used to get the title from), and seemingly without any way of editing it on-screen. The layout seems more fiddly and confusing as well, although a quick online for a fix to the above problem suggests that most people like the new look.

[Beagle 2]

It's new phone time, I'm fucked off with my Galaxy Ace, it's a waste of time. I've decided to dump Giff Gaff (even though they're great) just so I can get a free war bastard of a phone. I'm torn between the S4 and the HTC one, although the Nexus 4 looks like a decent budget option. Any thoughts? And is anybody on 3, as they seem to be the cheapest.