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New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
So, having given in, through gritted teeth, to the 21st century, I need a decent but sensibly priced phone.
Thinking currently is, for a £200-ish budget
Mainstream
Motorola G8 Power
Samsung A40
Chinese, but not grey imports
Huawei P30 Lite
Honor 9x
I'm averse to Chinese phonex on principle .... but you do get more spec per pound. Also, I'm aware of the issues witj Gpogle, Play store, etc going forward. That inclines me a bit towards Samsung or Motorola.
Anybody gpt anything firmly plus or minus for these?
Oh, two things. Budget can go up a bit if there is a really good reason.
And, minimum effort on my paft is key. I don't want to muck about changing OS, sideloading apps, etc. I want a straight-from-box experience.
Comments? Other than shock that I'm even asking about it. :D
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Saracen999
Comments? Other than shock that I'm even asking about it. :D
Come on, you need to give us some time to process here. Where's that paper bag to breath into? ;) :D
To some degree it depends on exactly what you want to do with the phone and just home much you want to embrace the digital world. I have a Moto G5, an upgrade from an old Moto G and was considering the G8 power as well as I've been happy with the G5. I believe the G8 is still missing NFC but I can live with that, I don't know whether it has a compass now which my G5 lacks but tbh that generally isn't an issue (things like star gazing apps and TV antenna alignment apps aren't an everyday use for me). Going usually two days between bothering to charge the phone is really nice though.
Samsung are good, but you do pay a premium for the badge.
Will you use the camera much?
Who are you using as a carrier? If they are competitively priced, buy your phone from them as only the carrier can enable voice over 4G (VoLTE) which can help in iffy signal areas. That isn't a biggie, my current phone is retail as Three pay as you go is by far the best value for me and they didn't have the phone I wanted. My son's Samsung we got on contract as Three did have it, there was a good offer on and it spread the payment as well as costing less overall.
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
My immediate need .... sit down now, and don't laugh .... is to set up two new Amazon Echo devices (1x Echo 3rd gen, 1x Echo Dot 3rd gen) because, believe it or not neither of my Samsung tablets nor my Sony Xperia are "compatible", and I can't find a way to set them up from my W10 laptop.
ARGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!
Sorry. I feel better for getting that out.
But .... I'm not looking at buying a £200 phone to set up £140 of Echos. Even I'm not that stupid. Quiet back there in the cheap seats. ;)
What will I do with it?
That is a damn good question
I've been playing with a friends redundant Xperia and am using a few things. Most obviously .... phoning people. Also WhatsApp for overseas family and a few similar things.
However, as you know, I've boycotted smartphones for years on privacy grounds but recently, conceded (prompted by some changed circumstances) that it's getting less and less practical to maintain that.
So .... if I'm going to concede (Echo's, W10 laptop etc) then I might as well give in and get the benefits and conveniences of a smartphone.
So .... your question about what I'll do with it? Truth is, having given in, I'm really only just finding out what I can do with it, 'cos I've pretty much ignored anything smartphone related until now.
Which is a fancy way of saying I don't know what I want it for. Or more accurately, will want in the near future.
So I want a phone that holds most of my options open and gives decent performance, without spending "silly" money. And silly = £400+.
I might be coaxed into a Samxung A71 at £400-ish, and have been looking at it, but it's going to require a clear justification. I'm trying to work out how far to go in spec, to avoid finding myself restricted in 6 months, without going way over the top now.
As for camera, I'm a photographer and am pretty fussy. Was a Photoshop user going back to PS3, and Micrografx Picture Publisher before that. Part of me says I won't much use the camera functions because I have good cameras. The other half says those cameras won't always be with me, but the phone will. Time will tell.
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
I switched to Samsung this year after a few years of Chinese phones. I do like how the "it just works" factor is so improved. And other small things like the screen auto-dim is so much more reliable. I haven't had to manually change the brightness at any point since I bought it.
Key things for me are usually big battery, because I hate how quickly they drain, and having a MicroSD slot, because storage is often very overpriced and I like the option to take media with me and remove the card etc.
Personally I went for the A50 rather than the A40, because the battery is a third larger (see https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php...&idPhone2=9642)
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
I still need to check out the A50, having jumped A40 to A71. I shall go spec-check right now.
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
I've had an A40 for around 6 weeks as a work phone. The biggest pro is the screen, I've never had an AMOLED before and the difference really is quite noticeable. Best screen on any phone I've ever owned having also never spent more than £200 on a phone.
For me the biggest negative probably won't impact you so much: their overlay is different to stock android. Most noticeably by default the back button is on the right rather than the left. However this is an easy fix in the settings menu and as you've never owned an Android phone you probably don't have years of muscle memory to overcome anyway.
I can't tell if the camera is any better than my personal phone (Nokia 8.1) or if the AMOLED just displays them better so no help there. For photography nothing I've owned has got close to my Lumia 820 Windows Phone sadly. Not struggled with the battery but then it doesn't get touched before 9 or after 5 so...
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
The thing with the back buttin is weird. I've been using a Sony Xperia, but the wife has an A10 for a work phone. But you're rigjt.,It won't bug me.
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
Saracen what issues with Google play store going forward? You mean with huaweii?
I'd just go Android, pixel 3a is excellent. Don't think they've replaced it yet
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ik9000
Saracen what issues with Google play store going forward? You mean with huaweii?
I'd just go Android, pixel 3a is excellent. Don't think they've replaced it yet
Yes, the dispute over access to Huawei to non-OpenSource bits of Android, and Google not licensing their apps, ncluding Play store, to Huawei. It doesn't, as I understand it, affect current models likd P30 Lite (not sure about P40) but some emerging models (like some Honor models) don't have buiilt-in Google Play, meaning buyers either are restricted to Huawei's Store, or have to side-lozd the Google one, whivh Google have issued wsrnings about. Also, IIRC, Huawei blocked side-loading.
So... buying a P30 now gets me Google app store, but what will happen if I upgrade Android in a year?
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Saracen999
Yes, the dispute over access to Huawei to non-OpenSource bits of Android, and Google not licensing their apps, ncluding Play store, to Huawei. It doesn't, as I understand it, affect current models likd P30 Lite (not sure about P40) but some emerging models (like some Honor models) don't have buiilt-in Google Play, meaning buyers either are restricted to Huawei's Store, or have to side-lozd the Google one, whivh Google have issued wsrnings about. Also, IIRC, Huawei blocked side-loading.
So... buying a P30 now gets me Google app store, but what will happen if I upgrade Android in a year?
exactly. Avoid Huaweii. Not worth it IMO.
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
I think I agree. It's just getting it al straight in my head. It feels like jumping into the deep end of a swimming pool, and deciding to learn to swim while airborne. ;D
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
https://www.bluestacks.com
How about give blue stacks a try and see if that will allow you to be able to set up the echo you have.
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
A friend is visiting briefly this PM and he has the legit app installed. Once seg up and running I've got time to sort out a long-term solution ... like a new phone.
Thanks for the idea, though.
Edit -I presume Bluestacks is an Android emulation for PC? Or rather, virtual android maybe, rather than emulation?
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
The best phone I ever owned was a Huawei P9 Lite and not because of anything obvious. It was the fact even though it wasn't an expensive phone,the cooling system was very well engineered. Went somewhere very warm on holidays,had Google maps and Ingress(a game which hammers GPS too),and the phone didn't throttle or overheat.
However,I wouldn't buy a Huawei/Honor(same company) phone now,as any of the newer devices past the P30 series won't have access to the Google integrated services such as the Play store,which is a shame,as they are some of the best phones out there. Also,I am unaware if Huawei still locks bootloaders still,as thre are open source Android variants such as LineageOS.
Motorola is a company I used for years,but ever since Lenovo bought them up,they have been far more hit and miss in regards to reliability IMHO,but they make solid options. Samsung I think is very overpriced for the money,so I tend to avoid them.
The "new" Nokia,makes some very nice feeling phones - the ones I handled seemed quite solid.
Xiaomi make excellent value phones - MIUI isn't perfect,but something like a Mii Mix 5G is £235:
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/xia...efresh-3463991
The specs are ridiculous for the price,but it's a sliding phone. There is a LineageOS port for the phone,so you can always install that if MIUI bugs you.A review:
https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_m...iew-1876p5.php
The camera is decentish.
Personally though,I would really look at a Pixel 3A - they are solid phones,and have a decent camera too. You can get one for £265:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/113749198102
A review of the Pixel 3A XL which is the same phone but with a bigger screen:
https://www.gsmarena.com/google_pixe...iew-1928p5.php
Another review:
https://www.androidauthority.com/goo...review-986460/
The only problem is the lack of upgradeable strorage. However the Android is stock - if you want to look for stock Android on other companies,phones - look for Android One phones. A current list is here:
https://www.android.com/one/
Stock Android and guaranteed software updates for a minimum period.
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
Both my kids have xiaomi phones. Mostly for price. The younger one has a 6" screen one with no sim as a tablet replacement - specs are so much better than any £120 tablet. We'll get him a sim card when he needs a phone. They're quite a lot better than my moto g rev. 1.
The OS is pretty clunky. Tbh my kids have not tried optimising it, I only fix things for them when I have too.
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Re: New phone - Honor, Huawei, Motorola or Samsung?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Saracen999
I'm trying to work out how far to go in spec, to avoid finding myself restricted in 6 months, without going way over the top now.
Most of the phones I have had have eventually gone stuttery from lack of RAM. It seems that as devices generally get more resources apps all start to consume more, and as apps are updated devices get less free ram over time. My old Nvidia Shield tablet is at that stage, it usually works great but sometimes you go to open an app and it just seems to go into some sort of unresponsive swapping frenzy as it "only" has 2GB of ram. My Moto G5 has 3GB of ram and is just fine. It that's where the boundary is atm, I wouldn't want to get an Android device with less than 4GB of ram.
Flash capacity is another one. Most phones allow you to add an SD card, but that is slower and never quite integrates fully so it isn't the same as internal storage. My current phone has 16GB of internal storage which is quite a squeeze, whereas I think my son's Samsung (A70 I think, he's had it for a year and still likes it) has 128GB which seems to be more than he knows what to do with.