Best smartphone?

[picklematrix]

I like Huawei a lot, but if the shenanigans between UK and China prevent updates, I shall get a Samsung next, most likely.
The two are very similar imo, though Huawei is slightly better value for money, at least in the deals I have been offered.

 

[Venusian Broon]

I like Huawei a lot, but if the shenanigans between UK and China prevent updates, I shall get a Samsung next, most likely.
The two are very similar imo, though Huawei is slightly better value for money, at least in the deals I have been offered.

Taking a step back it's amazing how much these things *cost*. I tend to get long contracts - so that every 2-3 years I get hold of the best deal I can find.

But over the lifetime of the contract I'm essentially paying a grand for the phone.

I mean ten years ago, a grand was what I would have spent on a pretty high end PC. (My current one is 1.3-1.4k moreoreless, but that's because it has a monster graphics card.)

Crivens, the phone was worth more than my first car - a 2004 skoda that I bought a few years ago.

I suppose it's me growing up with those dirt cheap Nokias at the turn of the century.

Having said the above, the amount of stuff I've done on this generation's smart phone compared to those basic phones almost makes it worth it.

 

[picklematrix]

Taking a step back it's amazing how much these things *cost*. I tend to get long contracts - so that every 2-3 years I get hold of the best deal I can find.

But over the lifetime of the contract I'm essentially paying a grand for the phone.

I mean ten years ago, a grand was what I would have spent on a pretty high end PC. (My current one is 1.3-1.4k moreoreless, but that 'cause it has a monster graphics card.)

Crivens, the phone was worth more than my first car - a 2004 skoda that I bought a few years ago.

I suppose it's me growing up with those dirt cheap Nokias at the turn of the century.

Having said the above, the amount of stuff I've done on this generation's smart phone compared to those basic phones almost makes it worth it.

I spend somewhere in that ballpark too. Music streaming alone makes it economical, as I used to spend at least a few hundred quid on CDs a year.
The younger me would be envious of anyone with something like Spotify!

And that's not even mentioning access to things like Maps when you are out and about. I'll never know how I did without. A car on the other hand is just a faster mode of transport than a bicycle. It's nice to have one, but I could live without, I'm sure.

 

[Danny McG]

I like my Motorola G6 play. Add in a 128 gb card and off you go.
The battery seems to last forever [4-5 days, maybe longer but I'm not a heavy user], the screen is nice and sharp. It still has a lot of Google Crap that I don't want but no more than any there phone I guess.

I'm on one right now reading this.
Somewhat dismayed to see they're now less than a hundred quid

 

[Parson]

For those phones with sealed in batteries, most can still be replaced if you simply take them some place like Batteries+. It's not as cheap as just slipping the case off and changing it out yourself, but it's still way better than ponying up for a new phone.

@Parson: It's funny that you mentioned Apple's proprietary charging port. They're only able to do that due to a loophole in the law. It's required that phones use micro usb/usb-c. Apple gets around this by not selling you a phone. Officially, the I-phone is a music player that can make phone calls where all the others are phones that can play music. It certainly is a good reason to not buy one.

Two pieces of info I had no idea about! I am now quite aggravated because my last phone was far more than adequate, but the battery just was not lasting, and when I (not a heavy user at all!) can't get 14 hours out of a phone it's sure that the phone battery is not adequate.

A car on the other hand is just a faster mode of transport than a bicycle. It's nice to have one, but I could live without, I'm sure.

Depends upon where you live. Out here on the plains the distances between towns start at about 10 miles, and unless you're lucky and live in a town with a hospital/Dr's office, grocery, and a place that sells sundries you are going to have to travel those kinds of distances regularly, and often in freezing weather.

 

[WaylanderToo]

A car on the other hand is just a faster mode of transport than a bicycle. It's nice to have one, but I could live without, I'm sure.

i have to say that I feel the same way about cars as Charlton Heston did about guns

 

[Danny McG]

i have to say that I feel the same way about cars as Charlton Heston did about guns

How did he feel about them?

 

[Parson]

How did he feel about them?
View attachment 55749

I assume you know that Heston was the 5 time president of the National Rifle Association, probably better known by its initials the NRA.

 

[Danny McG]

I assume you know that Heston was the 5 time president of the National Rifle Association, probably better known by its initials the NRA.

Nope, I didn't know he was. I'd vaguely heard of the NRA but it doesn't mean much here in England

 

[Venusian Broon]

I assume you know that Heston was the 5 time president of the National Rifle Association, probably better known by its initials the NRA.

Yeah he's pretty well known for his role as gun-nut-in-chief here in the UK, from my experience. I can only assume @dannymcg doesn't have time for world affairs because he's got to keep his encyclopedic knowledge of SFF up to date .

 

[Happy Joe]

Re; best smartphone...
The one that always has signal, except when camping, has the ability to disable the internet and all apps and basically, almost, never rings due to a spam/sales/scam caller...
I think mine cost $ 25 US (factory guaranteed, reconditioned/used, deal through my service provider) and needed; a lot of setup to disable/uninstall most of the useless abilities that came preset up... Samsung galaxy luna pro.
It would be better if it were smaller, thinner and only capable of making phone calls, IMO.

...Don't care about the internet or the camera; only tried to use the camera on my previous phone once (turned out increasingly foggy/unusable...

...its a PHONE... I have no use for a computer/camera etc. etc. in my pocket. If I want internet or a computer, for spreadsheets, Cad, or a word processor; I will use a good high speed, computer sitting at the desk at home (while answering Scam callers on the land line).

Enjoy!