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Best mobile for £300
victor mel
Posts: 4,963
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What is the best value mobile for £300?
Most reliable, sturdy, fast internet & music.
Also it will be used for around 1 to 1 & half yr so
must be up to date spec wise.
Most reliable, sturdy, fast internet & music.
Also it will be used for around 1 to 1 & half yr so
must be up to date spec wise.
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Galaxy s3
Nexus 4
LG 4x
There is also the windows phone 920
The Nexus 4 is great specs for the price but I would rather a white version & it doesn't look like the UK will get this.
I am tempted by the 920 especially as its available in EE stores for £260 but a few things put me off like the size & a lack of notifications for texts & emails.
Not sure where you are getting your info on the build and fragility of the s3 but up to you, the s3 and nexus are very similar in spec as is the LG 4x.
Not used WP8 much so someone else will have to help you out there with txts, with size I assume you mean weight?
Lots of people have spoken about the poor build quality of the s3.
Yes the weight of the 920 & chunkyness. The 925 is better but expensive.
925 outside the £300
Still has a good spec, is sturdy, good sized battery and can be had for £180 if not less.
Daughter has one and im very impressed with it.
Even the signal on it seems not to bad compared to my old HTC Desire S.
Darren
You could also get a Nokia Lumia 820 in funky colours for just under £300.
None of that annoying crap ware that samsung/htc put on there stuff as well.
Also when the next version of Android is out you get the upgrade immediately.
Ive tried a few samsung phones and tablets, very big on marketing low on quality imo. They seem pretty plasticky and prone to problems
Friend of mine had the S2 which died twice, another had an S3 which died and another friend had one of their 10 inch tablets which also went wrong.
The HTC phones seem much better built to me. The Nexus 4 has quite a nice build quality too for the price. It just needs a gel case to protect if from sliding off things
I atend to agree with you having had the Nexus 4 just over a week now and the Nexus 7 about 11 months.
Darren
I'm afraid that may be your opinion but not general acceptance at least by the many many millions who but them. As for build quality LG have a poor rep for their build quality and you know which phone they build right
Perhaps you should Google issues with the nexus before you claim it is to notch.
However if you don't wish to buy Samsung up to you but the reality is the s3 is very very good especially for this price and I would prefer to the nexus having owned both.
Another advantage I find is being pure Android there are minimal compatibility issues. All the games seem to work very smoothly and I've not come across any major app that had any issues running on the Nexus.
The are also super easy to unlock and root as well if you're into that sort of thing compared with HTC and Samsung etc..
I did look at the Samsung S3 but liked the Nexus 4 as I already own the Nexus 7 tablet. Thats way after nearly 4 months of thinking about it I got the Nexus 4 last week. To replace my just under 2 year old HTC Desire S
Darren
The combination of hardware and software on the Nexus 4 is the best you'll find at the price in my view, plus it's going to stay up to date far longer than the S3.
Every device has a few issues, but so far my Nexus 4 has really impressed me, LG did a great job and worked closely with Google on the design. The glass back is a small cause for concern, but as long as the phone isn't handled violently, it seems to be fine. I would suggest the Nexus 4.
I managed to smash the screen on my nexus 4 ( my fault ) so I personally repaired it myself. IMO the N4 is really well put together inside, with good design for example the usb connector would be really cheap and easy to replace.
Every one I know had had reliability issues with Samsung, perhaps a statistical anomaly but I've tried them they just don't seem well put together.
I have to hand it to them though they do spend an massive amount on marketing which has worked very well for them.
Exactly right, I mean when the next version of Android comes out the it will be available practically immediately on the N4 with the S3 not being the current phone who knows if and when you will get an update
I do once recall a day when other device users adopted the word polycarbonate instead.
I am a bit confused on how it is aging. Seems high spec to me.
Of course you will reccomend the phone that you have, purely to back up your own purchase.
Op, now you have suggestions, go to town, try them out ( will probably have to visit all the mobile retailers in turn to get a look at live versions of them all) and see what floats your boat.
Try and narrow the list down....
Is a removable battery or memory card important? Samsung, some HTC.
Getting the latest android updates? Nexus4
Looks?
Accessory support? Samsung, HTC, Nexus
Good value? Motorola razr I
How is the s3 aging and the nexus 4 not aging exactly given they are the same generation. What exactly is so special about the nexus 4 hardware and software combination. There are many shortcomings with the nexus I was very disappointed in when I had it.
Don't get me wrong however it is still a great phone for the money I just don't get this obsession everyone has with it, if it was purely an lg phone exactly the same no one would pay it much attention.
If pure android is your thing fine apart from that there is no real stand out feature at these price points that make it particularly special.
They are not of the same generation. There is 6 months between them which is a massive gap considering today's pace of technology.
The Nexus 4 has more processing power, and whether you like it or not, is running a more superior version of Android. Touchwiz, especially on the ageing S3 hardware is not going to run like a dream, whereas Google will still be optimising builds of Android for the Nexus 4 for quite a while yet, so it will retain its performance peak far longer than the S3 which is already waning.
Samsung won't keep up S3 support much longer, its focus has already shifted totally to the S4 and next-gen devices, I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped updating the S3 within the next few months.
There is nothing really special which would be a driving factor in choosing the S3 over the Nexus 4. The Nexus 4 is newer and cheaper in most cases, and has better performance. The OP is asking for the "best" phone for the price point, so considering that, the Nexus 4 does trump the S3 on paper. However, real life experience will factor into this. Some people will like to settle for something less as its what they're used to, and fair enough.
As for your comment about settling for something less, there are a number if ways in which the S3 runs rings around the Nexus 4 - including battery life, which given they have the same capacity batteries, makes your comment about Google optimising Android for the Nexus 4 look pretty ridiculous.
They are the same generation of phone regardless of the gap between them the same as my note 2 is the same generation but much later than the s3 and closer to the nexus. The nexus is not in the s4 or one class.
The nexus is a little quicker granted at least on paper but that is about all it can offer and that is marginal. os is subjective I personally don't like pure android way too simplified and requires the installing of too many apps to achieve basic s3 functionality. You say s3 waning in what way is that exactly?
I really don't want to get into bashing the nexus as it doesn't deserve it but things to consider in relation to the s3. Its camera is inferior the lack of burst shot I found amazing when I had it and very slow operation. The battery life is far worse something I was really disappointed in especially with no removable battery as on the s3. The screen is quite poor as the viewing angle is very slight. On screen buttons I found really irritating and only accomplished making the screen in practice smaller in far too many instances, also in some apps getting then to disappear is very annoying.
As for longevity the nexus will be updated probably longer but the latest os is IMO grossly overrated as a major feature. A better test of longevity will be the nexus limited to a maximum of 16gb storage something that will become very limiting for many users very quickly I think no a problem with the s3 SD support. Lastly not mentioning the lack of any 4g version may be very telling over the coming months.
The fact the s3 even after the emergence of the nexus was still rated the best phone in the world by most tech sites and awards doesn't quite tally with your assertion the nexus is far superior does it.
The one major advantage the nexus had was price which has nice been lost.
Having said all that still a good phone:D and well worth the money.
You failed to mention that the Nexus 4 also has double the RAM, a higher resolution screen and a more graphics and processing power on board. So considering, as you pointed out, they have the same sized battery, that pretty much invalidates your point.