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best entry level smart phone
David (2)
Posts: 20,632 Forum Member
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now out of contract and can switch again. some posters will know i have struggled with a htc wildfire s and want ideas for a better replacement for similar money. i will go over what i think is esp bad about this phone...
touch screen is not accutate, often get wrong letters. doesnt work well with cold fingers, and using a pen doesnt work either. its so bad it usually wont swipe to take a call.
dont like android. i can any mac or pc from win3 on and can fly around those systems but android is just so limited, slow, toy like, with many features duplicated everywhere.
i used a mini ipad in shop recently and typed on that perfect on the first try, night + day compared to my htc.
battery life is shocking. with normal use it needs a full charge every day.
unstable, lots of crashes, many everyday on any website, any app. once it went totally wrong and lost everything overnight. i cant rely on it + still use my old push button sony for my main point of contact.
touch screen is not accutate, often get wrong letters. doesnt work well with cold fingers, and using a pen doesnt work either. its so bad it usually wont swipe to take a call.
dont like android. i can any mac or pc from win3 on and can fly around those systems but android is just so limited, slow, toy like, with many features duplicated everywhere.
i used a mini ipad in shop recently and typed on that perfect on the first try, night + day compared to my htc.
battery life is shocking. with normal use it needs a full charge every day.
unstable, lots of crashes, many everyday on any website, any app. once it went totally wrong and lost everything overnight. i cant rely on it + still use my old push button sony for my main point of contact.
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i complained bitterly re the hopeless touch screen but was told it was normal, it took me 5 goes at getting the word "was" correct.
its built in memory is too small. with just 20 mp3 tracks on it but with android on auto update it was constantly prompting low memory within the first year. i did evetything i could until there was no more options to clear up. after that i had to reset to factory to remove all the massive os updates + then disabled auto update to stop it happening again.
i can only afford about £15 a month.
I know it might have put you off android but you really should try out a Motorola G in either 8gb or 16gb.Your only other option is a windows phone as iphones cant be had for £15 a month.
That said if you don't like it your choices are basically Windows phone or nothing at all - as AxeVictim said there is basically no alternative at that price.
Can't really tell the difference between my £100 phone and my family members Samsung Galaxy S4's which cost 4 times as much.
Moto G as has already been advised. Or the Nokia Lumia 625 is now available for about the same price. However this runs Windows Phone and if you think Android is limited and toy like then you ain't seen nothing yet.
The problems you have been having are with the phone and not Android (mainly due to the price).
The Moto G has been compared to phones 4 times the price.
My wife has one and it's very snappy (she only got rid of her 2 year old Galaxy S2 and even that was not showing any of the problems your phone had).
It's either the Moto G or a low end Windows phone.
By far the worst piece of electronics I have ever bought. I don't want to be stuck with anything remotely as bad as that again - I cant go through it all again! Just too much hassle, there is no excuse why even entry level smart phones should be that bad imo.
Which is why I started this thread - I was thinking about getting a WIFI only Apple iPad Mini to replace it, and just use my old push button candy bar phone for contact. But I have since ruled it out as recent events have demonstrated that I need mobile internet, not limited to using it at home or a few free hot spots. I know theres 'pads with 3g and wifi, but even with the smallest they seem to big to carry about all the time. This brings me back to a smart phone, but I don't want to just swap one rubbish hardly useable phone for another one that is no better.
See HotDeals website or app
Well take the advice here and you will be fine.
The Nokia 520 or 625 are very nice phones to use.
I must admit I'm having a job getting used to Android - I have a book on it, which I'm working my way through. But each new facility I find makes me even more impressed.
another question, my htc really comes to a halt when it needs to switch from wifi to 3g or the other way. is this normal or just down to this phone?
You say yours is 'not that old', but even if you bought it recently, it is still an outdated design.
The Moto G, already mentioned, is a case in point as to the improvements made to more recent phones, battery life & memory management are much better., processor speeds are faster & the whole Android experience a lot 'slicker'.
Furthermore, the Nexus 4 is a total bargain, especially now that its price has dropped further as a result of the release of the nexus 5
A galaxy S2 is not in the same league as the modern batch of budget smartphones and is very dated. It will be totally smoked by any Nexus 4.
Moto G is a good choice.
This is very much true. The galaxy s2 is now 3 years old, it won't be receiving any further updates as the product is end of life.
The OP you could do a lot worse and go with the consensus of a Moto G I have the handset and I regulaly get 2 days usage out of it. The handse will be supported for another year or so meaning you will be able to receive further android updates. For the price its the best phone on the market without question. Your experience of android will be changed as a result of using this handaet.
I also think it can be a false economy to buy an older model second hand. The prices don't often reflect the technical ability of the phone and you get the obvious risks of buying second hand.