Hi, I am looking to purchase my 11 year old daughter her first phone, in readiness for her going to big school in September, I have a chance of purchasing a brand new nokia lumia 610 for around £60 or a used Samsung Galaxy Ace for £30, which phone would you suggest would be the better buy, I have no experience of the windows eco system on a phone, is it just as good for apps etc

TIA

Does she know you are getting her a phone? If so why not ask her which she would prefer after she has done her own homework to see which is better for her.

no, going to surprise her with it

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/com...ones/5145,6931

Here is a comparison between the two, I would say the Lumia edges it, better screen and resolution, better camera and higher resolution video recording. Windows apps have improved a lot and there is decent amount of apps available now.

The Ace uses a very old version of Android and on the spec of the phone it will feel sluggish compared to windows phone OS which is better optimized and lighter so would run better on a low spec device. I believe the user experience will be better on the Lumia 610. I have used the lumia 520 which is newer than the 610 and better specs, but still a low spec phone for todays standards and runs very smooth.

I think the Lumia lacks SD card support but comes with 8gb build in. The storage on the Ace is ridiculously low 158mb!! Even with SD support it's silly because you have to download apps to the device first before you can move to the card, she will constantly have to delete stuff just to make room to download new apps.

IMO the Lumia 610 is a better purchase.

If I were in your position I'd take a look at the Nokia Lumia 520 (personally.)

http://www.nokia.com/gb-en/phones/phone/lumia520/

It runs the latest version of Windows Phone, and also has external storage capabilities.

If you allowed your daughter to, she'd be able to use Instagram, which doesn't work on Windows Phone 7.8.

Furthermore, it'd work with her gloves on (ideal for the colder months of the year) and in terms of apps, the Market Place isn't as extensive as Google Play nor the App Store BUT it is growing in terms of availability.

it is the 520 i can get, dunno why i thought it was the 610

Got my 13 year old daughter the 520 last year...she loves it. For a budget entry phone it really is hard to beat, and doesn't feel budget at all.

Samsung Galaxy Ace is quite old now. A nokia lumia would be better.