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Budget 4g smartphone - recommendations please!


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Old 24-04-2014, 08:39
mrobbo
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I currently have an LG G2 which was unfortunately dropped and smashed. The insurance company refuse to pay out for repairs, so I am looking for a cheap replacement.

Requirements :

- Sub £150
- 4g
- Either at least 16gb on board storage, or expandable memory
- Decent camera

What would you recommend?
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Old 24-04-2014, 08:46
jp200300
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Lumia 625 if you don't mind a windows phone. I got mine sim free for about £160 from phones4u. Cameras not the best but you wont get a great cam phone in that price range.
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Old 24-04-2014, 09:10
mrobbo
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Lumia 625 if you don't mind a windows phone. I got mine sim free for about £160 from phones4u. Cameras not the best but you wont get a great cam phone in that price range.
Thanks. I'll take a look. I'm also looking at the Moto G, and the LTE model which they are rumoured to be releasing soon.... In the meantime, I'd need to find a tatty old phone in the interim so that I'm not phoneless!!
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Old 24-04-2014, 11:09
TheBigM
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Moto G doesn't do 4G which was one of your stated requirements.

If no 4G is ok, you can also look at the Lumia 520 which can be had pretty cheaply often.
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Old 24-04-2014, 11:11
Zee_Bukhari
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nokia lumia 625 it would have to be, you can also find a lumia 820 which has double the ram and feels more premium for around £150-£160 on ebay.
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Old 24-04-2014, 11:52
mrobbo
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nokia lumia 625 it would have to be, you can also find a lumia 820 which has double the ram and feels more premium for around £150-£160 on ebay.
Thanks. I may wait and dig out my Nokia 3210 (lol). I just don't think I'd get on with a windows phone.
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Old 24-04-2014, 11:59
ard100
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Last week I got a Alcatel idol s 4g for £79.99 from my local ee shop then unlocked it for 99p on ebay bargain, In a week or two EE will also have the huawei kestrel 4g for £99
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Old 24-04-2014, 12:07
jabbamk1
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Another vote for Alcatel Idol S 4G.

If you can find it under £100 as above then that's the bargain of the century.
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Old 24-04-2014, 12:14
jp200300
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The main problem with windows phones is certain apps not being available
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Old 24-04-2014, 13:23
TheBigM
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The main problem with windows phones is certain apps not being available
Which apps do you want?
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Old 24-04-2014, 18:36
Orbitalzone
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Moto G doesn't do 4G which was one of your stated requirements.

If no 4G is ok, you can also look at the Lumia 520 which can be had pretty cheaply often.
The Moto G rumours are that a 4G version is on the cards as some have seen FCC approval for such a device. When and how much is still unknown though.
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Old 24-04-2014, 21:08
jp200300
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Which apps do you want?
hsbc

talktalk

blinkbox

tv.co.uk

free spotify

...to name a few
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Old 24-04-2014, 23:06
mrobbo
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Another vote for Alcatel Idol S 4G.

If you can find it under £100 as above then that's the bargain of the century.
I'm seriously looking into getting one of these. Will go into the EE shop as ard100 says and see how much I can pick one up for. This phone sounds ideal for my needs.
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Old 25-04-2014, 15:14
enapace
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Lumia 625 is currently 99.99 on EE which is a really nice price for it.
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Old 25-04-2014, 16:12
ard100
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Also If you are already on pay g orange or t-mobile you should be eligible for a upgrade price provided you have topped up in the last 3 months

I'm seriously looking into getting one of these. Will go into the EE shop as ard100 says and see how much I can pick one up for. This phone sounds ideal for my needs.
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Old 25-04-2014, 17:20
AKW
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Thanks. I may wait and dig out my Nokia 3210 (lol). I just don't think I'd get on with a windows phone.
Having used Android and ios I find it outperforms both of them since windows 8, agree 7 was a little poor. I have no issues with the selection of apps.

Last edited by AKW : 25-04-2014 at 17:24. Reason: Typo
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Old 25-04-2014, 17:31
wavejockglw
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What about the EE Kestrel (Made by Huawei).

Good spec for under £100 and whilst it only has 8GB on board storage it can be expanded with micro SD cards.

http://shop.ee.co.uk/campaigns/ee/kestrel-from-ee
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Old 25-04-2014, 17:38
enapace
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What about the EE Kestrel (Made by Huawei).

Good spec for under £100 and whilst it only has 8GB on board storage it can be expanded with micro SD cards.

http://shop.ee.co.uk/campaigns/ee/kestrel-from-ee
Agreed it is good value specially 10 pound for 10GB of data they offering included with it.
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Old 26-04-2014, 06:26
pmalexander
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Last week I got a Alcatel idol s 4g for £79.99 from my local ee shop then unlocked it for 99p on ebay bargain, In a week or two EE will also have the huawei kestrel 4g for £99
Just about to do the same, have you had a chance to use the camera fully yet, and video , what's it like ?
I hope it's ok with the Waze mobile app too
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Old 26-04-2014, 14:11
SkipTracer
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Agreed it is good value specially 10 pound for 10GB of data they offering included with it.
I wonder what the expiry is on that 10 GB is it 30 day’s standard or a bit more reasonable 90 days as with their 6 GB sim.

Just about to do the same, have you had a chance to use the camera fully yet, and video , what's it like ?
I hope it's ok with the Waze mobile app too
In my view it’s not a bad snapper and takes reasonable HD video too but dare say there will be those who will complain it’s not as good as a £500 iOS camera or a Canon EOS camera.

Not tried Waze on mine but can’t think of any reason why it would not work with its lovely HD screen.
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Old 26-04-2014, 15:23
1saintly
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Having used Android and ios I find it outperforms both of them since windows 8, agree 7 was a little poor. I have no issues with the selection of apps.
Just looking at windows for a change for next phone, noticed facebook dont do a official app from what ive read?
Not that its a deal breaker for me as can live without it, but just find it strange.

looking at
http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/pho...lumia-625/ppay

noticed its cheaper than 620
http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/pho...okia-lumia-620
Thought the 620 was older going off model numbers?
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Old 26-04-2014, 15:25
AKW
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Just looking at windows for a change for next phone, noticed facebook dont do a official app from what ive read?
Not that its a deal breaker for me as can live without it, but just find it strange.
I use the Facebook app, which I think is "official " and its fine.
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Old 26-04-2014, 16:02
finbaar
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The Windows Phone Facebook app is made by Microsoft themselves. And yes it works fine if you are into Facebook.
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Old 26-04-2014, 17:33
ard100
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The video cam in very good front facing cam is ok but inside and dark rooms some ones face has a reddish tint to it, the 8mp normal cam on it is very good but the tint of the colours seem a bit different to real life like if some one had a yellow t-shirt on if you look on the screen the colours are no 100% real life but still very good but saying this I have not downloaded the pics on to my pc to double check i will do this on the weekend and check,

Also the Alcatel is LTE cat 3 but the Huawei is cat 4 LTE not sure how a speed would be affected by this but this has not put me off at all I am more than happy with this the cam and performance of the phone is better than any thing under £200 I think

Also EE pay as you go sim with 10gb valid for 90 days with £15 credit for £15 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1813715628...84.m1497.l2649 also remember if you go with pay as you go on EE you can not top up with a voucher only top up card or credit card and if you loose the top up card you can only top up via credit card until you get a replacement e top up card



Just about to do the same, have you had a chance to use the camera fully yet, and video , what's it like ?
I hope it's ok with the Waze mobile app too
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Old 02-05-2014, 06:45
pmalexander
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Which apps do you want?
The BT Sport app is not available, that's one, it's not available for Windows phones (yet)
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