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Futureproofed mobile for EE network


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Old 17-07-2016, 23:33
countyboy
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Help! I will soon be changing my HTC 620, which I use on EE on a 12 month sim only deal, which ends in December. (I like to update my phones every 18 months, as I find that they generally start to lose their battery life after that.)

I want to stay on EE, as it gives excellent coverage in my home area, But I want to ensure that the new mobile can work on the forthcoming 800Mhz, as I spend a fair amount of time in a rural area with a very weak signal. I also want it to work on EE's wifi calling, and VOLTE. Budget up to £250.

Do I have to buy a phone from EE to meet my requirements? (presumably I could be an EE PAYG phone, and drop in my sim only card?)

Thanks.
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Old 17-07-2016, 23:58
Hurlley
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Wifi calling on Android requires an EE purchased handset. They even called me to advise me on Wifi calling but then I said I bought the phone myself and its not EE branded so it wont work, its part of their own custom firmware.
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Old 18-07-2016, 06:41
bikerlad
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Wifi calling on Android requires an EE purchased handset. They even called me to advise me on Wifi calling but then I said I bought the phone myself and its not EE branded so it wont work, its part of their own custom firmware.
Not true, that changed a while ago. The list of phones they support when purchased elsewhere is here.

http://ee.co.uk/help/phones-and-device/wifi-calling
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Old 18-07-2016, 11:39
CheshireBumpkin
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I can't help but think that you'll struggle to get a 'futureproofed' phone as you describe for £250. The only one that I see that I'd trust to be consistently compatible (and as features are launched) with anything coming over the next 18 months would be an iPhone.

A second hand SE might just scrape in, or a 5S, but I'm not sure how long the latter will remain update-able.
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Old 18-07-2016, 13:08
TheBigM
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I can't help but think that you'll struggle to get a 'futureproofed' phone as you describe for £250. The only one that I see that I'd trust to be consistently compatible (and as features are launched) with anything coming over the next 18 months would be an iPhone.

A second hand SE might just scrape in, or a 5S, but I'm not sure how long the latter will remain update-able.
A Nexus 5X could do the job here?
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Old 18-07-2016, 18:34
Gigabit
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The Nexus 5X has unacceptable lag.
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Old 18-07-2016, 19:17
CheshireBumpkin
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The Nexus 5X has unacceptable lag.
I don't have direct experience of it, but I have heard numerous anecdotal cases of wifi calling problems too.
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Old 18-07-2016, 20:50
d123
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A second hand SE might just scrape in, or a 5S, but I'm not sure how long the latter will remain update-able.
5s doesn't do VoLTE so I wouldn't put it in the futureproof column.

SE is a good call though.
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Old 18-07-2016, 22:12
lightspeed2398
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VoLTE is still so new it might be worth waiting a few months just to see how they handle the updates beyond the iPhone a bit more.
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Old 18-07-2016, 22:44
d123
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VoLTE is still so new it might be worth waiting a few months just to see how they handle the updates beyond the iPhone a bit more.
Won't affect the iPhone models that already support it, can any Android handset really be considered futureproof these days? Maybe the Nexus models, but any of the others?
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Old 19-07-2016, 00:30
CheshireBumpkin
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5s doesn't do VoLTE so I wouldn't put it in the futureproof column.
Ah, sorry - didn't realise that. Good for me to know, as for all these reasons my next handset will probably be an iPhone.
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Old 19-07-2016, 10:28
Cloudane
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I tend to say there isn't such a thing as future-proofing, though that's mostly in relation to PCs where people spend £600 on a "future proof" graphics card that is beaten by a £100 card in 2-3 years.

Apple have a track record recently of releasing major updates to iPhones for 3-4 years which beats the 2 year policy with Nexus devices, on the other hand you are of course paying a bit more - it probably evens out in the long run.
For every other Android device the manufacturers are usually more interested in getting you to update to a new handset and do minimal, late updates to existing ones, if any.

Apple phones are the best supported by EE. They were first to get Wifi Calling and first to get VoLTE. As far as I'm aware, VoLTE is still not supported on the Nexus. As others have said, second hand is the way to go if you don't want to spend much. I have a 5S for when I want to use something more pocketable, picked it up for £130 and it works just as well as the 6P (no VoLTE) if not better (Wifi Calling stays on, Nexus has always had the bug where it eventually has to be rebooted). The performance is actually about on par by my experience!

The Nexus 5X has unacceptable lag.
Agreed. Unless you only keep it pretty much bare. But once you put a handful of apps on and have it talking to wearables etc you really get those lag moments. The aforementioned iPhone 5S easily outperforms it.

And yeah, while the 6P loses Wifi Calling after maybe a week and needs a reboot, the 5X loses it after a day.
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