Cheap Android phone recommendations

[MrSki]

My old phone died (Well could not charge it) so I got a 128GB one of these. After having to get a new SIM from EE (can take two SIMS) & a bit of faffing I am pretty pleased with it. Only really use the phone for phone calls & texts but I am sure I will move into the 21st Century with time & use some of the other features.
It is great value for money. Fast charging is a godsend.

Mostly still happy apart from it does not support contactless payments so I can't be one of those flash fuckers paying for things with their phone. Apart from that it is still amazing compared to the shite I had before. It is not too much of a hassle to have to actually get my wallet out of my pocket and use the bleeding card but am a bit disappointed with the lack of this feature.
Would still recommend it for £130 for 128 GB

 

[Me76]

Can you just take it to a shop and get them to do a battert replacement?

If it still works fine and youre happy enough why upgrade?

Done one of those already and it's made no difference.

Splashed out to £500 for a galaxy s10e but I'm sending that back as the battery life was even worse than my current phone.

 

[On Fire]

Mostly still happy apart from it does not support contactless payments so I can't be one of those flash fuckers paying for things with their phone. Apart from that it is still amazing compared to the shite I had before. It is not too much of a hassle to have to actually get my wallet out of my pocket and use the bleeding card but am a bit disappointed with the lack of this feature.
Would still recommend it for £130 for 128 GB

I am puzzled by this, as mine has NFC and Google Pay. I have not actually used it though, as I bank with Barclays and they don't support Google Pay. But for more or less any other UK bank, it should work.

 

[MrSki]

I am puzzled by this, as mine has NFC and Google Pay. I have not actually used it though, as I bank with Barclays and they don't support Google Pay. But for more or less any other UK bank, it should work.

I bank with Barclays & mine does not have NFC but does have google pay. Have you got the Remi Note 10 or the note 10 pro?

 

[On Fire]

I bank with Barclays & mine does not have NFC but does have google pay. Have you got the Remi Note 10 or the note 10 pro?

I have the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G and it has NFC and Google Pay. Here is the guide for turning on NFC:

Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G - Turn NFC on or off | Vodafone UK

NFC (Near Field Communication) is a wireless connection which can be used to transfer information to and from your phone. By holding your phone close to an NFC tag or NFC reader you can pay for groceries, connect to web pages or call a phone number and more.

deviceguides.vodafone.co.uk

Barclays don't support Google Pay, so that might be the problem also.

 

[MrSki]

I have the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G and it has NFC and Google Pay. Here is the guide for turning on NFC:

Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G - Turn NFC on or off | Vodafone UK

NFC (Near Field Communication) is a wireless connection which can be used to transfer information to and from your phone. By holding your phone close to an NFC tag or NFC reader you can pay for groceries, connect to web pages or call a phone number and more.

deviceguides.vodafone.co.uk

Thanks.

ETA not happening for me.

 

[Jim6]

I am puzzled by this, as mine has NFC and Google Pay. I have not actually used it though, as I bank with Barclays and they don't support Google Pay. But for more or less any other UK bank, it should work.

This has been interesting. I have a Redmi 9 Note and with Barclays and used contactless which is available through the Barclays app, not Google Pay. You may already know this now. It worked for a few months but then stopped which I'm trying to sort out with Barclays Help.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Indeed there is.

Just managed to snag myself a Xiaomi POCO X3 Pro Frost Blue 8GB + 256GB and thanks to HUKD it was £169 instead of £249! And a free rucksack

Dropped my A71 and smashed the screen to buggery 9 months back. Had the screen fixed but I am sure more damage was done internally as it only rings/alerts/alarms when it bloody feels like it.

lil'Angel loves her Redmi phone so I thought I'd have a go too.

Right... I tried the POCO X3 Pro a few times and I hate it. Summat to do with their software and finding things just winds me up to buggery. I can always skin the UI with Nova Launcher or summat so that's not the issue.

As a result, I've struggled with the A71 and it is getting daft now with how often it doesn't alert me to texts or Signals or WhatsApps.
Yet it rings every time when people call me - WTF is going on?

So, please convince me how to proceed in a way with the POCO that'll make me not hate it or suggest me another Droid that I can keep for 2 - 3 years. Not necessarily a cheapo phone.

I'm 18 months into a 24 month contract so am sticking with same SIM. Need dual SIM for work.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Right... I tried the POCO X3 Pro a few times and I hate it. Summat to do with their software and finding things just winds me up to buggery. I can always skin the UI with Nova Launcher or summat so that's not the issue.

As a result, I've struggled with the A71 and it is getting daft now with how often it doesn't alert me to texts or Signals or WhatsApps.
Yet it rings every time when people call me - WTF is going on?

So, please convince me how to proceed in a way with the POCO that'll make me not hate it or suggest me another Droid that I can keep for 2 - 3 years. Not necessarily a cheapo phone.

I'm 18 months into a 24 month contract so am sticking with same SIM. Need dual SIM for work.

Ditch the crappy Chinese bloatware/spyware ROM and Install the EU ROM.

MIUI 12.0 - MIUI 12 STABLE RELEASE

STABLE RELEASE RULES WHEN POSTING 1. If a ROM is not published DONT ASK ABOUT ITS ETA 2. If a ROM is not published DONT ASK why! 3. If a ROM is available, download it and use it 4. If a ROM has bugs, post the bug to the bug section if the BUG is not already listed 5. If you use any form of...

xiaomi.eu

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Ditch the crappy Chinese bloatware/spyware ROM and Install the EU ROM.

MIUI 12.0 - MIUI 12 STABLE RELEASE

STABLE RELEASE RULES WHEN POSTING 1. If a ROM is not published DONT ASK ABOUT ITS ETA 2. If a ROM is not published DONT ASK why! 3. If a ROM is available, download it and use it 4. If a ROM has bugs, post the bug to the bug section if the BUG is not already listed 5. If you use any form of...

xiaomi.eu

Oooh - will have a read. Have you done this?

 

[Saul Goodman]

Oooh - will have a read. Have you done this?

It's the first thing I do on all of my Xiaomi phones. Unlock the bootloader and install the EU ROM. I think the bootloader may already be unlocked on the X3 Pro. It was on the one I bought but it might vary depending on where it comes from.
Its definitely worth doing.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

It's the first thing I do on all of my Xiaomi phones. Unlock the bootloader and install the EU ROM. I think the bootloader may already be unlocked on the X3 Pro. It was on the one I bought but it might vary depending on where it comes from.
Its definitely worth doing.

Was just about to start the process and was surprised to find that I need to link it to a computer to unlock the bootloader.

Anyone know if there is a way of unlocking the bootloader and installing the EU ROM Saul Goodman linked to above without having to use another device? Or is there no way around this?

 

[Saul Goodman]

Was just about to start the process and was surprised to find that I need to link it to a computer to unlock the bootloader.

Anyone know if there is a way of unlocking the bootloader and installing the EU ROM Saul Goodman linked to above without having to use another device? Or is there no way around this?

Have you checked in the developer options to check it's not already unlocked?
I think a computer is necessary first time round.

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

Think I might have to go for one of those redmi note 10 as my 5 year old cheap HTC is nearing the end of it's useful life with only 16Gb storage a rapidly deteriorating battery life and a habit of nuking SD card used as internal storage at the most inconvenient of times. Gonna have to keep an eye out for deals.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Think I might have to go for one of those redmi note 10 as my 5 year old cheap HTC is nearing the end of it's useful life with only 16Gb storage a rapidly deteriorating battery life and a habit of nuking SD card used as internal storage at the most inconvenient of times. Gonna have to keep an eye out for deals.

Xiaomi phones seem to crop up as deals on HUKD pretty regularly. There's also summation called Xiaomi Friday going on over at mi.com, discounts ahoy.

 

[BristolEcho]

Think I might have to go for one of those redmi note 10 as my 5 year old cheap HTC is nearing the end of it's useful life with only 16Gb storage a rapidly deteriorating battery life and a habit of nuking SD card used as internal storage at the most inconvenient of times. Gonna have to keep an eye out for deals.

I got my Sony from Handtec second hand and it's been a delight. Might be worth seeing what they have. 12 month warranty.

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

Am now wondering whether to go 10 (159) 10S (£179) 10 5G (£170) or 10 pro (£220)
I don't really need the fancy camera which seem to me the major appeal for the pro version and am unsure wheterh I need 5G (but am planning on keeping this phone until it cracks at the seams as always)

 

[MrSki]

I got the ten for £119 but upgraded to 128 GB for another 20 quid. Got it off ebay.

 

[Chz]

I think the basic 10's waterproofing has been found a bit sub-standard, it has no NFC for Google Pay, and it has only 4GB of RAM. For the small extra price, the 10S is worth it. Only downside is that the 10S is actually a hair slower than the 10 (Mediatek vs. Snapdragon SoC), but I doubt you'd notice the difference.

The Pro's screen is noticeably nicer, and it's pretty much that and the camera you're paying for. On paper the fastest of the 3, but the difference is slight again.

 

[Part 2]

My Pixel 3 seems to have given up. I think I've fucked up the port on the phone trying to clean it out so now the cable won't stay put. Had it 3 years and was only last week thinking how amazing it was the original charger cable was still fully working.

Much as it's nice having a good camera I don't use it often and don't need a flagship phone. The performance of the pixel was quite fast enough.

What's the cheapest I can spend?....Are there really £100 phones around?

 

[Chz]

There are, but I'd advise that the best value for money is in the £150-200 range. A £160 phone is quite a lot better than a £110 one.
Xiaomi currently has the Redmi 10 on sale for £159 with some headphones tossed in. That's about the minimum spec I'd go for.

 

[Part 2]

There are, but I'd advise that the best value for money is in the £150-200 range. A £160 phone is quite a lot better than a £110 one.
Xiaomi currently has the Redmi 10 on sale for £159 with some headphones tossed in. That's about the minimum spec I'd go for.

After some more scraping about in the port I managed to clean it out. Was surprised how hard I could go at it and how little it takes for the connection to be blocked. Still only works with the lead one way but it's been like that since I got it and seems to be a common problems.

 

[MrSki]

After some more scraping about in the port I managed to clean it out. Was surprised how hard I could go at it and how little it takes for the connection to be blocked. Still only works with the lead one way but it's been like that since I got it and seems to be a common problems.

Well I replace mine when matchsticks& other means of support was not doing it anymore & lost my data that was not really important but could have been. Plus I had to wait 2 days for a modern sim card that works on a modern phone.

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

There are, but I'd advise that the best value for money is in the £150-200 range. A £160 phone is quite a lot better than a £110 one.
Xiaomi currently has the Redmi 10 on sale for £159 with some headphones tossed in. That's about the minimum spec I'd go for.

Yep, finally ordered a 10S today

 

[paul russell999]

I really need a new phone anyway (black blobs over the screen, etc.) but in the meantime is there any way to get rid of the stupid Huawei music app? It doesn't give you an "uninstall" option (of course), only force stop or disable. But even after doing that, from yesterday, it's opening up every few seconds, making it impossible to do anything, or go into Settings without it popping up. In fact, all the Huawei apps seem to be more like viruses than anything useful. Thanks.

In the long term, I'm looking for the cheapest possible phone that (1) has NFC and (2) isn't Huawei!

 

[Chz]

I really need a new phone anyway (black blobs over the screen, etc.) but in the meantime is there any way to get rid of the stupid Huawei music app? It doesn't give you an "uninstall" option (of course), only force stop or disable. But even after doing that, from yesterday, it's opening up every few seconds, making it impossible to do anything, or go into Settings without it popping up. In fact, all the Huawei apps seem to be more like viruses than anything useful. Thanks.

In the long term, I'm looking for the cheapest possible phone that (1) has NFC and (2) isn't Huawei!

I don't think you can uninstall Huawei Music except by using third party tools to force it, but I've owned several Huawei phones and never had the problem you describe. (still using an Honor V20 right now - from when Honor was a Huawei brand, not like now)
Did you maybe accidentally set a gesture to open it?

 

[paul russell999]

I don't think you can uninstall Huawei Music except by using third party tools to force it, but I've owned several Huawei phones and never had the problem you describe. (still using an Honor V20 right now - from when Honor was a Huawei brand, not like now)
Did you maybe accidentally set a gesture to open it?

Thanks. I don't think so. I should have said it's a Huawei P Smart 2019 (POT-LX1) with Android 9.0.

Other apps sometime open randomly, like the Merrian Webster dictionary and Huawei Petal. It's a bit like when your computer goes crazy opening programs, and then you realise a certain keyboard key has got stuck down....

Oh, and a straight vertical white line appeared on the screen a few days ago - don't think that could be related....

Edit - in fact, I can see what it is - all the apps that are opening are in the same position on the screen! (So it is like a stuck keyboard key)

 

[reubeniz]

My Pixel 3 seems to have given up. I think I've fucked up the port on the phone trying to clean it out so now the cable won't stay put. Had it 3 years and was only last week thinking how amazing it was the original charger cable was still fully working.

Much as it's nice having a good camera I don't use it often and don't need a flagship phone. The performance of the pixel was quite fast enough.

What's the cheapest I can spend?....Are there really £100 phones around?

Ports have a lifespan. DOnt quote me but its something like 1500 insertions for mini usb and 3000 for usb c. Once the port has gone you may have to replace the motherboard aka possibly buy a new phone. Consider magnet charge cables. The ones i used are NetDot Magnetic cables They last longer than normal cables ( even Anker ones ) and they lead to a lot less insertions as you leave one end in the phone. Just an idea.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Ports have a lifespan. DOnt quote me but its something like 1500 insertions for mini usb and 3000 for usb c. Once the port has gone you may have to replace the motherboard aka possibly buy a new phone. Consider magnet charge cables. The ones i used are NetDot Magnetic cables They last longer than normal cables ( even Anker ones ) and they lead to a lot less insertions as you leave one end in the phone. Just an idea.

Don't forget those back street phone repair places. Not long after getting my P30 I bent a charging cable in the port by being a klutz and they soldered in a new one for me. Still going strong two years later.

 

[xsunnysuex]

Can anyone recommend an android phone that's good for battery life and camera? Around the £250/£300 price. Please.
I have a note 9. The battery life used to be ok. But not anymore. And the camera is shockingly bad.