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Cheap Android phone recommendations

xsunnysuex said:
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.
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OnePlus Nord. Was going to get one for my partner when she thought she'd killed her phone, but it dried out..

www.techradar.com

OnePlus Nord review

The OnePlus Nord is an emphatic return to the mid-range
www.techradar.com www.techradar.com
 
The mid range is not in a good place right now. The sub-250 market is better than it's ever been by a long shot, and it's taken the air out of the mid range. Not many people want to pay a little bit more for a better camera and a smidge of performance, they go for the high end. There are some things in the pipeline, but they'll probably be closer to £400. That MiLite 5g is the only thing current that comes to mind.

Edit: If camera quality is paramount, a two-year old top tier phone with a new battery could be preferable to anything cheap.
 
reubeniz said:
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.
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Interesting. I've had to give up on a couple of phones that I'd had not much more than a year because of problems charging via the mini usb.
 
My phone has now completely died, so I'm looking to get a new handset to stick my contract SIM into as soon as possible. I would like NFC as I've got used to using Google Pay, especially as I haven't got a contactless bank card (long story). I can't see anything under £150 with NFC. What are good choices below £200? Thanks.
 
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My Pixel 3 has developed an odd problem with the power button in that it seems to register a double press when pressed once.

The result of this is that the camera launches when ever I try and wake the phone to see screen or lock phone. This seems quite a common problem with the pixel 3. For now I'm going to persevere with it and it's not enough to justify replacing the phone but if anyone has fixed this do shout up.
 
I have a Moto G5 that's been brilliant but is now dying. The Motorola naming and numbering confuses the fuck out of me. Is there a newer and better version of the G5? Also been seeing the Xiaomi Note 11 mentioned lots.

Please can someone who knows all this shit just tell me what phone to buy? Budget maximum £200 (never spent more than £180 I think) and I much prefer to buy refurbished phones - collapsing eco-systems, etc. etc. Hate loads of pre-installed apps I never use, just browse the web and use a dozen or so apps, no gaming or anything fancy like that, having an average camera fine, needs to have NFC and a decent battery ideally.
 
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LDC said:
I have a Moto G5 that's been brilliant but is now dying. The Motorola naming and numbering confuses the fuck out of me. Is there a newer and better version of the G5? Also been seeing the Xiaomi Note 11 mentioned lots.

Please can someone who knows all this shit just tell me what phone to buy? Budget maximum £200 (never spent more than £180 I think) and I much prefer to buy refurbished phones - collapsing eco-systems, etc. etc. Hate loads of pre-installed apps I never use, just browse the web and use a dozen or so apps, no gaming or anything fancy like that, having an average camera fine, needs to have NFC.
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Second hand you could probably get a P30, maybe even a Pro. Although the camera is awesome not just average. Don't get the lite though.
 
Motorola P30? God this is all far too complicated for me! I don't want so much choice! Why can't they simplify the naming thing, it's baffling!
 
LDC said:
Motorola P30? God this is all far too complicated for me! I don't want so much choice! Why can't they simplify the naming thing, it's baffling!
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Sorry, no, Huawei. It's was the last phone they were able to do with full Google before the all the trade war nonsense.
 
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LDC said:
I have a Moto G5 that's been brilliant but is now dying. The Motorola naming and numbering confuses the fuck out of me. Is there a newer and better version of the G5? Also been seeing the Xiaomi Note 11 mentioned lots.

Please can someone who knows all this shit just tell me what phone to buy? Budget maximum £200 (never spent more than £180 I think) and I much prefer to buy refurbished phones - collapsing eco-systems, etc. etc. Hate loads of pre-installed apps I never use, just browse the web and use a dozen or so apps, no gaming or anything fancy like that, having an average camera fine, needs to have NFC and a decent battery ideally.
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got a redmi note 10 end of last year, pretty happy with it, the redmi note 11 was above my budget.
Check on their website for offers they come up regularly .
 
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I had a Redmi note 9 pro. Was a brilliant phone. The battery and fast charge were amazing. I loved it.
But after a Miui update, the battery life turned shit. And the fast charge turned into slow charge. Taking almost all day to reach 100%
I was totally shocked by Amazon. Despite owning it since Jan. Today they've offered a full refund. So it's going back tomorrow.
Today I got a Honor x8. So far so good.
 
xsunnysuex said:
I had a Redmi note 9 pro. Was a brilliant phone. The battery and fast charge were amazing. I loved it.
But after a Miui update, the battery life turned shit. And the fast charge turned into slow charge. Taking almost all day to reach 100%
I was totally shocked by Amazon. Despite owning it since Jan. Today they've offered a full refund. So it's going back tomorrow.
Today I got a Honor x8. So far so good.
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The only things that have put me off Redmi is not finding one refurbished, and also read they come full of random apps that you can't remove, any truth to that xsunnysuex?
 
LDC said:
The only things that have put me off Redmi is not finding one refurbished, and also read they come full of random apps that you can't remove, any truth to that xsunnysuex?
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That's true of most phones. Cleanest you'll probably get is a Google Pixel.

It's not really an issue to me on Android. Just have the stuff you use in your launcher and ignore what's in the app draw.
 
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You'll not find one, other than a Pixel, that doesn't come with some garbage you don't want installed. Most of it is pretty mild, though. The mrs has had a Redmi Note 9 Pro for a few years and never complains, so it can't be all that bad. OnePlus and Motorola used to be better than most, but they've succumbed in recent years. OP has been going through a major OS migration the past little while and it's caused no end of trouble, otherwise I'd recommend the Nord.
 
LDC said:
The only things that have put me off Redmi is not finding one refurbished, and also read they come full of random apps that you can't remove, any truth to that xsunnysuex?
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I've got a Note 10s and I think it had some apps installed but I removed them without a problem. Just looking through all the apps installed and can't see anything I wouldn't use.
 
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LDC said:
The only things that have put me off Redmi is not finding one refurbished, and also read they come full of random apps that you can't remove, any truth to that xsunnysuex?
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It came with apps, yes. But none that weren't easy to uninstall.
I loved it to be honest. It was fast. Battery life was brilliant. And it charged really fast.
I would have happily kept it, if the miui update hadn't affected it so much.
Oh and the camera was wicked!
 
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editor said:
The current pre-order Pixel 6a deal for £399 with free earphones lobbed in is well worth stretching to.
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And only £349 at Curry's if you've got an old phone to trade in.

There's a few people who post phone deals all the time on HUKD and I gather if you have the Xiaomi app on your phone some quite astonishing deals come up on their phones occasionally although they're limited in number. They do so many different models though that it makes choosing difficult and I've been put off by people sayign the cameras aren't amazing....although they would probably all do what I want otherise.
 
Part 2 said:
And only £349 at Curry's if you've got an old phone to trade in.

There's a few people who post phone deals all the time on HUKD and I gather if you have the Xiaomi app on your phone some quite astonishing deals come up on their phones occasionally although they're limited in number. They do so many different models though that it makes choosing difficult and I've been put off by people sayign the cameras aren't amazing....although they would probably all do what I want otherise.
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The Pixel 6a's the cheapest new phone with a good to excellent camera (or rather, camera software - it's a very ordinary sensor that Google works magic on). They're all a bit shit below that. A bit shit by 2022 standards - nearly anything can take a pretty damned good photo in daylight these days. It's interiors and nights that sets the truly great cameras apart.

I am tempted by the 6a. But it has one too many drawbacks for me. No headphone jack, in-screen print reader (side-mounted for me!), mediocre battery life, 60Hz screen. If they'd not cheaped out on just one of those, it would be an easier decision.
 
Chz said:
The Pixel 6a's the cheapest new phone with a good to excellent camera (or rather, camera software - it's a very ordinary sensor that Google works magic on). They're all a bit shit below that. A bit shit by 2022 standards - nearly anything can take a pretty damned good photo in daylight these days. It's interiors and nights that sets the truly great cameras apart.

I am tempted by the 6a. But it has one too many drawbacks for me. No headphone jack, in-screen print reader (side-mounted for me!), mediocre battery life, 60Hz screen. If they'd not cheaped out on just one of those, it would be an easier decision.
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It's not so much cheaped out here. Most "premium" phones have in screen print readers and no headphone jack fustatingly.
 
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The in-screen finger reader is just one of those things. They assumed it would be cool and everyone would want one. But it's not more convenient to use than a side, or even back mounted one. I don't know anyone that actually likes theirs.
 
Chz said:
The in-screen finger reader is just one of those things. They assumed it would be cool and everyone would want one. But it's not more convenient to use than a side, or even back mounted one. I don't know anyone that actually likes theirs.
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Yes I much preferred it on the back.

I always put a screen protector on, which doesn't stop them working, but does make them less reliable.
 
Just order a Redmi 10 thinking it was the Note 10. FFS. Have tried to cancel the order! Why do none of these companies make the naming of the phone models simple?!
 
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