HELP! Phone is knackered and I'm useless at this sort of thing

[planetgeli]

Quickly, coz I have to go out to work.

Totally reliant on my phone. I know nothing about phones. Battery is on last legs. So I need a new second hand phone that I can keep my number on (this is crucial - I have a cancer test result coming by phone on my number next Wednesday. I need to keep the number.)

I have a micro sim. I'm on a cheap contract with O2.

What do I need to do?

 

[editor]

Get an unlocked phone and simply put in the old SIM.

 

[planetgeli]

Get an unlocked phone and simply put in the old SIM.

Thank you. As simple as that? What about swapping contacts over to the new phone?

 

[planetgeli]

The battery is still working but taking forever to charge. It went down to 13%. Charged it, was on 24 when I went out. 2 hours later it was still on 24. Unplugged it, charged again. Now on 61%.

 

[weepiper]

The battery is still working but taking forever to charge. It went down to 13%. Charged it, was on 24 when I went out. 2 hours later it was still on 24. Unplugged it, charged again. Now on 61%.

You might just need a new charger cable especially if it's mini USB. The connection on those dies quite frequently.

 

[klang]

Use the last life of your battery to copy your numbers stored on your phone to the sim before getting a new phone.

 

[planetgeli]

Use the last life of your battery to copy your numbers stored on your phone to the sim before getting a new phone.

How would I do that? Was literally going to copy them manually by hand onto paper...

 

[planetgeli]

You might just need a new charger cable especially if it's mini USB. The connection on those dies quite frequently.

It is an old phone samsung galaxy 7. Had a new battery last year with 12 months guarantee. Literally the guarantee runs out today. Pretty sure I need a new(ish) phone.

 

[klang]

How would I do that? Was literally going to copy them manually by hand onto paper...

don't know your phone and I'm generally crap with it, but if you go into your contacts, highlight/tick a number, there might be an option 'copy to sim'.

 

[klang]

just checked on my galaxy: contacts -> three dots top right corner -> manage contacts -> move contacts -> sim

 

[klang]

no idea what sort of galaxy my phone is though....

 

[klang]

It is an old phone samsung galaxy 7. Had a new battery last year with 12 months guarantee. Literally the guarantee runs out today. Pretty sure I need a new(ish) phone.

if you walk into a phone shop might be worth asking if they can replace the battery. will be lots cheaper than buying a new phone.

copy your numbers anyway, for future hiccups.

 

[marty21]

The charger might be have dust, etc in it - I took mine to a phone bloke and he cleaned it out (for a small fee) - battery charging was much quicker afterwards - I guess you could look at youtube on how to do this - I couldn't be arsed

 

[lazythursday]

If it's an android phone (sounds like it) it's pretty much guaranteed that your contacts are on your Google account. No need to mess around copying them. When you put your Google account into the new phone they should appear

The absolutely crucial thing is that you know your Google account name and password... So many people I've helped out have come a cropper at this point.

 

[marty21]

If you do get a new phone , this app will transfer over your contacts (it works on my Samsung, no idea if it would do it to another make)

 

[planetgeli]

If it's an android phone (sounds like it) it's pretty much guaranteed that your contacts are on your Google account. No need to mess around copying them. When you put your Google account into the new phone they should appear

The absolutely crucial thing is that you know your Google account name and password... So many people I've helped out have come a cropper at this point.

Account name would just be email and password no?

 

[xenon]

Yep. Your android login is your Google email address and password. You might find you get on with one of the budget Samson phones rather than an old galaxy. Where the battery life is always going to be an issue. The budget will still use the one UI interface so it should look reasonably familiar. I can’t think of a exact models, they confuse me.

 

[xenon]

I’m not 100% as I use an iPhone but I think you can probably log into your Google account online and check your contacts are there. Before switching to a new phone.

 

[lazythursday]

Account name would just be email and password no?

Yes - your @gmail or @googlemail email address plus password. If you definitely have that you'll be fine.

 

[lazythursday]

I’m not 100% as I use an iPhone but I think you can probably log into your Google account online and check your contacts are there. Before switching to a new phone.

Yep they will be in Google contacts, you can view on a PC.

 

[xenon]

Good luck for next weeko bv.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Yep they will be in Google contacts, you can view on a PC.

Aye, visit Google Contacts to check on a laptop or something

 

[teuchter]

This does assume you've given Google permission to backup your phone including contacts, right?
I assume that's "on" by default but worth checking on the old phone, while it's still alive.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

Walking into an O2 shop is the easiest solution as they can check charging issues although they will try to sell you a new phone which might end up being the right course of action anyway.

 

[nottsgirl]

Why don’t you see if O2 will give you a new contract for a basic new phone? That should be reasonably cheap (not sure how cheap you need to go). If you have a Samsung and you get a new Samsung the phone does some magic and copies everything from your old phone to your new phone.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

Whenever I’ve had iPhone charging issues (which tends to happen at some point with every phone) it’s because compressed fluff is in the phone port which needs dislodging with something thin enough to get in there. I find a paper clip reimagined into a straighter thing is best.

 

[Sasaferrato]

When I changed phones I transferred the contacts from the phone to the sim card, then inserted the sim card into the new phone and it worked perfectly.

When I add a new contact now, it asks if I want it stored on the sim card. I don't know if there is a limit to how many contacts the sim card will hold.

 

[lazythursday]

I know some people may have privacy concerns but having it all stored in the cloud is far easier - and is generally the default so unless you've gone to the trouble of turning it off there's really no need to worry about putting them in your SIM.

 

[RubyToogood]

Quickly, coz I have to go out to work.

Totally reliant on my phone. I know nothing about phones. Battery is on last legs. So I need a new second hand phone that I can keep my number on (this is crucial - I have a cancer test result coming by phone on my number next Wednesday. I need to keep the number.)

I have a micro sim. I'm on a cheap contract with O2.

What do I need to do?

How did it go?

 

[planetgeli]

How did it go?

Cheers. Liza's son came up trumps and is sending me his ex-work phone. This is a lot posher than I'm making it sound.