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Help Phone + Smartwatch package?

chilango

chilango

Hypothetical Wanker
Ok, my contract is up in a few weeks.

I have a perfectly functioning iPhone6s for which I’ve been paying £20something a month.

What I’d like is a phone with a smartwatch.

But I don’t want to pay more than about £25 a month.

What are my options?

  1. Cheapest sim only and get an apple watch on contract at EE?
  2. Decent android (I’d like a Pixel?)for about £25 a month and cash in the iPhone and use the money to buy an android smartwatch? If so what’d I get for the phone and how much would a half-decent watch be?
  3. Can’t do it. Keep the iPhone and just go sim only and be £10 a month less worse off?
  4. Can’t do it. Get a pixel cash in the phone and but myself a bit of outdoor kit?
Any handy suggestions from the more mobile savvy amongst you?
 
My recommendation for a smartwatch would be the Samsung Gear S3. It actually looks like a proper and not some square oddity and has a (relatively) great battery life.
You can use it to make calls too if that's your thing, but I wouldn't recommend it as it looks very silly :)
 
Anyone know how much I could get for my iPhone 6s and how much a reasonable smartwatch would set me back? i.e. can I buy a smartwatch with (near enough) the proceeds?

My two key criteria are GPS (and being able to put ViewRanger on it) and decent battery life.

It doesn't need to look that nice, as I have a Mondaine for when I want to wear a "nice" watch, this'll be more for hiking, sports, and day to day convenience.
 
Also any other android phones worth considering other than the Pixel? That I can get for c.£25pcm

I've been very happy with my iPhones so am wary of too much of a step down from them.
 
chilango said:
Anyone know how much I could get for my iPhone 6s and how much a reasonable smartwatch would set me back? i.e. can I buy a smartwatch with (near enough) the proceeds?

My two key criteria are GPS (and being able to put ViewRanger on it) and decent battery life.

It doesn't need to look that nice, as I have a Mondaine for when I want to wear a "nice" watch, this'll be more for hiking, sports, and day to day convenience.
Click to expand...

What do you need the smartwatch bit to do. Screen would be to small for mapping I'd have thought?
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
What do you need the smartwatch bit to do. Screen would be to small for mapping I'd have thought?
Click to expand...

Casually glancing at my position, quickly checking how far I've walked, altitude, pace, temp. etc. OS locate on it would be cool too, without having to fish my phone out from wherever I've "safely" stashed it!

It's obviously not a "need" but I'd "like" to be able to do this.
 
If you must need a smart watch (I'd not recommend cos mechanicals / or a Casio are superior), I'd buy an Apple Watch 3 outright. There's always deals for these things - I would never pay full price for any as they will be out of date in 6 months time (shelf life on consumer electronics is proper shit).
 
Garmin seem to do some more budget options and being an outdoors brand I may trust them more to keep working on the hill. No mapping, but sceptical how useful that would be on a small screen. Could probably get an os reference to use with old fashioned paper.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
Garmin seem to do some more budget options and being an outdoors brand I may trust them more to keep working on the hill. No mapping, but sceptical how useful that would be on a small screen. Could probably get an os reference to use with old fashioned paper.
Click to expand...

I get that. And will look at the Garmins.

..but to be honest, any actual nav I'd still do with map and compass. This is far more a case of shiny toy syndrome :D
 
chilango said:
I get that. And will look at the Garmins.

..but to be honest, any actual nav I'd still do with map and compass. This is far more a case of shiny toy syndrome :D
Click to expand...
Are you bothered by how the watch looks? Garmin and Samsung make decent looking timepieces. I think the Apple watch - and most Android watches - are well ugly.
 
chilango said:
I get that. And will look at the Garmins.

..but to be honest, any actual nav I'd still do with map and compass. This is far more a case of shiny toy syndrome :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm tempted by a more specialist bit of kit for tracking activity. Really really not bothered about checking messages on my wrist! I see you can get the vivoactive hr for £165 and apparently it will pair with a chest strap if your doing very serious activity. Need more practical things first sadly.
 
editor said:
Are you bothered by how the watch looks? Garmin and Samsung make decent looking timepieces. I think the Apple watch - and most Android watches - are well ugly.
Click to expand...

I'm not that bothered by it's looks, no. As I said above I have a lovely actual watch for when that's important to me.

Aside from the gps functions etc. for hiking and stuff, and the usual fitness tracking bits, I'd like to be able to see incoming texts/emails, get football scores that kinda thing without getting my phone out. Handy for work. Maybe U75 notifications too!
 
...it's also about trying to get the best bang for my iPhone's trade in value. I'm working on the assumption that trading it in for a product with a phone dealer will get me more than a cash trade-in?

I could just keep the phone, It'll be ok for another year at least - especially with Apple's "cheap" battery replacement gesture, and get a Sim only deal. But tbh saving maybe a tenner a month on my phone bill (when I've been paying roughly the same out now for years) holds less appeal than get something shiny and new to play with. I can get a Pixel 2XL for for about 25 a month I think, and would then have whatever the iphone brings in to spend?
 
chilango said:
...it's also about trying to get the best bang for my iPhone's trade in value. I'm working on the assumption that trading it in for a product with a phone dealer will get me more than a cash trade-in?

I could just keep the phone, It'll be ok for another year at least - especially with Apple's "cheap" battery replacement gesture, and get a Sim only deal. But tbh saving maybe a tenner a month on my phone bill (when I've been paying roughly the same out now for years) holds less appeal than get something shiny and new to play with. I can get a Pixel 2XL for for about 25 a month I think, and would then have whatever the iphone brings in to spend?
Click to expand...

Probably get the most selling it on eBay or similar. Just be careful of scammers.
 
chilango said:
Anyone know how much I could get for my iPhone 6s and how much a reasonable smartwatch would set me back? i.e. can I buy a smartwatch with (near enough) the proceeds?

My two key criteria are GPS (and being able to put ViewRanger on it) and decent battery life.

It doesn't need to look that nice, as I have a Mondaine for when I want to wear a "nice" watch, this'll be more for hiking, sports, and day to day convenience.
Click to expand...
Garmin Vivoactive 3
chilango said:
Also any other android phones worth considering other than the Pixel? That I can get for c.£25pcm

I've been very happy with my iPhones so am wary of too much of a step down from them.
Click to expand...
Samsung Galaxy S8
 
chilango said:
I'm not that bothered by it's looks, no. As I said above I have a lovely actual watch for when that's important to me.

Aside from the gps functions etc. for hiking and stuff, and the usual fitness tracking bits, I'd like to be able to see incoming texts/emails, get football scores that kinda thing without getting my phone out. Handy for work. Maybe U75 notifications too!
Click to expand...
If hiking/GPS is your thing, don't waste your money on Apple: get a proper dedicated watch for the job, like a Garmin.
 
editor said:
If hiking/GPS is your thing, don't waste your money on Apple: get a proper dedicated watch for the job, like a Garmin.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I'm not likely to get an Apple Watch. I doubt that'd come in affordably anyway.

Basically, it boils down to whatever I can get without spending more (=/-£ a couple) than I do now on the phone p/m and what can I can trade my iPhone in for.

Hence wondering whether anybody knew of any deals (e.g for a new android phone with an android watch thrown in) out there, and what I should be looking at getting.

I like the look of the Garmin, but am unsure whether I could afford it either.
 
chilango said:
Yeah. I'm not likely to get an Apple Watch. I doubt that'd come in affordably anyway.

Basically, it boils down to whatever I can get without spending more (=/-£ a couple) than I do now on the phone p/m and what can I can trade my iPhone in for.

Hence wondering whether anybody knew of any deals (e.g for a new android phone with an android watch thrown in) out there, and what I should be looking at getting.

I like the look of the Garmin, but am unsure whether I could afford it either.
Click to expand...
I think you need to sort out some priorities for the smartwatch. The ones that are good for GPS/Hiking aren't so great for notifications/clever stuff and vice versa.
 
editor said:
I think you need to sort out some priorities for the smartwatch. The ones that are good for GPS/Hiking aren't so great for notifications/clever stuff and vice versa.
Click to expand...

It wouldn't be the primary device for either, so tbh can compromise a little either way there.

It's a budget led decision really. Quality vs. £££ is priority.

That said, all else being equal I'd go for something like the aforementioned Garmin type device. But if I can't afford it, then it's a no go and I have to look at the alternatives.

Also I'd rather have (say) a decent smartwatch that was a bit limited in hiking capability than a crap GPS device. If that makes sense.
 
chilango said:
It wouldn't be the primary device for either, so tbh can compromise a little either way there.

It's a budget led decision really. Quality vs. £££ is priority.

That said, all else being equal I'd go for something like the aforementioned Garmin type device. But if I can't afford it, then it's a no go and I have to look at the alternatives.

Also I'd rather have (say) a decent smartwatch that was a bit limited in hiking capability than a crap GPS device. If that makes sense.
Click to expand...
If you use the GPS on a regular smartwatch it'll eat into the battery. I've always turned it off as a result and use the phone's GPS to send info to the watch. Why not get something like the cheapo Sony smartwatch 3 to get a feel for the thing. I loved mine but I wanted something that looked nice on my wrist so bought the Samsung (I love the sporty looking watchfaces that are available).
 
I reckon I'd get maybe £150ish for the phone? Doe that sound right?

Which is too far off the price of the Garmin (and the Apple Watch fwiw).

It would put me in the ballpark for a FitBit Blaze though.

What else? Any 'droid ones at the £150 mark?
 
chilango said:
I reckon I'd get maybe £150ish for the phone? Doe that sound right?

Which is too far off the price of the Garmin (and the Apple Watch fwiw).

It would put me in the ballpark for a FitBit Blaze though.

What else? Any 'droid ones at the £150 mark?
Click to expand...
Fantastic deal for £67. You might want to change the strap though :D

Sony Smart Watch 3 SWR50 (Silicon Wrist Band) - Pink : Smart Wear - Toby Deals Offers

The Sony SmartWatch 3 was our top Android Wear watch fave for a long time, and while it is now positively ancient, it's still a solid budget/mid range smartwatch all-rounder. It's got full GPS tracking for fitness, NFC for all your Google Wallet contactless payments, and a two-day-plus battery life. If you want a cheaper sporty Android Wear watch equivalent to the Moto 360 Sportor the Polar M600, then this the one for you.

Wareable verdict: Sony Smartwatch 3 review

Best cheap smartwatches: Sony, Martian, Pebble, Asus and more
Click to expand...
 
Well...my wife is keen on me getting a "running" GPS watch that I can use for hiking (and that she can use for training for an upcoming half she's doing) so may go down the Garmin/Suunto route after all :)

They both have watches in my price range (100-150) that do the running stuff and get basic notifications from your phone. Neither can do ViewRanger etc. but there you go.

Garmin Forerunner 30 - no nav options as far as I can see. Good price.

Suunto Ambit3 Run - does nav, but no HR function (which is fine, I wouldn't miss it). Apparently can get 100 hours battery life with the GPS on -if set to hiking mode. That's decent, no?
 
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