# Imminent free phone upgrade - what do I want?



## Corax (Sep 2, 2013)

Right, my first ever pay monthly phone contract is about to expire, so this will be my first *eva* exciting free phone upgrade experience.  Squee, etc.

I don't know what my options are yet, cos the Three website won't tell me until it's actually due.  But at the moment I've got an HTC Sensation on £30something a month, so I reckon I should be able to get pretty much anything Android I want, no?

I've been happy with the HTC, so my instinct would be to go for the HTC One.

But... I'm a bit unreasonably biased against Samsung.  I had a couple in their pre-smartphone (or transition) era, and they sucked. The SGHX640 for eg.  Someone gave me a Samsung as a present once, and then everyone assumed I liked them so kept buying me upgraded models on PAYG as gifts - but the truth is their menu system was feckin awful, and I hated it.

So, first smartphone on a contract and I was pleased to escape.  But now the S4 appears to be the pack leader.  Is this what I should be going for, instead of the HTC One?

Or... something else?

Ta.


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## twentythreedom (Sep 2, 2013)

Nexus 4 is awesome


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## Corax (Sep 2, 2013)

twentythreedom said:


> Nexus 4 is awesome


Thanks.  Any particular reason why it rocks, in your opinion?

Hadn't seen it on the Three site, but it's there now I look and within the same price range so ought to be an option I'd have thought.


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## Ax^ (Sep 2, 2013)

A Nokia 3310 clearly


*shakes fist at sky*


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## yield (Sep 2, 2013)

How longs your contract Corax? 18 or 24 months? 30 * 24 = £720. You can buy the HTC One sim free for £400. 

If you're on 24 month contract see if you can get them down to £25 a month?

There's also the LG G2 to consider? A comparison on gsmarena.

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=5543&idPhone2=5313

I had a play on a LG Nexus 4 and it was very smooth. Wish I could justify spending so much on a phone. 

I'm going to have to update my osf/zte blade sometime though.


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## Corax (Sep 2, 2013)

yield said:


> How longs your contract Corax? 18 or 24 months? 30 * 24 = £720. You can buy the HTC One sim free for £400.
> 
> If you're on 24 month contract see if you can get them down to £25 a month?
> 
> ...


My current one's 24.  I did consider outright purchase, but for one thing I don't have the capital, and I've also heard a lot of less than great things about giffgaff and really can't be dealing with the hassle along with everything else going on in my life.  I'm pretty life-incompetent, so I need as hassle-free as possible.  

If I could get a smart upgrade _*and*_ get my payments down then obviously that would be great.  Are there tactics to this type of thing?  Am I best off doing it online, or on the high street?

The one thing that's pissed me off about the Sensation is the lack of internal memory.  I've got stacks on my card, but that's no use for apps that need to run straight from the drive.  Has capacity improved much in the last two years?


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 2, 2013)

I'm loving my Note 2. You can hang on a little bit and the Note 3 will be out soon, but does mean more deals to be had on the older model.

I did the sums when I renewed the contract and there was nothing to be gained financially by buying outright, in fact it would have cost more.

Edit: I'm paying £26 a month for it and it's been a few months, so you should probably be able to save a few quid more.


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## 8115 (Sep 2, 2013)

Get a Nokia Lumia and then you can tell me if it's a good phone.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 2, 2013)

8115 said:


> Get a Nokia Lumia and then you can tell me if it's a good phone.



Windows Phone.


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## 8115 (Sep 2, 2013)

Global Stoner said:


> Windows Phone.


Get one anyway, I still want to know


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## yield (Sep 2, 2013)

Corax said:


> If I could get a smart upgrade _*and*_ get my payments down then obviously that would be great.  Are there tactics to this type of thing?  Am I best off doing it online, or on the high street?


I'd haggle with Three on the phone. Go through to their retentions department and say you've seen some deal elsewhere.

If they don't play ball ask for your PAC code as there's no harm in asking as you don't have to use it.



Corax said:


> The one thing that's pissed me off about the Sensation is the lack of internal memory.  I've got stacks on my card, but that's no use for apps that need to run straight from the drive.  Has capacity improved much in the last two years?


The Samsung galaxy s4 has expandable memory. You can play apps of the card since Android 2.2 I think?


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 2, 2013)

yield said:


> The Samsung galaxy s4 has expandable memory. You can play apps of the card since Android 2.2 I think?



You can, but Samsung give you 16gb of memory on board, so I tend to keep that for the OS/Apps and keep everything else on a 64gig sd card.


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## Corax (Sep 2, 2013)

yield said:


> You can play apps of the card since Android 2.2 I think?


Most apps, yeah.  But some insist on being on the internal - particularly if they have widgets.

ETA: On the HTC Sensation anyway.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 2, 2013)

Corax said:


> So, first smartphone on a contract and I was pleased to escape.  But now the S4 appears to be the pack leader.  Is this what I should be going for, instead of the HTC One?



Worst thing I've found about Samsung after coming from HTC is the build quality, but I stuck it in a decent case. Still frustrating for a premium product though.

Now if HTC could just go back to having removable batteries and memory cards. I'm quite liking having 80gb on my phone. Roll on 128gig memory cards.


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## Corax (Sep 2, 2013)

Global Stoner said:


> Now if HTC could just go back to having removable batteries and memory cards.


Say _what_ now?


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 2, 2013)

Corax said:


> Say _what_ now?



When I go camping I can take the battery out and pop a new one in.

With a cheap sd card I now have have 80gb on my phone. 

You can't do this on an HTC.


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## Corax (Sep 2, 2013)

Global Stoner said:


> When I go camping I can take the battery out and pop a new one in.
> 
> With a cheap sd card I now have have 80gb on my phone.
> 
> You can't do this on an HTC.


You can on the Sensation.

You're telling me you can't remove the battery on the HTC One, nor will I be able to stick in my current 64gb SD card?

If so - deal breaker.

And a fucking stupid design decision tbh.  Why the fuck would they do _that_?


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 2, 2013)

Corax said:


> And a fucking stupid design decision tbh.  Why the fuck would they do _that_?



Quite.

Trying to follow apple I think.


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## Corax (Sep 2, 2013)

Right.  That reduces it to the S4 or the Nexus 4 then by the looks of it.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 2, 2013)

Corax said:


> Right.  That reduces it to the S4 or the Nexus 4 then by the looks of it.



Nexus wont either.


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## 8115 (Sep 2, 2013)

I have a Galaxy Ace, it's quite good.  All the Galaxy phones are basically the same, right.


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## beesonthewhatnow (Sep 2, 2013)

Buy a Nexus 4 direct from Google, change to a SIM only plan.


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## Puddy_Tat (Sep 2, 2013)

*watches thread*

I'm in a similar position, I'm currently on my third phone since reluctantly joining the mobile phone era about 11 years ago.

but I'm contemplating doing the smart-phone thing for the first time, so I'm probably even more confused by it all.







I have no idea how much data I'm going to use.  (one of my employers is implementing some sort of smart phone app that they expect us to use, except it doesn't work yet, and I've no idea how much data it will soak up.)  

My inclination is to stay with T-mobile to save faffing about changing number.  

Beyond that, I've not got much idea...


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## Corax (Sep 2, 2013)

Global Stoner said:


> Nexus wont either.


You have to be fucking kidding me?    

Why have they improved things worse FFS?  

I want to use an SD card.  Is it S4 or nothing then?


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## PursuedByBears (Sep 2, 2013)

Pretty much, yes.


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## twentythreedom (Sep 2, 2013)

Corax said:


> Thanks.  Any particular reason why it rocks, in your opinion?
> 
> Hadn't seen it on the Three site, but it's there now I look and within the same price range so ought to be an option I'd have thought.


pure android, gets updates first (android 4.3 now), no unnecessary guff, works awesome with all google stuff, brilliant camera etc

there's a thread about it. I got mine from 3 btw

eta: but no sd card


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## twentythreedom (Sep 2, 2013)

Puddy_Tat said:


> My inclination is to stay with T-mobile to save faffing about changing number.
> 
> Beyond that, I've not got much idea...



changing no. is a piece of piss


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## editor (Sep 2, 2013)

The Nexus 4 - at £149 and £199 - is easily the best bargain smartphone you'll find anywhere.


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## editor (Sep 2, 2013)

Corax said:


> Right.  That reduces it to the S4 or the Nexus 4 then by the looks of it.


The S4 is also a very splendid phone. It's probably the best smartphone you can buy, although some give that accolade to the HTC One.


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## yield (Sep 2, 2013)

Puddy_Tat said:


> My inclination is to stay with T-mobile to save faffing about changing number.


You don't have to change your number when moving phone company.


Corax said:


> You have to be fucking kidding me?
> 
> Why have they improved things worse FFS?
> 
> I want to use an SD card.  Is it S4 or nothing then?


If you go for the s4 here's a list of some plans with no upfront cost for the phone.
https://www.argosmobileshop.co.uk/mobile-phones/samsung/samsung-galaxy-s4

As you're going for an upgrade with 3 you should be able to get a better deal through retentions.


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## Corax (Sep 2, 2013)

editor said:


> The S4 is also a very splendid phone. It's probably the best smartphone you can buy, although some give that accolade to the HTC One.


So if I'm not shelling out for the phone upfront, and I want SD card - S4 the way to go in your opinion?


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## Corax (Sep 2, 2013)

yield said:


> You don't have to change your number when moving phone company.
> 
> If you go for the s4 here's a list of some plans with no upfront cost for the phone.
> https://www.argosmobileshop.co.uk/mobile-phones/samsung/samsung-galaxy-s4
> ...


Nice one.


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## editor (Sep 2, 2013)

Now that's annoying. I just posted up a big response, the forum showed three versions, so I deleted two of them and now they've all gone


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## bmd (Sep 2, 2013)

You can get truly unlimited data with Three as well. Tether-tastic.


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## PursuedByBears (Sep 2, 2013)

Corax said:


> So if I'm not shelling out for the phone upfront, and I want SD card - S4 the way to go in your opinion?


I spent AGES researching this over the weekend and came to this conclusion.


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## editor (Sep 2, 2013)

I'll try another version of my big reply:
I'd recommend the Nexus 4 16GB for £199 on a £10/month rolling GiffGaff deal. That really is a bargain.
The S4 is a splendid machine but the differences between it and the Nexus are pretty negligible in everyday use. That said, I do rather like the pedometer and thermometer. I bought my S4 for (I think) £420 but didn't realise it was coming from deepest China.

The S4 is probably the best phone money can buy, so if you can afford it, you won't regret buying it.


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## Corax (Sep 2, 2013)

bmd said:


> You can get truly unlimited data with Three as well. Tether-tastic.


Yeah, that's the plan I'm on.  I don't phone or text that much compared to most people tbh, but I'm constantly using TuneIn, Plume, Feedly, Flipboard, The Football App, Fantasy Football, Weather Channel, etc etc etc ad infinitum...


PursuedByBears said:


> I spent AGES researching this over the weekend and came to this conclusion.


That's reassuring, although I expect I'll end up repeating much of your research just because I'm a bit anal about decisions like this lol.


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## pesh (Sep 2, 2013)

After 6 months with an S3 I'd consider something running stock android like the Nexus or go back to an iphone. 
If I didn't have the bonus of a 5 day battery on my S3 it would probably have had an 'accident' by now.


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## editor (Sep 2, 2013)

Corax said:


> Yeah, that's the plan I'm on.  I don't phone or text that much compared to most people tbh, but I'm constantly using TuneIn, Plume, Feedly, Flipboard, The Football App, Fantasy Football, Weather Channel, etc etc etc ad infinitum...


What is your current data usage per month?


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## Corax (Sep 2, 2013)

editor said:


> I'll try another version of my big reply:
> I'd recommend the Nexus 4 16GB for £199 on a £10/month rolling GiffGaff deal. That really is a bargain.
> The S4 is a splendid machine but the differences between it and the Nexus are pretty negligible in everyday use. That said, I do rather like the pedometer and thermometer. I bought my S4 for (I think) £420 but didn't realise it was coming from deepest China.
> 
> The S4 is probably the best phone money can buy, so if you can afford it, you won't regret buying it.


Thanks - but I've been thoroughly put off giffgaff from what I've read.  Some of it on here.  Sounds great for someone more together than me, but...  

And I know it sounds daft, but I _*really*_ want the peace of mind of an unlimited data contract.  I'm not very good at managing my shit in general, outside of work.  So I want to know that I'm paying £x every month, it's not going to change or run out, and if it all goes Pete Tong I can call someone and they'll sort it.


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## PursuedByBears (Sep 2, 2013)

I have a Nexus 4 (bought on urban's recommendation) and it is a brilliant phone but the battery life is annoying.  The S4 has a much longer-lasting battery and you can replace the battery and use SD cards.  If you're buying a phone I recommend that you get a Nexus 4 and an external battery pack, if you're getting it through a phone company deal you should get an S4 (and root it).


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## Corax (Sep 2, 2013)

editor said:


> What is your current data usage per month?


No idea.  Is it stored on the phone itself?

Whenever I've checked current month usage in the past it's been over the default 'alert' level - but that's been irrelevant because of the plan.

ETA: Found it on the phone for the last few months, but the shape of the graphs is totally suss, and all seem to plateau just before 2gb, no matter how quickly they rise to that point.  Don't believe them for a second tbh, and there's a handy disclaimer underneath funnily enough...


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Sep 4, 2013)

Corax said:


> You have to be fucking kidding me?
> 
> Why have they improved things worse FFS?
> 
> I want to use an SD card.  Is it S4 or nothing then?



Get a Note and enjoy the extra screen space.


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