Flagship Smartphone Alternatives

shortfall

Looking to replace my android phone and have heard good things about Honor 9, and Oneplus5. Anybody own one or can recommend affordable alternatives to Galaxy 7/8 and other android flagships?

The_Wicker_Man

iPhone 8+

shortfall

I don't want an iPhone and my budget is 500 quid or less.

cougie

Oneplus 3T for me. Love it to bits. Fast charging is excellent.
I would prefer it to be waterproof - but I've seen videos of people submerging it so it is fine for wet bike rides anyway.

Pross

The_Wicker_Man wrote:

iPhone 8+

I'm amazed that even Apple disciples are prepared to fork out so much for a product that appears to offer very little technical advance. We really seem to have hit diminishing returns on technology v price but I guess there are plenty of suckers who will still fork out for the latest model.

meursault

Pross wrote:

The_Wicker_Man wrote:

iPhone 8+

I'm amazed that even Apple disciples are prepared to fork out so much for a product that appears to offer very little technical advance. We really seem to have hit diminishing returns on technology v price but I guess there are plenty of suckers who will still fork out for the latest model.

Yep, Jobs was the greatest con merchant that ever lived. Weird mindless brand zombies.

https://www.motorola.com/us/products/moto-e-plus-gen-4

£140 from three. Had one for a few weeks, superb.

tangled_metal

My honor 8 has been good. Really like it. Can't compare when the one plus 3T but don't all mid to high end smartphones come with fast charger these days? Even my partner's moto get comes with fast charge. The honor 8 charges from 20% to 100% amazingly quickly. I'm certain I can go from almost empty to enough for almost 2 days normal use in half an hour.

With mid range phones this good I really don't see the need for choosing top end phones these days. That's coming from someone who went from cheap hand me down to galaxy s2 (bought in first week out) to LG G2 (bought when in first week out) to honor 8. Two blocks of top 3 rated phones to honor 8 and I don't see it as a step down in quality or performance.

redvee

I'm debating whether to upgrade my handset when the time comes. I don't feel there will be anything around that will excite me so will be better off just paying for the £13.00 airtime part of the contract. I've currently got an S7.

tangled_metal

I think it depends on how reliable your phone is. I do what you are thinking if doing. I only replace when the phone can't hold the charge longer than a few hours or it starts to play up in a way that a reset doesn't help much. That's why I tend to get new phones every 3 to 4 years.

shortfall

Tangled Metal wrote:

I think it depends on how reliable your phone is. I do what you are thinking if doing. I only replace when the phone can't hold the charge longer than a few hours or it starts to play up in a way that a reset doesn't help much. That's why I tend to get new phones every 3 to 4 years.

This is what I do and I keep the cost down further by avoiding the latest flagship phones. I could afford a galaxy s8 if I really wanted to but frankly, if I can get 95% of the features for half the price or less then I don't really care if it doesn't come from Samsung/Apple. I'm open to any suggestions with the caveat that there's some kind of UK back up and aftersales support.

mr_goo

I see the iPhone X is out soon at a cost of £999 to £1150. According to Apple it represents good value!
What kind of f***ing idiot is going to splash out that kind of money for a bl**dy phone ?

kingstongraham

Mr Goo wrote:

I see the iPhone X is out soon at a cost of £999 to £1150. According to Apple it represents good value!
What kind of f***ing idiot is going to splash out that kind of money for a bl**dy phone ?

A road cycling forum might not be the best glass house to be throwing those stones around in.

I've bought a Jelly smartphone, just waiting for it to be delivered. $90, smallest 4G smartphone in the world. 2.45" screen. Interested to see how useable it actually is.

bendertherobot

Shortfall wrote:

I don't want an iPhone and my budget is 500 quid or less.

http://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/sm- ... FcQAvD_BwE

vimfuego

Moto G5

arthur_scrimshaw

oxoman wrote:

I personally wouldn't bother with the Samsung S8 I'd go with the S6 as plenty good enough for everyday use, iPhone are just overpriced and overhyped. Just don't get HTC as they are absolutely xrap, battery life on them is dire.

Google have just bought a large lump of HTC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41343586

paul64

Uk treated as Treasure Island with reach-around pricing springs to mind, as it so often does. A mate steered me towards coolicool website last year where I bought an UMI Touch from their EU warehouse. I paid about £120 for a high spec smartphone, I'll look there again when it's time to replace it.

shortfall

That Coolicool seems to get very mixed reviews, too mixed to tempt me at any rate. Oneplus, Moto and Honor all seem to have decent UK aftersales although Oneplus is straying into the upper end of the price bracket with the 5. Thanks for all suggestions everyone.

paul64

Sure, no problem. If you look up the specs of theUMI and others to give you an indication of what you can get, these are brands popular in Asia but basically who cares. Personally I won't pay £400 for the usual suspects it competes with here.

shortfall

UMI has an amazing spec for the price I grant you. A couple of questions. Does it support Google Play Store? Does it support the correct frequency for EE 4g/LTE? I could be tempted by one of these.

dinyull

Bought my Moto G about 18 months ago based on recommendations on here. Has done everything it's needed to do, not missed a beat since replacing an iPhone and haven't at any time felt like I was missing any features. Still holds 2 days charge too.

So happy with it that when my wife's contract is up for renewal in a few weeks I'm not going to take on her iPhone she's replacing.

paul64

Yes it (UMI) does, standard Android 6.0 when 5.something was generally supplied, don't know about 4G. I could have run 2 SIM cards but preferred micro sd instead, good camera and audio quality noticeable from first use of car blutooth or earphones.

If I were choosing now I presume something else is out there for similar money with type c charging, cableless charging etc. so I'm not pushing it per se, just the principle of an alternative to Samsung, HTC etc. But in terms of build, processing, battery, screen and so on it's pleasing me for longer than my last phone did.

shortfall

So after much deliberation I maxed out my budget and bought a Oneplus5T yesterday. It was 450 quid which was miles more than I intended to spend but as they're now available at O2 stores there's no worry about back up and support. Not only that it's nearest equivalents the Apple iPhone X and Galaxy S8+ cost roughly a grand and 800 quid respectively. Initial impressions are that it's an incredible phone and I'm struggling to see why anyone would pay more than double for the iPhone X.

bendertherobot

Shortfall wrote:

So after much deliberation I maxed out my budget and bought a Oneplus5T yesterday. It was 450 quid which was miles more than I intended to spend but as they're now available at O2 stores there's no worry about back up and support. Not only that it's nearest equivalents the Apple iPhone X and Galaxy S8+ cost roughly a grand and 800 quid respectively. Initial impressions are that it's an incredible phone and I'm struggling to see why anyone would pay more than double for the iPhone X.

Well, there are quite a few artisan coffee shops you won't be able to get your phone out in London now. Apart from that, you've made a good choice.

shortfall

bendertherobot wrote:

Shortfall wrote:

So after much deliberation I maxed out my budget and bought a Oneplus5T yesterday. It was 450 quid which was miles more than I intended to spend but as they're now available at O2 stores there's no worry about back up and support. Not only that it's nearest equivalents the Apple iPhone X and Galaxy S8+ cost roughly a grand and 800 quid respectively. Initial impressions are that it's an incredible phone and I'm struggling to see why anyone would pay more than double for the iPhone X.

Well, there are quite a few artisan coffee shops you won't be able to get your phone out in London now. Apart from that, you've made a good choice.

Ooh go on. I'm not a London person so I don't understand that reference, do tell!

rjsterry

Shortfall wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

Shortfall wrote:

So after much deliberation I maxed out my budget and bought a Oneplus5T yesterday. It was 450 quid which was miles more than I intended to spend but as they're now available at O2 stores there's no worry about back up and support. Not only that it's nearest equivalents the Apple iPhone X and Galaxy S8+ cost roughly a grand and 800 quid respectively. Initial impressions are that it's an incredible phone and I'm struggling to see why anyone would pay more than double for the iPhone X.

Well, there are quite a few artisan coffee shops you won't be able to get your phone out in London now. Apart from that, you've made a good choice.

Ooh go on. I'm not a London person so I don't understand that reference, do tell!

Had to meet a potential client in just such a place yesterday. So hipster it was bordering on self parody.

cougie

I think he's saying that only iPhones are acceptable in trendy company. But who cares. We are cyclists and wear lycra. We don't care what others think.

I love my oneplus.

briantrumpet

Dinyull wrote:

Bought my Moto G about 18 months ago based on recommendations on here. Has done everything it's needed to do, not missed a beat since replacing an iPhone and haven't at any time felt like I was missing any features. Still holds 2 days charge too.

So happy with it that when my wife's contract is up for renewal in a few weeks I'm not going to take on her iPhone she's replacing.

I'm another Moto G-er, was about £120, and very happy. The thought that I could buy about 8 of them for one iPhone makes me even happier.

shortfall

cougie wrote:

I think he's saying that only iPhones are acceptable in trendy company. But who cares. We are cyclists and wear lycra. We don't care what others think.

I love my oneplus.

Ah gotcha. The Rapha, Pinarello and iPhone X crowd.

bendertherobot

cougie wrote:

I think he's saying that only iPhones are acceptable in trendy company. But who cares. We are cyclists and wear lycra. We don't care what others think.

I love my oneplus.

Indeed, who cares being the point. FWIW I picked up an X the other day. Struck by how small it was and didn't feel quite as premium as my Samsung. Fair play, their marketing is brilliant.

mcstumpy

This is a bargain at 150 quid sim free

https://www.carphonewarehouse.com/huawe ... ealType=sf

shortfall

Holy thread resurrection!
Looking for a replacement for my Oneplus 5t which is 3 years old. Onep!us 8 is about £550 but doesn't seem to offer much improvement over what I've got and whilst the 8 Pro does it costs nearly double the price. Anyone got a Xiaomi? Have heard good things about them but put off by reviews critical of user interface and bloatware. Not a brand snob so anything around 500 or less you can suggest?