Flagship Smartphone Alternatives
Comments
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I've moved to Huawei since the original thread. I got the P20 Pro nearly 2 years ago and it has been brilliant other than some syncing issues particularly to my Garmin watch but that now seems to have been resolved.
It's due for replacement soon and if it wasn't for the fact I dropped it and broke the glass back I would probably just keep it and go to a sim only contract as I'm having no issues with speed or battery life. I'll probably go to the P40 Pro next, problem is they are now probably closer to the Samsung / iPhone price range than budget level now. Wife got P30 (not Pro) as she was so impressed by the camera on mine but hasn't got on with it and it doesn't seem anywhere near as good a phone.0 -
The Huawei P20 Pro is still available for less than your budget and the P30 Pro for just over (may be able to get it for around your budget if you shop around). Of course, you might be getting snooped on by the Chinese government but look on the bright side, you'll be upsetting Trump.0
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Do you know how long Huawai will be supporting their older phones with software updates etc? I know some companies will only guarantee 2 years which might be a concern.0
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I can tell you that the screen is a little fragile on mine too (though whether or not it's any more so than others I dunno). But they are cheap to replace.shortfall said:
Seriously considering the 3a XL. The only thing really putting me off is that it looks a bit sh1.t and plasticky but given that it'll be going in a gel case I suppose I can live with that.ddraver said:Google Pixel 3a (to be 4a soon-ish I think)
I confess I was beautifully sold the Google case which is a little more fetching...
We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
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Love my OnePlus 8. Big improvement over the OnePlus 3T I had before. I'll keep hold of this for another three years or so. Not overcharging the battery helps.0
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Yeah my 5t has been great and I wouldnt be thinking about swapping it except the charging port has gotten a bit dodgy and the fast charging is now intermittent. I have the dilemma of spending circa £100 on a repair and then something else going wrong as it's over 3 years old, or cutting my losses and getting a new phone. Its not that I cant afford the oneplus 8 but £550 still seems like a lot to spend on a phone to me, particularly if there are good alternatives for less. It's a shame that oneplus has drifted away from it's roots of offering a big bang for small bucks.fenix said:Love my OnePlus 8. Big improvement over the OnePlus 3T I had before. I'll keep hold of this for another three years or so. Not overcharging the battery helps.
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Rumour is that the 4a will be announced mid July, but might only be out in October. Looks a cracking phone for the expected price.ddraver said:Google Pixel 3a (to be 4a soon-ish I think)
3a bezels are too big, so the phone is too big for that screen.0 -
What price point is the 4a expected to hit?0
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Go to Hotukdeals and have a look at deals posted by Mrswitch. Knows his onions on phones and deals.
Personally big fan of Chinese brands (I have a Xiaomi). But go for larger ones like Xiaomi (inc Redmi/Poco sub brands), Oppo or Realme so you get first grade support (Oppo/Realme same group as Oneplus). Huawei are great but have been hobbled by lack of Google services in recent devices. Samsung A series are also top notch for value. Pixels have amazing cameras but tiny batteries and massive bezels but they will get software updates longer than anything else.
Personally - will bite on a Poco F2pro when it drops close to £300 (currently £350 from China, £430 UK).
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I had similar (on a Samsung) with the charging post and my local pop up shop fixed it for £150
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Serious question for the phone geeks. What is the real world benefit of capability of a 500 quid phone and one costing a quarter of that?0
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How do you find the xiaomi software? I've seen criticism of intrusive apps and bloatware. Is it an issue?super_davo said:Go to Hotukdeals and have a look at deals posted by Mrswitch. Knows his onions on phones and deals.
Personally big fan of Chinese brands (I have a Xiaomi). But go for larger ones like Xiaomi (inc Redmi/Poco sub brands), Oppo or Realme so you get first grade support (Oppo/Realme same group as Oneplus). Huawei are great but have been hobbled by lack of Google services in recent devices. Samsung A series are also top notch for value. Pixels have amazing cameras but tiny batteries and massive bezels but they will get software updates longer than anything else.
Personally - will bite on a Poco F2pro when it drops close to £300 (currently £350 from China, £430 UK).0 -
Probably not much tbh, particularly if you're just using it as a phone. Oneplus started out offering a similar product to flagship phones for a fraction of the cost but now they're more mainstream the cost of their handsets has risen considerably. The advantages of higher end phones are marginal in the real world but include faster processors, better screens and cameras and more storage. Some of them are waterproof to some extent also. Because I have to pay for my own phones I'm not interested in spun-king a grand on the latest Galaxy and then finding that it's out of date in 6 months time so I try and get the biggest bang for my buck by avoiding the big brands and settling for a few small compromises. Dropping wireless charging capability for instance isn't an issue for me.ballysmate said:Serious question for the phone geeks. What is the real world benefit of capability of a 500 quid phone and one costing a quarter of that?
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Well I'm on a MiA1 so definitely not an issue as Vanilla Android but my daughter, mum & dad have different generations of Redmi Notes.shortfall said:
How do you find the xiaomi software? I've seen criticism of intrusive apps and bloatware. Is it an issue?super_davo said:Go to Hotukdeals and have a look at deals posted by Mrswitch. Knows his onions on phones and deals.
Personally big fan of Chinese brands (I have a Xiaomi). But go for larger ones like Xiaomi (inc Redmi/Poco sub brands), Oppo or Realme so you get first grade support (Oppo/Realme same group as Oneplus). Huawei are great but have been hobbled by lack of Google services in recent devices. Samsung A series are also top notch for value. Pixels have amazing cameras but tiny batteries and massive bezels but they will get software updates longer than anything else.
Personally - will bite on a Poco F2pro when it drops close to £300 (currently £350 from China, £430 UK).
As with any Android skin, things aren't quite where they should be, but its definitely one of the less intrusive skins I've used.
No problems with bundled apps - anything they didn't want could be uninstalled easily enough.
Any accusations of Chinese spyware I put down to the tin hat mob.0 -
Somewhere between £349 and £399.shortfall said:What price point is the 4a expected to hit?
Looks much better than the 3a.0 -
I'm amused the way your post implies you think £500 is an expensive phone...ballysmate said:Serious question for the phone geeks. What is the real world benefit of capability of a 500 quid phone and one costing a quarter of that?
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bompington said:
I'm amused the way your post implies you think £500 is an expensive phone...ballysmate said:Serious question for the phone geeks. What is the real world benefit of capability of a 500 quid phone and one costing a quarter of that?
As they say. YMMV
500 smackers would be an outrageous price for me to pay to get a phone that covers my needs and yes I know there are models out there costing twice that.
I was genuinely interested to learn what I was missing out on. Not much by the looks of it.
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Planned obsolescence is what you get in all smartphones. Even high end Apple models that are really well.designed and put together with premium materials will end up with tired batteries that aren't replaceable by the user. Either that or they stop software support for it after a couple or 3 years. I'm with you on the cost. I could afford a grand but I balk at £500 if I'm honest, especially for something that's so easily broken or lost, and don't get me going on people spending 50, 60, 70 quid a month on contracts and then claiming poverty!ballysmate said:bompington said:
I'm amused the way your post implies you think £500 is an expensive phone...ballysmate said:Serious question for the phone geeks. What is the real world benefit of capability of a 500 quid phone and one costing a quarter of that?
As they say. YMMV
500 smackers would be an outrageous price for me to pay to get a phone that covers my needs and yes I know there are models out there costing twice that.
I was genuinely interested to learn what I was missing out on. Not much by the looks of it.0 -
I've got a moto g7 power for myself. Weak camera, weak wifi, GREAT battery life, £140. Just bought a galaxy s10e for Mrs KG for a lot more, mostly because it isn't insanely huge like every other phone wants to be.
The thing with phones now is that you actively want them to behave the same as each other, but you pay more for it to do the same things somewhat better. Though why anyone would pay £700 for a phone that can't go a day without charging (like the pixel 4) is beyond me.0 -
They are quicker so internet browsing and playing games is easier. They also probably have better cameras. Some even come with an Apple brand that you can show your friends to assert superiority.ballysmate said:Serious question for the phone geeks. What is the real world benefit of capability of a 500 quid phone and one costing a quarter of that?
I'd pay a lot for a privacy focused one with keys, but I'm not a big enough market.0 -
Think of it like Snapdragon 800 series and Exynos/Kirin equivalents are Dura-ace.ballysmate said:Serious question for the phone geeks. What is the real world benefit of capability of a 500 quid phone and one costing a quarter of that?
700 series are Ultegra.
600 series are 105.
If you want a flagship equivalent then you're looking at the top category.
Faster, less battery drain, ability to do fancier tricks with camera and other software are main benefits.
But I would hazard a guess that 80% of people get one because its 'flagship' and the Ultegra equivalent would be virtually indistinguishable in real world use.
There are other differentators of course on phones, like screens (used to be all about Amoled and brightness, now refresh rates), cameras (all now have arrays & software affects how well they use them), batteries/ charging/wireless and overall software.
There is a £170 Redmi Note 9 Pro on Hotukdeals this morning that would be all the phone most people would ever need. The phone equivalent of a Ribble or Rose carbon bike with Ultegra. But there will always be people that want the S-works or Pinarello.0 -
I suspect most people don't even realise they're paying for the phone or think they're only paying up to £150 for the handset as they don't associate the contract as being mainly a hire purchase agreement on the phone.ballysmate said:bompington said:
I'm amused the way your post implies you think £500 is an expensive phone...ballysmate said:Serious question for the phone geeks. What is the real world benefit of capability of a 500 quid phone and one costing a quarter of that?
As they say. YMMV
500 smackers would be an outrageous price for me to pay to get a phone that covers my needs and yes I know there are models out there costing twice that.
I was genuinely interested to learn what I was missing out on. Not much by the looks of it.
For me speed, a good camera, quality display and good connection are the important factors and I'm not bothered about brand image although I do have doubts over the quality and support with lesser known brands (possibly unfounded). I would be sticking with Huawei and had thought their issues with Google were resolved but it seems that's not the case so now I'll be looking elsewhere which suggests Trump has achieved what he wanted and taken the competition off Apple!0 -
I checked out that deal and it's a great price for what looks like an amazing phone. When I checked Amazon reviews though there were some that criticised the software for being too intrusive and suggested installing an alternative launcher. This is when I start to get put off somewhat because whilst I'm reasonably tech savvy, do I want to be messing around removing preinstalled apps that I'll never use and downloading different launchers to just to make it more user friendly? Am I being overly sensitive?super_davo said:
Think of it like Snapdragon 800 series and Exynos/Kirin equivalents are Dura-ace.ballysmate said:Serious question for the phone geeks. What is the real world benefit of capability of a 500 quid phone and one costing a quarter of that?
700 series are Ultegra.
600 series are 105.
If you want a flagship equivalent then you're looking at the top category.
Faster, less battery drain, ability to do fancier tricks with camera and other software are main benefits.
But I would hazard a guess that 80% of people get one because its 'flagship' and the Ultegra equivalent would be virtually indistinguishable in real world use.
There are other differentators of course on phones, like screens (used to be all about Amoled and brightness, now refresh rates), cameras (all now have arrays & software affects how well they use them), batteries/ charging/wireless and overall software.
There is a £170 Redmi Note 9 Pro on Hotukdeals this morning that would be all the phone most people would ever need. The phone equivalent of a Ribble or Rose carbon bike with Ultegra. But there will always be people that want the S-works or Pinarello.0 -
If you can cope with Samsung's android skin and preinstalled apps, you'll cope with Xiaomi's. About on the same level.
I personally prefer vanilla android but their software (MUII) isn't a deal breaker for me. They update them, which is the main thing.0 -
Bought a Huawei Y7 last year. Just sent for one for the missus, delivered tomorrow. £120 and does more than I need plus excellent battery life.Pross said:
I suspect most people don't even realise they're paying for the phone or think they're only paying up to £150 for the handset as they don't associate the contract as being mainly a hire purchase agreement on the phone.ballysmate said:bompington said:
I'm amused the way your post implies you think £500 is an expensive phone...ballysmate said:Serious question for the phone geeks. What is the real world benefit of capability of a 500 quid phone and one costing a quarter of that?
As they say. YMMV
500 smackers would be an outrageous price for me to pay to get a phone that covers my needs and yes I know there are models out there costing twice that.
I was genuinely interested to learn what I was missing out on. Not much by the looks of it.
For me speed, a good camera, quality display and good connection are the important factors and I'm not bothered about brand image although I do have doubts over the quality and support with lesser known brands (possibly unfounded). I would be sticking with Huawei and had thought their issues with Google were resolved but it seems that's not the case so now I'll be looking elsewhere which suggests Trump has achieved what he wanted and taken the competition off Apple!0 -
I've got G7 Power too. It's a phone. Makes calls. Does Email. WhatsApp etc. Plays movies. Takes reasonable photos. And all for under £150. What's not to like?kingstongraham said:I've got a moto g7 power for myself. Weak camera, weak wifi, GREAT battery life, £140. Just bought a galaxy s10e for Mrs KG for a lot more, mostly because it isn't insanely huge like every other phone wants to be.
The thing with phones now is that you actively want them to behave the same as each other, but you pay more for it to do the same things somewhat better. Though why anyone would pay £700 for a phone that can't go a day without charging (like the pixel 4) is beyond me.
Always be yourself, unless you can be Aaron Rodgers....Then always be Aaron Rodgers.0
