Current android PAYG phone du jour?

I moved from Motorola to Nokia about 3 phones ago and been very happy with them. So I would say whichever Nokia fits your budget.

But cameras are not great if that’s your thing. It doesn’t bother me but I recognise a decent camera on their phone is important to some people.

Get on Hotukdeals and see what's in your price range.

I've had a Nokia 6.1 for... three years maybe?

The phone itself has been great. The camera is astonishingly poor and it doesn't support adoptable storage which if I'd known at the time I wouldn't have bought it. Other than those two annoyances it's been one of the best phones I've owned.

I moved from Motorola to Nokia about 3 phones ago and been very happy with them

It was a Nokia 8 that finally made me swap to Apple about 3 years ago - I guess I just got unlucky but it was awful.

It was a Nokia 8 that finally made me swap to Apple about 3 years ago – I guess I just got unlucky but it was awful.

I've been using a Nokia 8 for over 3 years now, it's been great though obvs it's now outside of security updates and the battery is showing its age a bit.

The camera is astonishingly poor

Mine too, despite the much-trumpeted at the time "Zeiss Optics". So if a good camera is important to you maybe treat Nokia with a bit of suspicion.

Moto G9 Play here, has been perfect.Always has 2 days of battery life, £100 new.

I’ve been using a Nokia 8 for over 3 years now, it’s been great though obvs it’s now outside of security updates and the battery is showing its age a bit.

The final straw was the compass / gps being 180 degrees out all the time 🤣

Ah, that's the Whitesnake model.

Not a g9 plus

I've a Samsung A52s which was issued by work.
It's waterproof, has headphone jack, good camera (noticeably better than my Xperia XZ1 personal phone) and seemingly Samsung do 3 years of updates now. Just works.
All of work issued Moto's are slowly being replaced with A52s.
I'll buy an A52s or A53 in September when my contract is up.

Thread resurrection:

I'm looking to replace my nearly 3yr old Xiaomi.

What's the best all round pure android OS phone for £200-250?

I'm looking for smallish size, good battery life, decent on-board storage with SD card expansion but something that will have Google update/support for a few years.

smallish size,

I couldn't find any small android phones when I was looking. The smallest I found was the Galaxy S22 which even then was noticeably bigger than my Xperia XZ1 Compact
https://phonesized.com/compare/#888,1943,1863

good battery life,
decent on-board storage with SD card expansion but something that will have

Most have this, so can;t offer anything specific

Google update/support for a few years.

As of 2019, google say 4 years support minimum, whlie the very latest phones wil have google support for five years. Apple will support iPhones (and all devices it makes) for seven years from the last time it sold that particular model.

I must be the only person in the civilised world that still has a Blackberry

I must be the only person in the civilised world that still has a Blackberry

I'd argue if you're still using a balckberry then you're not in the civilised world 😋

The smallest I found was the Galaxy S22 which even then was noticeably bigger than my Xperia XZ1 Compact

I'm still using my XZ1 Compact. But it's getting a bit flaky on Bluetooth and WiFi, so it's going to have to go. Phones I've been looking at that aren't too much bigger are the Poco F3, Pixel 6a when it arrives next month, and the Xperia 10 IV.

And is PAYG still a thing? Don't you just get a sim-only one month rolling contract these days?

My lad got a new Xiaomi in the end which he's more than happy with. But i don't think it's particularly small.

@weeksy - is it pure Android without the Xiaomi EMUI skin?

My Xiaomi had been great but it's getting old and slow

Honestly no idea mate sorry... I've not even touched it, let alone used it. Him and the wife configured and set it up... I just bought it.

thanks

OnePlus Nord for about £240 in the shops. Not pure Android, but oxygen is pretty clean. Very good battery life and camera is good. I actually just traded mine in after 2 years as they have me £170 when buying the nord2t, but was more than happy with it.

On my 2nd Xaiomi, just bought a Mi 11 Lite on Amazon for £229. It's simply superb, a big step up from the Note 9 pro it replaced.

Depends on budget but I am mighty impressed by the Samsung A53. Very decent camera, decent screen, has an sd slot or alternatively you can stick a second sim in and it has a genuine 2 day battery life even under fairly intensive usage.

Xiaomi are good but the EMUI skin isn't great.

I prefer standard Android interface

There are some good deals on the Xiaomi UK site at the moment

I've had a Poco X3 NFC for a year and a bit now. It's a sub-brand of Xiaomi and uses the Miui ROM. Didn't like the launcher so installed the Nova Launcher which I've used previously and hides most of the Miui oddness.

Anyone got a Moto Edge 30?

They look good value compated to other mid-range phones and it's stock Android

My old phones battery swelled so I've just spent £200 on a Xiaomi, Redmi, Note 10 Pro (with free ear Buds 3) which seems pretty good. Brought direct from Xiaomi UK from their Mi app, could have got the Note 11 but apparently the 10 has a better camera so I've gone with that.

Small Android Phone?

Cubot Pocket has just been launched.

Many new phones still come with Android 11. That's annoying as Android 13 is out later this year so the 2yrs of OS updates for those phones effectively stop later this year. The security patches will stop soon after as the updates are from the date of phone launch not purchase date

One would hope that "two years of OS updates" would include 11 > 12 etc.

If you buy a phone with v11 you'll get v13 if you have 2 guaranteed updates

So if they roll that out up 6 months after release, then your new phone today won't get v14 which is a Q3 2023 release. So it's within the 2 years but you're starting from am older OS.

It just seems very poor that phone companies are so slow at rolling out updates and new phones are being sold with older OS.

Samsung and Google seen to be leading on this but others like Poco, Oppo, Realme etc are poor in comparison.

Not that I'm favour of disposable technology but the Cubot Pocket and some of those other brands mentioned are cheap compared to the premium Google/Samsung phones so life cost might still be acceptable even if they only get a couple of years of updates (and we know lot's of folk don't care about not having those updates).

The OnePlus Nord CE2 is just £250 with a free case on their website today with code NORDCE2

I got fed up looking so I've ordered one - 2 Android OS updates and 3 yrs of security updates. It was only launched earlier this year so the security updates should run until 2025