So somewhat dissapointingly, after 3 years my Samsung galaxy S20's battery is knackered. Battery health is at 70% and battery life on it wasn't great to start with when new, but thought it might have lasted a bit longer than that. Battery now lasts half a day even in power saving mode.
Have been looking for replacement but as there's so much choice now I'm a bit confused what is best. Last few phones have been samsung so used to their quirks (preinstalled apps, bloatware etc) but have been dissapointed with the S20.
Before that, iphones but I moved on from them as I had a few hardware issues with them. That was an iphone6 so a good while back, not sure if the new ones are any better?
So my current shortlist are, galaxy 23+/ultra or google pixel 7 pro if sticking with android, or giving apple another chance and going with an iphone 15 pro?
I'm open to other options/good deals though.
All thoughts/advice welcome. Cheers.
I'm guessing that there must be great deals on the Pixel 7s given the Pixel 8 is upon us?
I'm using a Pixel 6 and might consider the Pixel 8. I don't think it's worth updating for every generation, hence skipping the Pixel 7.
Pixel 7. I'm on Pixel 6....good phone, no bloatware
I'm going to wait for the Galaxy S24 to come out and then pick up a refurb S22 to replace my S20 I think. I do fancy trying a pixel sometime though.
I had a Pixel 5 and it completely died. Luckily I got a Pixel 7 Pro, brand new in box, warrantied, for an extremely good price (under 1/3 RRP) so went for it....
In comparison it's very big and heavy. Noticeably so. The camera bump adds to this. The rounded edges on the screen aren't too my taste, they give reflection that makes the screen less usable and getting a decent screen protector is tricky. It also gets pretty hot when charging or after streaming for a while.
The camera is very good. Really good in fact. That's why I'm sticking with it.
Apart from that everything else is underwhelming compared to my older phone.
New battery for the S20?
I have a pixel 6a and I was really happy with it but recently a variety of apps have started messing about and my wife has found the same (also 6a).
Also I find the fingerprint scanner pretty rubbish - often have to try 2 or 3 times or have to give up and use my PIN. though my wife doesn't have that issue.
I went down this road recently after my Nokia took one fall too many. Ended up with a Pixel 7a. I can't fault it, I see little reason to spend the extra cash on the 7 let alone the 7 Pro. The days of needing a flagship phone are in the past.
I have a pixel 6a. Competent phone, excellent camera and for me battery life.
Just too bloody big. I regularly leave it at home as I just can't be arsed lugging it about.
Previous phone was a king Kong mini. Tiny, light, competent, but crap camera. It was great, apart from the camera
I’m happy with the cheapest Apple iPhone SE (product Red) and use a Smarty SIM
Here’s a Guardian 5 star review of it
Also I find the fingerprint scanner pretty rubbish – often have to try 2 or 3 times or have to give up and use my PIN. though my wife doesn’t have that issue.
Me too with my Pixel 6a. The FP scanner is crap even compared to my previous Samsung S8.
I'm also not that impressed with the battery life though I do use almost constantly for most of the day (I tend to get anxious when battery drops below 25%, so I may be an outlier)
Camera on my s22 ultra is insane...
Just saying.
I went from a cut down S20FE to a S23 Ultra - the camera is more insane than my wife's S22 Ultra. It's incredible - James Bond would be proud. Unfortunately, I have the phone in a nice rugged leather flip case, because I am a clutz. Doubles the thickness, unfortunately. The s20FE was faultless, big screen etc ec.
Battery life very good on the S23 Ultra too, despite the bells and whistles.
On my 2nd Pixel (4a now 6a) very happy they just work.
Previously had whatever the newest Samsung or iPhone was but won't be doing that again.
I finally changed phones this year..went from Samsung S8 to S21(5g) mainly coz it's the same size and I can get a 360 case for it...I got the phone from backmarket....yesterday it went back ...lol
Great phone but a mic problem...should get it back next week
Loving my Pixel 7a. I had 2 or 3 Motorolas before, but the Pixel is much nicer to use, better camera etc. The fingerprint reader is a bit temperamental mind, but it also has face unlock which works well so it's less of an issue.
My Samsung S22Ultra is very good so far.
But I do fancy a Samsung Flip 4 just for the sake of the size.
I have a 6pro, I've hated it from day one and would never buy a pixel phone again in case it's even half as shit.
For what that's worth.
Got a pixel 4a and my next one will be a pixel.
Still on the 4a and tempted to change but anything newer doesn't have the headphone jack so I'll probably just get a new battery.
I have a galaxy M51.
It's great, battery does 2 days 😁 7000mah capacity
The fingerprint scanner on my Pixel 6 works fine.
Upgraded from a Samsung S10 to a pixel 7.
Really happy with it, the camera is excellent and battery lasts all day no problem with heavy use.
Fingerprint scanner works well as does face id.
Before that, iphones but I moved on from them as I had a few hardware issues with them. That was an iphone6 so a good while back, not sure if the new ones are any better?
Having had iPhones from a 3GS, all the way through to my current 14 Pro Max, most were at least three years old when I upgraded them, my iPhone 11 was five years old, and I traded that in against the 14 and got £300 for it, and none displayed any hardware issues, oh, except for the 4G, which had a slightly shonky Home Button, down to the soft-touch button. Which wouldn’t have been a problem, if stupid people hadn’t whined about the button being ‘too clicky’!
Yeah, right - be careful what you wish for! I’ve actually still got that one, it sits on the dock on top of a clock/radio, and still works; I wonder if anyone has replacement buttons for them still
Great phone that, but so tiny!
It worked perfectly apart from the bits that didn't?
Sony are due to release their Xperia 5v later this month. Seems to be getting good pre-release reviews and would be a bit different to most.
I have an S22Ultra. Contrary to some of the above comments, the camera is rubbish
Cheap Poco X3 NFC here. Looking at my emails I've had it 2.5 years and it's still going fine.
So I'd avoid the big boys and go for something cheap(ish) and Chinese.
i sent from a S20 to a pixel 7.
The pixels are good value for money. They are not better (imo) than the samsung equivalent by any stretch. The software is slightly better with less bloatware but overall im underwhelmed. I would not get a pixel 8 on launch as there is a massive bug processing stage you have to get through and this seems to be traition with new pixels. However after a year its OK.
Pixel 6 here (my first having had a couple of OnePlus's before) and I'll definitely be sticking with the Pixel range mainly for the lack of bloat and quality camera.
If I can get a decent trade-in I may go with an 8.
I think it's hard to look past the Pixels if going with Android.
Got a Xiami Redmi Note 10 pro - good camera, 2 day battery life (actually having owned it for about 2.5 years maybe only one day now). A little bit of their own software you can't uninstall but for the most part I don't notice it. All the Xiaomi's review pretty well and are cheaper than a pixel. The entire range is massive though, tend to be 6.5"+.
If you're looking to buy outright, £609 for a 7 Pro looks like the best price I can find so far
https://www.dealmonday.co.uk/google-pixel-7-pro-5g-smartphone-12128gb-obsidian-1
(obviously do your own checks on the website)
My pixel 4a survived being driven over a few times, placed it on the chassis for safe keeping and fell off onto a main rd and still works
Now have a 7a for two years hope it's as strong but feels the same phone
Otter box cover and glass cover , not these cheap Flexi Amazon £5
pixel 7 (non pro, but I assume the pro has it too) has adaptive charging which is meant to help ease the battery in, I had an s20FE and the battery was nuked after 2 years. Neither of them have very good batteries
I would wait till the 8 comes out.
I found a deal for a pixel 7 for £200 through O2, it's 'refurbished' but not a mark on it and battery at 99% health.
You commit to £20 month sim, but can cancel at any time.
Got a Xiami Redmi Note 10 pro – good camera, 2 day battery life (actually having owned it for about 2.5 years maybe only one day now). A little bit of their own software you can’t uninstall but for the most part I don’t notice it. All the Xiaomi’s review pretty well and are cheaper than a pixel. The entire range is massive though, tend to be 6.5″+.
I got mine in January this year for £180 - amazing phone, unbeatable value.
TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR
I have an S22Ultra. Contrary to some of the above comments, the camera is rubbish
Yes, the shutter speed lag for S22 Ultra is obvious, even my Note 9 is better. Apart from that all fine.
The days of needing a flagship phone are in the past.
Did you ever? Really?
That's the same money as Nokia X21 and Fairphone 4, obviously the Fairphone isn't as good on paper but the repairability is what you're buying into. The 5 is tempting if they really do support it to 2031 but £650 is a lot of money and that's a long time to lock yourself in for in terms of hardware.
Did you ever? Really?
Yes, unless you're going to be pedantic about "need."
For a long time, the software requirements outstripped hardware ability. Even high-end smartphones could be slow as arse. Budget phones such as they were were terrible. I had the original Samsung Galaxy which in its day was supposed to be the best on the market and it wasn't fit for purpose.
PCs went the same way. My first PC was well over a grand back in the 1990s and laptops were unthinkably expensive, paying much less got you a Speak 'n' Spell. Today a £300 laptop will do what most people need, the only people spending four figures are gamers and Apple fans.
Wife has the all singing Samsung 22 Note the camera and battery knock my pixel out the park but it's 3x the cost.
My pixel has been a little buggy lately
Just changed to a Google 6a this year
As others have said great phone, poor finger print reader
I'm going from a S20 to a Pixel 7 Pro. Speculation suggests the Pixel 8 will jump up in price and I got a decent deal from EE on a 7 Pro.
poor finger print reader
My left thumb works 100% of the time, the right around 80%
Have you tried increasing sensitivity
Settings / Display / Increase Touch Sensitivity
Went from a Pixel 2 to Pixel 6, probably go for Pixel 10 when the 11 is out. Been really happy with them, apart from that time I lost it when mountain biking
Poco F3 or F5 if you're feeling flash. Amazing spec for the money. Battery life two days if you're easy on it. Failing that a 7a might be in my future as they're a bit smaller. Currently using the F3 having come from an F1. Good phones.
@cougar not being pedantic at all, maybe I've just been happy with budget - medium range phones. My present Huawei P10 Lite has been on the go for 6 years now and I paid 200odd quid for it, before that was a Microsoft Lumia (RIP lol) and before that a second hand Xperia X1 maybe?
None were what I'd call fast but neither were they slow as arse. If you were using it as a computer then sure, go for something higher end but for anyone other than a power user top tier has never really made sense.
Your analogy about laptops - see also phones, how much does a Fold 5 cost?!? I honestly paid less for my gaming PC than one of those, hell I could buy a Fairphone 5, a Steam Deck and a 2tb NVME upgrade and still have enough left over for umpteen other gadgets or a decent bike.
When madame's phone packed up I started a thread on here. Many suggestions and links to reviews one of which included:
Got a Xiami Redmi Note 10 pro – good camera, 2 day battery life (actually having owned it for about 2.5 years maybe only one day now). A little bit of their own software you can’t uninstall but for the most part I don’t notice it. All the Xiaomi’s review pretty well and are cheaper than a pixel. The entire range is massive though, tend to be 6.5″+.
It's changed her from an technophobic occasional smart phone user to addict. My place in the family hierachy has dropped one, I'm now fourth: Junior, horse, phone, me... unless there's something I don't know.
So if you want a phone you use occasionally when you need it I recommend a battered old glitchy Motorola on its second battery like mine, but if you want a phone that works faultlessly and will slowly take over your life - Xiaomi Realme.
See I'd rather have your Motorola as despite my prejudices against them for the original RazR being an expensive table leveller they have a very basic Android system like Nokia and Fairphone with no crap bundled in.
I'd steer away from Chinese phones after my experience with Huawei, aside from privacy concerns (also applicable to Google) the support for updates has been dire and the amount of crap I can't remove without breaking it is ridiculous.
I'd keep my pixel 4a forever, but it will probably be on its last legs in about 12 months...so I'm kind of looking out for a new one.. a 7a or 8a or whatever 'a' pixel phone is last season at the time, would be the obvious choice.
But not 3.5mm jacks on new phones, so annoying.
Tbh the jack isn't a deal breaker, it's handy but I'm pretty used to Bluetooth headphones now. I always imagined they would last no time but the crap ones I have go forever. It's also one less thing to break and get annoyed at.
But not 3.5mm jacks on new phones, so annoying.
Do these phones have a USB-C port? If so, unless you’re allergic to adapters, you can buy a cheap adapter to allow the use of ‘phones with 3.5mm jacks. I use them, along with different cables on earphones with replaceable cables. My Røde headphones have an Amazon Basics 3.5mm > Lightning adapter that cost just a few quid, and audio quality is much better because the adapter has a built-in DAC, so Lossless is available.
My next phone, thats coming in a couple of weeks, will be USB-C, so I’ll be looking for a couple of adapters for existing devices.
An alternative is a DAC like the Fiio JadeAudio KA5, which I’ve just ordered, which I’ll be fixing to my phone’s case with Velcro, so all of my headphones/earphones will have 3.5mm jacks, no bothering with adapters in future.
USB-C head/earphones do away with any adapter nonsense
Cheers all for the suggestions. Looked through a few of the models suggested here. Decision made and have went for an S23 Ultra.
Using various codes on the samsung website brought the 256gb model down to £764 from £1250 rrp! Seeing as the ultra is the ultimate android phone (at the moment anyway) thought I'd treat myself. Plus it has a big battery.
Plus samsung are throwing in free bud2 pros (apparently worth £220) which I can try and sell on and recoup a bit more money and bring the price down a bit more.
Using various codes on the samsung website brought the 256gb model down to £764 from £1250 rrp!
Very good price and much cheaper than my 128gb S22 Ultra (came with Bud).
Let us know if the camera has improved and no more shutter lag.
i bought into the fairphone4 on a deal for 500 quid.
Its massive.
The camera isnt great
but its fast by my standards, and works well, so its grown on me, which is just as well as i intend to be stuck with it as long as i can repair it, and they support it.
The day after i dropped 500 quid on the FP, Nokia released the G42 for 200 quid. very comparable spec, (possibly identical) and similar repairability (though remains to be seen how long nokia manafacture parts and offer software support for it)
https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_gb/nokia-g-42?sku=101Q5003H067
Those Samsung Buds are really good, plus if you go in the settings you can give yourself a hearing test.
I've got a Fairphone 4 and I like it, it's not a slim as a pixel but that's because you can repair and maintain it. No complaints for me, I don't really bother with the camera on phones because I'm rubbish at photos so can't comment on that, everything else works fine and because it's a plain install of Android with no vendor mods you get updates regularly and they work
I just checked out MSE after seeing their email from earlier in the week.
Some surprising, to me, deals out there like monthly deals that beat buying a new phone and getting a separate SIM.
Buying a used/refurbished phone and SIM is still likely to be cheaper than a new one.
USB-C head/earphones do away with any adapter nonsense
True, but if you already have decent ‘phones, then an adapter is a cheap way to keep them going. Quality headphones have always come with adapters, my Rødes have two. Also, a cheap adapter makes a flexible joint that relieves stress on the socket and plug - I broke any number of headphones when they were 3.5 jacks and the wire got stressed. Buying decent headphones or earphones with a replaceable cable allows the cable to be replaced if it gets damaged, or there’s a change in the plug format. With the forthcoming DAC all my headphones and earphones will be returned to 3.5mm jacks, I’m even getting a couple of pairs of EarPods with 3.5mm jacks, proper old-skool. Means there’s a bunch of Lightning cables and adapters going into the electronics recycling bag, though.
First full day with my P7P, on the go since 5am, plenty of use and now showing 7%.
Getting used to the different layout compared to my S20. Generally not so much a giant leap but the camera is noticeably better.
I would of held out for the Pixel 8 but by all accounts it'll jump up in price.
I bought a Samsung Galaxy A34 5G a couple of months ago and it has been great.
I paid £249 but not sure what the price is now but might be worth a look?
