I thought buying a new smartphone would be easy!

[Entropy]

Aggghhhhhhh! As per the title, I thought that buying a new mid range smart phone would be simple. Sat down at the PC to buy one then saw another model at a similar price so started looking at that one. Then saw that it didn't quite come with the spec I expected. I have thought about it and now there is a slight doubt that I have made a poor choice with both.

I have found a Samsung Galaxy Alpha (ex demo) for the same price (approx. £250) as a Galaxy S5 mini. I originally was going for the mini before I saw the Alpha. However the Alpha doesn't have an SD slot, so going to Lollipop is not a requirement. I've read the reviews and they all appear to be purely subjective.

I've spent the last few hours looking at them and managed to get myself in a right pickle. I am now looking at the S5 mini, the Alpha and also considering the A5 as all are in the 130 mm height range which is one of my criteria although the A5 feels as if it is right at the upper limit. It feels to me the ideal size for traveling or carrying around at work and they fit into the main pockets of a pair of jeans when out on the lash.

I am looking for an unlocked phone as I need to change sims between home and my RAF base due to signal performance so I don't want to go for a bundle.

I am open to other suggestions if they also fit my criteria. So what do you think I should do?

 

[SORRY CJ]

"........So what do you think I should do?"

Simple, get one of these.
Mr SCJ

 

[busby1971]

If you can get hold of a Sony Z1 Compact for similar money I'd recommend it.

 

[spike7451]

Nokia Lumia,piece of pish to use,syncs to your laptop if you use Win8.plenty of apps,good camera & has Office pre installed

 

[Witty_Banter]

Samsung Galaxy are fine for the first 6 months then start getting issues (IMO - personal experience). No SD card is fairly irrelevant, as all Apps save to the phone memory and there's no option to change it. Also can only used Samsung approved ringtones.

Not tried the Z1, but my last Sony phone was a bit of a dog doo.

 

[Blue72]

iPhone refurb? My last one was a refurb and did me fine for 2 years - they come up pretty much like new to be honest. Obviously not one for the Apple naysayers though.

 

[Bannock]

"Nokia Lumia,piece of pish to use,syncs to your laptop if you use Win8.plenty of apps,good camera & has Office pre installed "

Totally agree. Great bit of kit!

 

[UlsterExile]

Currently have an S5- brilliant bit of kit. Used to have a S3 only moved to S5 as S3 was not 4G compatible. You can pick up an S3 for £120 these days, spare batteries are £5 on amazon/ebay. Depends on what you want it for, both these have slots for micro SD, i had 64gb in both and no dramas.

 

[Ghandi's Flip-Flop]

Lucky for you, my S3 tried to burn my house down. Would generally recommend a Nexus device, but they don't offer the value they used too. Might be worth seeing what you can pick up a nexus4 for these days.


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