So in much the same vein as Parge's previous thread asking for advice, I'm now going to ask the same thing: I want a new Android phone and I really don't want to have to carry some monstrous 5.5" phone if I can avoid it. I have an LG G3 right now and all that 5.5" screen has ever done for me is use lots of battery power. Unlike Parge however, I have a few absolute requirements - hence the new thread, rather than a revival: Ideally <=£200 4" to 5" screen size 16GB bare minimum - I already have a 16GB phone and I struggle for space, even with a 64GB uSD card for media Up to date software - I'm not afraid of flashing CyanogenMod or similar, if that's the only solution NFC - I really would like to continue using Android Pay, since unlike a contactless debit card I can turn off an NFC radio Decent camera - Doesn't have to be super high-end, but something that doesn't look like I've smeared grainy poop all over the lens before taking a shot Good battery life - This is going to be subjective, but I don't want to be charging some weedy little 1200mAh battery every three hours I'm not afraid of Chinese imports or brands that people have never heard of - provided it meets the requirements above. I can easily find all of the above in a larger phone without breaking a sweat, but finding all that and a smaller screen is proving to be quite a challenge. Obviously at that price range an iPhone is out. The closest I've got is the Honor 5C, but at 5.2" it's a little larger than I'd like. So....
I've been using a one plus x since they first started shipping and I really like it. Don't know about NFC tho as to me contactless payment is the stupidest ****ing thing ever conceived
Anyone tried one of the new Wileyfox models? The top-end one ticks all the boxes bar one (it has a 5.5" screen) and looks like a very good spec for £200. https://www.wileyfox.com/storm/ Edit: Dang, no NFC either.
possably look for the older LG nexus 5 (loved mine) has NFC still getting latest OS from google. http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_nexus_5-5705.php the newer version will be way over the price range http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_nexus_5x-7556.php (refurbs can be had for around £240-ish. The problem you will have is with your price point some thing usually has to give and NFC is an easy thing to cut to bring down the price.
Cheers for the advice so far. Dat screen tho... But srsly: the OnePlus models are definitely up there on the list... assuming I can't find what I want in a smaller screen. WileyFox was the first brand I thought of when I started thinking about a new phone a few months ago. They've just - as in, within the last couple of days - announced new models, but I haven't seen any reviews yet. I've definitely got my eye on them though. Cheers, I hadn't considered refurbs; I'm definitely steering clear of second hand phones though. This is the thing: companies like Honor/Huawei can hit the spec I want at the price I want (or less) - if I have a larger screen. Look at the Elephone P9000 - it looks great, has great features, and right now is £169 (excl. import duty/tax) from GearBest. But it has a 5.5" screen. Everyone is going mad for 5+ inch screens, and I don't want that. I'd be willing to compromise on NFC if I could meet all the other specs; hell, I nearly ordered one of these the other day: The Doogee (lolwut) X5 Pro; it's £60, 720p IPS screen, 4G, 16GB ROM, 5" screen, and no NFC... but it's £60 with free next day shipping (I'm a Prime subscriber). What killed it though was the software: it has Android 5.1, likely zero ongoing support, reports of pre-installed malware/spamware, and zero custom ROMs (that I could find).
Tends to be the issue with a lot of the very cheap phones, poor os support and a small user base that wants to mod (so generally it does not happen) only have to look in the general section on XDA for requests for mods for random cheap phones that never get an answer. And yeah some are spamware machines..... Maybe something like a Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016) black 16GB 4G 4.7" screenhttp://www.samsung.com/sg/galaxya2016/index.html for around (just over) £200 with NFC, or an A5 (5.2" screen) for around £50 more. * if memory servres both have had an OS update since release
Oooh sounds like a good case for the Xiaomi Redmi 3 or the new 3s coming out soon. Only thing I am uncertain on is the nfc. But the battery is 4400mAh.
I thought about this but all the specs I have seen for the upcoming 3s have no nfc, depends wether the op can live without NFC traded off against a 4400mAh battery. My Nexus 6p's 3450 mAh battery can last me 2 days with NFC...
TBH I'd ruled out most well-known brands, so the Galaxy A3 might be a good shout - I'll look into it, cheers. I think if I'm going to compromise on NFC then I'd definitely want a smaller phone; otherwise it's pretty easy to find what I want in a larger screen.
I just splurged on a Xiaomi Mi 5, which is probably a tad above your budget (32 GB for 320 Euro or so, shipped from Italy via HonorBuy). I had to unlock the bootloader in order to use the official Xiaomi ROMs (Honorbuy installs hacked Chinese ROMs, it seems), but I'm getting frequent updates of the MIUI Android-based OS it runs now
One of the older Xperia Z Compacts (Z2/Z3) could be an idea, you get NFC, a reasonably quick phone and recent updates. They're also a good chunk smaller, compared to my full blown Z2, and even the X I've got now; they're quite a bit more reasonable in size. They are at the upper end of the budget though, cheapest I can see a Z2 compact is about £205 new.
Why the aversion to second hand - risk, or previous use? I recently picked up a used Galaxy Note 4 for £165 and I couldn't be happier, given that they often go for £250-300 preowned. If I had to suggest an Android phone it would be a Samsung... thoroughly impressed with mine, and both my folks have used Samsungs for years now with no problems.
EDIT: Thanks for all the recommendations so far, btw. Unless it's somewhere more reliable like the Marketplace here, it's a total gamble as to what you're going to get. It seems people can't take a decent photograph if their life depended on it (or simply post a stock photo), and I've seen countless instances of something being listed as "Grade A", or "Like New", "Flawless", etc, when in fact it's scratched to hell and back. People here tend to be more trustworthy, but many (obvs. not all) sellers are just out to make quick money and couldn't give a flying one about niggling things like "trust" or "writing an accurate description".
The choice is better than ever for phones, there are more brilliant Android models on the market now than ever before. When ordering my new phone for work, it was a toss up between the Galaxy S7 and Huawei P9. Unfortunately Vodafone didn't have the P9 in their enterprise catalogue so I went with the S7, but I would have loved the P9 as well; I played around with one in the local o2 shop for a while recently and liked almost everything about it. I'm struggling to think of a great model that is smaller than 5.2" though, which seems to be the new minimum size for flagship phones.
Sony pre installs a whole bunch of useless apps you can't remove without rooting though, so be aware of that, plus in the past they have often been very slow to release android updates for anything but the latest high end phone.
