Mobile Phone Thread

[wullie]

I've got the new Pixel arriving today, they're trumpeting how AI is all over it so either it'll take lovely photos or conspire with the fridge to kill my family, could go either way.

[SvN]

I've got a Pixel 8 and it's brilliant. Fast, long battery, good camera. Does everything I need and the contract is fairly cheap, about £32/mo for unlimited data.

You can get a similar deal for the Pixel 9.

[Manc]

I've gone Spigen for my last 4 or 5 phones.

Wouldn't go with anything else, they're amazing.

Any particular model?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Rugged armour is my current.

I like the heavy duty ones because if you drop your phone it just lols it off.

[Giggles]

Going to go for the Pixel 9 myself. Google doing trade ins now and they're estimating my S23 Ultra at €366 off the price of the new one. Doing free double storage at launch too.

[Danny]

I've gone Spigen for my last 4 or 5 phones.

Wouldn't go with anything else, they're amazing.

Same. Randomly came across them on Amazon in 21 and have used them since.

Manc, I use the armor case

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I've just seen that I can get an upgrade too as my contract ends next month.

Pixel 9 Pro XL is tempting.

[wullie]

Going to go for the Pixel 9 myself. Google doing trade ins now and they're estimating my S23 Ultra at €366 off the price of the new one. Doing free double storage at launch too.

That's what swayed me, I've got the 6 which is still running an absolute treat but double storage and getting £250 back means it works out about £20 a month all in

[Gray Fox]

8 Pro user here and it really is great. I had the 7 Pro before this and you can really see them getting into their stride with it now. On the last two launches they had a Pixel Watch if you ordered the Pro in the first two weeks and the Buds if you ordered the standard 8 in the first two weeks. Seems they're not doing that this year.

The photo editing software even for an editing dummy like me is outstanding.

They have also finally upped that fingerprint sensor to pretty much instant this year. I also this the camera 'shelf' on the back this year looks top notch.

[Manc]

Rugged armour is my current.

I like the heavy duty ones because if you drop your phone it just lols it off.


Same. Randomly came across them on Amazon in 21 and have used them since.

Manc, I use the armor case

Cheers gents. I've gone for the Tough Armour case, which has a novelty kickstand.

[Luke Emia]

Right my phone contract is up soon and I need a new phone. I have two phones one for work and one for home so my current phone will become my work phone.

I’m thinking about moving from Apple to a Pixel 9. But, my biggest concern is moving from the Apple ecosystem that my life has been in since I had a Galaxy S6 anyone made that change recently.

[Lofty]

Just remember to get a decent screen protector cos mine was in a tough case :(

[Gray Fox]

Right my phone contract is up soon and I need a new phone. I have two phones one for work and one for home so my current phone will become my work phone.

I’m thinking about moving from Apple to a Pixel 9. But, my biggest concern is moving from the Apple ecosystem that my life has been in since I had a Galaxy S6 anyone made that change recently.

Do you have the accompanying watch, pods etc? If not it's an easy choice imo. The hardware between it and the upcoming Apple device will be very similar in terms of quality. They will not be similar in terms of price.

[Manc]

Just remember to get a decent screen protector cos mine was in a tough case :(

Did you toss your phone into the Grand Canyon?

[Giggles]

Right my phone contract is up soon and I need a new phone. I have two phones one for work and one for home so my current phone will become my work phone.

I’m thinking about moving from Apple to a Pixel 9. But, my biggest concern is moving from the Apple ecosystem that my life has been in since I had a Galaxy S6 anyone made that change recently.

If you're using an iPhone you probably were, or should have been, using Google services for most things anyway instead of that iCloud mess. So it's very straightforward. It's still a fairly half baked OS compared to iOS though and I guarantee you'll be sorry.

[Giggles]

That said, if you're going Android then Pixel is the way to go.

[Lofty]

Did you toss your phone into the Grand Canyon?

Dropped it on a stony path at the beach like a giant toddler.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I've ordered my Pixel 9 Pro XL.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Cheers gents. I've gone for the Tough Armour case, which has a novelty kickstand.

I had one of those with my Galaxy S20.

Barely used the kickstand and it snapped off after a while.

Enjoy.

[niko_cee]

I've been having a bit of a a nightmare updating my number on Whatsapp, well, I think I have, it's hard to tell. I've been using my old number profile on my new phone number for a while as I was afraid of losing all the old conversations - this had happened to my wife. Decided I'd give it a go after about a year as it's causing some confusion when people try to use the profile number to contact me outside of whatsapp. Made the mistake of not selecting notify all contacts, so that seemed like it had fucked things up for individual conversations. Groups seemed to be able to cope somehow. Anyway, I decided, with some reddit advice to go back to the old number and then switch back again but this time with the notify contacts thing selected. Interestingly when I then went back to my old number/phone it fucked all the conversations so all old message were gone /o\, but then, after switching back again they are back \o/. Thing I'm trying to work out is how the notify contacts thing works. Does it amend you profile in their phone? The only people I've been able to contact so far have had both my old and new number so I can't work out if someone who doesn't have the new number will see it as part of my profile [ie their contacts will have been silently updated] or not.

Bet that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. :/

[Lofty]

Best value sites to buy phones through these days? Saw some Pixel 8 deals for under £25 p/m no upfront fee but want to shop around.

[Boydy]

Money saving expert's phone finder tool thing will compare most of them for you.

[Boydy]

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/contracts/google/pixel-8/

[Lofty]

That's handy thanks, still weighing up whether to just claim on insurance for my smashed 23 Ultra or pick up a really cheap 'old' phone now and write it off. Interestingly Pixel 8 Pro reviewed as an equal to S23 Ultra on release but one is now half the monthly price of the other.

This Flip 3 I'm using might have carried me to May 25 but I cant face it all the way to May 26, the battery is terrible. I went to Leeds at the weekend for the ale fest, purposefully used my phone as little as possible just listening to music on the train and the odd message/uber, looked at it come 10pm and I had 2% battery - not ideal when you're 8 pints deep away from home.

[Gray Fox]

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/contracts/google/pixel-8/

Damn that thing is good.

Mine and the Mrs deals are offset by a year and she's never too arsed with the brand new phone so usually takes mine and I get an upgrade each year. Most of the big name airtime providers now seem to be pushing you towards a 3 year contract as standard, so these sites are big money savers. I've used affordablemobiles the past two times, but they've recently been bought out. Their prices are still decent compared to the others but not a patch on going through that link.

For example the Pixel 9 Pro on there is £39/m with unlimited everything. You're looking at £48/m for the same on affordablemobiles. Only thing is I've never used ID Mobile. It does state it piggybacks Three though so I'll ask around here to see how signal is.

I'm about to enter my final month and so am looking at my options. I don't like how bloaty the Samsungs feel, so I'll likely skip them unless they're due a new phone reveal soon. That just leaves the Pixel and the iPhone.
I currently pay around £45/m for 100gb data with Vodafone, so anything around the same or less is fine. Unless through that site they can find the new iPhone cheaper than what I pay now(it's available tomorrow), it'll likely be a Pixel.

You can get the standard Pixel 9 for £30 a month on there, which seems like a very good deal. Just a case of whether those extra features are worth the near £10 a month extra on the Pro.

[SvN]

I'm on ID Mobile and it's fine for me - no better or worse than any other network.

[Ben]

The three year contract thing is an absolute racket. My wife likes the new phones so she saved up enough to buy a new iPhone outright a few years ago and switched to SIM-only. Now she's in that cycle she is "saving" loads.

Obviously I can't comment from a personal point of view because I'm like Lewis when it comes to this bollocks.

[Gray Fox]

I went on one of of them the other day and it was a 4 year contract as the default setting. Scandalous.

As for signal here, I've used a few networks now, with Three being the one I have not and they're all fine except for O2 which has actual dead zones.

[Boydy]

How many phones even last three years in terms of battery life? Fucking iPhones definitely don't.

My last one (Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite) lasted me four and a half years. It was relatively cheap on contract (about £28 a month) I think for two years and then I switched to SIM only and was paying about £8 a month for another two and a half years.

Got the Nothing Phone 2a the other week (£19 a month, £39 upfront, 300GB Vodafone) and I'm hoping it lasts a similar amount of time. Specifically bought it for it's supposedly good battery life.

[Boydy]

My last SIM only deal was with Talk mobile who piggyback on Vodafone. The signal for it was okay but not great. The signal for Vodafone now seems to be much better. Could just be the phone itself but I was wondering do networks limit virtual operator traffic to boost their own speeds?

[Ben]

Doubt it. I'm with Lebara (also Vodafone) and had absolutely no signal issues on an archaic phone.

[Shindig]

I was going to extol the virtues of having an old iPhone 5 but the 3G signal just got yanked in my area and it's now completely useless. :D

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

You must have had it constantly connected to a power bank.

[Shindig]

Nope. Rock solid battery life. I maybe charge it once a week.

[Shindig]

Well, it's done for. No signal and every 2FA is hooked into the iPhone 5's number. The 6s I have has never been able to make calls or texts (it would get on the network fine but currently can't even find it) so ... I think I'm switching networks.

[Gray Fox]

Landscape has settled somewhat since the iPhone 16 came out. I'm due my upgrade in the next month. Currently pay £45/m so that rules out the Pro and up models on the Apple side. Just under £40/m for the standard, just over for the 16 Plus.
Whereas you can get the Pixel 9, Pro and Pro XL for all under £40/m right now. The latter two are a negligible difference in price around £37-39 a month, with you being able to get the standard 9 for £30.

I'm not opposed to going Apple again, but being able to get the top non-foldy option from Google for the same price is surely the better play. I'd opt for the standard 9 to save some money but I reckon there'd be a niggle in my brain about doing it.

[Shindig]

Well, I did switch network. 3's service didn't appear to come back up. Luckily my brother-in-law threw me one of his old phones (a Galaxy A71) so I could get a sim only deal with Vodafone. Not my first choice of network but they were local to me and sorting something out online typically requires a number for two-factor stuff. Quit 3 relatively painlessly and took the old number. I don't think I'll ever go back to them.

Fuck knows what I'll do with 150GBs of data. :D

[Gray Fox]

Went for the 9 Pro XL in the end. This phone is the answer to what would happen if Android got iPhone build quality. 500gb with data rollover basically gives me unlimited data. £39 a month so I can't grumble.

Just now stuck in that period of waiting for my number to switch over.

[Lofty]

That's handy thanks, still weighing up whether to just claim on insurance for my smashed 23 Ultra or pick up a really cheap 'old' phone now and write it off. Interestingly Pixel 8 Pro reviewed as an equal to S23 Ultra on release but one is now half the monthly price of the other.

This Flip 3 I'm using might have carried me to May 25 but I cant face it all the way to May 26, the battery is terrible. I went to Leeds at the weekend for the ale fest, purposefully used my phone as little as possible just listening to music on the train and the odd message/uber, looked at it come 10pm and I had 2% battery - not ideal when you're 8 pints deep away from home.

Decided against insurance, I saw they want activity logs of the phone now which I can't provide as mine is utterly goosed and the screen flashes so much I can't use it at all. I was browsing HotUKDeals as it's payday and came across a voucher code for Xiaomi, which meant I could bag the Redmi Note 13 Pro for £180. Tech Spurt reviewed this as an excellent phone when it released at a higher price so hopefully this will live up to the reviews, if it's good enough I'd like to just go sim only in the future, flagships are just too pricey.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've just got an S24. Seems really good. Getting it however involved wading through a nearly three-week labyrinth of corporate cost savings, fraud prevention measures and general societal collapse. I ordered it for delivery, took the day off to receive it at home, saw the DHL van coming, opened the door and went outside, only to see said DHL driver scuttling into his van and hot-footing it away having 'attempted a delivery' during which the recipient was 'not at home', and providing photographic evidence consisting of a look down the street at various doors.

Contacted DHL, they said that a delivery was attempted and I hadn't been available. After some guffawing I told them to deliver to the office instead as that's where I'd be for the foreseeable. They said that this was not allowed because I could be a fraudster. So I said OK, I'll collect it from the depot, I just need to get the phone. Oh no, sir (you can insert your own accent into all these discussions but needless to say it's the same one throughout), they're going to attempt another delivery. I said there's no point, I won't be there. Apparently there was no option than to just let this delivery fail, and to change anything I would have to contact the seller (O2). I then rang O2 and told them to re-route the delivery, they said this was 'not possible' because it was company policy to guard against fraud. I said fine, fucking send me another one, whatever the fuck you need to do. They said no, we can't, you have to contact DHL. So DHL and O2 are basically holding my phone hostage at this point because the DHL driver is dishonest.

This continued for ten days. It's incredibly hard to get hold of either of these companies - both have aggressively draconian layers of security checks before you can get anywhere near a helpline and then it's just some stupid cunt who has to read off a script so what's the point. Eventually, with this phone seemingly having disappeared into the void and neither company willing to do anything to deliver it, I decided the only option was to go into the nearest O2 shop and stage some sort of dirty protest. I knew there was stock, so all he had to do was cancel my order, start a new one and then give me the phone. I was in there for an hour and 15 minutes, mostly just sitting in a chair while the chap phoned and phoned various levels of bosses whose approval he needed to make this happen. By the end it had all been such a farce that he decided to give me a free tablet. I mean, this is pure 21st century, isn't it? Seethe your face off for 17 days because nothing works due to legal arse-covering, and then get bought off with a free tablet by some freshie Indian who I am amazed has the level of authority to dole out tech in that way.

But yeah, it's a really nice phone.

[Pepe]

Physical stores for everything would be due a comeback if the modern human was not terrified of human interaction.

[Shindig]

Picking stuff up in person's just a more reliable experience.

[Clunge]

I miss Phones4U. I used to block out maybe a four-hour window on a Saturday when my contract was up and just essentially occupy the shop until they gave me exactly what I wanted. It was superb. We're talking early 2010s – I reckon I got unlimited everything plus whatever the current iPhone was for about £20 a month, and this was before the 'literally all you pay for is data' reality we're in now. It was great. You'd go through three or four layers of shop seniority (desk grunt to section manager to store manager to regional manager) and the likes and in the end, they'd just cave.

[Baz]

Anyone who complains about signal might as well join this waiting list (https://vrlps.co/q5zqr3i/cp) for a ‘boosted uk signal e-sim’ that’s coming soon.

[John Arne]

I needed a fairly quick new phone, and having had a Pixel 6 for donkey's years, just got a new 8a. It's kinda weird. Feels fast, but at the same time, some scrolling is janky as hell... but the BIGGEST problem is the screen... it has a constant blue-ish hue to it. Side by side with my 6, it's really noticeable. The whites looks grey on the 8a. so far, so shit.

[Yevrah]

Any decent guides or advice on the differences between/best option from:

iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16e
iPhone 16 Plus

Ta muchly.

[Lofty]

The guy I trust for tech reviews hates Iphones anyway because of the price point for the features but he REALLY hates the 16e for what it's worth, so I'd swerve that one.

[Gray Fox]

If you care about the thing having all the bells and whistles, Pro. If you want this bigger/with more battery, Pro Max.

If you don't take lots of pictures on your phone or care much about the resolution of the screen just get the 16. If you wish the 16 was a little bigger or had more battery life, go for the 16 plus.

Don't bother with the 16e.

[Yevrah]

Thanks gents.

[Yevrah]

Went for the 16 Pro Max and it's just arrived. :drool:

Not gonna lie, it's replacing an iPhone 13 mini and I'm excited most about the battery life.

[Yevrah]

Oh and one more question. I was on a plane years ago and someone sat next to me had an iPhone case that was made of material (probably covering something sturdier), but it was built in such a way that he could fold the sections of the case up on the back of the phone so it made a rudimentary stand.

Try as I might I can't find anything like it for sale now, which is probably a Google fail on my part but any searches for iphone case stand give results with some sort of fold out metal tripod thing which is not what I'm after.

Any ideas?

[niko_cee]

Sounds like one of those ipad covers / cases with the magnetic fronts that fold in sections (https://www.amazon.co.uk/JETech-Apple-10-2-Inch-Model-Generation-Black/dp/B07QPV9Z7X/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=GOSPVNQGXWSW&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.j-aEt4l7XXUlpAOyD8Uj0Q5zl8FqNDJRtz24zQRbrir0GdlAewmK c5qFS8XhhppvfR0LH2tI5xoX42buZumK6i6uyHwZ31XywlDSfU AjLXZyqEVK2sHF794_krhJIH6dEwE6I68cvKHOYp2F1_xmS4Ro LTECPzPBnBBDJGOxVmMgvzBL73W18-3FAHkqirsR-_kmVFy0gKS_qelYIK_Jse4sRrkg-S2cqsvANNYFby8.6M61nIa2dYtuRDTWfytR5cyxLMv-1y29-W3D8O6C6WQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=ipad%2Bfolding%2Bcase&qid=1743082662&sprefix=ipad%2Bfolding%2Bcase%2Caps%2C83&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1) - are we talking a stand for landscape use of portrait use?

[Yevrah]

Cheers Niko, that is exactly what I'm after.

Landscape, so I can sit on a plane and watch a film on it while it's sat on the dinner tray.

[niko_cee]

Make sure you find one for an iphone before bowling in on that link, I can't seem to find one that isn't for an ipad.

Ah yeah, foldable viewing stand case is your search term. They don't look exactly the same but seem to do a similar thing even if they generally look a bit naff.

[Gray Fox]

Be careful too that your case isn't too thick that it prevents MagSafe from working, assuming you wish to charge that way.

[Yevrah]

What is MagSafe? :D

[Gray Fox]

Apples name for wireless charging. If the case is too thick, it wont charge on the pad while the case is on.

[Yevrah]

Ah, cheers.

[Gray Fox]

Most Apple friendly cases have a magsafe passthrough on them. They look like a circle on the back of the case with a line underneath.

[-james-]

Isn't MagSafe what they call the magnetic Macbook chargers that don't ruin the connector/port if you trip over the cable?

[Raoul Duke]

Oh and one more question. I was on a plane years ago and someone sat next to me had an iPhone case that was made of material (probably covering something sturdier), but it was built in such a way that he could fold the sections of the case up on the back of the phone so it made a rudimentary stand.

Try as I might I can't find anything like it for sale now, which is probably a Google fail on my part but any searches for iphone case stand give results with some sort of fold out metal tripod thing which is not what I'm after.

Any ideas?

I have one of these which does that: https://www.ipitaka.com it's great for watching stuff on planes and having the little handle thing on the back means it's easier to wield a giant phone. Plus you can just pop it off and charge it with the case still on.

[Gray Fox]

Isn't MagSafe what they call the magnetic Macbook chargers that don't ruin the connector/port if you trip over the cable?

Annoyingly they have the same name for both things. What you say is what it started out as though.

[Lofty]

Are you Pixel 9 boys happy with your choice? O2 keep ringing me so I suspect they want me off my sim only plan, going to tell them they can give me a Pixel 9 Pro XL for no more than £30 a month or swivel.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I have a 9 Pro XL and I love it.

My first Pixel and I think I'll be sticking with them.

[wullie]

I've got the main 9, delighted with it. It's probably the best phone I've had in every regard bar camera which is still great, but the Huawei P30 Pro was ooh la la.

[SvN]

I miss the days where phones were actually different. All Android phones are basically homogeneous now.

[Giggles]

The 9 Pro is lovely and small. Probably not really compared to 10 years ago but it's a nice change from the S23 Ultra.