Best Mobile Phone for ~£200-250?? [Advice not needed, thanks, phone chosen.]

[Iced_Bullet]

Right, it's been a while since I got a new phone (many years in fact!). It's my 18th soon and my parents were struggling to find a memorable present for me. We can't really settle on anything else. Long story. ... anyway.

 

What's the best phone out now for around the said price range?

Any good manufacturers to suggest?

Had experience of the phones personally?

Any to be released between now and Mid August to take note of? Or any slightly after?

 

Feedback welcome, thanks :D

:thumbsup:

[EW]

Right, it's been a while since I got a new phone (many years in fact!). It's my 18th soon and my parents were struggling to find a memorable present for me. We can't really settle on anything else. Long story. ... anyway.

 

What's the best phone out now for around the said price range?

Any good manufacturers to suggest?

Had experience of the phones personally?

Any to be released between now and Mid August to take note of? Or any slightly after?

 

Feedback welcome, thanks :D

:thumbsup:

 

iPhone 3G!!!!!!!!!

Love mine to bits

seriously you wont want to put it down

[Iced_Bullet]

£342 (for the cheapest) isn't exactly in the £200-250 price range :p

[KoenigseggBG]

Sony Ericsson W900i + Mini SD Card = ~200£

 

That's if you want a multimedia phone and you like sliders, it has changable panels, lots of built-in space and up to 2GBs slot for memory cards. The design is nice, camera is good. :)

 

If you want something more complicated thought :

 

Nokia E-72, which is coming somewhere around august, costs around 270-300£ but I think worth it as Nokias' proved to be very tought and reliable phones.

[EW]

£342 (for the cheapest) isn't exactly in the £200-250 price range :p

Buy one off ebay?

mine cost 290 and its the top end one

[iBilo]

Are you on contract or pay as you go?

[Iced_Bullet]

PaYG.

[Choco]

save money and go travelling.

thats what my brother did for his 18th, just asked for money..

[Shy Guy]

Nokia N97, I have it and its great! 5.4(and 2.8) MP Camera, real good but Its a bit expensive.

 

The iPhone is also good.

[sanrevo]

Nokia 5800 express music ? I love mine and I think its really good to use .

[Iced_Bullet]

Thanks people for your input. The 5800 is a nice phone (a friend has it). But ... well I don't know. I just wouldn't be as happy with it as perhaps one of the below.

 

Anyway, I went to town today, saw no decent phones (I liked) for my price range. So might be thinking of going on contract. Got a shortlist below. Will have to do some digging, about exact specifications and comparisons. :)

 

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Sony Ericson W995 [black] - Vodafone

£25/month for 24 : 600mins + unlimited texts

£30/month for 24 : 600mins + unlimited texts + free net access

 

Feels good, looks good in black. But maybe it looks too much like it's predecessor and not new enough. But I was very swayed by it.

 

 

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Samsung Jet - Vodafone

£30/month for 24 : 600mins + unlimited texts + free net access

 

Havn't looked into this one much, it just looks nice :p

 

 

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Samsung Tocco Ultra [Red] - Vodafone

£30/month for 24 : 600mins + unlimited texts + free net access

 

Not sure if the red is too pink. The display model did slightly. Nice looking phone.

 

 

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Nokia N95 [8GB] - Vodafone

I can't find the tariff info again :(

 

I love the feel, the looks and the overall style of this phone! And the 2 sliding motions. But is it slightly outdated, I don't know??

 

 

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As you can probably tell, I am very swayed by looks when it comes to functionality. Which is kinda stupid when you think about functionality, but hey ho. That's who I am :D

[KoenigseggBG]

I would say go for the Sony. Unless Nokia's tariff plans are cheaper, which I highly doubt. :)

[RamseyOfficial]

Dude, it's almost August. I think you should wait. A lot of phone prices will go down due to the holidays and new years. Plenty of new phones will be coming out very soon, so I wouldn't rush to get a cool current phone and when a new one comes out you'll want an exchange.

[Pherelas]

£30 a month for 24 months is £720, thats a lot more than your £250 budget. Is it worth it for a slightly better phone. Why not save up a little more and get a better pay as you go phone?

 

Suppose it depends one how much credit you buy a year.

[Iced_Bullet]

I spend between £15 and £20 a month on topups. Now thinking about it, that's quite a lot xD And on the topic of upgrading. I'm going to be honest, I own this phone :p

 

 

I think you'll agree, I no longer need to say anything on this matter apart from I'm suprised it's taken me this long to upgrade. I've been thinking about it for aaaaaaaaages!

 

Say I spend £17.50 for averages sake.

 

£17.50x24=£420 I would spend on topups over the 2 years.

£420+£250 budget = 670.

I've said to Dad I'm willing to chip in the extra cash seeing as they're nice phones.

[Shy Guy]

I wouldn't recommend the N95, I had the standard version and it use to freeze and restart all the time, I even got it fixed, maybe its just me. a used N96 would be a better deal, you get twice as much memory space and a faster camera.

 

But the N95's features are great.

[Baldy]

Top tip. Get an iPhone and steer clear of Sony Ericsson. I'm having problems with mine, and it's doing my head in. Hope that helps :)

[Iced_Bullet]

I wouldn't recommend the N95, I had the standard version and it use to freeze and restart all the time, I even got it fixed, maybe its just me. a used N96 would be a better deal, you get twice as much memory space and a faster camera.

 

But the N95's features are great.

The N96's looks are sooo fugly! I'd hate to own that phone. Reviews say that it was a big step backwards for Nokia, especially considering the N95 8GB Music (except for a slightly better camera).

 

Top tip. Get an iPhone and steer clear of Sony Ericsson. I'm having problems with mine, and it's doing my head in. Hope that helps :)

An iPhone is too expensive (I feel a de ja vu moment) ...

 

The reviews for the W995 are very good, saying that it is a good sturdy build. Some previous SE's have had faulty key designs, but this one doesn;t have that. Unless you mean software issues??

 

I spent a good few hours deciding between the N95 and W995, and decided I'd be happy with either and opted for the newer technology - the W995 in black.

 

Vodafone - 900 mins/unlimited texts - £31.64 (when considering the promotional discount of ~25%!).

[Baldy]

Sorry, I realised after about the price limit, but i'm feeling lazy so didn't edit lol.

 

As for the sony, good phones, bad software, freeze, lag and crashing happens daily on my phone, if your texting and a call arrives it will freeze then you cancel to try and unfreeze it and it rejects the call. Really annoys me but could be sorted on newer phones.

 

Whichever you get i would suggest O2, not a big fan of Vodafone

[Iced_Bullet]

Ah, well I did read stories of Sony drastically improving their Phone's OS.

 

I've been with Vodafone all my life and have never had a any problems. Plus the O2, Orange and others don't have as good contract deals on this phone as Vodafone (when it comes to web access).

[Baldy]

I get a free web bolt on with my 02 contract if that's any help

[Iced_Bullet]

Just had another look at the O2 web feature ... and was wondering if you knew the difference between Unlimited Web Bolt On and Unlimited Wi-Fi?? The O2 site isn't too helpful. Please :)

[Baldy]

Unlimited web means gprs and stuff, where as Wi-Fi let's you access wi-fi hotspots

[Iced_Bullet]

Ah ok, thanks.

[T1M]

I wouldn't recomend LG, i've heard bad stories about them, and I have one myself lol. But, the newer more expensive ones might be better today :)