Which Phone?

[EasyPeez]

I'm sorry to even be asking this; I have no interest in phones whatsoever and appreciate this is a very dull subject....still -
I've decided to get my wife her first proper phone for her birthday (next Weds), but I know nowt about them and have been so busy lately I haven't really left myself time to get to grips with the jargon.

I'm keen to buy from John Lewis for the 15% discount and 2yr warranty, and it needs to be SIM Free. I was thinking of spending about £200 (I could push this up a bit if there was something in the £200-300 bracket that is particularly worth splashing the extra on) - this rules out the iPhones, so that leaves a handful of other brands & models - see below.

I was thinking of perhaps the Samsung J6+ or A6 perhaps, but that's based on nothing more informed than the fact that they look quite pretty and we have a Samsung TV which hasn't broken (yet)! I was thinking of avoiding Huwawei because of all the things we get up to in our household that might be of interest to the Chinese government...!

If anyone can spare 5 mins to run the rule over these and make any suggestions based on experience of brands/models that would be mega.

I guess main criteria are easy to operate, durable, good battery life, good camera (though I think they all have decent cameras now?), good for browsing simple websites quickly (weather, traintimes etc - nothing complicated). Not sure if she would use/want NFC contactless payment gubbins or not tbh...
Not sure if there are other criteria I should be considering?

https://www.johnlewis.com/browse/el...iew-all-mobile-phones/_/N-a8v?sortBy=priceLow

Thanks in advance for all help :-)

 

[Adam4868]

I know the motog6 is a great phone.My partner has one and loves it.I converted her away from Apple .Ive got the model before g5,ive progressed from g3 through to this and cant really fault it.
Review here.
https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/review/android-smartphones/moto-g6-3675716/

 

[derrick]

Have had a few Samsungs over the last 10 years, never had a problem with them, they have always been handed down to me from my better half, she has to have the latest offering, I ain't complaining.

 

[johnnyb47]

I've been really impressed with Huawei phone's.My old Huawei smart phone is still going strong and the battery lasts for days even though the phone is six years old. This year i bought another Huawei. Its the J7 and paid £109 for it (sim free). Very impressed with it so far. Fast, resonsive, and a nice big clear screen. Battery life seems to be very good and camera takes brilliant pictures. Internet browsing is fast and user friendly. Well worth a second look at it you want a decent phone

 

[nickyboy]

I've been really impressed with Huawei phone's.My old Huawei smart phone is still going strong and the battery lasts for days even though the phone is six years old. This year i bought another Huawei. Its the J7 and paid £109 for it (sim free). Very impressed with it so far. Fast, resonsive, and a nice big clear screen. Battery life seems to be very good and camera takes brilliant pictures. Internet browsing is fast and user friendly. Well worth a second look at it you want a decent phone

Had a Huawei P9 for almost two years. Technology-wise it's good and is priced cheaper than the equivalent Samsung. FWIW, I will change my phone in a couple of months and I'll probably get another Huawei

 

[vickster]

You might not get JL partner discount on mobiles (which is presumably how you're getting the discount), although that might only apply to iPhones. If you do, I believe it's actually 12.5% on electrical/electronic gizmos. The 2 year warranty is definitely worth getting of course

Personally I have an iPhone and have had for years but you don't give the impression of wanting to go Apple

 

[Salad Dodger]

A couple of months ago I bought an Honor phone, which seems to be performing pretty well. I am told they are made by the same company as Huawei, but branded differently as a sort of budget market version. A bit like Lexus and Toyota in the automobile world.....
Anyway, £119 for a 32 gig phone with a decent camera. I am happy.

 

[PaulSB]

I researched this very carefully about six months ago. In the price range you suggest, up to £200, there are two outstanding candidates:

Moto G6 Play
Huawei P Smart

Both around £150/160.

I went for the Moto because my son has had a G3 since it came out and it still performs perfectly. My son has SLD and no concept of how to care for it properly!!!! I've been very pleased.

The Huawei is slightly slimmer and might be more comfortable for a woman.

Get O2 or Tesco Rocket Packs for £5, 7.50, 10.00, 12.50, 15.00 or 20.00 per month. Great value and very flexible.

 

[LonesomeWanderer]

If i was looking for a phone I’d probably go for one of the new Nokias. The lack of security updates will render most other Android phone useless after a year....

 

[le_al_khemista]

I researched this very carefully about six months ago. In the price range you suggest, up to £200, there are two outstanding candidates:

Moto G6 Play
Huawei P Smart

Both around £150/160.

I went for the Moto because my son has had a G3 since it came out and it still performs perfectly. My son has SLD and no concept of how to care for it properly!!!! I've been very pleased.

The Huawei is slightly slimmer and might be more comfortable for a woman.

Get O2 or Tesco Rocket Packs for £5, 7.50, 10.00, 12.50, 15.00 or 20.00 per month. Great value and very flexible.

No experience with the above phones but surely Giffgaff offers the best value? I tend to buy their £7.50 goodybag which includes 2GB of data. Plenty for my needs.

 

[PaulSB]

No experience with the above phones but surely Giffgaff offers the best value? I tend to buy their £7.50 goodybag which includes 2GB of data. Plenty for my needs.

I don't know anything about Giffgaff or anyone who uses it so can't comment. I use less than 250MB/month, most of my browsing is wi fi wherever I happen to be, so it's not really an issue for me. On the face of it that looks a very good deal. I don't though understand why people feel the need for huge data allowances. I've used 7GB on wifi in the last month and 235MB on data. Why pay for something that is generally freely available everywhere?

 

[Slow But Determined]

For my 2p worth I would go Moto as opposed to the "accepted makes" due to the lack of bloatware.

Also the Sony I had would not allow WhatsApp to download as they had their own version "hangouts".

 

[NorthernDave]

Moto G - we've had several right from the original one and really can't fault them.

 

[graham bowers]

No experience with the above phones but surely Giffgaff offers the best value? I tend to buy their £7.50 goodybag which includes 2GB of data. Plenty for my needs.

Depends where you live. No Giffgaff signal here so whilst it may be inexpensive, it's also ineffective.

 

[PeteXXX]

+1 for GiffGaff
I bought a Sony XA2 for about £200 and a GiffGaff sim card @ £7.50 a month.
The good thing about GiffGaff is that you aren't signed up for a 1 or 2 year contract.
Last month, via Santander, I got a £10 month with £5 back, now I'm back on £7.50 as I only need 2gb.