Replacement Android phone

[Skyedriver]

Yes, it's me again, I asked similar back in November/December but the need to replace came to a head this morning.

Budget really about £600
Samsung S24/S25/S26 but the S26 is out of budget.
New or reboxed?
Google Pixel?
What's the best option for calls/texts/general surfing and general photos?
I've been known to take the phone under the car and down into the engine bay etc for pics of broken mechanical bits.

Thanks

[Regbuser]

Got a s/h pixel 8 from music magpie, supported until 2030 - £250

[captain_cynic]

Skyedriver said:

Yes, it's me again, I asked similar back in November/December but the need to replace came to a head this morning.

Budget really about £600
Samsung S24/S25/S26 but the S26 is out of budget.
New or reboxed?
Google Pixel?
What's the best option for calls/texts/general surfing and general photos?
I've been known to take the phone under the car and down into the engine bay etc for pics of broken mechanical bits.

Thanks

If I'm reading the other thread right, didn't it go to the other end?

For a "web and email" phone do you really need a high end phone? You'll likely fulfil all your requirements in the £3-400 range. I generally don't use anything more taxing than Firefox on my phone and a £220 Nokia X30 did me well for 2 years, just replaced it with a £300 Motorola Edge 60 Neo but I'd struggle to recommend that at this point as they've been a bit sneaky with ads.

If you like Samsung, just get another Samsung as there's plenty to choose from. Other than that, I'd say go for the pixel if you want to spend that much the 10a is £500.

[Skyedriver]

Head getting fogged up now with so many options and specs.
Interested to try a Pixel but reading a few comments about poor battery life.

[fathomfive]

A few weeks ago, I dropped my Pixel 6 Pro, smashing the screen right on the edge. I decided to take the opportunity to replace it with a Pixel 8 Pro which I find quite nice.

[jimmyjimjim]

Skyedriver said:

Head getting fogged up now with so many options and specs.
Interested to try a Pixel but reading a few comments about poor battery life.

I suspect that being a new device, you'll be amazed to find its battery life is so much better than the 8-year-old S9. I just replaced my 4 year old Oneplus 10 Pro, with a Pixel 10 Pro XL, and am finding the battery life great; 50% down in a day under heavy use in the office, 26% down yesterday in 18 hours working at home. I would pretty much burn through a full charge plus half of a new charge during a day.

The Pixel 9a is practically the same phone as the 10a; 350 quid on amazon.

[nvubu]

captain_cynic said:

just replaced it with a £300 Motorola Edge 60 Neo but I'd struggle to recommend that at this point as they've been a bit sneaky with ads.

I bought a Motorola Edge 50 Neo about 6 months ago - I don't get any ads at all. It does load the odd random game every now and again to "enhance the experience" or some such nonsense, but it tells you it has done so, and I just remove them. I think it is great - the shake for the flashlight especially. My daughter got one over Christmas as well - as she had cracked her Pixel 8a screen. Upgraded to Android 16 last week.

[Skyedriver]

nvubu said:

captain_cynic said:

just replaced it with a £300 Motorola Edge 60 Neo but I'd struggle to recommend that at this point as they've been a bit sneaky with ads.

I bought a Motorola Edge 50 Neo about 6 months ago - I don't get any ads at all. It does load the odd random game every now and again to "enhance the experience" or some such nonsense, but it tells you it has done so, and I just remove them. I think it is great - the shake for the flashlight especially. My daughter got one over Christmas as well - as she had cracked her Pixel 8a screen. Upgraded to Android 16 last week.

Just had a quick look on Amazon and these are so much cheaper than the Pixel 10 and S25, both of which I've spent the morning trying to decide which to get!
Am I missing something?

Edit: I see the Motorola has a link up with Sony. The fall back old phone I have is a Sony and it was OK. Still looks very clear now. Think it was just storage that I changed it for.
I once had a Windows 'phone but they stopped making them. Are Google likely to stop making 'phones?

Edited by Skyedriver on Sunday 29th March 14:22

[jimmyjimjim]

As google writes the android software and have been making phones since 2010 (ok, 2016 for the first manufactured phones), largely as showcases for how they see android going, it's unlikely they'll stop anytime soon.

[maccboy]

The wife and I have had, and still have, Motorolas for a long time. They are very reliable and don't have any bloatware on them. I really can't knock them at all. My current Edge 50 is great in every respect. Horses for courses, I guess.

[C69]

captain_cynic said:

just replaced it with a £300 Motorola Edge 60 Neo but I'd struggle to recommend that at this point as they've been a bit sneaky with ads.

I'm currently looking for a replacement phone. Motorola appealed because its phones seemed to deliver a fairly stock Android experience at reasonable prices, but the major downside was most models only offered limited security updates.

However, the Edge 60 Neo does get a generous number of OS updates and several years of security updates, so it's on the shortlist.

But I don't want my phone feeding me ads all the time, so please could you explain what "a bit sneaky with ads" means? Also, did the phone come with lots of bloatware, or was it fairly 'clean'? Thanks.

[maccboy]

C69 said:

I'm currently looking for a replacement phone. Motorola appealed because its phones seemed to deliver a fairly stock Android experience at reasonable prices, but the major downside was most models only offered limited security updates.

However, the Edge 60 Neo does get a generous number of OS updates and several years of security updates, so it's on the shortlist.

But I don't want my phone feeding me ads all the time, so please could you explain what "a bit sneaky with ads" means? Also, did the phone come with lots of bloatware, or was it fairly 'clean'? Thanks.

My Edge 50 doesn't have any ads, at all. Nothing. Maybe he's talking about their ads for the phone being misleading/sneaky.

[Griffith4ever]

maccboy said:

C69 said:

I'm currently looking for a replacement phone. Motorola appealed because its phones seemed to deliver a fairly stock Android experience at reasonable prices, but the major downside was most models only offered limited security updates.

However, the Edge 60 Neo does get a generous number of OS updates and several years of security updates, so it's on the shortlist.

But I don't want my phone feeding me ads all the time, so please could you explain what "a bit sneaky with ads" means? Also, did the phone come with lots of bloatware, or was it fairly 'clean'? Thanks.

My Edge 50 doesn't have any ads, at all. Nothing. Maybe he's talking about their ads for the phone being misleading/sneaky.

Likewise, and I have a Moto Razr 60 Ultra - no ads again. It's a myth. No bloatware - no more than any other manufacturer - you just drag all their own apps into one folder and ignore them.

The Edge 50 Neo is extraordinary good value. From what the OP says I very much doubt he needs to spend anywhere near £600.

https://www.motorola.com/gb/en/p/phones/motorola-e...

£199 and a superb phone - I still have mine. Only reason I have a Razr Ultra 60 is I'm hooked on the flip format, and I got a cracking deal on CeX.

[richhead]

Ive had a motog55 5g
Had it about a year now, it replaced another motog, cant remember which one, as the battery wasnt lasting.
Got it new off amazon, cant remember the exact price but around £150.
Does everything i need, and comes with a rubber protective cover and has a rhino glass screen, its been dropped many times and not a scratch.
When it dies i will replace with the same or newer version.
For that price im not too worried about it.
The only thing that i can see that more expensive phones have is a slightly better camera. And that really isnt a concern for me.

[Easternlight]

Motorola g56 Argos £159
Why do you need more?

[captain_cynic]

nvubu said:

I bought a Motorola Edge 50 Neo about 6 months ago - I don't get any ads at all. It does load the odd random game every now and again to "enhance the experience" or some such nonsense, but it tells you it has done so, and I just remove them. I think it is great - the shake for the flashlight especially. My daughter got one over Christmas as well - as she had cracked her Pixel 8a screen. Upgraded to Android 16 last week.

maccboy said:

My Edge 50 doesn't have any ads, at all. Nothing. Maybe he's talking about their ads for the phone being misleading/sneaky.

I'm pretty sure this is something introduced in the latest version of HelloUI, one of the reasons I went for the Edge 60 Neo was the glowing reviews and recommendations of the 50.

The ads are mostly "recommendations" but they're put in the way as to be obtrusive (I.E. easy to accidentally click on), I think I've nixxed all of them by disabling every Moto service I could, which is the main reason I'm hesitant to recommend it as that's fine for me as a techy, but might be more frustrating for the layperson and I'm concerned they might be re-enabled by future updates. That and it kept trying to install apps without my permission (once again, fixed by disabling the service that was doing it (Moto App Manager I think). I had to uninstall Tiktok 3 times.

Apart from that, I want to like it. The hardware is very good, responsive and clean, it's not massive (hate screens larger than 6.5"). I've already got the update to Android 16 as well as coming in a range of colours aside from boring grey, black or white. However the software thus far has left a bad taste in my mouth.

Basically, I'd say they're good but caveat emptor.

[captain_cynic]

Skyedriver said:

Just had a quick look on Amazon and these are so much cheaper than the Pixel 10 and S25, both of which I've spent the morning trying to decide which to get!
Am I missing something?

Edit: I see the Motorola has a link up with Sony. The fall back old phone I have is a Sony and it was OK. Still looks very clear now. Think it was just storage that I changed it for.
I once had a Windows 'phone but they stopped making them. Are Google likely to stop making 'phones?

Edited by Skyedriver on Sunday 29th March 14:22

Google seem committed to the Pixel as a flagship for Android but it's google, they could cancel it tomorrow for all we know (and sadly, they've form for doing this). I don't think they will though but any phone is a case of "you pays your money and takes your chances" IMHO.

I think £300 is the sweet spot for phones, also check out the price direct from the manufacturer (Motorola in my case) as they can sometimes be a few quid cheaper than Amazon.

[Bluevanman]

One spec most people overlook is screen brightness,up until a couple of years ago you had to go premium to get a phone bright enough to use outside in bright sunlight.
I've noticed a big improvement in brightness specs on lower priced phones recently but still look for one with at least a 1,000 nits would be my advice.
Screen brightness, battery life and update support life are the 3 most important things I look for in a new phone

[Skyedriver]

Thought I was near a decision but just had a look at the Motorola Edge 50/60/70 range
50 looks great on price but according to Amazon they only have about 8 or 12GB storage unless you go for the Fusion and that seems to be running Android 10.
The 70 is the very latest Android 16 and undercuts the S25 & Pixel 10 by £50 but still only 12GB

Or am I missing something?

[captain_cynic]

Skyedriver said:

Thought I was near a decision but just had a look at the Motorola Edge 50/60/70 range
50 looks great on price but according to Amazon they only have about 8 or 12GB storage unless you go for the Fusion and that seems to be running Android 10.
The 70 is the very latest Android 16 and undercuts the S25 & Pixel 10 by £50 but still only 12GB

Or am I missing something?

I think that's the RAM, my 60 Neo has 12GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage (which is a bit light, but fine for my needs). 12 GB of RAM is good for a cheap phone, a quick google says the 50 also comes with 256 GB of storage.

One of the things I really, really like is that it has a full 12 GB of actual, physical, honest to goodness RAM.