Are there any good all-round smartphones under £250?

Are there any good all-round smartphones under £250?

Author
Discussion

Glosphil

4,352 posts

234 months

Sunday 22nd April 2018
quotequote all
Honor 9 Lite for around£170

bristolracer

5,535 posts

149 months

Monday 23rd April 2018
quotequote all
G6 on amazon pre order,release 9th May

https://www.amazon.co.uk/motorola-5-7-Inch-Android...

Edited by bristolracer on Monday 23 April 22:29

QuartzDad

2,241 posts

122 months

Monday 23rd April 2018
quotequote all
We've had various Moto G handsets in the extended family, from first generation to multiple G4 etc. Based on their feedback and web reviews I bought a G5s Plus 7 months ago when I finally ditched Windows Mobile.

I won't be buying another Moto.

Since Lenovo took them over the Android updates have all but vanished. I've had one patch in 7 months, currently running the Oct17 patch. Other regions have received Dec, Jan and Mar updates but nothing in the UK. Their support forum is useless.

bennno

11,611 posts

269 months

Monday 23rd April 2018
quotequote all
Huawei Nova 3E / P20 lite is probably the best for this budget, got the kids one each in UAE last week at <£200.

Iphone x style, 5.8" screen in tiny body, loads of power, dual camera, android oreo, facial recognition etc

justinio

1,151 posts

88 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
bristolracer said:
G6 on amazon pre order,release 9th May

https://www.amazon.co.uk/motorola-5-7-Inch-Android...

Edited by bristolracer on Monday 23 April 22:29
I'd definitely spend another £20 if it were me and get the Amazon exclusive one with double the storage and more ram

https://www.amazon.co.uk/motorola-5-7-Inch-Android...

mabosh

300 posts

186 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
QuartzDad said:
We've had various Moto G handsets in the extended family, from first generation to multiple G4 etc. Based on their feedback and web reviews I bought a G5s Plus 7 months ago when I finally ditched Windows Mobile.

I won't be buying another Moto.

Since Lenovo took them over the Android updates have all but vanished. I've had one patch in 7 months, currently running the Oct17 patch. Other regions have received Dec, Jan and Mar updates but nothing in the UK. Their support forum is useless.
That's odd. My 14 month old Moto Z got Android 8 Oreo at the weekend including the March 2018 security update.

grumbledoak

31,532 posts

233 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
What do people think of the Samsung J or A series phones in this price range?

I think the biggest difference from the halo S range is the screen resolution and I doubt I would notice the difference.

bristolracer

5,535 posts

149 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
Samsung are fond of bloatware

StescoG66

2,116 posts

143 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Hope the OP doesn’t mind my adding my query as I am in the same predicament. I currently have a MotoX XT1092 but it’s starting to play up and the battery life is diminishing rapidly.
I am not an enthusiast, just don’t want to spend a kings ransom on a phone. Looking at the following:
New MotoG6
One plus 5 or 6 if I can find them
Used Sony Experia XZ
Used HTC 10 or 1 (don’t know model hierarchy)
LG X or G5 (again don’t know hierarchy)
Don’t do any gaming, would like a good camera, other than that it’s used as a phone, for Spotify, golfshot and general web browsing.
Any advice greatly appreciated. Looking in the £150 - £250 price range

anonymous-user

54 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
durbster said:
keirik said:
Samsung J5.

£150

Replaced my s6 edge amd does everything so need.

Also takes a micro sd card so storage isn't a problem
I don't know what the J5 camera is like but the camera seems to be where most of the cost goes, so I think it's going to be difficult to get a good camera in a phone that's sub £250 when new.

You'll get a much better device all round going for a previous generation flagship.
13meg rear 5 meg front.

So slightly improved on the s7.

And the photos generally are higher quality certainly than the s6
I stand by my recommendation.

nmd87

835 posts

190 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Used Pixel 2 if you can find one. I bought one for £250 and very happy with it.

durbster

10,247 posts

222 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
keirik said:
13meg rear 5 meg front.

So slightly improved on the s7.

And the photos generally are higher quality certainly than the s6
I stand by my recommendation.
Err yeah, but the amount of pixels has little to do with the quality of the camera or the photos it takes. It's certainly not going to be near the quality of the camera on the S7!

Some info about the J5 camera here:
https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_j5_2017-re...

Edited by durbster on Wednesday 25th April 09:01

Jonny_

Original Poster:

4,125 posts

207 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
I was quite tempted by the Honor 9 Lite, only thing it’s lacking is fast charging, which is a feature I do like on my Moto G5.

The chap who got the Huawei P20 Lite for under £200 did very well indeed, I can’t find it for less than £300 other than secondhand on eBay or from the various sketchy Chinese sellers l that crop up in Google search results.

Moto G6 still looking favourite at the mo!

TotalControl

8,050 posts

198 months

Sunday 29th April 2018
quotequote all
nmd87 said:
Used Pixel 2 if you can find one. I bought one for £250 and very happy with it.
Where did you find a pixel 2 for £250?! I'd buy one without hesitation at that price but problem is I just can never find one.

Purchased a P10 Plus Dual SIM a few days ago for £200 (used) that I thought was an amazing price.

irocfan

40,388 posts

190 months

Sunday 29th April 2018
quotequote all
Jonny_ said:
I was quite tempted by the Honor 9 Lite, only thing it’s lacking is fast charging, which is a feature I do like on my Moto G5.

The chap who got the Huawei P20 Lite for under £200 did very well indeed, I can’t find it for less than £300 other than secondhand on eBay or from the various sketchy Chinese sellers l that crop up in Google search results.

Moto G6 still looking favourite at the mo!
WRT the sketchy Chinese sellers, I'm happy to advise I've purchased from Gearbest with no issues.

HTH

StescoG66

2,116 posts

143 months

Monday 30th April 2018
quotequote all
I pre ordered the G6 from Amazon. Hopefully it will be ok. Reviews seem good.

The Mad Monk

10,474 posts

117 months

Monday 30th April 2018
quotequote all
StescoG66 said:
I pre ordered the G6 from Amazon. Hopefully it will be ok. Reviews seem good.
What is the difference between a pre-order and an order?

StescoG66

2,116 posts

143 months

Monday 30th April 2018
quotequote all
The Mad Monk said:
StescoG66 said:
I pre ordered the G6 from Amazon. Hopefully it will be ok. Reviews seem good.
What is the difference between a pre-order and an order?
It’s not released yet. 1st dispatches are 9th May

The Mad Monk

10,474 posts

117 months

Tuesday 1st May 2018
quotequote all
Here you go.

Just what you want.

Which? speaks very highly of it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-Plus-32GB-Dual-S...

The Mad Monk

10,474 posts

117 months

Tuesday 1st May 2018
quotequote all
StescoG66 said:
The Mad Monk said:
StescoG66 said:
I pre ordered the G6 from Amazon. Hopefully it will be ok. Reviews seem good.
What is the difference between a pre-order and an order?
It’s not released yet. 1st dispatches are 9th May
Ah.

When it's released will your pre-order be converted to an order?

Or will you have to re-order?