Upgrading my Samsung S8+ ... What are my options?

[dionbee93]

Coming to the end of my contract with my Samsung S8+.

I love the phone and I've had absolutely no problems at all with it. I'm definitely going to stay with android.
I've not looked at options really, the obvious would be the samsung S10 but does anyone have any reviews of the huwawei range? Google phone? etc.

EE are offering to Waive the Early upgrade charge today, 10% off contract price today.

Or - Do I just go Sim only?

Dion

[paulrockliffe]

I was in a similar position, I smashed my S8+ a few months before the end of the contract. I couldn't get the S10+ for anything like what I was paying on the S8+, so in the end I opted for a new Note 9 that I found on eBay, paid £410 and moved to a £10 a month sim-only contract. Monthly cost that way is half what the S10+ was coming in at, so couldn't see the point in paying more.

[Terzo123]

I recently upgraded from an S6 to an S10.

Whilst the S10 is a great phone, I've been fairly underwhelmed with the jump. The S6 did everything I really wanted of a phone, and only got the S10 for the better camera. I'm not sure its worth the extra £36 a month over and above what I had been paying for the S6.

I'd personally go sim only for a year or two, until the performance of the S8 degrades then make the upgrade.

[eybic]

Be careful if you're thinking of Huawei, their Android future isn't certain as Google have been forced (by Mr Trump) to not offer future OS updates. If you have no issues with your phone then you might as well go sim only until something you want comes along.

[croyde]

I have just moved to a Pixel 3a after 5 years with my Samsung S5.

I had got so used to waiting forever for stuff to happen on my old phone that the jump to a new sim free mid range phone has been amazing.

I have stayed with my £9/month sim only deal and paid £399 for the phone which comes with a free Acer Chromebook worth £200 and as my old desktop that I only really use to surf and do invoices is creekingly slow these days, I needed a new laptop, so it seems a bargain all around.

[makaveli144]

I have just gone from a Note 9 to the S10+ and I love the s10+. The battery life is much better than the note, its more compact and the camera is better.

That been said its not a huge difference so you would have to consider cost.

[The_Jackal]

The S9 is still flagship territory, and some say better laid out. The fingerprint sensor is in the perfect place.
Would save a fair bit of money, still a top notch camera and super fast. Its the first phone i've had that you can realistically edit video on.

[Coolbanana]

makaveli144 said:

I have just gone from a Note 9 to the S10+ and I love the s10+. The battery life is much better than the note, its more compact and the camera is better.

That been said its not a huge difference so you would have to consider cost.

I'd recommend the S10+ too. Great screen, best in the business. Everything else very good. Huawei wins the camera battle overall, no question, but the S10+ is pretty decent too and in some daylight cases where zoom isn't necessary, marginally better to my eyes.

As with most phones, there are no major leaps nowadays, more small incremental ones that may or may not make a difference to the individual.

[clockworks]

My contract was up for renewal at the end of last year. My S7 Edge still works perfectly, so I switched to SIM only with the same provider, saving £25 a month. It would be even cheaper if I could switch provider, but Vodafone is the only network that will work inside my house.

I'll stick with the S7 until it dies, then get a new phone on contract.

[snuffy]

I went from an S8 to an S10 about 2 months ago and it's a better phone but it's not a huge difference. The finger print reader in the screen is the best improvement in that it works 99 times out of 100. And the face unlock works very quickly.

Everytime my 2 year contract expires I say I will just keep the old phone and go SIM only. And every time I end up getting the upgrade.

[Bibbs]

Went from an S8+ to an S10+ .. phone is pretty much the same size and layout, so it's familiar. But it's just slightly better in every regard.

[paulrockliffe]

clockworks said:

My contract was up for renewal at the end of last year. My S7 Edge still works perfectly, so I switched to SIM only with the same provider, saving £25 a month. It would be even cheaper if I could switch provider, but Vodafone is the only network that will work inside my house.

I'll stick with the S7 until it dies, then get a new phone on contract.

If you're happy doing that then it makes sense to buy a S(latest-1) outright rather than going back to contract.

Contract's are for when you want the latest phone but you don't want the wife to twig that they cost £1000.

[eybic]

I was discussing similar with a friend the other day, the majority of my upgrades come about due to my battery performance dropping. At the minute, newer phones aren't groundbreaking like they used to be (god I sound old )

[RTB]

I'd move to sim only until something you really want comes out. I'm currently running an S6 edge plus and it works fine, does everything I need it to do and, having had a play with newer phones, I'm struggling to justify the outlay.

Maybe I'm getting old as well, I used to have a new phone in my pocket the second the old contract ran out. Now I don't really have much interest in rushing out to get the latest thing.

My current sim deal with ID mobile is £5 a month with unlimited sms, 250 free minutes and 3GB data. I can't see me changing any time soon.

[paulrockliffe]

eybic said:

I was discussing similar with a friend the other day, the majority of my upgrades come about due to my battery performance dropping. At the minute, newer phones aren't groundbreaking like they used to be (god I sound old )

Fingerprint unlock (for Apps rather than the device), wireless charging and Google Pay are all great recent developments, but I'm not bothered about having a slightly smaller bezel vs having a cut-out. Cameras are generally amazing now too, so not a great amount to gain there.

I've actually changed my last two phones, USB-min then USB-C because the USB ports wore out and stopped connecting properly, so they became a pain to charge. I forgot they had wireless charging because when I looked the chargers were £40. I have some generic charging pads, £7 each, spread around work, home and the cars, so battery life isn't really an issue any more. I just don't spend that long away from a charger very often and if I do I don't really need my phone.

[croyde]

eybic said:

I was discussing similar with a friend the other day, the majority of my upgrades come about due to my battery performance dropping. At the minute, newer phones aren't groundbreaking like they used to be (god I sound old )

I got my first mobile phone in the mid 90s and one changed contract after a year. There were always something new to get.

Smaller than the last model (How that's changed), ability to text, sliding phone, folding phone, WAP, dual band, tri band, quad band etc, 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, the first touch screen phones.

Now it's a slightly faster processor, better camera, better battery, more RAM.

As I mentioned earlier, I finally went with a sim free Pixel 3a after years with my Samsung S5. It has the camera from the Pixel 3 that critics have said is equal to the latest iPhone camera, a not up there with the latest processor but it's plenty fast compared to my old phone, plus currently the battery life is amazing.

Even with sticking new batteries in my S5 it could never get through a day whilst this one is still going strong the next day despite lots of screen use.