My next phone...

[Xenoous]

Hi all.

My contract is up at the start of June and I'm stuck with what I want to do. I currently have a Samsung S9 with Vodafone, paying £40 p/m. Overall, it's been a great phone, but hitting that 2 years old mark, the battery has done the usual dive in terms of battery life. It has some minor marks on the front, but no real issue, but the back has a small crack, which is slightly annoying. Dropped it while watching football, d'oh.

My primary aim is to save money, but I do also want a new phone. I'm a fan of the Samsung Galaxy phones, but I'm also tempted by the Pixel. I don't live in a 5G area so this isn't a must.

My options are:

• I keep my 2 year old Samsung S9, and get a Sim Only deal. Some decent plans around for £10
• I buy a new handset outright. The Google Pixel phones offer good value for money
• I enroll into the Samsung upgrade plan, and get myself a 128GB S21 for £23 + £10 Sim only deal

Granted, all of these options save me varying amounts of money, which is good. I'm just not sure on what phone I want, and if it's worth parting with my trusty S9.

What would you do? If the second option, what phone would you go for?

Cheers

[MaxNg]

My suggestion is to keep your existing phone, fit a new battery and go for the £10/month sim-only deal. After a year, you will have saved enough to go for an almost-new phone of your choice on Ebay at 60% of current new cost.

[gus607]

Is your S9 locked to Vodaphone or unlocked ?

[toerag]

Keep your old phone and pay giffgaff.com or smarty.co.uk a visit.

[mike9009]

What do you 'really' use the phone for?

[LasseV]

s21 is an awesome phone. Everything is top notch. It will last another 4 years or so. I think it could be a good long term investment.

[Xenoous]

gus607 said:

Is your S9 locked to Vodaphone or unlocked ?

It's locked for now. I'll get it unlocked at the end of my contract (June)

mike9009 said:

What do you 'really' use the phone for?

Pictures, browsing forums, a few apps and a few games (all of which the S9 does perfectly well).

I am edging towards keeping the S9 for now I think. I'll get a quite on a replacement batter and go from there. It gives me the opportunity to keep the costs down, while I can always go get a new phone later down the line when I really want/need a new one.

[LasseV]

Xenoous said:

Pictures, browsing forums, a few apps and a few games (all of which the S9 does perfectly well).

I am edging towards keeping the S9 for now I think. I'll get a quite on a replacement batter and go from there. It gives me the opportunity to keep the costs down, while I can always go get a new phone later down the line when I really want/need a new one.

Keeping s9 is a good choice but camera in S21 is way way way better (so is a performance and battery life). I don't believe that they will get that much better in next few years, so it would be a keeper for sure. How important it is to you, is another matter of course.

Phones are getting more expensive all the time. If you find a good deal for s21 it could be a cheapest choice in a long run. Reality is that one+ 9pro does cost over one thousand...

Edited by LasseV on Wednesday 31st March 10:44

[Mr_Yogi]

LasseV said:

s21 is an awesome phone. Everything is top notch. It will last another 4 years or so. I think it could be a good long term investment.

Android phones only have security updates for 3 years, so if you use your phone for online backing or googlePay I wouldn't want to use it for 4 years. It's pretty disgusting in this day and age phones are only good for 3 years.

I almost went to an iPhone for that very reason a month ago as my Pixel 2 was still working great for me.

[Mr-B]

Mr_Yogi said:

Android phones only have security updates for 3 years, so if you use your phone for online backing or googlePay I wouldn't want to use it for 4 years. It's pretty disgusting in this day and age phones are only good for 3 years.

I almost went to an iPhone for that very reason a month ago as my Pixel 2 was still working great for me.

I vaguely recall Samsung saying they are giving 3 years updates to their latest phones and 4 years for security patches. Still poor in my eyes, they say they want to reduce e-waste (no charger in the box) then effectively end the life of a perfectly usable phone by supporting for only a few years, if they were really serious on this issue they would be supporting phones for far longer, 6 years wouldn't be out of the question IMV.

[gangzoom]

S9 was a great phone, had mine 2.5 years, but my S21 U is just better in everyway - with the only exception of been it could with be lighter.

[LasseV]

Mr_Yogi said:

Android phones only have security updates for 3 years, so if you use your phone for online backing or googlePay I wouldn't want to use it for 4 years. It's pretty disgusting in this day and age phones are only good for 3 years.

I almost went to an iPhone for that very reason a month ago as my Pixel 2 was still working great for me.

Samsung gives you 3 years of software updates and (at least) 4 years security updates. Sounds good to me tbh.

[Skyedriver]

S21 - over £800 for a bloody phone - Jeez
I know I'm a skinflint but.
My phone is a tool, it gets used and sadly abused, need a pic of something on the car suspension - click; needs a charge boost - connect to a cable and drop it down the side of the car seat; take it with me - drops in the trouser pocket next to the house and car keys. It's scratched all over but still works (if a little slowly as its an old Sony Lumia something.
I'd love to replace it with something a little bit quicker but I couldn't justify £800

[alorotom]

What about the new Redmi Note 10 4G ... only $199 on gearbest for the next couple of days and it’s got outstanding reviews for the price point.

[Skyedriver]

alorotom said:

What about the new Redmi Note 10 4G ... only $199 on gearbest for the next couple of days and it’s got outstanding reviews for the price point.

That gets some good reviews as a camera. little comment on the use as a 'phone though.
"Bargain of the year" in some reviews

[snuffy]

Skyedriver said:

S21 - over £800 for a bloody phone - Jeez

That's because it's not a phone. It's a laptop that fits in your pocket that happens to allow you to make calls over a voice network.

[TameRacingDriver]

My mrs has an S9 Plus and she is perfectly happy with it, and it is a perfectly decent phone, still performs well, screen still looks good, so keeping it is a solid option.

I've got an S21 Ultra and it's definitely a lot nicer in every area, but I acknowledge that you'd probably have to be an enthusiast to justify the upgrade. It's not cheap and totally not necessary for day to day use, but it is a very nice thing to look at and use.

[Chuffedmonkey]

I am in the same situation but my phone contract ended in March. I considered buying a phone outright and the Pixel 4a or 5 got my attention but the phone was not really on upgrade on my current Huawei P20 Pro, the natural upgrade would have been the P40 Pro but the lack of Google has pretty much ended Huawei.

Iv decided to get a sim only deal as the my old phone does everything very well and I have saved circa £30pm.

[Xenoous]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I don't really have one as such, the idea behind wanting to save money is purely me being tight. I have a little girl on the way, and keeping my finances in check is the main driver. The S21 is a very appealing device that I do want, but I also want that extra money in my account! I've always owned the latest phone, even if not the biggest and best, but right now I'm just trying to tell myself it's simply not needed.

Chuffedmonkey said:

I am in the same situation but my phone contract ended in March. I considered buying a phone outright and the Pixel 4a or 5 got my attention but the phone was not really on upgrade on my current Huawei P20 Pro, the natural upgrade would have been the P40 Pro but the lack of Google has pretty much ended Huawei.

Iv decided to get a sim only deal as the my old phone does everything very well and I have saved circa £30pm.

Yeah I think for the time being I'm keeping my S9. I still have 2 months left on my contract to mull it over anyway. It's the sensible choice, which while isn't always the most interesting, it'll at least tide me over for another year yet.

[TameRacingDriver]

Probably sensible. I bought a Pixel 5 to replace my 2XL and then ended up selling it to get an S21 Ultra, as I didn't feel like the Pixel 5, the cheaper phone, was really a great upgrade, but it still cost me over £500. So I ended up taking the hit and getting a proper upgrade. Go big or go home I would say, a top end phone from a few years ago is pretty close to a 'not quite top end' phone from today.