I've a Huawei P9, four and a half years old, still works but noticeably lethargic and with a weakening battery. It cost me £350 at the time, which seems enough to pay for a phone.
Should I renew the battery and do a reset, or bite the bullet? It's on Android 7. My interest in operating systems ended with DOS but I think Android 7 is now several versions behind.
If I swap it, what do I get? I want plenty of room for apps, photos and video. The Huawei is 3GB/32GB+128GB expansion card. Both RAM and ROM now seem inadequate-it's occasionally low on memory and if I want any headroom I have to uninstall something to add an app. I could use the cloud a bit more for photos & videos but I like the option of adding storage.
I also need a good camera and battery life.
The Hauwei's been good, but the brand is now in bad odour and subject I believe to sanctions one way and another. I don't need the latest, in the past I have found that the previous year's high end phones can be good value when they are superseded.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
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I got SWMBO a Moto G9 Power from Argos for £180 in April. it replaced a Xiaomi RedMi 9 which came from Amazon in Dec for about £140 IIRC.
Her requirements were a decent camera and good battery life.
Both met that requirement. The Xiaomi went back because it wouldn't work with part of my home WiFi - even a replacement. The Moto has more internal memory (128Gb v. 64Gb) but I recall both will take an SD card but I may be wrong.
I don't see the point spending much more than that for average to moderately heavy use, as it will become virtually obsolete in a few years, or it may get broken. I'd probably spend a bit more on mine (I had my eye on a Pocophone F3 a few months back, around £300 at the time I think) but unfortunately (!!) my old Pocophone F1 is still running strong and isn't broken. I suspect something else would catch my eye today, but £300 would be about my limit and I'm quite a heavy (and techie) user (except of the phone function!).
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>>The Xiaomi went back because it wouldn't work with part of my home WiFi
I wonder why. I have a very messy WiFi in the house with a number of repeaters and in fact 3 (perhaps 4) different wireless networks on the same LAN. And all phones work without issue.
I imagine that your network is far better quality and far better put together than mine.
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I have a fancy BT Whole Home 4 mini disc system which is supposed to be mesh-like I think. www.amazon.co.uk/BT-Whole-Wi-Fi-Bundle-Additional/dp/B07YVRWRF9/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=bt+whole+mini&qid=1625156392&s=electronics&sr=1-2 but it was under £100 when I got it. I used to use cheap (£4) Xiaomi repeaters which worked just as well, except only 2.4GHz and actually a lot slower throughout (the BT ones are very quick on the right devices).
It does seem quite good now I have it stable, but it took some time to get it there.
However, when in her favourite chair, SWMBOs phone would be connecting/disconnecting all the time, and never get an IP address. So I switched the discs around but it was the same. It would connect to discs elsewhere in the house no problem.
So it was a bit cheeky really to blame the phone, but after a month or so of intermittently trying to fix it I thought I'd see if I could swap the phone under warranty. Unexpectedly they agreed but the second one behaved the same, so it too went back.
Anyway the new dishwasher WiFi is playing up but in a different way, though Hoover told me last night it was due to the BT repeaters. I told them they are wrong but maybe there's something in it... :-)
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the moto g8 (various versions) is on run out pricing now. My G8 power has done all i want and appears reliable, with a good battery life, altho GPS seems to drain it faster than expected?
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Xiamoi, a company formed about 11 years ago, has the Redmi, Black Shark, Mi and Pocophone brand names. Motorola is a subsidiary of another Chinese company, Lenovo - excellent value for money and generally with a good battery life between charges, as is the case too with Xiamoi products.
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I have a Moto G6 which I was very happy with but wanted an upgrade for wireless charging, larger internal memory and better camera - all work related.
I bought a second hand but 'pristine' Samsung S10 from Music Magpie. It came in a generic box with a charging cable and nothing else. I paid £300. I have to say I am delighted. It is pristine and knowing how Android works was able to swap data and apps across the phones very easily and quickly.
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>> the moto g8 (various versions) is on run out pricing now. My G8 power has
>> done all i want and appears reliable, with a good battery life, altho GPS seems
>> to drain it faster than expected?
I thought you had this cracked for £132, but there's no NFC on this phone according to the specs. How is that possible? I haven't carried cash since the pandemic started and I only use a card as a back up. Also use the phone for the tube, or at least I used to.
G9 Power might be OK. Poco X3 Pro also catches my eye. The x3 Pro can be had as 8GB/256GB for around £200.
Do I need 5g for anything? Or is it just for Bill Gates to communicate with the chip I was vaccinated with?
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www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redmi_note_9-10192.php
Or if you want to go further into the £350
www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redmi_note_10_pro-10662.php
Other than me, the entire family has Xiaomi and our experience has been excellent, and when I get around to replacing my Huawei P20, then I expect I will have one also.
Nothing not to like, got all you want.
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I don't think 5G will make much difference to most of us for many years - the service isn't even widely available yet and even when it is it is only really useful when downloading significant lumps of data. Maybe it's decongest 4G a little in those areas...
I'd just got used to NFC then carelessly bought a phone without it. I really don't miss it too much as most shopping is online these days but it'll be on my requirements list for the next one.
EDIT: Things move on though, previously a headphone jack would have been a must-have but SWMBO got me a half decent pair of Bluetooth ones for Christmas and they are so much more convenient than the wired ones.
Last edited by: smokie on Thu 1 Jul 21 at 15:39
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GiffGaff currently have the Samsung S21 Ultra 5G on offer for £1219.
Twelve hundred and nineteen £%^&ing pounds!
I think I'll stick with my 3yo Moto that I got with employee discount. Still does everything I want as quick as I want it.
There might be a newish Redmi Note 7 going cheap soon. £10 P&P from Chile.
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It depends how you feel about blood stains.
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Smokie, you said you sent the Xiaomi back, I presume for a refund. John Lewis warned me that registration can't be removed so a registered phone can't be accepted back as they can't sell it on.
I didn't register the Moto as it was huge and heavy so no refund problem.
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Amazon took both phones back, no problem. First exchanged for the second, second for a refund. They actually refunded the price of the second but the first was cheaper so I made some money along the way :-)
They are generally very good with refunds, though maybe it depends how much business they get from you - in my case barely a day goes by without something coming form them (today was a can of air - pressurised - for cleaning stuff. It's been a while coming and I can't remember why I ordered it now...)
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www.amazon.co.uk/POCO-Pro-Smartphone-DotDisplay-Snapdragon/dp/B08XY8PXH8
Thanks, you've collectively persuaded me to look up to around £200 rather than £350.
The above (Poco X3 Pro) seems to have the fewest important compromises, best processing and most memory with 8GB/256GB. I can combine adequate storage with dual SIM (not essential but could be handy as there are times I carry 2 phones). The camera is not the very best but should be as good as the Huawei which I can live with.
I look over the specs again tomorrow to see if there is anything I have missed. At a bit over £200 for a replacement I don't think it will be worth trying to extend the life of the Huawei for a limited time.
The only niggle is that it might be a bit big, but most candidates have gone that way so I'll try to adjust. I like the headphone socket (connecting to hifi and a goodish portable speaker I use when away) even though I use a very good BT headphone.
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When comparing phones I use this site....
I've put the Poco and the Xiaomi in just for an example. I think it will allow you to compare everything that matters between three phones. You might like to put your existing phone in, just to check what is different /better /missing.
www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=10662&idPhone2=10802
Last edited by: No FM2R on Thu 1 Jul 21 at 23:24
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Mrs CS bought an Oppo A53 a few weeks ago. It was £149.99, and she is very happy with it.
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Just in case it's relevant, folk may not be aware that Amazon have a whole bunch of odd sites. so there's the main site, the Warehouse, the Lightning Deals, the Outlet, the Treasure Truck, and more I've forgotten at the moment. They all do different things, but are still Amazon and you sometimes get "bargains" in one and not another.
Anyway, on Amazon Outlet (which is items they have overstocked) today they have some Poco phones with a bit off the usual price, in case that helps.
Links are too huge to paste, so just Google for Amazon Outlet.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Fri 2 Jul 21 at 08:50
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I didn't know that Crankcase, thanks.
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For better or worse I have ordered the Poco X3 Pro 8/256GB, which should arrive in the next hour. The reviewers seem to be unanimous that it is an ugly brute but I'm not buying it to impress people.
I usually set up clean but I I'll try using back-up and restore, and Google photos to transfer those as there is space for them.
Poco MIUI might be OK but I don't really want to 'learn' a proprietary system so I'm planning to give Customized Pixel Launcher a go.
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Your call, of course. But I find that standard is always best and assuming that Poco MIUI is the same as XIAOMI MIUI it's pretty obvious, easy and efficient.
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p.s. I'll be very interested in your report on it because they look a great deal. And what about it is ugly? Looks alright in the pictures.
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I'll be interested too as it's probably my next purchase.
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>>what about it is ugly?
The appearance seems fine if unremarkable to me - (1) it's just a couple of mil thicker than something with the same performance that costs twice as much, and (2) they don't like the brand on the back in big letters, which will bother me even less. It fits in my Brodit car mount with the bumper case on - I thought it might be too thick but it isn't. It's 25% heavier than the Huawei but it does have a bigger screen
I ordered a simple bumper case, although it turns out there's one of those clear ones in the box. The screen is Gorilla Glass 6, whatever that is, and it already has a screen protector on it. I don't use these, because I can't fit one invisibly, but this one is hard to see at all except where it is perforated for the front camera.
I'll give the MIUI a go as suggested, it seems fairly uncomplicated. No memory expansion should be needed with 256GB of ROM.
The screen is fine as to resolution but not especially bright- less bright if anything than the Huawei it replaces. Whether the camera will be usable in bright sun remains to be seen, but so far and indoors, leaving the brightness set to auto is working OK. Screen res at 1080 is the same as the Huawei but the X3 is 20:9 aspect, the Huawei's 16:9. Physical width (viewed portrait) is only slightly greater on the X3 so I have to question the real value of the extra height - perhaps it just makes it easier to fit the gubbins inside?
Anyway, it has been less trouble swapping over than I expected, and I've got away with not much over £200. Result.
P.S. AND so far it streams bluetooth reliably to my Yamaha network receiver which the Huawei didn't, nor did my son's Pixel something or other. The phone came up with a message that the receiver was AAC capable but that it was switching to SBC for "compatibility reasons". The phone meanwhile is receiving FLAC from Amazon Music. I don't pretend to understand the implication but I am impressed that it seems to be sorting it out.
There are essentially no instructions with it, and the only manual I have found online is not model-specific.
Poco's strapline on the accompanying branding material is "Everything you need and nothing you don't" which I would say is about right.
Last edited by: Manatee on Sun 4 Jul 21 at 14:02
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>>The screen is fine as to resolution but not especially bright - less bright if anything than the Huawei it replaces>>
Have you tried swiping down the right hand side of the Home screen to bring up the Control Centre (I'm presuming the MiUi is the same as my Xiamoi Mi 9T Pro)?
If so you can adjust the screen brightness temporarily/permanently using the slider bar featuring the Brightness symbol rather than via Settings. Very handy in strong sunshine conditions.
Last edited by: Stuartli on Sun 4 Jul 21 at 14:10
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>>Have you tried swiping down the right hand side of the Home screen
Thanks, I've discovered that, but comparing maximum brightness I think the screen is probably slightly less luminous than the Huawei. Both are LCD's rather than the latest amoled or whatever, which is fair enough in the X3 considering the price.
Actually, when it came yesterday, I was rather disappointed with the messy screen I got when I down-swiped. Then it updated this morning so swiping on the left shows the notifications, and on the right the toggle controls for bluetooth, wifi, mobile data etc. Much better.
Can you get it to display an app list, or is it just the app drawer with icons?
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Mine does have the Super AMOELD screen, but is obviously a bit more expensive (even so still below the cost of very similarly specced flagship models).
You can use the Manage Apps setting from Settings>Apps to change or uninstall them but, to my annoyance at least, you can't arrange them on screen in, say, alphabetical order (only by dragging and dropping them, which would be very laborious).
But I can overlook such things as the phone itself is so good....
If, by any chance, you need the guide to MiUi settings etc:
www.mi.com/uk/service/support/userguide.html (there are also on-line guides, as you are no doubt aware).
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I'll have a look at that. The problem with there being no proper manual is that half the features I might otherwise become aware of remain undiscovered.
E.g. there's actually a setting for sunlight. Another couple of discoveries from the same YT video are how to make the almost illegible battery %age readable, and a dual video feature.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiuX2xUdHLg
This phone will clearly do lots of stuff. More videos await. Meanwhile I have to go and meet some window fitters...:(
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/i don't think this is great, but perhaps it will help. It's an MIUI guide rather than one for the phone. Which I suddenly realise may well be the generic one you already found.
mymanualspdf.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/mi_phone_user_manual_EN.pdf
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That does look like it Mark, but thanks.
I'm very pleased just now having watched another video and found out how to swap the navigation buttons to the "right" way round i.e. the way I'm used to, with the back button on the left. It's for the X3 but I suspect is mostly standard MIUI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pqfGcf7Bow
I'm really getting to like it.
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>>I'm really getting to like it.
That's good, these days finding an item of technology which is not irritating is a pleasing thing.
And for £100 less than you were going to spend.
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I'm not in the market for a new phone but given the conversations above, I noticed this offer that may be of benefit to some:
www.hotukdeals.com/deals/xiaomi-poco-x3-pro-8gb256gb-sd860-gift-ps169-delivered-at-mi-store-from-12pm-05072021-3758157
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Thanks a bunch Zippy, that's £170 I didn't plan on spending. Plus £20 for the fitness bracelet thing. :-)
That was £80 off, and it was the 256Gb version so was irresistible. So cheap, I nearly bought one for each hand!!
I am going to have to try to sell some of my vast collection of fairly modern but superseded smartphones... running out of drawer space!!!
Last edited by: smokie on Mon 5 Jul 21 at 15:47
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And £37 less than I paid! The Amazon price has actually gone up to £218.
It's a phenomenal phone at that price. And the 6/1128GB option is £220?
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I have a free man bag coming with it too :-)
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Despite being fairly sure that I won't like the answer, I am still tempted to ask what a man bag is.
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Haha well I started carrying a few accessories for a flight (headphones, iPod, charger etc) in a leather bag with shoulder strap I was given - sort of handbag sized, hence the name. Maybe it's just their term for it...
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Unfortunate he chose a pic of BBD.
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>> I am still tempted to ask what a man bag is.
They've been around for quite a while. I remember a friend proudly wearing one at the pub on Xmas morning about 25 years ago, but never saw him with it again.
I did see a chap with one a couple of weeks ago, but generally a rare sight in my neck of the woods.
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A pal of mine has used one for decades, it's like a large leather zipped wallet.
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Aren't they for carrying your Filofax in?
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I will say, I have only ever used mine on a flights. Not something I aspire to really.
The free one with the new phone was actually called a daypack I think, and looked more like a mini-rucksack.
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>> The free one with the new phone was actually called a daypack I think, and
>> looked more like a mini-rucksack.
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It's a manbag.
You know it's a manbag.
You look like Neil Oliver.
You know you look like Neil Oliver.
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>> Who's Neil Oliver?
>>
By the magic of Google.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Oliver
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Excellent, thanks.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 6 Jul 21 at 11:52
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Also:
www.gbnews.uk/shows/neil-oliver-live
Al;ways enjoyed his contributions on the BBC Coast series.
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>> They've been around for quite a while. I remember a friend proudly wearing one at
>> the pub on Xmas morning about 25 years ago, but never saw him with it
>> again.
I remember them as a French thing 45+ years ago when holidaying with my parents. They meant that keys, wallet etc. didn't spoil the hang of your suit.
They had a phase in the UK as somewhere to put the fascia panel from your car radio when removing it was the anti-theft measure of the day.
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What phone? - smokie
