New phone help

[rjb]

Mrs RJB has a 16gb redmi phone which is over 5 years old and is running out of memory. We tried adding an SD card but it's not helping. She's looking for a new phone but isn't technically minded. I can't help as I don't have a phone relying on hers when needed. She thought about an iPhone and went into the EE shop today to get her phone checked out. The advice she got from the staff was her current phone is out of date. They advised her to get a Samsung phone with at least 64,GB memory, which will do everything she needs and is half the price of an equivalent iphone. She uses What's app a lot. So what phone should she get and how much memory. Any help gratefully received.

[reohn2]

The advice is sound I've had Samsung A40 phone with 64GB of memory for the past 5+years on Virgin(now O2) for £8.70 a month and it's great!
It does everything I want from a phone but most likely will be out of date now,there'll be a next gen similar one available I should think

[Jdsk]

I expect that you’re going to get a lot of conflicting advice.

WhatsApp will run fine on any new Android or Apple smart ‘phone.

What does she want to use the new ‘phone for?

What size screen would she like?

How important is photo quality?

Does she (or you) have existing Apple devices or services? Or would like to go that way?

Once you have answers to those I recommend looking at Which? reviews and Best Buys.

Jonathan

[roubaixtuesday]

You can get a refurbished one about half the price of new eg from https://www.backmarket.com

[Biospace]

Refurbished products make a lot of sense, they represent terrific value.

[Jdsk]

You can get a refurbished one about half the price of new eg from https://www.backmarket.com

And Apple’s own refurbished ‘phones:
https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/refurbished/iphone

Jonathan

[sizbut]

And Apple’s own refurbished ‘phones:
https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/refurbished/iphone

Jonathan

Only if you think a starting price of £500 is cheap!!!

Maybe I'm a miser, but I paid £89 a couple of weeks ago for a Motorola from John Lewis. It came with 128GB of storage and to which I added a 500GB micro-SD as I'm a serious audiobook user.

[al_yrpal]

I replaced my Android phone s few months ago and went for a Motorola g54 5g. Cheap, reasonable camera runs anything.

Deal: Motorola Moto G54 8+256 Midnight Blue https://amzn.eu/d/0dNdjSI3

Al

[Psamathe]

For me a lot depends on factors beyond the phone itself. I also use an Apple Mac a lot which means I het a lot of very useful functionality with an iPhone. There are also a couple of iPhone only apps I use a lot and mot seen any Android equivalent. I've also now purchased (one-time purchase) quite a few apps so changing wastes most of those purchases.

But it's different for different people.

Ian

[pete75]

Her Redmi has served her well. Current Redmi Android phones get good reviews and are considered very good value for money. One of these would do everything she wants https://www.mi.com/uk/product/redmi-note-13/

[Redvee]

Lack of memory could be cured by clearing app cache and deleting unused apps and transfreing photos but given the age of the phone she won't be getting OTA Android updates so a new handset is probably best.

[rjb]

She's removed all the photos and unused apps and cleared the cache but all the updates are what's filling the memory up. Apparently adding an SD card to increase the memory doesn't work as the android software won't use it to store apps.
She's getting messages about storage being full and updates require removal of existing apps.

[tim-b]

So what phone should she get and how much memory. Any help gratefully received.

I generally start with a new model phone simply because Android will update for several years before becoming a security risk
Google went to 7 years from 5 years with the Pixel 8, most others are in the 2 to 4 years bracket.

I'd suggest that 64GB internal memory is a minimum for most users these days, YMMV, 128GB would be more future-proof. The other one to watch is RAM memory; 4GB seems to be a minimum, 6GB would be more future-proof as would a better chipset

After that it's screen size, many modern phones seem to be getting larger and don't fit in pockets, unless you up your budget to get a better quality smaller screen

Battery life and camera specs need to be in there too, but that depends on her needs

There's a review here that will give you a starter for 10... https://www.techradar.com/uk/best/best- ... durability

EDIT: Oh, and make sure that if you just buy a phone that it's SIM-free (aka unlocked) so that you can use your choice of network

[DevonDamo]

She's removed all the photos and unused apps and cleared the cache but all the updates are what's filling the memory up. Apparently adding an SD card to increase the memory doesn't work as the android software won't use it to store apps.
She's getting messages about storage being full and updates require removal of existing apps.

There is a way to hack android phones which will allow you to do things you wouldn't normally be able to - one of which is to let the phone use your SD card for apps. However, this is a non-starter for you: too much faff.

You are in the same position as someone who wants to buy a bike to get them half a mile up a flat road and back every Thursday. Any modern phone will be capable of doing what you want it to. So have a think about what's important to you - e.g. do you want it large or compact? Do you want long battery life? A good camera? Cheap? If you can itemise what's important for you, then we can give you targeted suggestions. In the meanwhile, my suspicion is that you just need the cheapest, competent, up-to-date smartphone available. One example of a phone that ticks these boxes would be Motorola Moto G Play 2024, which is around £100.

[briansnail]

If she is not constantly glued to the phone consider "pay as you go."
Some pensioners pay only £50 per annum as a outgoing charge and top up is easy.Their relatives phone them using up their free minutes.