Mobile Phone thread - please include links to good deals

[charlesr]

Now just need to check if there's any reliable way to unroot temporarily so I can use the stupid Barclays app (it refuses to work with root).

And............. there's still no way of doing this.... Oh well. Browser banking it is.

[VR46]

Security Charles, can't blame them really.

[charlesr]

None of the other main banks have the same policy. I'll just have to buy a Z3 next time or whatever miracle phone lasts 48hrs at the time. I miss my Nokia 5800 Expressmusic. Standard battery lasted 7 days and the bigger one lasted 2 weeks.

[VR46]

What about a case with extended battery built in like this one Charles?

http://www.extendedbatteryreview.com/cell-phones-batteries-chargers/galaxy-s4-mini-extended-battery-chromo-inc-samsung-galaxy-s4-mini-backup-battery-external-rechargeable-full-protection-case

Or you can get a larger, bigger capacity battery and new back cover, lots of options on Amazon etc.

In the battery usage bit in options what did it say is using all that battery up when things are turned on. Must be one main culprit.

[wakka]

None of the other main banks have the same policy. I'll just have to buy a Z3 next time or whatever miracle phone lasts 48hrs at the time. I miss my Nokia 5800 Expressmusic. Standard battery lasted 7 days and the bigger one lasted 2 weeks.

Natwest have the same policy, which is why I haven't rooted my Nexus 5. The banking app is right up there with Google Hangouts/Whatsapp, Citymapper and Chrome as the core functions of my phone.

[charlesr]

Oh didn't realise. The cloaking apps were only mentioning Barclays

[charlesr]

Couldn't figure out why Strava was refusing to wake up the screen when I pressed the button during my run. Eventually realised there's a default option for checking the proximity sensor before unlocking the screen in cyanogenmod. Because it was in an armband it assumed it was in a bag or something. Quite clever. Turned that off though!

[ETC]

Here's a question.

My partner needs a new phone; her old iPhone 3GS is really creaking now (though functionally is OK; it's just literally starting to break). She's also on pay-as-you-go, which is a problem as my workplace has poor phone reception (she needs data so we can use iMessaging/WhatsApp/Skype).

I have an iPhone 4, which is OK (it stays in a Griffin case and never comes out, so it's still pretty much flawless). However, with 4G starting to appear around the country I think it's finally time to upgrade (as that's the first new feature which has interested me - I don't really "do" phone upgrades unless they offer quite big features).

Thinking that I might get a new phone, and she might get a SIM-only contract and use my iPhone 4.

I currently spend about ?25 a month on my SIM-only contract (I bought the iPhone 4 outright years ago), and I'd like to stay around that mark if possible. The minutes/data are good; I rarely spend over the ?25 in a given month, but if I get 4G I'm concerned about bandwidth caps - do they charge you if you go over? Or do they just throttle your bandwidth?

Really want to stay with iPhone devices, and ideally on Orange/EE, because I've always had good service with them. I can't go with Vodafone (do they even still exist?).

I see EE has an offer with the iPhone 5c, but it only has 8gb of storage. Does it manage that storage the same way as the iPhone 4? Because my iPhone 4 is 16gb and whilst I've hit the limit before, I tend to get along OK. I'm not sure I could manage with an 8gb device. Surely the OS makes that something daft like 4gb anyway?

I prefer the look of the 5 to the 6 (to be honest, I prefer the look of the 4 to all of the later devices, but you can't have everything it seems).

I also don't use my phone for gaming - at all. I have other devices for that and I don't play mobile freemium games.

Part of me thinks we should economise and go down the Nokia Windows Phone route.

Anyone got any advice?

EDIT: Looking around, I can't believe Apple stopped selling the 16gb iPhone 5C. That would be PRECISELY the price/featureset I want - basically something which is a bit better than my iPhone 4, and new. That's it. To get a usable storage size I have to go up to the iPhone 5s, and it seems everywhere is charging a ?35 monthly for that.

If if you are still after a 16Gb iPhone 5c, O2 have the refurbs on refresh.

pay the ?9.99, put it on the 3GB ?21 a month deal then pay off the refresh part for ?192 this cancels the airtime deal and they will unlock for free. So you would pay ?201.99 for an unlocked 16gb 5c

[charlesr]

What about a case with extended battery built in like this one Charles?

http://www.extendedbatteryreview.com/cell-phones-batteries-chargers/galaxy-s4-mini-extended-battery-chromo-inc-samsung-galaxy-s4-mini-backup-battery-external-rechargeable-full-protection-case

Or you can get a larger, bigger capacity battery and new back cover, lots of options on Amazon etc.

In the battery usage bit in options what did it say is using all that battery up when things are turned on. Must be one main culprit.

It said screen was the main culprit. Which is blatantly wrong, being off all night.... Some Samsung process that you can't turn off no doubt. Lots of owners report this.

[charlesr]

Did anyone get one of those "free" EE powerbars? Story going around that says it's a rental. If you don't give it back within 18 months, they charge you ?5. And it impacts your credit rating. Hidden in terms and conditions

[wakka]

http://ee.co.uk/ee-and-me/out-and-about/ee-power

This page explains it. Seems they are on a 'free to hire' basis.

[VR46]

I got one, and yes, was made fully aware of it in the massive HotUKDeals thread, wouldn't have been aware otherwise though.

[Brad]

It said screen was the main culprit. Which is blatantly wrong, being off all night.... Some Samsung process that you can't turn off no doubt. Lots of owners report this.

Exchange is a big one one Samsung. Deleted my exchange account and now it loses about 1% an hour instead of 5. It's random too so sometimes it'll be fine for weeks and then boom!

[QualityChimp]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/11745730/Marshall-launches-loudest-mobile-phone-on-Earth-for-music-lovers.html

[VR46]

Nice. Shame about the grammar mistake in the first line of the article, can tell they rely heavily on a spellchecker and that's it.