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Mobile Phone Thread S2

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    Mobile Phone Thread S2

    Time for an upgrade and to open comes some very welcome news:



    UK mobile phone companies are going to be banned from selling locked handsets

    #2
    Great news, one of the most annoying practices in the phone space.

    Comment


      #3
      Yeah, heard that on the news this morning, however, that is likely to mean monthly cost will increase if they can't lock you in.

      Comment


        #4
        Fine by me as I just go sim-only these days and buy handsets outright.

        Comment


          #5
          It's not difficult to get a phone unlocked after purchase as networks are required to help you do it but this is better still. I tend to pass old phones onto family members and there's no faff if the phone is unlocked. I take it this will extend to other cellular devices like tablets and watches too?

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by MartyG View Post
            Yeah, heard that on the news this morning, however, that is likely to mean monthly cost will increase if they can't lock you in.
            You are locked in for the term of your contract anyway though. No reason for a price increase.

            Comment


              #7
              Yeah, I don’t think there will be a price increase because of this. Half the networks already stopped locking phones a while back anyway. Definitely a positive step though as it’s always been an annoying practise.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by MartyG View Post
                Yeah, heard that on the news this morning, however, that is likely to mean monthly cost will increase if they can't lock you in.
                Thing is they lock you in for two years normally with most contracts, so why bother locking the phone.

                Comment


                  #9
                  It's not just the initial contract, it's subsequent ones too, such as passing on the phones to friends and family who then take contracts or PAYG sims from the same company as the original owner upgrades - it reduces churn. If it not advantageous to lock phones, why bother doing it?

                  I know phones can be unlocked, but a lot of people simply don't bother and let's not forget that capitalism means any excuse to make more profit.

                  Maybe it won't change things and it's just my cynicism of corporations (who definitely are not your friend, otherwise we wouldn't need watchdogs like OFCOM to force things like this).
                  Last edited by MartyG; 28-10-2020, 09:19.

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                    #10
                    From the beginning of June next year, Google will end unlimited photo and video cloud storage on Google Photos for Android OEM (Samsung/OnePlus/Sony, etc.) and Apple iOS devices. Any photo/video uploads to Google Photos from these devices (and other platforms) after this time will count towards the 15GB standard user allowance. A Google One subscription will be needed for cloud storage expansion.

                    Owners of current Pixel devices (Pixel to Pixel 5) will be exempt from this but Google, perhaps ominously, haven't committed to extending the privilege to future Pixel devices.

                    In order to welcome even more of your memories and build Google Photos for the future, we are changing our unlimited High quality storage policy.
                    Last edited by Nu-Eclipse; 12-11-2020, 20:07.

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                      #11
                      OnePlus have also confirmed that their budget Nord handsets, which come with last year's Android 10 installed, will only receive the one OS update to the current Android 11 and only two years of security updates.

                      That is pathetic and an absolute deal-breaker in terms of looking for a suitable mid-tier/budget device imo.

                      The phones come with Android 10 out of the box. The new OnePlus Nord phones, the N10 5G and the N100, are questionable choices by the company. It’s not to...
                      Last edited by Nu-Eclipse; 12-11-2020, 14:14.

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                        #12
                        I've been out of the phone game for a while. Looking for an android around £500 with great cameras, Bluetooth 5LE, and long battery?

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by charlesr View Post
                          and long battery?
                          Doesn't exist, unfortunately. You can have either a day's battery life or a day and a bit.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by charlesr View Post
                            I've been out of the phone game for a while. Looking for an android around £500 with great cameras, Bluetooth 5LE, and long battery?
                            I would take a look at Xiaomi, Poco or even Huawei but you'll probably have to make some sacrifices on your list.

                            The Pixel phones are also worth a look or look at the second hand market?

                            Personally I've got a Huawei P30 Pro which has stellar camera performance and decent battery with super fast charge (40w) and only cost me £300 2nd hand.

                            This was the last Huawei phone to support Google but it's a great performer. The only downside is the battery life is good because it's overly aggressive in culling apps in the background. You can remedy this manually but it's countered a lot by having such a fast charger.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Had a redmi note 7 for a while now great phone for the price of 150, specs are great for that with 8 core 3gb ram 32gb and 48mp camera, though have noticed with a lot of use a few irks, gaming performance to start with was good but now would get lots of slowdown in games and would go down to single digit frame rates when heating up and if not much space on storage. 48 no camera is good but no zooming, there is a redmi note 8 and 9 out so I imagine that would better. Also quite a lot of bloatware
                              Last edited by eastyy; 20-12-2020, 12:48.

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