Mobile Phones Brand Names

Hi

Are you a slave to brand names with mobile phones?

I have been looking for a new mobile, sim free, and amazed at the cost.

i have just ordered a cheap Chinese one, recommended by my son, I tried one out in Poland, did everything I wanted at a fraction of the price of a brand name.

There are loads of them in Taiwan where my son is based and in eastern Europe, names I do not recognise, but they work.

I have ordered mine, UK supplied, for £75, a massive saving, it is dual sim, so getting a sim for calls and texts and one for data, which will save me money every month.

No more expensive phones for me.

Re: Mobile Phones Brand Names

I was looking at rugged/tough phones recently and came across one or two Chinese offerings that looked excellent. However on further digging into reviews by real users, you find tales of units failing and there being little to no customer service in this country for such products. In truth I find most phones vastly over-priced for what they are, which is just a little bit of basic electronics which can be mass produced. So everyone is being routinely ripped off regardless.

I've just watched my Mother-In-Law tackle her first smart phone, a Microsoft Lumia and I had my hands on it for a while to try and help her achieve some things. I found it to be a horribly un-intuitive device and frankly she was much better off with her previous non-smart phone.

In truth, it is only Facebook which has steered her towards a smart phone. Without that the phone would offer her nothing of any substance that she would use.

The brief usage that I got of that phone convinced me that I didn't really want a smart phone. If I want to use the internet then I want both a decent sized screen to see web pages, and crucially, a proper keyboard to be able to type messages quickly and accurately.

The phone industry has captured a generation of youths who really don't realise they've gone backwards. Technology had been busily making phones better and smaller for years so we didn't have cumbersome "bricks" in our pickets and bags. Now that has totally reversed and they are selling people larger and larger units which are once again cumbersome and more prone to damage. In the past we had phones which had decent batteries in them and they would last for days and days without the need for a charge. Today, many smart phones won't last a single day.

Perhaps I am a dinosaur, but I find that the current generation of "smart" phones is one to be passed over.

My phone is just 4" long, 1.5" wide, is pretty much indestructible, can be immersed in water and allows me to make calls and send texts. Fits in my pocket very nicely.

For everything else I use a proper netbook, about the size of a paperback, with good screen, real keyboard, long battery life and all the functionality of a laptop. Love it!

Re: Mobile Phones Brand Names

but do you carry a netbook around with you?

Re: Mobile Phones Brand Names

I have a couple of mobile phones.

One is not a 'smart' phone but a Motorola with a flip-up screen (beam me up Scottie). I've had it for years. Being compact and robust, it's good for taking out on my bike rides. It was inexpensive as I remember.

The other is a Nokia (Microsoft) phone. I bought it because everyone said I ought to have a 'smart' phone. It cost £80. I don't use it very much but it is good to look at and play with from time to time.

Although both are names that will be recognised, they didn't cost a lot and I don't think I'd be thought a slave to a brand name. They could have been any make.

Neither phone is on a contract but are topped up with £10 when the credit gets low.

Re: Mobile Phones Brand Names

Hi

I will be using the phone as a Sat Nav as well as a phone, my old sat nav has just about had it and the phone I tried was ace at getting round Eastern Europe using the Nav app, it has enough storage to download all the maps I need, so no data fees, just a GPS Signal needed.

It also has Wi Fi, which my other phone hasn't, so much cheaper to use.