I'm looking for a new phone.

[CallySleeper]

Any suggestions welcome please. I'd like to stipulate the following criteria:

1. Android OS
2. Between 4-5" size screen (no bigger)
3. Headphone socket on the bottom

Thanks!

 

[Bletchleyite]

You'll have a job finding decent phones with all three of those requirements - maybe one of the Chinese ones? Headphone socket is most commonly on the top.

If you can compromise on that one, the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact is an excellent phone, had mine a month or so now and very happy. Best feature is the superb battery life for a smartphone - 2 days even if you use it a fair bit.

Neil

 

[GoByThameslink]

...
3. Headphone socket on the bottom

I'm pleased with my Motorola Moto G. The USB Port is on the bottom, so you could contemplate a USB headset or a converter (if there are no better suggestions) - The headphone socket itself is on the top

 

[Masbroughlad]

Loving my Samsung Galaxy Alpha. Headphone on top though.

 

[Kite159]

A Moto G is a good call.
Android without much in the way of bloatware

 

[Qwerty133]

The headphone socket itself is on the top

and is rubish (unless it's just mine, and by rubish I mean doesn't recognise when headphones are connected half the time (with multiple pairs of headphones) and quiet with poor sound quality when it does

 

[455driver]

You'll have a job finding decent phones with all three of those requirements - maybe one of the Chinese ones? Headphone socket is most commonly on the top.

If you can compromise on that one, the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact is an excellent phone, had mine a month or so now and very happy. Best feature is the superb battery life for a smartphone - 2 days even if you use it a fair bit.

Neil

Lets see how long that wonderful battery lasts!
My Sony Experia battery lasted 11 months with very light use (and being well looked after), my other halfs Sony Experia keeps shutting down/ending phone calls whenever it feels like it although she is rather hard on phones.

Me personally, I cant wait until the contract is up so I can get another Samsung phone, we never had an issue with our previous Samsung phones.

 

[Lrd]

I was very happy with my Samsung S4 but not impressed with the S5.

I currently have an LG G3 which is a beast of a phone! It has a 5.5" 4K screen but it really doesn't feel that big in the hand, very easy to use it one handedly and looks amazing. And, the headphone socket is even on the bottom... Why does it have to be on the bottom for you?

Lets see how long that wonderful battery lasts!
My Sony Experia battery lasted 11 months with very light use (and being well looked after), my other halfs Sony Experia keeps shutting down/ending phone calls whenever it feels like it although she is rather hard on phones..

Every Sony phone I've had has had issues with the battery/charging, even back in Sony Ericsson days. It will take a lot for Sony to win me back.

 

[CallySleeper]

Much like micro-SD chargers, is it custom now for smartphones to have the headphone socket on the top? Ideally I'd much prefer it if it was on the bottom.

 

[chris89]

Slightly late to this.

HTC One (M8) Has expandable Storage via Micro SD Cards. As with the One (M7 Which i have) Due to be upgraded to Android 5.0 Lollipop within 90 days. Although with the M8/M7 the headphone socket is at the top of the device. But charging point at the bottom.

Nexus 6. Recently released and has latest version of Android already on it. Headphone port location i am unsure off though.

 

[jon0844]

A lot of devices have the port at the top, presumably as it's deemed as more convenient (especially if you also had the phone in a charging dock).

I've got an Xperia Z3, so it's water resistant - and also supports the excellent noise cancelling headphones, which really do block out surrounding sounds brilliantly.

The Z2 also supports them, and is also water resistant, and now a lot cheaper (and mostly the same as the Z3, although I upgraded anyway!).

 

[Starmill]

Much like micro-SD chargers, is it custom now for smartphones to have the headphone socket on the top? Ideally I'd much prefer it if it was on the bottom.

Turn it upside down?

 

[Blamethrower]

Having worked in testing mobile devices for years, i would never recommend an android. They always start out great and then bit by bit start becoming more unreliable.

I recommend a Blackberry Pearl. Call quality excellent and holds that call, headphone socket on the side, better sound quality than android, play control buttons on the top, NUMERIC KEYPAD, google maps + traffic, wifi, easy to use interface, works much easier and last much longer than anything with a touch screen. Plus its the same size as a pack of 10 fags

Downsides are a poor browser and apps but I never really use them, other than for checking train times or surfing whilst I'm taking a dump at work.

Work provides me with a new one, I try it out for a few months, then go back to the pearl. I've had all flavours of iphones and androids and my old pearl continues to outperform them on everything except mobile browsing (which is a pain anyway as signal is so unreliable when on the move)

Perhaps try a windows phone as they tend to work very well, plus the cameras are amazing for what they are

 

[telstarbox]

It's harder to buy BlackBerry phones these days - EE don't offer them and Carphone Warehouse only offer the Passport. They also have a very limited selection of apps compared to Android or iOS.

 

[jon0844]

The BlackBerry Pearl was discontinued in 2010? I assume you haven't been testing phones for a while? And Android was pretty bad then, but is totally different now.

And Windows Phone is getting better, and the Nokia made Lumia phones have good cameras but WP itself doesn't have anything to do with how good the camera will be.

 

[Kite159]

The BlackBerry Pearl was discontinued in 2010? I assume you haven't been testing phones for a while? And Android was pretty bad then, but is totally different now.

And Windows Phone is getting better, and the Microsoft made Lumia phones have good cameras but WP itself doesn't have anything to do with how good the camera will be.

Just changed that for you as the Nokia brand for phones is being phased out with new models.

I have a works issued Blackberry (Curve I think) and it's completely rubbish, battery life is pants and has random hissy fits

 

[jon0844]

I know Nokia has gone, as the Lumia 535 was announced today, but I was talking about current phones (hence saying Nokia made Lumia phones over Microsoft made as of today!).

By all accounts I doubt the 535 camera will be all that.

And BlackBerry won't be in business this time next year.

 

[CallySleeper]

Absolutely not interested in buying blackberries unless they're edible, sorry.

I feel like I'll probably loose the battle to find a phone with the headphone socket on the right end...

 

[Lrd]

I feel like I'll probably loose the battle to find a phone with the headphone socket on the right end...

Can you explain why it has to be on the bottom please? I'm still a little perplexed...

 

[Emyr]

Huawei Ascend P6. USB on the top, headphone one the left side, but at the bottom. Comparable specs to a Galaxy S3, but feels sturdier.

 

[Clip]

Can you explain why it has to be on the bottom please? I'm still a little perplexed...

Confuses me that too as I just cant see a practical use for it being there!!


Blackberrys are proper pants - Ive had 3 work ones in the last year- they just end up freezing or when using the mouse button they reset themselves, awful things.

Still rocking my Z1 with the new kitkat upgrade and loving it - not even tempted to upgrade again yet as im that happy with it.

 

[jon0844]

The BlackBerry days are over. I know the company is seeking one last stab at getting back into the market with the BlackBerry Classic, but it's too late. Game over.

The benefits of security are slowly being eroded by improved security offered elsewhere, and perhaps many companies being less bothered and allowing staff to just use their own devices - whatever they are. If you're not sending highly sensitive emails, what does it matter to most businesses?

The clever things like instant email are now all offered by loads of alternatives. Gmail is instant, and has been for years, for example.

The BlackBerry Hub is clever, but also copied by many different apps. And let's continue on apps; as in there are barely any apps for BlackBerry. In the last two years, the solution was supposedly allowing people to port Android apps. Nice idea, except the app gets ported and then never updated. Well, that's a joke then.

BlackBerry 10 OS is quite nice to look at, but it stands zero chance of ever becoming a big player again. I am surprised the company is still going, but am convinced 2015 will be the year it finally goes - and I'm not sure who will want to bail the company out next time around.

At best BlackBerry just gives away (or licenses) its stuff to other manufacturers, as it did years ago with 'BlackBerry Connect' and maybe makes the BlackBerry Hub an app you can run on your Android or Windows Phone, but I'm not sure people care anyway. There are so many other apps that aggregate your content, and many of those are probably better anyway.

And does anyone still use BBM? I'm sure in terms of numbers, BBM is still well used, but it must be falling all the time. Now it's Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp and the like.

 

[Strathclyder]

The BlackBerry days are over. I know the company is seeking one last stab at getting back into the market with the BlackBerry Classic, but it's too late. Game over.

The benefits of security are slowly being eroded by improved security offered elsewhere, and perhaps many companies being less bothered and allowing staff to just use their own devices - whatever they are. If you're not sending highly sensitive emails, what does it matter to most businesses?

The clever things like instant email are now all offered by loads of alternatives. Gmail is instant, and has been for years, for example.

The BlackBerry Hub is clever, but also copied by many different apps. And let's continue on apps; as in there are barely any apps for BlackBerry. In the last two years, the solution was supposedly allowing people to port Android apps. Nice idea, except the app gets ported and then never updated. Well, that's a joke then.

BlackBerry 10 OS is quite nice to look at, but it stands zero chance of ever becoming a big player again. I am surprised the company is still going, but am convinced 2015 will be the year it finally goes - and I'm not sure who will want to bail the company out next time around.

At best BlackBerry just gives away (or licenses) its stuff to other manufacturers, as it did years ago with 'BlackBerry Connect' and maybe makes the BlackBerry Hub an app you can run on your Android or Windows Phone, but I'm not sure people care anyway. There are so many other apps that aggregate your content, and many of those are probably better anyway.

And does anyone still use BBM? I'm sure in terms of numbers, BBM is still well used, but it must be falling all the time. Now it's Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp and the like.

Looks like I'm a passenger on a sinking ship then, if that what's gonna happen. Dunno when I'm due an upgrade with Virgin, if ever.

 

[jon0844]

Seems so. Unless BlackBerry decided to adopt Android, and port its apps to Android (rather than try and port Android apps to BB OS) and then sold its devices with the USP of having a keyboard, but now with access to the full range of apps and games that people want.

But I'm not sure a physical keyboard is deemed so necessary by people now they've got used to on screen keyboards. And I say this as a BlackBerry user from around 2003 to 2011 (albeit is a secondary device).

 

[Emyr]

The BlackBerry days are over.

The benefits of security are slowly being eroded by improved security offered elsewhere, and perhaps many companies being less bothered and allowing staff to just use their own devices - whatever they are. If you're not sending highly sensitive emails, what does it matter to most businesses?

Their security benefits have long ago been revealed as equivalent to the emperor's new clothes.

Google and Yahoo were angry when they discovered the NSA had been tapping fibre connection between data centres to work around the companies' apparent refusal to bend over.

BB long ago showed their appetite for cooperating with governments.

Security isn't something you can just buy, despite marketing to that effect over the last few decades.

 

[CallySleeper]

Can you explain why it has to be on the bottom please? I'm still a little perplexed...

It's all about having it in your pocket with headphones in.

If the socket is on the top, then to put it in your pocket either means that you have to turn the phone round when you take it out of your pocket (if the lead is trailing straight out the phone will be upside down); OR the phone will be the right way up but the headphone lead will be bent back (it's at the bottom of the pocket)

Having the socket on the bottom eliminates both of these problems.

 

[Emyr]

Depends which way round your phone is.

I have my phone in a front pocket, with the screen facing my leg. The phone just rotates from top-towards-palm as I grab it, to sides towards goal as I hold it.

Having the screen against my leg prevents objects from striking it and also the back of the phone is curved so the corners don't stress the fabric as much.

 

[Clip]

It's all about having it in your pocket with headphones in.

If the socket is on the top, then to put it in your pocket either means that you have to turn the phone round when you take it out of your pocket (if the lead is trailing straight out the phone will be upside down); OR the phone will be the right way up but the headphone lead will be bent back (it's at the bottom of the pocket)

Having the socket on the bottom eliminates both of these problems.

EH??? This confuszes me more. Socket at the top means your phone stays the right way up when in your pocket unless you knock about in clown pantaloons all day long.

 

[GaryMcEwan]

Would definitely recommend the Moto G 4G version as it's basically stock Android with a little hint of Motorola thrown in with it.

The Nexus 6 however, I've previously had the N4 and N5 not just for the ridiculously low price, but because of the specs, the latest updates and also for the stock Android which doesn't have any bloatware on it, but unfortunately the N6 is far to highly priced for what a Nexus should be, the N6 is getting priced at £499 which is almost double what the N5 was. And the headphone jack is in the middle at the top of the device.

Currently I'm using the OnePlus One, which runs a customised version of Android 4.4.4 (Cyanogenmod 11S) and it's an amazing phone for £269, and pre-orders for it have gone live, whereas previously you had to get an invite to buy it...

 

[telstarbox]

Sorry to go off topic but are there advantages to running Cyanogenmod over Android KitKat?