A mean old bloke buys his first smartphone

[nickdub]

As people may have gathered I'm a frugal old fellow. Up to now I have got by with an old slider-type Samsung mobile which works OK for calls and although the screen is out a few pixels can be used for SMS too. I bought it about 7 years ago for about £12 off Ebay and on pay-as-you-go I spend under a tenner a year on calls :-)
Anyway being a bit bored I've decided to dip a hesitant toe in the swimming pool of modern high tech. Yesterday I had the winning bid of £77.48 inc delivery on Ebay for :-

Huawei P9 EVA-L09 - 32GB - Mystic Silver (Unlocked) Smartphone. Condition is Used. Dispatched with Royal Mail 1st Class.

The phone comes with all the original packaging and accessories (except the earphones) and also includes a screen protector worth £30 and a case worth £15.
All the marks that can be seen on the screen are only on the screen protector, the screen itself is in perfect condition.

looking at adding :-

Smarty Small plan

1GB, commitment-free SIM plan £6.25

Capped per month = Unlimited

UK calls & texts+1GB

4G & 3G data
Data discount

Up to £1.25 per month

PS don't rule out going back to my old one, if this new thingy gets too boring :-)

[Thelma Sanders]

LOLOLOL
WEll done
I thought I was bad, I only have my Android PYG phone because my lovely old Nokia didn't do photos, family moaned and moaned at me to get a better one. This one a cheapo MotoE3 Android doesn't always do what I want/expect it to do (user error usually) but I manage
If you set up WhatsApp messages are free, I only very occasionally have to top up by a tenner..

[Bren In Pots]

Nick the first thing I noticed when I went from my Motorola flip phone to a smart phone was battery life, I'd charge the Motorola every Friday night if it needed it or not the smart phone don't last now were near as long. Its handy to buy a battery pack we use them to charge our phones when camping.

I do love the larger screen and better camera its really like carrying a mine computer around.
Have fun

[greenishfing]

I only got my first one last christmas when the ancient Nokia had a fight with the vacuum cleaner. I kept my old phone number. Vodaphone changed the antique chip for a modern little one free. (PAYG)
At the start I used it rarely apart from the camera. I took the old digital camera out of my handbag after a couple of weeks. I used to be terrible for checking email ( once every six months or so). Since I set it up on my phone it gets checked every time it pings.
The battery lasted about a week on a charge originally. Now it's a couple of days because I use it all the time. I use the calendar. I use the notes to make shopping lists (which are then always with me). I use the alarm to remember tablets. I'd had it a couple of months when I was lost, looking for an address in the wilds of North Yorkshire (and the Satnav had died). I parked up and for the first time turned on mobie data. Google maps! Showed me where I wanted to be and took me there. A revelation. I didn't replace the satnav.
By this time my usage was climbing. Vodaphone were constantly trying to get me to get into some kind of contract. Eventually I decided to get a £5 big value bundle every month. Not a contract. They take £5 off my PAYG credit every month and I get ridiculous amounts of texts and minutes of calls and also some data.
I mainly use the internet at home on it. I rarely use the desktop or laptop any more. It continues to amaze me as I find out new things I can do. I was amazed when I discovered I could take screenshots with it (mostly recipes) and then print them off. My sister-in-law, who is deaf and struggles to hear on the phone, now also gets constant texts which she is really happy about and I come on here far more often.
I would be lost without it.

[veggiechicken]

I've made a similar journey - from Nokia to a cheap, NoSim something with a madeup name from T3sco to an iphone summat I was given last year to - wait for it - a new Huawei Honor summat that I was given a few months ago. I've stuck with PYG and my £20 top up is almost untouched. I wouldn't take out a contract, however low, as I wouldn't use it.

Want a laugh? The iphone had a camera, which I was excited about, but the photos were always blurred. My brother had a look at it and hasn't stopped making fun of me since. The cover I'd bought for it covers the lens thing so every photo was the inside of the cover!!
Have fun with yours Nick.

[Nicos]

I only use my phone for the occasional what's app, photo , and very rarely a phone call.
I'm going to have to get a replacement one by the end of December as it won't support what's app anymore after that.
No idea what to get...just need the above features and a big enough screen for fat fingers( I even struggle on the iPad!)
oh, and cheap of course!
Sounds like you got a bargain there nick!

[bikermike]

It's when you start reading the Grapevine whilst on the plot.
(and googling planting advice when you are there...).

I use mine for lots of stuff, I am currently between laptops, and apart from the difficulty of reading large documents, I'm not genuinely feeling the lack.

But yes, battery life will be a shocker.

Also, what network was it on previously? you may find that there is lots of software is on it.

It's more of a computer that you can make calls from, so you need to think about computer things. It's worth spending time turning off all the things you don't want, and making sure it doesn't eat battery and data downloading updates when you don't want it to. I turn off all the tracking/uploading data things I can.

[greenishfing]

I only use my phone for the occasional what's app, photo , and very rarely a phone call.
I'm going to have to get a replacement one by the end of December as it won't support what's app anymore after that.
No idea what to get...just need the above features and a big enough screen for fat fingers( I even struggle on the iPad!)
oh, and cheap of course!
Sounds like you got a bargain there nick!

My fingers are chunky so for most things I just use a pound shop stylus.

[burnie]

I'm an even meaner old(ish) bloke who has either his wife's or daughters' old phone and puts the same pay as you go sim card in it, I do throw caution to the wind on texts and calls though, I spent £25's last year...……………………………..

[elsie-scot]

I’ve had mine since Feb and now admit should have got one before. Mostly for the camera but I’ve found it useful so many times. I have a £5 a month payg.

[nickdub]

I only use my phone for the occasional what's app, photo , and very rarely a phone call.
I'm going to have to get a replacement one by the end of December as it won't support what's app anymore after that.
No idea what to get...just need the above features and a big enough screen for fat fingers( I even struggle on the iPad!)
oh, and cheap of course!
Sounds like you got a bargain there nick!

I think so - I wanted android base as that will give a less proprietary set up than Apple for software . Then having checked a couple of review sites Huawei seemed to crop up a lot so I did an eBay search with a top limit of £88 sorted them by "ending soonest " had a scroll down and the first one not cracked screen or anything that checked OK by user review I stuck a bid on up to the max I was prepared to pay and left it to cook- I was outbid the first two times and this was the third.

BTW if you're buying from a private seller always check the customer rating and how long they've been on the site for.

[nickdub]

It's when you start reading the Grapevine whilst on the plot.
(and googling planting advice when you are there...).


Also, what network was it on previously? you may find that there is lots of software is on it.

.

supposed to be unlocked - looks like a semiprofessional seller to me - might be a cash converter type place or similar.

[greenishfing]

supposed to be unlocked - looks like a semiprofessional seller to me - might be a cash converter type place or similar.

My husband once bought a home cinema system from a cash converters on ebay. They completely messed the sale up and sent us bits from 2 different systems. They were so apologetic. We eventually ended up with 2 complete systems.

[nickdub]

My husband once bought a home cinema system from a cash converters on ebay. They completely messed the sale up and sent us bits from 2 different systems. They were so apologetic. We eventually ended up with 2 complete systems.

Thing is with professional sellers you're apt to have to pay a bit more but on the other hand they have to trade on their reputation - so bad feedback is a disaster for their business - therefore they'll go the extra mile to sort out any problems

[Scarlet]

I couldn't live without my phone! I don't have a computer in the house as I would sit and do work on it.
I love an iPhone - camera is fab. It does everything I would need a computer for and more - except a large screen.
My phone costs are less than a tenner a month - I've not got a house phone. I always use the mobile, but data use is very small as I would always log onto free wifi when out.