My phone has died!

[EnglishGirlApproximately]

and as much as I would like an Iphone I'm skint! I'm looking at what I can afford and wondered if anyone can advise me on the following phones.
Nokia Lumia 610
Galaxy Ace II
HTC Desire
Galaxy S II
Blackberry Curve

I know nothing about phones so feel free to treat me like a complete technophobe! I'll use it mainly for texting and internet. I'll use a camera a bit but it's not especially important as I have a good digital camera anyway.

Any thoughts? Thanks :)

Either of the Galaxies,both are to be updated to Jelly Bean,the latest android update.
Nokia lumia 610 is a low spec phone with windows os on it,never used this system but poor reviews would put me off it.
HTC desire is an old phone now,dont know if HTC are offering latest updates.
Blackberry curve ,all depends if you like Blackberries,ds had one and it drove me nuts once trying to configure the browser,swore I would never buy another one.

I'm looking at the Nokia Lumia 800 now which presumably is the upgraded version?
I have no idea what Jellybean is
Gah, this was much easier when all they did was make calls!

Firstly I'd discount Blackberry's. Only teenagers seem to use them nowadays.

Nokia runs Windows phone which to be fair I've heard positive things about but never really used one myself.

Out of the rest, the best is the Galaxy S2. But if you can afford it, also look at the S3. All depends on your budget.

Certainly the S2 is an excellent all round phone and because it's so popular, plenty of cases, screen protectors and such like to purchase.

Thanks niceguy the S3 is a bit above my budget. I could afford it but don't really want to as I'm not a big phone user iyswim. Think I'll go and have a play with the S2 and maybe go for that. I do normally like Samsung so hopefully I'll like this one too.
and I haven't been a teenager for a long time so better not have a blackberry

What sort of monthly spend are you considering, and any particular network?

Someone mentioned the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro (since you plan to be texting, so is a touchscreen really a priority?) which has a QWERTY keyboard that slides out... Also has a 5 Mpixel camera so, even if not on a par with your separate camera, not a bad one anyway.

Don't mind what network and don't really want to spend more than £20 a month. Theres a Galaxy s II on t mobile for £15.50 through Tesco I'm looking at but I'll have a look at the xperian. I think I'm just looking at touchscreen because thats what there seems to be loads of to choose from!

The Xperia Mini Prwas on O2... probably best to look on e2save.com or mobiles.co.uk which are sites run by Carphone Warehouse

Depending on your needs for texts and talk minutes, you can go as low as 7.50/month for a brand new Android v4 phone (Sony Xperia Tipo with 250 minutes, 5000 texts and 500 MB data)

On mobiles.co.uk there are lots of other options, eg 350 minutes, 5000 texts, 500 MB for 17.50 but with 17 months of 24 costing, after refund from mobiles.co.uk, just 99p (so the effective monthly price is under 6 pounds for the duration of the 24 months).

These schemes depend on customer sending statements off at intervals so you pay network full monthly fee and mobiles.co.uk sends cheque to refund a significant chunk of your payments.

Not (yet) something I have done but commonplace experience if you check phone deals on MoneySavingExpert or HotUKDeals.com

Sorry, plenty other options with fewer texts - was loking around for a relative and she wanted lots of texts, hence the examples given.

Carphone Warehouse have a section of special offers called "Super Value Smartphones" which has, for example, the Galaxy Ace, at £12/month with 200 minutes, 200 texts, and 1 GB of data.

The Ace is not one of the latest phones (Ace 2 is out) but has a bigger than average screen, and a phone I can recommend from having one myself (but I paid about 130 for the phone by itself, in March).

I'll definately have a look at the Ace as I generally like Samsung, I find them very user friendly. Thanks so much, you've given me a lot to look at :)