Help me understand MOBILE FUCKING PHONES

[cakedup]

Excuse my shouting, I have spent far too long comparing mobile phone packages today.

I am looking for a new monthly contract. I want the same make of phone (Samsung) because I am an old dog. I am torn between getting a dirt cheap contract with a less flashy phone (because I am currently unemployed) or a more expensive contract with a better phone (because I won't be unemployed forever hopefully).

My question is, are the cheaper phones (in this case, Samsung galaxy core prime, J1, s4/s4 mini) a pain to use i.e. can you still get all the latest apps, will things like google maps still be as good, can I still get all the latest games that DS will bug me for?

We're talking about a difference of about £10 per month. Why do people get the most up to date phones? Because I don't care about looking flash. But I don't want to be swearing at my phone every day.

Do you still have a phone that you're happy with? You could get a sim only deal. They're much cheaper and you get the same amount of minutes etc

No, I've got an old phone, an S3 I think and it's starting to play up. I've been using comparison websites sho confident I can get the best deal, but just not sure whether to fork out extra for a better phone or not!

The S4 is still a decent phone. If you turn off all the stupid crap that comes as standard, it's almost as fast as the S6, the biggest difference you'll notice is the screen size. If you are not trying to use complicated spreadsheets or edit video on it, there's not much in it. Maps worked fine on it. It doesn't have the fingerprint unlock, and I don't think it has NFC in which case it won't do Samsung Pay or Google Pay if they get launched here, if that's important to you. For everything else, it still works fine.

The Core Prime is ok, but it feels more basic that the S4. It's a decent enough phone, and it will run almost everything, I think. DS has one, he hasn't complained about anything not running, but he doesn't do heavy duty gaming on the phone, so if there's a specific game your DS is interested in, I'd check on the Play store first.

The J1 I have no experience of, but it looks like it sits somewhere between the Core Prime and the S4. If there's little difference in the price and what you get included in the contract, I'd go for the S4, just because it will probably last you longer than the others.

Thank you Tennessee. What do you mean by turning off all the stupid crap?

Great summary and was going to go for an S4 but a lot of places don't even stock them anymore. I think I'm actually going to go for an S5!

The S4 was the model where Samsung went all out to show what cool things they could do with the software, so it's got scrolling by the movement of your eyes, the screen won't turn off if you are looking at it, a whole bunch of stuff like that. No-one uses it, but it was all turned on by default in the S4, and it slows stuff down. Plus it can make the phone unpredictable - if you don't know that the browser page will move down as you read you wonder why it's jumping around - and it was a killer on battery life. Most of it is still there on the S6 but it's not turned on by default, so it doesn't bother you.

The S5 was a good update, and it is a perfectly decent phone. I didn't have one, so I can't remember if the Samsung stuff is on or off by default on it, but if you google, there are lots of hints and stuff to make it run smoothly and keep the battery going.

Thank you Tennessee that's so useful to know, I would much rather have longer battery life than all those little gimmicks. Got my S5 today so will have a look at it tomorrow.