Cheap(ish) Smart(ish)phone

[fen_boy]

Hello all,

I'm coming to the end of my contract and am likely to move to a SIM only deal that gives me all the minutes I need plus unlimited data access. So I'm looking for a smartish phone that I can buy separately for approx £150.

It needs to have a decent browser - though opera mini would probably do - and some sort of integration with gmail/google apps if possible and preferably 3G. Not bothered too much about WiFi as I have an EeePC for that.
Being able to Sync with Ubuntu and Windows would be a big plus. Not that bothered about media or camera or any of that. Not that bothered about QWERTY keyboard as I'll be mostly reading stuff rather than writing.
It also needs to have decent call quality and be sturdily built as I don't look after my toys very well.
I'd rather avoid Samsung phones if at all possible as I hate my D900i with an almost incandescent rage. Though it's actually the OS on that I hate so I might be convinced by one if it had Symbian or similar, just anything other than the D900 OS.

Any recommendations?

 

[fen_boy]

that'll be a no then. Nokia 6120 looks likely.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Does it have to be new? The noika n series have been around a few years and will do what you ask, you could find a second hand model quite cheap.

Also worth considering if you plan to use the net much on the move is screen size. Often qwerty phones have larger screens which make them nicer to use, but means you have to carry a bigger phone, so depends on how important size is to you.

 

[fen_boy]

Doesn't have to be new. Size is quite important as I tend to just chuck it in my pocket. I'll research slightly older N series, ta!

 

[editor]

Palm Centro? (no 3G but it seems plenty fast for me)

 

[fen_boy]

Palm Centro? (no 3G but it seems plenty fast for me)

That's a definite possibility, is it big?

 

[editor]

That's a definite possibility, is it big?

It's pretty damn small!

 

[fen_boy]

It's pretty damn small!

mmmm a possibility then, I had a Sony Clie (till I lost it) and really liked the palm OS, though it's looking a bit dated now. Will have to find a proper shop to take a look at it.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Another vote for the Palm Centro (I got mine for £154 including a 4gig micro sc card in June), the lack of 3G is a bit of a pain and but it's a solid phone with a stupid amount of apps.

 

[fen_boy]

Do either of you use gmail with the centro? or Opera mobile/mini?

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Do either of you use gmail with the centro? or Opera mobile/mini?

Yep, I use Chattermail which grabs my gmail.

There is a way of getting Opera to work but I couldn't be arsed with the faffing about. The basic blazer is fairly decent although lacking bells and whistles (but has that page of favourites thing Opera has)...

 

[fen_boy]

Yep, I use Chattermail which grabs my gmail.

There is a way of getting Opera to work but I couldn't be arsed with the faffing about. The basic blazer is fairly decent although lacking bells and whistles (but has that page of favourites thing Opera has)...

OK thanks.

 

[fen_boy]

My dad gave me his old BlackBerry 8300 Curve for free in the end.
I got a new housing, lcd screen cover and trackball for buttons off ebay and it looks and operates as good as new now.
Very happy with it so far, it seems really stable, quick and easy to use. The integration with all my Google cloud based gubbins is great.
Not having had a smart-phone before I don't miss all the fangled bells and whistles you get with the newer models.

Got a SIM only deal from O2 with 600 minutes, some texts, not sure how many as I don't really text much, and unlimited BlackBerry data allowance - which is apparently different from their unlimited web bolt-on - all for £20 a month; I thought that was a pretty good deal.

Thanks for all the advice though!!

 

[Kid_Eternity]

My dad gave me his old BlackBerry 8300 Curve for free in the end.
I got a new housing, lcd screen cover and trackball for buttons off ebay and it looks and operates as good as new now.
Very happy with it so far, it seems really stable, quick and easy to use. The integration with all my Google cloud based gubbins is great.
Not having had a smart-phone before I don't miss all the fangled bells and whistles you get with the newer models.

Got a SIM only deal from O2 with 600 minutes, some texts, not sure how many as I don't really text much, and unlimited BlackBerry data allowance - which is apparently different from their unlimited web bolt-on - all for £20 a month; I thought that was a pretty good deal.

Thanks for all the advice though!!

Very cool! And decent tarriff too, I didn't know there's a difference in data allowance for BB's? Any idea how that works?

 

[fen_boy]

Very cool! And decent tarriff too, I didn't know there's a difference in data allowance for BB's? Any idea how that works?

Not really, I thought I'd be ok with the Web bolt-on, but couldn't get it to work. I phoned them up to ask how to resolve this and they swapped the bolt-on for a blackberry data one and sent me a 'Service Book' and now everything works.
I think blackberry data goes through RIM's servers, but I might be wrong, it seems to include all data including third party apps.

e2a reading the service terms suggests using it as a modem is not included in the price, but I'll never do that anyway.

e2a apparently you have to be careful with how you set up opera mini as it can go through o2 mobile web instead of blackberry in which case you get charged.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Ah right, yeah I think you may be right about it going through RIM's servers...

 

[Tricky Skills]

A bit late in the day for fen_boy, but maybe of interest to other users... I've had my hands on an INQ1 for the past week. It's being shamelessly marketed as the Facebook phone, coming packaged up with all manner of social media applications.

Look beyond the marketing nonsense and the little fella certainly packs a punch, pound for pound. 3 is offering the handset for free on a £15 a month contract. This includes 1Gb data allowance for use either on the handset, or by using the phone to tether to a laptop etc. Not a bad deal, especially so when you consider my broadband (yeah, right...) dongle deal is £10 a month for the same amount of data.

It's basically an iPhone lite, but at a quarter of the price. Functionality is fine, although the design is slightly fiddly.

I've posted up a full review over here.