Best sub €300 Android device

machiavellianme

Smaller phones also make sense for kids and teens with their smaller hands

air

I've good eyesight, something around 5in with high resolution is ideal to me. I find two handed operation with the bigger phones to be a bit of a joke, they're large to carry around and very weak. A colleague dropped his S8 and had to replace the screen within a week of getting it at a cost of about €180. My current phone has a 4.7in screen and I can't see the attraction in anything bigger. Anyway OT, thanks for the tips 914, might look at the 5x again, this isn't for me.
Edit: 5x is still quite big overall, gsmarena have a great search facility that lets one search by screen size and nearly everything else.

cal60

air wrote: »

...........My current phone has a 4.7in screen and I can't see the attraction in anything bigger....

My thoughts exactly - what is your current phone ?

air

cal60 wrote: »

My thoughts exactly - what is your current phone ?

Funnily enough it's almost your username, it's a CAT S60. It's a beast but I use it for work and the durability is great, replaced the screen on my previous phone numerous times.

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

914

cal60 wrote: »

My thoughts exactly - what is your current phone ?

Agree with 4.7 being the perfect size. Currently still have my z1 compact which is 4.3, it's a breeze to use with one hand and comfortable in pockets etc....

I'll be keeping an eye on the new Sony compact. The z1 compact has served me well but the camera was a let down as it suffers from flash bleed and terrible in low light and night shots (hopefully the new compact will have a camera like the xz premium as all accounts of that are fantastic), other than that and too much bloatware it has been a great device, got it three years ago.

Price will probably be over the 300 mark though.

Edit - prices for the xz1 compact are rumoured to be €600+

air

air wrote: »

Funnily enough it's almost your username, it's a CAT S60. It's a beast but I use it for work and the durability is great, replaced the screen on my previous phone numerous times.

Are you happy with the size of that phone? It's big for the size of the screen. You should really be looking at device dimensions rather than screen size.

I'd be very surprised if you can find a decent spec phone with small screen and cheap price. Only a company with a death wish would attempt that.

cal60

Basil3 wrote: »

.........I'd be very surprised if you can find a decent spec phone with small screen and cheap price. Only a company with a death wish would attempt that.

Why so ? Is it not clear even from this thread that there exists a market for smaller phones ?

OldMrBrennan83

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914

air wrote: »

Funnily enough it's almost your username, it's a CAT S60. It's a beast but I use it for work and the durability is great, replaced the screen on my previous phone numerous times.

The nexus 5x has the same dimensions as the cat s60. It's one millimetre wider. I'd be looking at the dimensions as opposed to screen size. Newer phones have smaller bezels compared to the cat phones. Hence a bigger screen but similar overall size.

cal60

cal60 wrote: »

Why so ? Is it not clear even from this thread that there exists a market for smaller phones ?

No, not really. Anyone I know that has gone to a 'bigger' phone (well, bigger screen really) has loved it. The amount of people that actively look for a phone smaller than the iPhone 7 or the S8 would be extremely small.

My Mrs used to have a Sony Z3 Compact which would be viewed as a 'small' phone, but the only real difference between that and the S8 is the length. The S8 is a couple of cm longer, but it's only about 3mm wider, and is also thinner.

air

914 wrote: »

The nexus 5x has the same dimensions as the cat s60. It's one millimetre wider. I'd be looking at the dimensions as opposed to screen size. Newer phones have smaller bezels compared to the cat phones. Hence a bigger screen but similar overall size.

My current choice of phone has nothing to do with my original request for a smaller phone, I'm not looking for the smaller sub €300 one for myself. The discussion around it has just muddied the waters.
I find the screen size perfect on it and don't see the need for a bigger one.
The size of my current phone is a bit ridiculous, it's a brick but I wanted the combination of thermal imaging,durability and large battery that it uniquely offers.
If I was to change to a regular phone without these features I wouldn't tolerate the size.

The Samsung A3 (2017) fits the bill but the specs are quite a bit poorer than the larger phones here (V20 and Lenovo P2) that are only marginally more expensive. Seems there is a premium for smaller screens now, a total turnaround

914

air wrote: »

My current choice of phone has nothing to do with my original request for a smaller phone, I'm not looking for the smaller sub €300 one for myself. The discussion around it has just muddied the waters.
I find the screen size perfect on it and don't see the need for a bigger one.
The size of my current phone is a bit ridiculous, it's a brick but I wanted the combination of thermal imaging,durability and large battery that it uniquely offers.
If I was to change to a regular phone without these features I wouldn't tolerate the size.

The Samsung A3 (2017) fits the bill but the specs are quite a bit poorer than the larger phones here (V20 and Lenovo P2) that are only marginally more expensive. Seems there is a premium for smaller screens now, a total turnaround

If the lenovo p2 fits the bill then have a look at the zuk z2. 5 inch screen size, smaller dimensions and flagship specs with the exception of the camera.

Other than that you will be looking at the Xperia z5 compact. Although it's still over €300

tedpan

Did all the V20s arrive?

StereoSound

I'm gonna suggest the Vodafone smart V8 for €200 when you port your number. It's been great the past 24 hrs I've had it. No issues with it at all. Camera is better then I expected and the phone is very snappy and not laggy at all. So far so good and the little time I've had it I can live with this for the foreseeable future.

deadl0ck

tedpan wrote: »

Did all the V20s arrive?

I've not got mine yet - it was ordered 2 weeks ago from tomorrow.

It's almost here though :

Departure to country of destination	2017-07-18 06:22 am	Belgium	
Parcel is handled	2017-07-18 06:15 am	Belgium	
bpost has received the item	2017-07-18 06:15 am	Belgium	
Received at international processing center	2017-07-14 04:17 pm		
Customs cleared	2017-07-14 03:13 pm	Heston, MIDDX	United Kingdom
Crossing border and in transit to carrier hub	2017-07-12 05:47 am	Hong Kong, HON	Hong Kong
Scanned at Landmark crossdock facility	2017-07-12 04:23 am	Hong Kong, HON	Hong Kong
Processed	2017-07-12 02:42 am	Hong Kong, HON	Hong Kong
Shipment Data Uploaded	2017-07-11 02:38 am	Hong Kong, HON

tedpan

deadl0ck wrote:

It's almost here though : Code: Departure to country of destination 2017-07-18 06:22 am Belgium Parcel is handled 2017-07-18 06:15 am Belgium bpost has received the item 2017-07-18 06:15 am Belgium Received at international processing center 2017-07-14 04:17 pm Customs cleared 2017-07-14 03:13 pm Heston, MIDDX United Kingdom Crossing border and in transit to carrier hub 2017-07-12 05:47 am Hong Kong, HON Hong Kong Scanned at Landmark crossdock facility 2017-07-12 04:23 am Hong Kong, HON Hong Kong Processed 2017-07-12 02:42 am Hong Kong, HON Hong Kong Shipment Data Uploaded 2017-07-11 02:38 am Hong Kong, HON

Weird. So it was in Middlesex on the 12/07 and then went to Belgium..

Hopefully you'll get it soon mate.

dr_funk

Svetti Arss wrote: »

Ordered LG V20 from Eglobal on 4th July. Phone arrived today with battery 1/2 full and the box seal broken. Everything else looks intact. Did anyone else who ordered from them notice if seal was broken? Have not had chance to power up phone yet.

Yep, same with my V20. The broken seal says "Taiwan Mobile", so my guess is that they power up the phone and set the language to English before shipping. My battery was also 1/2 full.

tedpan wrote: »

Did all the V20s arrive?

Mine arrived 4 days ago (Monday), two weeks after I ordered it.

Happy to say it holds on to a call far better in my new house, compared to my now-retired Galaxy S4. Unfortunately I still have to leave it beside one particular kitchen window (same with the Galaxy) or it drops off the network. I guess the antenna gain is turned up during a call, but turned down when the phone is idle?

tedpan

dr_funk wrote:

Yep, same with my V20. The broken seal says "Taiwan Mobile", so my guess is that they power up the phone and set the language to English before shipping. My battery was also 1/2 full.

Hmmm, mine didn't have any branding on the box. It's normal to arrive 50% charged. Samsung, htc, apple etc all ship with around half charge.

dr_funk wrote:

Happy to say it holds on to a call far better in my new house, compared to my now-retired Galaxy S4. Unfortunately I still have to leave it beside one particular kitchen window (same with the Galaxy) or it drops off the network. I guess the antenna gain is turned up during a call, but turned down when the phone is idle?

I'm not sure on that one, maybe it has an inbuilt power saving function, but haven't noticed it. It happened to me when I was on 3, terrible signal everywhere downstairs except next to the front door. Now I'm on meteor, don't experience issues at all.

kevez

Has anyone used parcel motel as their delivery address with eglobal and if so is it quicker?
Cheers

Uriel.

My v20 {well my wife's} went via middlesex on to Belgium and left Belgium for Ireland on 18th at 7am.

Hasnt arrived yet though. Only ordered on the 11th so can't complain too much

jacksie66

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deadl0ck

jacksie66 wrote: »

Had a v20 for a few weeks. Had too many small niggles so I sold it and got an XZ premium.

Really ? Like what ? I'm still waiting on mine but would like to know your experience with it

jacksie66

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deadl0ck

My V20 just arrived with An Post.
No customs charges - exactly 2 weeks since I ordered it

Edit: It also has the B&O Earphones

OldMrBrennan83

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adam240610

jacksie66 wrote: »

The fingerprint scanner was slow. Between putting my finger on it and the screen lighting up was about a second or 2 delay. I think it was something to do with the 2nd display. I found it very irritating. My xz premium is instant in comparison. Also with the v20, the coverage was awful. Even in Limerick city centre I would sometimes struggle to get full reception. The light bleed from the second screen are night was bad. I tried a factory reset multiple times but it never worked. Don't get me wrong it's a cracking phone, but I'm very particular about phones so I got rid. This Sony is incredible.

Takes just under a second for finger scanner to have the screen unlocked which I think is grand, very reliable too. No issues with coverage yet but I'm close to Dublin. No light bleed on my phone so not sure about that one.

tedpan

adam240610 wrote:

Takes just under a second for finger scanner to have the screen unlocked which I think is grand, very reliable too. No issues with coverage yet but I'm close to Dublin. No light bleed on my phone so not sure about that one.

Yeah, my V20 is lightning fast with the fingerprint unlock too..

Imallrightjack

deadl0ck wrote: »

My V20 just arrived with An Post.
No customs charges - exactly 2 weeks since I ordered it

Edit: It also has the B&O Earphones

How are you getting on with the v20?

deadl0ck

Imallrightjack wrote: »

How are you getting on with the v20?

Great - way faster then my Honor 7. I really like the second screen and the camera is excellent.
Overall I'm very happy with it so far.
Just set up android pay on it (as my bank card doesn't have NFC and my Honor 7 didn't either) but I haven't tried it out yet.

I replaced the launcher with Google Now launcher also.

Fingerprint reader works fine, but hard to get used to using it as lock/unlock also.

So overall I'm very happy !