UKmobilephonefilter
May 19, 2011 6:53 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for recommendations for a cheapish, basic, reliable phone. I'm in the UK.
My trusty Sony object is starting to show its age, running its battery down after a few calls and seemingly needing to stay permanently plugged in while I'm at home. It needs replacing, and I'd like to go slightly higher up the food chain.
Need: excellent battery life, a physical keyboard/number pad, 2.5g or 3g internet access sufficient Mefi, twitter (etc) and email, and just enough internet prowess that it doesn't complain about longer Mefi threads (as my current phone sometimes does).
Want: a qwerty keyboard would be nice, for texting and email.
I don't need or want a smartphone; I have a latest-gen ipod touch for everything I could possibly want from a smartphone except 3G internet access and actual phone calls. Battery life and call quality are much more important to me than touch-screen whizziness or a camera. A blackberry would be overkill.
My trusty Sony object is starting to show its age, running its battery down after a few calls and seemingly needing to stay permanently plugged in while I'm at home. It needs replacing, and I'd like to go slightly higher up the food chain.
Need: excellent battery life, a physical keyboard/number pad, 2.5g or 3g internet access sufficient Mefi, twitter (etc) and email, and just enough internet prowess that it doesn't complain about longer Mefi threads (as my current phone sometimes does).
Want: a qwerty keyboard would be nice, for texting and email.
I don't need or want a smartphone; I have a latest-gen ipod touch for everything I could possibly want from a smartphone except 3G internet access and actual phone calls. Battery life and call quality are much more important to me than touch-screen whizziness or a camera. A blackberry would be overkill.
Best answer: I was very happy with my Nokia E63 before I moved on to my HTC Android phone. Great battery life, durable, and decent keyboard. Don't ever remember having any issues with Mefi.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:30 AM on May 19, 2011
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:30 AM on May 19, 2011
Response by poster: Ooh, the E63 looks perfect, and the reviews look good too. Seems like it does exactly what I want. Thanks :)
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 8:08 AM on May 19, 2011
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 8:08 AM on May 19, 2011
FYI: there's not a lot in the way of decent apps for it, but I did really like Gravity for using Twitter (cost like €5 or something).
posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:53 AM on May 19, 2011
posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:53 AM on May 19, 2011
Response by poster: Probably actually going to go for the Nokia E5, which is apparently the successor to the E63, has reviewed similarly well (a lot of their criticisms seem to revolve around it not being a smartphone, which is sort of the point for me!), and is available for £100 new on Three. Plus apparently you can charge it over USB, so it'll fit nicely into the forest of crap coming out the back of my PC.
Perfick.
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 8:56 AM on May 19, 2011
Perfick.
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 8:56 AM on May 19, 2011
Response by poster: EndsOfInvention: "FYI: there's not a lot in the way of decent apps for it, but I did really like Gravity for using Twitter (cost like €5 or something)."
Excellent, I'm happy with a few quid one-off cost for Twitter and Facebook and the like. The lack of other apps doesn't bother me at all, since the ipod does all that quite happily (I haven't read a paper book since I got it!).
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 8:58 AM on May 19, 2011
Excellent, I'm happy with a few quid one-off cost for Twitter and Facebook and the like. The lack of other apps doesn't bother me at all, since the ipod does all that quite happily (I haven't read a paper book since I got it!).
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 8:58 AM on May 19, 2011
Ah, E5 looks pretty good - one down side of the E63 was the lack of GPS (although the phone mast triangulation was actually surprisingly good).
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:23 AM on May 19, 2011
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:23 AM on May 19, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
I recommend the Alcatel OT-355. It's like 30 quid all in. I got one for my dad's european vacation and it's replaced his BB Curve as his primary phone back in the USA.
posted by parmanparman at 6:57 AM on May 19, 2011