Kitz Forum
Chat => Tech Chat => Topic started by: renluop on August 05, 2019, 09:32:17 AM
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My wife is being gently leaned on by our children to chuck in her ancient Nokia 2720 Fold, which she uses to call and text sparingly on PAYG.
They want her to be in their WhatsApp group and have all the advantages of a smartphone, suggesting a sim free IPhone earlier model, say a 7. Running costs will be a lot more, but if the beloved wishes, she shall have.
A new phone will cost £409 from her current carrier, but Amazon has renewed items under £300.
How willing would you be to take a punt on one?
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Why does it have to be an iPhone? You can get very functional Android phones for a lot less.
e.g. https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7429055
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A new phone will cost £409 from her current carrier, but Amazon has renewed items under £300.
How willing would you be to take a punt on one?
I bought a second hand iPhone SE off eBay a few years ago and it's been perfectly fine; still using it to this day. Buying such items online can be hit and miss, just make sure whomever you buy it off has a decent returns policy (and that they aren't supposedly sending the item from some far flung corner of the world), and if paying via Paypal, that it goes through as a goods and services transaction rather than "friends and family" (people have been badly caught out by that before). That way you're covered all the way around should something go amiss.
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If the rest of the family use iPhones, there are advantages of in joining in, having one too
However, I do generally argue these days, that the latest and greatest is the best starting point, even if it costs more - a lot more. Apple generally provide (free) OS upgrades for a few years after the device is launched. After that it will still work, but won’t have the latest OS, and may not run all latest Apps available in the App store.
There is also battery condition to consider. Battery life expectancy is largely determined by the amount of use the device has had, in terms of charging and discharging, rather than its age. So a two year old phone that’s been used incessantly, requiring a charge twice a day, might be starting to deteriorate. A four year old one that’s spent most of its life on standby might have a battery pretty much good as new. But you can’t tell the difference from looking.
I tend to buy a new payg phone outright, every few years. I reckon it works out at a reasonable cost long term, and for the first few years, I get free updates to latest and greatest iOS. My current iPhone a 5C, is five years old, still going strong, battery still good as new, but stuck on an ancient version of iOS. I’ll be seriously thinking about treating myself to a new iPhone in the very near future, just waiting to see if any new launches happen in the Autumn... then again, it’s likely to cost nearly as much as my Dad’s first brand new car, a ford escort, in 1970. :'(
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Thanks fo all the thoughts for me to mull.
Eric:the family is balanced on phones used with a slight bias to IPhone, but what the beloved wants.... ;)
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I (or close family) have ordered a few refurbished iphones from various ebay sellers over the past couple of years (most recently, I bought an iphone 7 for myself), without problems.
sevenlayermuddle is right to warn about battery life and support for the latest iOS versions. Although the just-announced iOS 13 runs on devices going back as far as the iPhone 6S, so a 7 is still a good choice IMO in terms of value-for-money. Battery is more of a lottery, with the worst-case being you need to pay Apple £45 to replace it.
As others have said, choose a reliable-looking seller and make sure you read the description
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If the rest of the family uses iPhones then your beloved would be best off doing so too. There are so many advantages, like ‘find iphone’ (or iPad) when you have lost it, and there is the ‘find friends’ feature too. My wife is always asking me to locate her lost devices and make them ping remotely.
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Android and iOS are close to feature parity in most areas with the annual upgrades being less important then they once were - for instance, Android also has the locate a device feature: https://support.google.com/android/answer/6160491?hl=en-GB
However, Apple devices are slightly easier to use and tend to be supported for longer but this comes at the cost of having less flexibility/control over what one wants to do and a hefty price premium.
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I have a OnePlus 5T which I bought brand new for £500.
Possibly the best smartphone I've ever owned.
However, my wife loves iPhones, so... She has an iPhone :)