Time for a new phone

[The Bronze]

So after a few years of quite heavy use my phone is starting to give up. It's a Sony Xperia Z1. I've been happy with it so the plan was to just get another from the same series, maybe Z3 or Z5 from eBay.

I was browsing around though and have seen that Blackberry have released the Dtek 60 and it's got me interested. It's a top end phone but it's USP seems to be improved security. Do any of the techy people on here know if this is some clever marketing hype or if they're really offering something useful?

There seems to be split opinion online as to whether it's a good step in the right direction or whether it's not really possible to tighten up android. My phones only for personal use but there's still enough on there that I wouldn't want to see hacked stolen.

The other company that caught my eye is oneplus. Seem to get a lot of phone for your money. I don't know much more about them though.

Any help would be appreciated 🙂

 

[Bluebird]

I went from the Z1 to the Z3 (the mint) and the only difference I notice is that the corners are rounded off. So technical, me. 😛 It slides out my hand like nobody's business. But then I don't have a case on mine.

One of my exes worked at a phone network company and always badmouthed Blackberry - that's the only experience I have with their phones lol. I've also had Samsung Galaxy phones but found them unreliable and overheated. My choice is to stick with Sony just now, and Android for its customisation.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Google phone. iPhone as a fallback as long as you don't mind old outdated technology and a more insular approach.

I wouldn't go with Blackberry. They had one chance to remain relevant and they failed with their OS; now they are relying on an nearly two-year old Android OS (marshmallow) to power their newest, most expensive phone.

If you are happy with the Sony, stick with it. There are other phones you can look into if you are worried about security, but that might be more secure than you want.

 

[The Bronze]

I went from the Z1 to the Z3 (the mint) and the only difference I notice is that the corners are rounded off. So technical, me. 😛 It slides out my hand like nobody's business. But then I don't have a case on mine.

Haha yeah they don't change the Sony's very much. My Z1 does everything I need really so if the battery was still OK I wouldn't be looking for an upgrade. I've always had mine in a wallet case, makes it big and fat but not so slippery.

One of my exes worked at a phone network company and always badmouthed Blackberry

I had a couple of Blackberry phones before the Sony and got on quite well with them. I used to like the keyboard. After getting used to typing on a touchscreen though I wouldn't go back to a small screen and keyboard combination.

@Mr. Pole

Thanks for the advice. I knew I could count on you for some technical insight. You're the second person to mention the Google phone to me, the other being my friend who works for a phone company, so I'll definitely do some research into that. I'm not a fan of the Apple range so their not for me, can never get on with my partners iphone/pad etc.

I struggle with how much security I should be concerned with. I'm not a spy or terrorist etc. so I don't want to go over the top but at the same time having a device that's always connected to the internet is a concern. It feels a bit silly not to look into privacy and security measures.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

You're the second person to mention the Google phone to me

That would be the only Android phone I would get. It may be different there but here each phone is updated at the whim on the carrier and NOT as new updates come out. They started slowing down my updates after a year, then once it hit the two year mark they stopped. Even though Google still updated their OS I was not 'allowed' to update mine. So with the Pixel those problems should no longer exist as it's pure android, with no additional OS skinned atop it.

 

[Athena]

I agree with @Mr. Pole, I'd definitely go for the Pixel. It seems a decent spec and like he said, update wise Google will always release to their phones first and carriers take forever. I used to have Google Nexus 4 phone, and a Nexus 7 tablet. Spec wise they were average but I always had the latest OS first. I only got rid because I ran out of space on both. I've since upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy phone & tablet, and performance wise they're top notch, but I do sometimes question Samsung's QA. Beautiful design, but quite a lot of devices seem to have problems. Saying that my first Nexus 7 tablet had to be returned because of a faulty screen.... 🙄

 

[November]

Im looking for a new one too, the pixel looks right up my alley. I hate my ithing.

Only one company offers it here at $100 a month. :/

Can you buy it off plan? (Yep $1000. My entirehouse of electronics didnt cost that much 😱, but no worse than iphone cost i guess)

Goodluck finding one!

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

$1,000! 😱 😵

 

[The Bronze]

Can you buy it off plan? (Yep $1000. My entirehouse of electronics didnt cost that much 😱, but no worse than iphone cost i guess)

Yeah the price is absolutely eye watering. There's no way I can justify that price tag even if having the operating system up to date would be a big bonus. My current plan is to see if anything pops up on Black Friday.