Recommend me a phone, please :-)

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jonathan18

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#2556898 4-Sep-2020 11:55

Rather than start yet another 'what's the best mid-range phone' thread I thought I'd tag onto this one...

As per the post directly above this one, I'm now looking for a new phone for my wife as her's is starting to play up. She doesn't need the power of a flagship, but something that's going to have decent enough performance, camera, battery life andOS updates, and also a decent-quality OLED screen.

Also only keen on purchasing from an NZ-based retailer, and would prefer to stick to something well-proven (so not too keen on a Mi or similar, nor a Huawei given the GPS thing).

Budget up to around $700.

The main contender is the Samsung A71 (about $700).

But I see the OnePlus Nord is now in stock at PB Tech etc, and priced not much more ($740sh). I really liked the OP6 I had previously, so see this as a good option.

Any thoughts on the relative merits of these two models, or others we should be considering?

Thanks in advance.

MikeB4

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#2556904 4-Sep-2020 11:59

jonathan18:

Rather than start yet another 'what's the best mid-range phone' thread I thought I'd tag onto this one...

As per the post directly above this one, I'm now looking for a new phone for my wife as her's is starting to play up. She doesn't need the power of a flagship, but something that's going to have decent enough performance, camera, battery life andOS updates, and also a decent-quality OLED screen.

Also only keen on purchasing from an NZ-based retailer, and would prefer to stick to something well-proven (so not too keen on a Mi or similar, nor a Huawei given the GPS thing).

Budget up to around $700.

The main contender is the Samsung A71 (about $700).

But I see the OnePlus Nord is now in stock at PB Tech etc, and priced not much more ($740sh). I really liked the OP6 I had previously, so see this as a good option.

Any thoughts on the relative merits of these two models, or others we should be considering?

Thanks in advance.

If she is ok with IOS what about the iPhone SE. It has a good camera, A13 chip and will get updates for at least 4 years. It is also light weight. Its $799 new

timmmay

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#2556906 4-Sep-2020 12:07

iPhone SE is probably the best small-ish phone around, great performance, and reasonable price. Google Pixel 4a is the closest you have to Android. Smaller phones tend to be good for women with smaller hands, and even for me who's about average sized many phones are too large to comfortable use one-handed.

OnePlus Nord is a bit faster than Pixel4a. Downside is the in-screen fingerprint readers aren't as good as hardware readers.

Alternately, if you want to wait a month, I'll be selling my Moto G8 plus when my Pixel 4a arrives. Good phone, just a bit bigger than I want, and has standard screen rather than OLED.

MikeB4

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#2556908 4-Sep-2020 12:09

timmmay:

iPhone SE is probably the best small-ish phone around, great performance, and reasonable price. Google Pixel 4a is the closest you have to Android. Smaller phones tend to be good for women with smaller hands, and even for me who's about average sized many phones are too large to comfortable use one-handed.

OnePlus Nord is a bit faster than Pixel4a. Downside is the in-screen fingerprint readers aren't as good as hardware readers.

Alternately, if you want to wait a month, I'll be selling my Moto G8 plus when my Pixel 4a arrives. Good phone, just a bit bigger than I want, and has standard screen rather than OLED.

The iPhone SE also has a touch pad unlock which is a good thing given Covid-19 and the need for masks.

jonathan18

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#2556913 4-Sep-2020 12:22

MikeB4:

If she is ok with IOS what about the iPhone SE. It has a good camera, A13 chip and will get updates for at least 4 years. It is also light weight. Its $799 new

We are both pretty big users of Google services, so the Android thing does make sense; but she does also have an iPad, and I can but ask her about this, so thanks for the idea Mike.

What's the screen on that iPhone like? Is it an OLED?

sleepy

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#2556929 4-Sep-2020 12:33

My wife has a new SE and no complaints so far seems to keep decent charge and take better photos than her last one so she's happy

jonathan18

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#2556936 4-Sep-2020 12:45

Ok, I see the SE has a 4.7" screen... That alone will be a deal-breaker; her current phone has a 6" screen, and given she often watches NF/YT on this she won't be keen on going smaller.

Here's a visual comparison between the SE / her current phone (7 Plus) / Nord: https://phonesized.com/compare/#1447,962,1513

So, sorry, new requirement - screen no smaller than 6"!

Any thoughts on the A71 vs the Nord? Has anyone here bought/used the Nord?

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

MikeB4

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#2556939 4-Sep-2020 12:51

On the Android front the OnePlus Nord is a very good mid range. It better in many ways than the Pixel 4A and better than the Samsung A series. The Nord has a next to pure Android experience. Samsungs are laden with duplicated Apps etc with grind down the A series chips. The OnePlus phones have one of the best update regimes in the Android world beaten only by Pixel phones.

Handle9

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#2557072 4-Sep-2020 15:15

timmmay:
iPhone SE is probably the best small-ish phone around, great performance, and reasonable price. Google Pixel 4a is the closest you have to Android. Smaller phones tend to be good for women with smaller hands, and even for me who's about average sized many phones are too large to comfortable use one-handed.

OnePlus Nord is a bit faster than Pixel4a. Downside is the in-screen fingerprint readers aren't as good as hardware readers.

Alternately, if you want to wait a month, I'll be selling my Moto G8 plus when my Pixel 4a arrives. Good phone, just a bit bigger than I want, and has standard screen rather than OLED.

OnePlus finger print readers are excellent (as are Huawei).

Handle9

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#2557074 4-Sep-2020 15:19

MikeB4:
On the Android front the OnePlus Nord is a very good mid range. It better in many ways than the Pixel 4A and better than the Samsung A series. The Nord has a next to pure Android experience. Samsungs are laden with duplicated Apps etc with grind down the A series chips. The OnePlus phones have one of the best update regimes in the Android world beaten only by Pixel phones.

Given the dubious historical reliability of Pixel phones I'd go OnePlus. We've had a few OnePlus phones and they have all been very good.

Camera quality has been their only issues but they seem to be much better now.

timmmay

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#2557081 4-Sep-2020 15:34

Handle9:

OnePlus finger print readers are excellent (as are Huawei).

That's ok then. Xiaomi 9T was terrible, really bad. Samsung are apparently ok, not as good as hardware, but ok.

jonathan18

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#2557144 4-Sep-2020 16:11

timmmay:

Handle9:

OnePlus finger print readers are excellent (as are Huawei).

That's ok then. Xiaomi 9T was terrible, really bad. Samsung are apparently ok, not as good as hardware, but ok.

Still hate the fingerprint reader on my S10+, but I watched a colleague unlock their A70 the other day and it was a total breeze. One example where I'd prefer cheaper technology!

Annoyingly NL's appears to be doing the Nord as order-only, as not a single store is showing stock, so no chance of my wife trying before buying (unless we are in Wgtn, assuming PB has them in stock).

I really like One UI (unlike TouchWiz!), and I also liked Oxygen on the OP6 I had; I think either, from a UX point of view, will be fine for her.

Do you think it's worth paying a premium for the Nord over the Samsung A71?

Handle9

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#2557147 4-Sep-2020 16:19

For $40 I'd get the OnePlus, just for the updates. I am a bit of a OnePlus fan though.

The A series are good phones, they do what it says on the tin.

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