[JNW1]

My iPhone 6 is coming up to 5 years old and I'm just starting to have issues with things like the battery losing charge quickly for no apparent reason; I could obviously just replace that but I believe iPhone 6 is no longer supported for upgrades so I'm thinking now might be the time to change.

I'm not one who feels the need to have the latest tech (as the age of my current phone illustrates!) so I'm thinking my best option might be to buy an iPhone 12 outright and continue with my current SIM deal. I reckon an iPhone 12 Mini would do the job for me and I can get one of those for around £700 (or £30/month on interest free credit over 2 years from Apple); if I keep it for 5 years - which I probably would - that seems a better (lower cost!) option than being tied to a contract? In the event I found the a need to change sooner I could always adopt AyrshireColin's trade-in approach (which I'll probably do with my current phone, albeit it's only worth about £40!).

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by JNW1

My iPhone 6 is coming up to 5 years old and I'm just starting to have issues with things like the battery losing charge quickly for no apparent reason; I could obviously just replace that but I believe iPhone 6 is no longer supported for upgrades so I'm thinking now might be the time to change.

I'm not one who feels the need to have the latest tech (as the age of my current phone illustrates!) so I'm thinking my best option might be to buy an iPhone 12 outright and continue with my current SIM deal. I reckon an iPhone 12 Mini would do the job for me and I can get one of those for around £700 (or £30/month on interest free credit over 2 years from Apple); if I keep it for 5 years - which I probably would - that seems a better (lower cost!) option than being tied to a contract? In the event I found the a need to change sooner I could always adopt AyrshireColin's trade-in approach (which I'll probably do with my current phone, albeit it's only worth about £40!).

I think that is the way to do it. With crap eye sight and fat fingers I cant get away with a mini (and one reason I have my note, the S pen is great at pressing buttons too!) but I am not sure there is that much of a saving v contract price from my quick look - certainly not on samsung.

Trade in would be great if they werent battered beyond acceptable when I get round to swapping!

[Ronstein]

Originally Posted by mcscoobs

I work for EE. EE and Vodafone are by far the 2 biggest market leaders... we've been number 1 for a long time, but Vodafone have way more money, and are likely to overtake us in the near future. EE have better coverage outdoors - since taking over the Emergency Services contract, they are obliged to by the Home Office. Vodafone has much better signal indoors, as the frequencies they use penetrate buildings far better than EE's.

As for any tips... I'd maybe suggest find what suits you on the EE website, but then call up and haggle... say that Vodafone or O2 are offering the same deal for x amount cheaper and see what they can do.

And EE are owned by BT.....not my favorite utility provider.

Our work mobiles are iPhone 7 and when we renew next year they'll upgrade to SE's. My personal phone is an iPhone 7 Plus which I now have on a SIM only contract as it's working fine. if you have any privacy or security concerns, avoid Android at all costs. It's been the most vulnerable operating system for years.

[Armaan]

Originally Posted by JNW1

My iPhone 6 is coming up to 5 years old and I'm just starting to have issues with things like the battery losing charge quickly for no apparent reason; I could obviously just replace that but I believe iPhone 6 is no longer supported for upgrades so I'm thinking now might be the time to change.

I'm not one who feels the need to have the latest tech (as the age of my current phone illustrates!) so I'm thinking my best option might be to buy an iPhone 12 outright and continue with my current SIM deal. I reckon an iPhone 12 Mini would do the job for me and I can get one of those for around £700 (or £30/month on interest free credit over 2 years from Apple); if I keep it for 5 years - which I probably would - that seems a better (lower cost!) option than being tied to a contract? In the event I found the a need to change sooner I could always adopt AyrshireColin's trade-in approach (which I'll probably do with my current phone, albeit it's only worth about £40!).

For what you need I wouldn't discount the 11. You can get it for £100 cheaper through the official channels and might save another £20-30 if you shop around.

Bigger screen and better battery than the mini and still a big step up from the 6.

I swapped my 7 plus and hope to keep this for at least 4 years.

Armaan

[doncarlyon]

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra - bought direct from Samsung and traded in my old S9 for 300quid. Worth a look - I'd never thought of doing it this way previously.

Then I just went sim only with Three as they had the best deal at the time.

I reckon its saved me 20quid a month.

[DaveA]

I have an iPhone 11 Pro, bought earlier in the year and it'll have to last me a minimum of 3 years, which it should do... I am an Apple person and the phone generally gets updated every 3 to 4 years... I find that if you buy the latest version available when you replace, then they are good for at least that with the updates and longevity...

I do not use the phone for any serious photography and/or video...

The last (old) phone is being repurposed now as a wifi only remote control for various things around the house, so it keeps on going...

I am on EE network and find their customer services excellent... although their coverage at my house leaves a lot to be desired (inside and out)... both O2 and Voda have a much better signal here... Having said that, I am happy with the price for the package I have and was not seeing anything significantly different in the market...

Cost wise, I used Apple/Barclays 24 month interest free credit and bought a sim only deal from EE... I found it worked out the most cost effective for me....

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by mcscoobs

EE have better coverage outdoors - since taking over the Emergency Services contract, they are obliged to by the Home Office. Vodafone has much better signal indoors, as the frequencies they use penetrate buildings far better than EE's.

I am a big supporter of EE as I have used them for years now (since the initial 4G roll out which, I think, was before the BT days) and they have always been excellent with me when it comes to customer service..

I was, however, very disappointed by the poor mobile signal when I moved here a couple of years ago... The O2 and Voda signals here are both really strong... But the EE signal is very poor (outside as well as inside), and we are in a quite densely populated area that is not a problem location-wise...

I was hoping they would improve this, but they have not and I have no idea how to report that to have them look into it... I mean, they must know it is not great around here...

[mcscoobs]

Originally Posted by Ronstein

And EE are owned by BT.....not my favorite utility provider.

Our work mobiles are iPhone 7 and when we renew next year they'll upgrade to SE's. My personal phone is an iPhone 7 Plus which I now have on a SIM only contract as it's working fine. if you have any privacy or security concerns, avoid Android at all costs. It's been the most vulnerable operating system for years.

Tell me about it, everything has gone a bit backwards since BT took us over, they are so slow at getting things to market... probably why Voda will overtake us soon enough.

[mcscoobs]

Originally Posted by DaveA

I am a big supporter of EE as I have used them for years now (since the initial 4G roll out which, I think, was before the BT days) and they have always been excellent with me when it comes to customer service..

I was, however, very disappointed by the poor mobile signal when I moved here a couple of years ago... The O2 and Voda signals here are both really strong... But the EE signal is very poor (outside as well as inside), and we are in a quite densely populated area that is not a problem location-wise...

I was hoping they would improve this, but they have not and I have no idea how to report that to have them look into it... I mean, they must know it is not great around here...

Are you talking about Voice or Data? inside you can use Wifi calling, but as for outdoors... ever called 150 to complain about it? Could well be that no-one has so they don't believe it to be an issue. Just speculating though.

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by mcscoobs

Are you talking about Voice or Data? inside you can use Wifi calling, but as for outdoors... ever called 150 to complain about it? Could well be that no-one has so they don't believe it to be an issue. Just speculating though.

I think I notice it most with voice...

No, not tried 150... To be honest, it seems just to be a coverage issue... If you look at the ofcom coverage checker it shows the EE signal as not great...

I do have wifi calling enabled but I am not always near the wifi... and, well, if you are trying to call about your internet and landline being down... and sometimes wifi calling drops calls when swapping to/from cell signal as you move about...

[mcscoobs]

Originally Posted by DaveA

I think I notice it most with voice...

No, not tried 150... To be honest, it seems just to be a coverage issue... If you look at the ofcom coverage checker it shows the EE signal as not great...

I do have wifi calling enabled but I am not always near the wifi... and, well, if you are trying to call about your internet and landline being down... and sometimes wifi calling drops calls when swapping to/from cell signal as you move about...

If you call up, the request goes to Ericsson (who look after the RAN network) - they can look at potentially look at tilting the site (depending on how many other people are affected) or could potentially offer you a FEMTO cell (like a signal booster)? It may be a line of sight issue, who knows... but the frontline team will forward the query out.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by Armaan

For what you need I wouldn't discount the 11. You can get it for £100 cheaper through the official channels and might save another £20-30 if you shop around.

Bigger screen and better battery than the mini and still a big step up from the 6.

I swapped my 7 plus and hope to keep this for at least 4 years.

Armaan

That might be a good shout!

I'm not really bothered about something having a larger screen that what I've got with the 6 and in truth I don't really want something that's much bigger in terms of overall dimensions either (hence why I was thinking about the 12 Mini).

However, now they're open again the answer is probably to get myself to an Apple store - or at least somewhere that stocks the range - and have a look at the various models. I've been pretty happy with the iPhone and, as we've got a number of other Apple products in the household, I'm not really inclined to look at anything else...

[isleaiw1]

Like the poster above, I try to get the latest when I swap so it does 3 years OK. But today's call with EE went as well as expected (retentions couldnt get near the deal you could get via a reseller but then said they offered benefits over a reseller such as faster speeds...!) so I'll go to plan B and keep the SIM and buy a phone - but then Samsung wanted 5 to 7 days to deliver so as I am in London in less than 7 days I will go in store and get them to set it up whilst I am there

And I will enjoy 7 days of relative peace and quiet without my own phone!

[jimbobiggens]

I've gone back and forth with Apple and Android. I work in IT at a college and I'm one of the Mac guys at work so I have to keep up with what Apple is doing but I currently use a Samsung A20s. Before that I had an iPhone 6.
My personal opinion is most phones are completely overpriced and I honestly don't care to chase the latest phone doodad. However my personal PC's have to be up-to-date and I spend way too much chasing the latest PC doodads. $1000 for a phone is just insane to me but I'll drop $1000 on a CPU.

[Ronstein]

Originally Posted by jimbobiggens

I've gone back and forth with Apple and Android. I work in IT at a college and I'm one of the Mac guys at work so I have to keep up with what Apple is doing but I currently use a Samsung A20s. Before that I had an iPhone 6.
My personal opinion is most phones are completely overpriced and I honestly don't care to chase the latest phone doodad. However my personal PC's have to be up-to-date and I spend way too much chasing the latest PC doodads. $1000 for a phone is just insane to me but I'll drop $1000 on a CPU.

Which is why we're going for the iPhone SE 64Gb as company phones, because at £333 + VAT for an iPhone, it's great value.

[Nibbles]

I've just got an iPhone 12 mini to replace my iPhone Xs. I'm really enjoying having a smaller phone again. I'm not down with the youth and I don't have a bumbag that I incorrectly wear over my shoulder so I feel that the 12 mini is a much better size for putting in your pocket and general day to day use as a phone. I don't take 100 photo's a day or spend my life uploading to instatwat so don't need the additional camera features of the iPhone 12 Pro.

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by mcscoobs

If you call up, the request goes to Ericsson (who look after the RAN network) - they can look at potentially look at tilting the site (depending on how many other people are affected) or could potentially offer you a FEMTO cell (like a signal booster)? It may be a line of sight issue, who knows... but the frontline team will forward the query out.

Thanks for the head's up...

I'll put in a request to see if they can at least look at it..

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by Nibbles

I've just got an iPhone 12 mini to replace my iPhone Xs. I'm really enjoying having a smaller phone again. I'm not down with the youth and I don't have a bumbag that I incorrectly wear over my shoulder so I feel that the 12 mini is a much better size for putting in your pocket and general day to day use as a phone. I don't take 100 photo's a day or spend my life uploading to instatwat so don't need the additional camera features of the iPhone 12 Pro.

Think I'm in a very similar place; having looked on Apple's website the dimensions of the iPhone 11 are actually quite close to those of Mrs JNW1's old 6S and I really don't want anything as big as that. The 12 Mini seems much closer in size to my current phone and is probably still my front runner - the latest technology in a phone the size of the 6 feels like the right way for me to go...

[Machinebuilder]

Just a question for anyone who has bought a new Iphone 11, 12 or 12 mini. Being they have the latest IOS have you had any issues with Carplay in your BMW's ? I am currently on an old Android 2XL (great phone) and support has ended so I need a new phone. Thinking of changing to Apple just for a change of pace and Carplay. Thank you

[JustChris]

Originally Posted by mcscoobs

I work for EE. EE and Vodafone are by far the 2 biggest market leaders... we've been number 1 for a long time, but Vodafone have way more money, and are likely to overtake us in the near future. EE have better coverage outdoors - since taking over the Emergency Services contract, they are obliged to by the Home Office. Vodafone has much better signal indoors, as the frequencies they use penetrate buildings far better than EE's.

As for any tips... I'd maybe suggest find what suits you on the EE website, but then call up and haggle... say that Vodafone or O2 are offering the same deal for x amount cheaper and see what they can do.

Interesting, Voda signal here at home was shocking when our work phones moved to them. Never going back to that. EE signal has been a revelation and has good 4G coverage for me too.

[JustChris]

Originally Posted by Machinebuilder

Just a question for anyone who has bought a new Iphone 11, 12 or 12 mini. Being they have the latest IOS have you had any issues with Carplay in your BMW's ? I am currently on an old Android 2XL (great phone) and support has ended so I need a new phone. Thinking of changing to Apple just for a change of pace and Carplay. Thank you

Not latest phone here it's an 11Pro Max, but always updated and CarPlay was/is brilliant in BMW, MX5 etc. No issues

[sahajesh]

Why does nobody suggest this? :