Geeky OCD phone stuff.

[tikay]

Ignore if you are going to be stubborm,  but all those red lines make you look like Theresa May.

The Samsung A40 is a lot of phone for the money and has an above average camera for £200.  I have an S8 with a worse camera and they are a lot pricier.  My daughter loves hers.

Don't chuck it in a river, and it is cheap enough that battery removal doesn't matter so much.

edit, I couldn't find the oppo R15 in the UK

That's a given David.

Never known such a fusspot in my life.

[Doobs]

Ignore if you are going to be stubborm,  but all those red lines make you look like Theresa May.

The Samsung A40 is a lot of phone for the money and has an above average camera for £200.  I have an S8 with a worse camera and they are a lot pricier.  My daughter loves hers.

Don't chuck it in a river, and it is cheap enough that battery removal doesn't matter so much.

edit, I couldn't find the oppo R15 in the UK

No, the Oppo is French, nuf said.

Battery removal isn't a biggie, it wasn't in my non-negotiable criteria.

Does the A40 have an IP rating?

No

She went from my old repaired S7 to an A40 and loves it a lot more.  If I had my time again I'd buy it over the S8.  There isn't anything I'd really want on my S8 that she doesn't have on her A40.

Suspect you can drown it 2.5 times before it gets more expensive than an S8.  And as it doesn't have the curved screen it is likely more durable and cheaper to fix.

At least IP67 was on my non-negotiable list and preferably IP68.

I understand the 'cheap to replace argument' but I get my phone wet, (Not submerged, but outdoorsey wet & dirty) regularly and being without then setting up a new phone is a real PITA.

OK, but there isn't a phone meets your criteria, at least once you start worrying about obsolescence , so isn't it a question of working out which criteria is important?

Stick with your S5 then.  

[RED-DOG]

I had an S5, the longest I ever kept a phone but eventually the battery life and a few other issues made me swap.

No idea how the spec matches up to your criteria as mine are limited to being able to browse and make phone calls, but bought a Huawei P Smart for about £150 outright and I can't really find fault with it.

Camera seems pretty decent to me

You could have replaced s5 the battery yourself (It's removable) for about a tenner.


Nothing wrong with the Huawei, it just doesn't fit my admittedly pernickety criteria.

Did that, never performed the same - have to say battery life on the Huawei is rather ace.

Spiffing!

[RED-DOG]

Ignore if you are going to be stubborm,  but all those red lines make you look like Theresa May.

The Samsung A40 is a lot of phone for the money and has an above average camera for £200.  I have an S8 with a worse camera and they are a lot pricier.  My daughter loves hers.

Don't chuck it in a river, and it is cheap enough that battery removal doesn't matter so much.

edit, I couldn't find the oppo R15 in the UK

That's a given David.

Never known such a fusspot in my life.

.....and relax.

[tikay]

Is tikay alright? This is usually the point where he makes some smart-arse comment.

Too busy editing out unintended card graphics which all smartphone chit-chat is inclined to generate, e.g., Samsung .

Helpful hint - Go to Additional Options & tick "Don't Use Smileys"..

[RED-DOG]

OK, but there isn't a phone meets your criteria, at least once you start worrying about obsolescence , so isn't it a question of working out which criteria is important?

Stick with your S5 then.  

You're right.

My options are:

Compromise my criteria.
Buy the S7.
Stick with the S5.

[RED-DOG]

Still interesting to know what everyone is using and what they think of it though.

[tikay]

OK, but there isn't a phone meets your criteria, at least once you start worrying about obsolescence , so isn't it a question of working out which criteria is important?

Stick with your S5 then.  

You're right.

My options are:

Compromise my criteria.
Buy the S7.
Stick with the S5.

This may be useful for you know Tom;


compromise; expediently accept standards that are lower than is desirable.

[tikay]

Still interesting to know what everyone is using and what they think of it though.

Fascinating. Think I may have to fire up my Diary & relate some interesting stuff, this is purgatory.

[RED-DOG]

tikay's phone.

Click to see full-size image.

[RED-DOG]

I may have to fire up my Diary.

No chance.

& relate some interesting stuff

See above.

[Longines]

You're right.

My options are:

Compromise my criteria.
Buy the S7.
Stick with the S5.

Option 4:
 
https://www.clove.co.uk/products/samsung-galaxy-xcover-4s?variant=21226933813307

[Marky147]

I may have to fire up my Diary.

No chance.

& relate some interesting stuff

See above.

I have an iPhone XR, and it was an upgrade from my 7 I'd had for about 3 or 4 years.

Before that I had a 4, so you could say Apple have me in their eco-system.

[Doobs]

You're right.

My options are:

Compromise my criteria.
Buy the .
Stick with the .

Option 4:
 
https://www.clove.co.uk/products/samsung-galaxy-xcover-4s?variant=21226933813307

What does the below mean for our customer?  Does it mean they can sell us a refurb that they could say they had to break the seal on? 

If you order an EU Model or Convert then you may find that Samsung Pay is unavailable, even if it is supported in your country.

This is because Samsung restricts the use of Samsung Pay so that it only works with banks registered in the same country as the phone's origin.

The origin country is recorded in the phone's firmware and cannot be adjusted by end users. At this time we are unable to advertise the exact origin country of EU Models prior to sale.

...

COUNTRY LIST: **All member states of the E.E.A and the following additional territories: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M), Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Serbia and Vatican City.

IF YOUR CHOSEN DELIVERY COUNTY IS NOT LISTED, CLOVE TECHNOLOGY WILL BREAK THE SEAL ON THIS DEVICE AND ACTIVATE IT. YOU MUST AGREE TO THIS PROCEDURE IN THE CHECKOUT BEFORE THE SALE WILL COMPLETE.

[Longines]

Clove have been around for donkey's years, I've got a sneaky feeling I bought an Ericsson T39 or T610 from them back in the day. They've always sold a fair number of grey market items, sometimes because the particullar model was not available in the UK or it had been released overseas first.

If you read the full Region Lock bit it's clear Samsung sre trying to reduce grey market cross-border sales, probably in an attempt to maintain margins in the high cost countries so if you want to buy one and use it in Australia for instance then you need to let them open the box and make a call otherwise only European SIMs roaming in Oz would work rather than a native Oz SIM.

It looks like Samsung haven't released the consumer version in the UK, only the Enterprise version aimed at corporates that need ruggerised handsets.

UK Enterprise version: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Enterprise-Dual-SIM-Android-Smartphone-Black/dp/B07VK9MMPB

Cheaper grey import consumer version (I'm guessing Latvian EE, not UK EE): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07TP75452