First time smart phone 4G needed

I can’t help about a smartphone craftyone as I only have a ‘retro’ Nokia and I’m very happy with it. However, if you have the money to purchase the phone of your choice, no contract and just get a SIM card only deal. I have one with 02 and it’s great. It costs me £15 per month and I use my phone for calls and texts an awful lot, especially when we are over in Spain. Perhaps an option for you?

I found the staff in Tesco very helpful. I bought a Samsung.

Hi craftyone.
Ebay often has a supply of new phones which are released by the manufacturers (in a 'if you can't beat 'em,join 'em' approach so my sons tell me). I bought a Samsung 9+ a few months back for less than half price maybe due to there now being a new model.

I use giffgaff as a supplier and find the monthly £7.50 Goodybag gives me enough data for when I'm out and about as I contact to my wifi when at home.

I too have a Samsung we got it in an EE shop I don’t know if they do sim only on Samsung. I do prefer Samsung phones though.

I found Tesco very helpful too.

I think SIM only is available on all phones. Worth asking as the deals you can get are really good!

I’ve got a SIM only deal with 02. I’d recommend Samsung every time, great phones.

I am happy with my Samsung which was my first smart phone. I am with Vodafone Pay as you Go, costing £10 monthly for a bundle which gives me unlimited texts and a certain number of call minutes and data. Other values and combinations are available too.
I found it useful to go on YouTube to look for hints and hacks to get the best out of your phone. Good luck!

I have a PAYG SIM from 3 at no charge and put it in a Nokia 5 phone which cost around £120 from John Lewis a year ago. Probably cheaper now as there are newer models available. The Android phone is simple to use because, unlike many other suppliers, Nokia haven't overlaid the operating system with their own, mostly useless, add ons and tweaks. There is also a comprehensive user guide, downloadable from Nokia's website.

My children (both in their 30's!) were only saying the other day that Samsung are now the best phones to get. As for a SIM only deal check out Martin Lewis website for the best deal for you. Good luck

Yes, mines from Tesco also. They are helpful, if you go in with problems to oldies.

I have a Wiley Fox swift phone which was bought for me as a gift by my son. It's a British made smart phone and does everything I need. I have a TV, home phone and mobile package which DH took out, so I don't know the details.

I would recommend Samsung too. I had a Sony one before and couldn't get on with it at all, but the Samsung was really easy, mine is a Samsung Galaxy A3.

Yes- I agree- Tesco were excellent & did not talk down to me but advised me very well.

Tesco PAYG iPhone 5se.

Beautifully made, just the right size, durable and likely to last another few years.

Plus the operating system, email, Apps and their updates are wonderfully intuitive.

I would suggest I phone very simple to use and they call it idiot proof as it’s very self explanatory. I bought mine from the Apple store if you have one near by. They no everything there is to know about there products and they do hour long
training onsite for free to get you started I went on the basic one just to show me the workings nothing fancy just easy to use.

Another Tesco fan here. I have a Samsung and they were so helpful in moving the card etc over from my old phone. The monthly charge was only £10 and I've never had to pay more as the minutes, text and data allowance is more than enough for me. I've recently taken on a grandson's contract and it was added on as a family perk so another £5. And you get Tesco points as well!

We bought new phones and a SIM only deal from 3 shop about 6years ago . The staff gave us a 20minute lesson on how to use them and told us pop back if you have any problems, have been back a few times and on top of their help SIM only deal costs us £5each a month to quote my GS result

I don't understand why everyone recommends Samsung. I have never had anything from Samsung that works/functions as it should - be it kitchen equipment, TV, or phone.

I have always had Samsung. Contract with Tesco at moment. Love my galaxy 8. Brilliant camera. Phone is fairly simple to use.

I agree JackyB. My cousin bought a Samsung and had real problems trying to use it. I’m pretty techno savvy, but I found it difficult. My iPhone is so easy to use. I’d go with Grampie’s suggestion. You’ll be very happy with that model and will get to grips with it really quickly.

I prefer Samsung tho have tried other makes, Carphone Warehouse is a good place to start, they will advise on best tariff and best deals and you can get sim only deals from most companies. I have this as i usually buy the phone I want from eBay. that way I don't have a £30 or £40 monthly payment, mine is about £15. I use my mobile for everything, calls, messages, calendar, diary, camera, photo album, emails, dictionary, encyclopedia, finding answers to questions/problems.

O2 shop and I have just upgraded to the Samsung 10. Been with Samsung for about 6 years now. To be honest mobile phones take you through set up instructions on screen when you set it up so it's not difficult. O2 do sim only and good deals

Why do you want a smart phone, what is it you want it to do? Smart phones come with all sorts of apps and you can pay anything up to a £1,000 for one. The more data you use then the more it will cost per month to run. So you do need to think carefully about the best deal for you.
I have a sim only Samsung J3 which is quite basic, a nice phone to handle, only cost me £159 after shopping around on the internet, sends and receives texts, acts as a phone, can send emails and has access to the internet amongst other things but that is my main usage.

For this on a sim only deal I pay £6.50 a month to BT - a special offer as we also have BT Broadband. I get unlimited phone calls, unlimited texts and only 1GB of data as I don't use very much. I could, of course pay a bit more and upgrade to get more mobile data.
Have you got a young person you can take into one of the mobile shops with you to get a better idea of what you need and handle the phone. Carphone warehouse are quite good but don't forget whichever shop you go in you don't have to buy from them.