First time smart phone 4G needed

I have found young GC to be a great asset when acquiring a phone, mine got me up and running picked apps and set up WhatsApp with her. I got in a mess with my email account on phone and tablet and after five minutes she had it sorted and restored to original settings.

Mine's also a Samsung from Tesco. I bought it as a pay as you go to begin with, but after a couple of weeks went on to a contract, which worked out cheaper at just £7.50 a month with more than enough free texts and calls.

The only drawback I found to changing to a smart phone is that it will need charging every day. My old steam-driven Samsung kept its charge for 2-3 months!

Have a look at the Which survey or Tech Radar for recommendations. There are some questions- will you want to have a memory card to expand the memory for photos and some apps? Some phones don't have the option - some Samsungs and I think Apple phones.
Also with the Samsung ranges they do different specs- eg I have a Galaxy a5 ( lower spec than the S5) whereas my son has a J5, which is lower spec again. I have had mine 3 years and purchased it SIM free.
Also be careful with coverage. I live in an area where the 02 coverage is not very good ( so exludes tesco and Giff Gaff) Vodafone is really poor but EE is great ( Virgin and Plus net come into play).
When I was at work I had to divert the work phone to my phone to get calls and messages when on call.
Also make sure you use your home Wifi when you are at home - don't use your mobile data if you don't have to as going over the limit is expensive, so make sure it is easy to turn data on and off.

i bought my iphone 6 refurbished from amazon. The first one had a fault but was exchanged with no trouble at all. It’s like new. I pay £9.50 a month to BT on my house phone/broadband package. I’ve always preferred to own my phone and then searching for cheapest supplier of service.

I've had a sim only deal (called a goody bag) from a company called giffgaff for seven years.

£5 buys 500MB data, 150 mins and 500 texts. Calls to other giffgaff users are free.

They also have packages at £7.50, 10, 12, 15, 20 and £25 as well as a data calculator to find the plan that suits you. Plus an online community of knowledgeable users to answer any queries not addressed on the website - though I've never needed to use them!

I am a fan of the iPhone and " inherited " an iPhone 5e from my daughter when she upgraded. I pay £10 a month to Plusnet for unlimited calls, texts and data. I love my iPhone as it synchronises to my iPad so my diary is always up to date.

My son has a new Samsung and I had a play on his this weekend and found it rather clumsy and not as intuitive as my iPhone.

I also bought a Samsung from Tesco. Very pleased so far. Contract costing 12.50 per month. They are there to sort problems out also if anything goes wrong. I've been with them for a few years now.

I’ve been with 02 since my first mobile phone in the late Nineties! Initially, I had PAYG but am now on a contract which suits me as I travel a lot, here and in France. The best part of being with 02 is the knowledgeable support that’s offered in their high street stores. This is particularly useful if you upgrade to a newer phone when they’ll move all your data, inc photos across.

i had a pay as you go nokia which was very basic and wanted to be able to download apps.
so I went to the o2 shop about six years ago and decided on a samsung on a two year contract. I have unlimited calls, texts and downloads.
i'm now on my third samsung, a galaxy 8, and am very pleased with it. so much so that I might not upgrade it in October when the contract comes to a close.
if I do have a new phone then it'll be the samsung galaxy 9 which came out a year or so ago. I don't see any point in having the top of the range galaxy 10 just yet though so won't go for that one.
you can do so much with a smartphone - i've got quite a few apps on mine. I bank online, I send and receive emails, I control my heating with my hive app too. there are so many apps - one of my favourites is a "storm app" which shows the weather where you are - when it's raining or snowing that is!
samsung appear to be the most popular make of phone, my daughter and two grandaughters also have samsungs having upgraded from their previous ones.
good luck - i'm sure you'll be able to find your way through the maze and end up with something which will make your life easier.
oh, I also make and receive calls on my smartphone!!

I bought my Samsung from Carphone Warehouse on offer, £120. And I use 1pMobile for all calls texts internet etc. It costs 1p minute for everything so long as you use a minimum of £10 every 4 months. I usually turn my mobile data off when out unless I particularly want to use it for something. Because of WhatsApp and messenger, I rarely use texts (which cost 1p each I find it enough for me but I do have wifi in the house that I use instead of using my data.

What ever you do don't get a Huawei when my last contract ended I decided to ditch my Samsung for one of them with the addition of a tablet as well , never again give me a Samsung any day of the week

Personally, I like the iphone (iphone 5 in my case). I have had a Samsung in the past and wasn't keen. Whichever one you choose I'm sure you'll get used to it fairly quickly.

If you want to use your own sim card then I would go to Carphone Warehouse, they are not connected to any network. I found out to my cost that buying in a network shop you are locked into that network. I had a Samsung but the memory wasn't very good, although their customer service is top rate. I now have a Huawei and it has been brilliant.

Changing from android to iPhone or vice-vers is when people have problems. Samsung which I had for years are very good.

I now have an iPhone which has taken a while to get used to, but as I have an iPad it makes sense to have the two as they link nicely.

I cannot say that either is better than the other. They both have pros and cons, so just go with what you can afford.

I have a Tesco Mobile contract, and of all the phones I've had I found Huawei/Samsung the best. They are practically identical, I believe Huawei started off as a company designing the software for Samsung. More important than anything though is to check the coverage of the different providers in the area you are moving to there are various websites which will check the coverage for you and compare the best deals.

Love my iPhone. Bought it on a no interest deal from Apple and have a great SIM only deal from Three which includes a tethering option so I can use my iPad when away from WiFi. Love the way Apple devices synchronise too.

I bought my own Apple I phone 6 ,four years ago, took it to the Tesco techie guy at a big store and he sold me a SIM card only deal £10 per month. Can’t remember all details but I think 5000 texts... 1000 mins call me and 1 GB of internet. Easy to negotiate all 5he stuff on it and I’ve never looked back. My sister who is 80 and the font of all knowledge when it comes to technology ie the ‘ go to ‘ person for whole family. Her nickname being Mrs Gadget.

Oh yes .... buy your phone at Carphone Warehouse as they are not linked to any network.... then go to Tesco for best deal for sim only

I have always found Samsung's phones to be quite impossible to use unless you have a degree in electronics, which I don't.

I bought a second hand Iphone, recommended to me because it is simple to use, and it is, although there are some things you do need the online user's manual for.

Another one recommending Samsung. All my gadgets are Samsung. I gave my Aunt (a technophobe) a Samsung and she loves it. My mum also has a Samsung and works it without bother.
Samsung themselves have shops that run free workshops too.

My daughter swears by 3 as a provider. She thinks their shop staff are brilluant. I don't disagree

IDMobile. Very simple phone for silver surfers.

Oops.. Doro 8030 from ID Mobile.

To be with the 'in 'crowd I bought a 'smart'. Do I use it? very little as I too prefer my friend knokia.