revtothelimit - motorbike forum

I've finally been forced into accepting I need a Smartphone in my life, mainly due to the requirement for taking selfies and photos of passports when applying for financial products, There's no way round it using a PC and a dumb phone.

So - my missus loves Samsungs, and I quite like them (my dumb flip phone is a Samsung), so that's the brand I'm mainly looking at. No iPhones, thankyou very much.

Also I'm cheap. £100 is my self-imposed ceiling and it will take something very special to make me fork out more than that.

So - whaddya got?

With that budget, if you want something that isn't total dog shit you need to be looking to the PRC, Xiaomi are a half decent brand.

Something like this...

Get some good refurbished phones on ebay - worth a look, come with a decent warranty too.

IMO ( far from an expert!) £100 will buy you something that's clunky and doesn't work that well. If possible, I'd try to go to £250 - £400.

You may well find smartphones are a good thing (in moderation!).

A oner will buy you an old knacker that's not had an OS or security update since jesus was a boy.
Not great when using it for porn age verification, sorry, dealing with financial stuff

I can get a new Samsung A05s for (just) under the magic £100 mark and a Samsung A16 for about £20 more. Those aren't complete clunkers are they?

I asked about a cheap phone in an EE shop. The chap recommended the A05s even though they didn't sell them outright. I bought one, it does for me.

OK, well the deed is done. I've bought a new Samsung Galaxy A16 for less than a hundred notes.

My inner Luddite is raging...

You'll be asking the bank to enable contactless on your debit card next!

I feel so brave and techno-enabled I might even have a look at all the TC settings on the Duke 690 next...

mangocrazy wrote: Wed Jul 30, 2025 9:03 pm OK, well the deed is done. I've bought a new Samsung Galaxy A16 for less than a hundred notes.

My inner Luddite is raging...

Sorry fella, it has been nice knowing you. Within a month you will become a tech wizard, leaving me as the lonely dinosaur* on the forum.

*I have got a smartphone, I just cant use the bloody thing!

Cousin Jack wrote: Wed Jul 30, 2025 9:23 pm

mangocrazy wrote: Wed Jul 30, 2025 9:03 pm OK, well the deed is done. I've bought a new Samsung Galaxy A16 for less than a hundred notes.

My inner Luddite is raging...

Sorry fella, it has been nice knowing you. Within a month you will become a tech wizard, leaving me as the lonely dinosaur* on the forum.

*I have got a smartphone, I just cant use the bloody thing!

I think we're more likely to become a sad, furtive self-help group...

What's your TIkTok handle then?

MrLongbeard wrote: Wed Jul 30, 2025 7:35 pm A oner will buy you an old knacker that's not had an OS or security update since jesus was a boy.

Or a new Samsung A16 that will receive a minimum of 6 OS updates and 6 years of security maintenance.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Thu Jul 31, 2025 9:10 am What's your TIkTok handle then?

Don't be silly...

mangocrazy wrote: Thu Jul 31, 2025 9:54 am

MrLongbeard wrote: Wed Jul 30, 2025 7:35 pm A oner will buy you an old knacker that's not had an OS or security update since jesus was a boy.

Or a new Samsung A16 that will receive a minimum of 6 OS updates and 6 years of security maintenance.

That's surprising, I'm honestly surprised you can pick up a new smart phone within your stated budget, time flies when you take your toes out of the water

I looked at the spec of the A16 and it looks fine. Like MLB, I have clearly lost touch with the market.

mangocrazy wrote: Thu Jul 31, 2025 9:56 am

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Thu Jul 31, 2025 9:10 am What's your TIkTok handle then?

Don't be silly...

I'm surprised that name wasn't already taken.

MyLittleStudPony wrote: Thu Jul 31, 2025 10:36 am I looked at the spec of the A16 and it looks fine. Like MLB, I have clearly lost touch with the market.

I was honestly surprised. It's a long way off top of the line, but definitely not poverty spec. As far as I can see it's a decent, adequately specified phone. The real surprise was the length of time it will receive updates for. List price is pretty much double what I paid, but it just shows it pays to shop around.