Went down the Pixel line a few years back when I got a used Pixel XL for £80, now on the 3a and looking at the Pixel 6 next year. Awesome phones with little bloatware added.
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I’m old fashioned, I use a proper camera - a Lumix - in preference to a phone for taking pictures.
I use a Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro. 8GB memory, 256GB storage. No problems with the interface, I got it set up as I wanted and haven’t looked back. It’s also dual SIM.
I have found no weaknesses, unless you want wireless charging which it won’t do.
I paid under £200. There’s just no need now to pay £500 -£1000 for a phone.
EDIT - it doesn’t have 5G if that matters to you. It doesn’t to me.
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Hi, I don’t know whether you’ve made your decision yet but I’m writing this using my RealMe 7 which was given to me as a gift from a reliable friend early this year and it does everything it’s supposed to.
It’s my diary, my source of info, my camera, video camera, my means of accessing social media to keep in touch with folk across the world.
Don’t ask me techy stuff, you’ll lose me but I connect to the TV without difficulty and the satnav is excellent.
It came with case & screen protector & USBC cable for charging. The cable was a bit short so after checking power rating etc I bought two long length cord-wound cables off the internet.
I’m very happy with it.
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So do I - I have 2 Canon cameras - 1 film, 1 digital. I was just saying the picture quality for the phone is good compared to other phones I have had.
On principle I’d never, ever knowingly buy Chinese tech products. The regime is not to be trusted; just like their product quality
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Hi Christophe. I own a Xiaomi Pocophone F1 (about£240) I have owned one since Aug 2019. My original was lost was I was in hospital in March 2020, with the insurance money I went out and bought exactly the same. When I went in to the O2 shop to get my sim card sorted, the guys were so impressed they recommended to their company that they should stock this phone, and I got a letter of thanks from O2 head office. The phone is lightning fast, massive 128Gb storage . 6GB RAM (yes, six!) Dual SIM, great camera and good battery life. Unlike Huawei, it runs Google and other apps without any trouble at all. Many of my friends wonder why they spent hundreds more on an iphone. Would deffo recommend.
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Mines a Xiaomi Redmi note 8T, and love it.
I know it’s been a few days but thank you guys for your suggestions and opinions.
I went for a Nokia X20.
I did read a lot of reviews and I know this is not the best device in its category. But frankly I am very happy with my purchase so far.
While I was searching for a new handset, my mate lent me a Samsung S8 and I did not like the interface, nor the bloatware. For example, there was no slider dedicated to the alarm sound volume. Why not, when Android offer one?
Also, I found out that Samsung’s security updates and software upgrades are not as regular as Google’s or Apple’s or Nokia’s.
I also avoided the Chinese brands for this very same reason.
Nokia run pure Android 1, so monthly updates and yearly upgrades are carried out as soon as they are released by Google, for 3 years.
I am still on the same SIM card and service provider, yet this Nokia X20 picks up signal better than my previous Sony handset or the S8 did, with better call clarity (as observed by my contacts too). Strangely, very few reviews ever mention this aspect. Don’t people speak on their phones anymore?
X20 is lightening fast compared to my other phones, and so user friendly. Eco friendly too… And rather pretty in Nordic Blue (yes that does matter to me). 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, 5G compatible, quad cam with great video recording effects, all for £270.
And because of the chip, battery life is amazing.
Nokia are ranked top for after sale care and customer satisfaction; I ordered from them on Thursday at 4am, and received it on Friday at 10am via free courier delivery.
Time will tell but build quality matches my Sony.
And I now have 40 trees planted in my name somewhere in Finland. I might chop them off next year, if any of you need Christmas trees… 
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In the past, whenever I’ve bought a budget or ‘great value’ phone, I’ve found that the deficiences usually make themselves obvious within 6 to 9 months. If Nokia still made Windows Phone handsets, I’d have one. I owned several over a period of time, loved the interface, and the build quality. Unfortunately, Android and Apple had got to the smartphone ‘space’ first.
Anyway, I avoid Android phones due to the privacy issues, and the erratic record of software and security updates. In those respects I prefer Apple.
I never buy new.
I buy second user iPhones a couple of generations behind the current model. That means that I’m still getting all the performance I need, and am assured of a couple more years of IOS software updates. Oh…, and I save money.
Currently own an iPhone 7.
I view the interface of iPhones to be grossly outdated.
If there was a comparable Windows Phone around …
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Good advice re used iPhones. But I couldn’t trust that the battery was well looked after by the previous owner.
My brother works for Apple, so I could have had a very cheap new iPhone if I had wanted one.
Apple have played.a few dirty tricks in the past with their upgrades, so I stay away. And iphones are not very flexible devices.
I don’t know if Apple respect our privacy more so than Google do, but I personally turn off every single data sharing facility I can do without on my phones. And I restrict app permissions.
I do not back up to the cloud either (but I regret not doing so after breaking my Sony).
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