Hello! I'm due an upgrade in November, and knowing nothing about the latest phone tech I thought I'd turn to you clever bunch for advice.

Any ideas on the latest, greatest phones available or coming out at the end of the year?

I'm not wed to any brand loyalty so anything is fair game, although I will be sticking with Android (or a different OS that isn't iOS) so no iPhones for me. My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S6 which I've been more than happy with, and previously I had the HTC M7 which I was equally happy with at the time.

Anyone tried the Xperia phones? The only selling point there to be honest is the remote play from PS4 feature, but if they're good phones I'd consider it. Anyway, just wondered if anyone was more up to date than me and had any thoughts? Thanks!

Had an Xperia Z2 for nearly 4 years, no need to change as its a great phone, took the upgrade phone(another Sony one) and gave it to my wife and she really likes it.
Unfortunately the dog ate my Z2 a few weeks ago and im currently getting the screen replaced, how that will work out is up in the air though. But can recommend the Xperia range, they're not dog proof but will be getting another when renewing my contract.

Thanks Does the Xperia run straight up Android? I am tempted literally just for the remote play feature.

Hello Alex,

I've had the Xperia Z, Z1, Z2, Z3 and now have a Z5 and will be upgrading it to XZ in the next month or so. I would recommend!. I only use my phone for social media mainly. I would say for some reason the official twitter app has not been working on my xperia for nearly four weeks now and twitter doesn't seem to be in any rush to sort it (it has been reported on the play store many times). I've tried remote play a couple of times but I prefer my gaming on a big screen.

Alex79uk wrote: ↑August 15th, 2017, 5:34 pm I'm not wed to any brand loyalty so anything is fair game, although I will be sticking with Android (or a different OS that isn't iOS)

How about Windows Pho.....hahaha couldn't even stick the landing on that one. I really do wish there was something out there that wasn't iOS or Android. Maybe you could try Blackberry?

I moved back to iOS a while ago, but my number one thing I'd look out for on Android phones is if the manufacturer puts their own "skin" or look to Android (it has a name that I can't remember right now). Asus Zenfones and HTC are particularly bad about this. They'll often include design changes which will just look terrible and make information hard to find and include a ton of bloatware in the form of useless apps that you can't delete. The actual phone specs are pretty similar across price points that that kind of stuff is what I look for.

They're all varying degrees of awful, I think the only way to get an unmodified one is to go with the Google Pixel or any Google branded phone. I think the OnePlus brands of phones are good about this too.

If you want to do even more research you could look up quality control practices across the different manufacturers, for instance I had an LG G4 that just shit itself one day, did a bit of research and turns it was a common hardware problem that necessitated sending it back to the manufacturer for a full refurb or outright replacement. It pretty much meant that EVERY G4 was prone to this happening up to a certain manufacturing date.

Xperia is good. I also had a good experience with it.

I've been rocking with a Sony Z2 for a good few years now, only just starting to get a bit wonky as it's a generation behind on the OS now. Been very happy with it. As you say it can remote play from the PS4, and you can use a DualShock controller with it without any third party software for that or and Android games that support pads. The OS is also a very light modification of standard Android, so that is nice. My main drawback with it is that is has a serious bug for VR stuff when the screen constantly recenters if you have headphones in, so a bit of a no go on that front.

I'm about to get a new phone and I'm looking at A Galaxy 8/9 which obviously will be perfect for VR as they have their own VR solution. My main concern will be the amount of Samsung apps they force on you, but hopefully I can remove/disable them and get the standard Google apps on there.

Most modern phones allow for a fair bit of customisation. Best thing is to replace the Home Screen with Google Now so everything feels a LOT more vanilla google and build up from there.

What’s the remote play functionality like? My vita remote play seems to have slowed down a lot!

I've not used for a long time if I'm honest. Given we have a TV each and a PS4 and XBOX One each when I want to play I always have the option of playing on the console, so it wasn't really a feature I ever used much other than for the novelty of it. Life without kids can be so freeing

Also I picked up a Samsung Galaxy 9+ yesterday. It was only 500DKK more than the 8 so for so little (about £50) my wife decided to buy me that one. Have to say, it is a glorious piece of kit. And VR works real nice without overheating the phone in the way my Sony did. Early days but first impressions are very very positive.

Our friend Ben Cartlidge of One Credit Classics is big on Chinese mobile tech. Cheap and powerful. He showed me one the other day with a week long battery life!

ratsoalbion wrote: ↑May 27th, 2018, 11:37 am Our friend Ben Cartlidge of One Credit Classics is big on Chinese mobile tech. Cheap and powerful. He showed me one the other day with a week long battery life!

A lot of people swear by Huawei and OnePlus. If you can handle a slightly different Android setup you are basically getting like-for-like specs for half the price in some cases.

I will definitely be looking in that direction when this one claps out.

I bought a Pixel 2 and have been very impressed with it. Good camera, all the new OS features which makes a big difference in the new shiny feel. Battery is a bit shit but it charges very fast.