Smartphone bought in UK - will it work with Orange SIM?

Thanks @captainendeavour . I am looking at that.

Also looking at Blackview. I have their car camera

Look at Redmi Generally well reviewed and priced

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shows you how old my phones are. Last brand new one was in 2008 - ever since they had to be unlocked so I could use them with my sim cards… Latest ‘new’ phone is a Samsung S10e, dual sim.
Cheapest EE monthly plan (5£) and Orange (cheapest included with our internet package). Works a treat.

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I have the predecessor, the G6 [there may have been later G’X’ s] but the G31 is the nearest to what I have. Motorola has gone a bit mad with new phone launches. There’s G This and G That and G The Other - all new models. V. confusing.

But the G31 is what I’d replace my G6 with if I needed new.

The Chinese phones, Xaiomi etc, in this price range are technically superior but there is very little by way of local back-up and support with them. Lenovo stands behind M’rola.

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Last time I considered a Motorola, it was one of these…

Quite a handy tool if you chinned someone whilst clutching it and the aerial got caught up their nose :flushed:

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I once repaired a Nokia Cityman which the owner had used to “persuade” the little scrote that had just snatched his wife’s handbag to give it back. Normally, a full casing replacement would have been a very expensive out of warranty repair, but we did it for free after hearing the story.

Almost as entertaining as the time a chap brought his Great Dane into reception and asked to use the reception landline so he could show us where his Nokia 101 was and we were rather taken aback when a faint ringing could be heard coming from the dog. We recommended a local vet and told him to claim on his insurance for a new phone as we wouldn’t be repairing his once it was removed from the dog as our H&S policy forbade bring biological hazards onto the premises.

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I know people take the mick out of me for steadfastedly refusing to buy a smartphone and insisting on sticking to my trusty Doro, but I had a mobile way back in the 70s about the same time as that fat American TV detective, forget his name. Edit: Late news, Frank Cannon. :roll_eyes:

It was for our first lorry and sat on top of a box containing its battery. Like the detective we had to ring the mobile operator to make the conection. The best reception I got was when bogged down on top of a moor in Yorkshire, I could see the radio mast about 200 metres away. :rofl:

But it was too hit and miss so instead we got an account with Securicor who had centres all over the place. A 2 way radio contacted the nearest one and brief messages were relayed back to base by telephone. :smiley:

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This may be useful if needing to unlock https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/mobile-phones/1400946/how-to-unlock-mobile-phone-vodafone-o2-ee-three
I was quoted £30 to do this in the UK during my last visit.

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ebay. usually £5 or less.

Luckily, very few phones are sold as locked (at least in the UK) these days.

It was a phone that was originally bought via vodaphone with their contract. Locked by vodaphone and I suspect they still do the same.

never paid anything to have a phone unlocked :slightly_smiling_face:

I got that system for my location transport truck. It came in properly useful once of twice but was mainly used by the models to instruct their au pairs/nannies to get the Chardonnay on ice.

I remember my call sign - “Silver 905”

Hi-Yo, Silver! Away!

I used to buy 2nd hand phones but I’m not sure I would now unless the seller could somehow vouch for the usage - the current phones don’t have batteries that users can replace. That is, having watched a YT vid of someone replacing the battery in a Moto G6, there’s no way I would attempt it.

I believe the EU has a notion to make manufacturers design the phones with simple battery replacement, as they used to have. Bring it on.

Unfortunately it’s not at all straightforward seemingly to get the results that these governments are actually aiming for. Apple have just started a ‘repair it yourself’ scheme for iPhones (I think only in the US currently) you can buy the part and some instructions, and once you’re done can communicate with Apple and they’ll mark it as an official repair so not causing any issues with having ‘non Apple’ parts in your phone. However, part of the service involves you paying, on top of the very reasonable cost of the part ($60 for a battery), $1300 deposit because as well as the part, Apple loans you a large and incredibly heavy suitcase that is couriered to your door, full of the tools you will need to do the repair itself. This kit you are loaned for X number of days and if they don’t receive it back within the deadline and returned in perfect condition they get to keep the deposit. In other words Apple bowed to the pressure put on them by various governments across the globe and allowed you to officially fix your own stuff… but made it so incredibly difficult and costly to do so that no one aside from the very wealthy would do so, and those people are probably the last people on earth to actually do it since they can/will just pay others to do it for them.

Ditto the EU’s universal USB-C Charger crusade. It has been suggested for a long time that instead of doing what the EU wants, Apple will just remove cabled charging altogether sidestepping the issue, and force everyone to buy a wireless charger. The trouble with government intervention in these things, is that as we all know they can at times have unintended consequences that can actually make the situation worse in the long run. Given these companies are worth as much if not more than the countries they do business in I’m not sure if there’s an easy fix when it comes to… well… getting an easy fix.

A couple of years ago I changed the battery in an iphone 6 - absolute devil of a job and certainly wont attempt it again! Far far more efficient to take it to a professional for what you end up saving, ir not saving if you mess it up :woozy_face:

Famous for their walkie-talkies. Or, as I have just discovered, talkie-walkie in French :laughing:

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