New Nokia 3310: Pre-release thoughts

We are just weeks away (days, if you are really counting) from the UK release of the new Nokia 3310.
I'm currently reading an article in the UK publication Mobile News about how the release of this phone is being hotly anticipated.

My thoughts are that it will sell well to the festival-goers, the super-clumsy and the hipsters. Some people might even buy one as a backup phone.
In the article that I'm reading it states that the new Nokia 3310 will have 32GB of internal storage - That's pretty useful, if this phone is any good as a music player.

One other thing is that this phone only has 2G connectivity; yes, it will connect to the internet, but the speeds will feel very slow compared to 3G/4G and WiFi - Plus there's also the built in web browser to contend with... Something makes me think that the heavyweight websites these days simply won't load properly on the Nokia 3310, and viewing them on the tiny screen (which requires navigation by button) will make this phone painful to use.

Still, I like that Nokia (HMD Global) are resurrecting an iconic phone, I just wish that they had decided to revamp something a little better, such as the Nokia 6700.

Most mobile phone review websites ignore feature phones such as the new Nokia 3310, but because of the Nokia name and the interest that this phone is generating, it's going to appear on at least some of those websites.
Once a decent review website actually reviews the Nokia 3310, we'll be able to see whether it's capable of being used to access normal websites.

I'm interested in the new Nokia 3310, but I'm far from preordering one.

Why I've ditched my mobile contract and returned to PAYG

Since December 2016 I've been using Plusnet Mobile as my main network, but this week I've returned to PAYG network giffgaff.

Normally, I go with the best value option for my mobile needs, but Plusnet Mobile isn't it any longer - I have a dual sim phone and it's madness to ignore this fact.
So, I've ordered a good value data sim which I'll use to cover my main mobile needs, therefore virtually eliminating the need to buy a regular monthly plan just to get a monthly data allowance.

If you would like a free giffgaff sim with £5 of free credit, head on over to this link:
https://giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/terran_federation?ggSMS=app

Windows Phone: I'm not an "anti-fan"

For the last year I've had a love/hate affair with Windows Phone.
Those of you who have read my blog will know that I used to despise Android because of its laggy interface and requirement to constantly upgrade to the newer handsets regularly. You will also be aware that I felt that Windows Phone was a work in progress and that it's never worked particularly well.

I've had some heated arguments with Windows fanboys who still feel that it's the best phone operating system, and if it works for you in this day and age, then that's ok. I just wish that Microsoft actually cared about their mobile end of their business.
As things stand right now, Windows Phone is already pretty dead. Obtaining a Windows Phone in the UK is becoming increasingly difficult.
Only one year ago, you could pick up a perfectly decent Windows Phone for less than £60 that would run more smoothly than any Android handset costing less than £150, but the love for these phones seems to have vanished.

O2 are currently selling used Lumia 550s for £40 - which is a bargain in my opinion, yet a deal was posted on HotUKDeals for this phone and all it received was negative comments.

It's a shame, because Windows Phone had so much potential, but the support has dried up.
This leaves us with Android and iOS, which isn't much of a choice.

Windows Phone in a nosedive

Don't get me wrong, I like Windows Phone a lot.
I've been using a Moto G4 over six months now after ditching Windows mobile and I was pretty certain that I'd go back to Windows during this time, but I haven't...
Normally, after several months of enjoying and then hating Android, I eventually go back to the smooth, uncluttered and simple interface which Windows Phone is renowned for, but not this time. My Moto G4 is still lag free, which I'm guessing is due to the operating system finally being optimised (Android is much, much better than it was several years ago).

My time with Windows Phone ended last year when I realised that nothing synced properly and the navigation app was massively unreliable
Since then, the platform has lost most of its already insignificant market share and apps are becoming less supported than they were before.
Worse still, many  long term Windows fanboy websites are now saying how they have been let down by Microsoft's lack of support and hardware (and yes, the Surface Phone is still a pipedream).

As much as I'd love to return to Windows Phone, there are just too many things wrong with it to merit making the switch these days.

The smartphone choice these days is now a two horse race, and neither option is perfect.

The New Nokia 3310 - What's the point?

The new Nokia 3310 is a niche product which has generated a lot of interest, but what is the point of it exactly?

Many of the tech websites have stated reasons for or against buying one.
As a long term Nokia fan, I'm interested - but I cant see myself buying one.

For a start, Nokia churned out some really great phones ten years ago which were much, much better than the new Nokia 3310. These older Nokia phones were better specced and certainly looked a great deal better than the garish, blocky and generally ugly New Nokia 3310.

I could moan about the inability to do pretty much everything other than make calls and (slowly) send texts using the new Nokia 3310, but we all know that's not the point of this phone.
For me, the lack of any real web browser, no satellite navigation and token 2mp camera are the deal breakers. Nokia had these in their feature phones ten years ago, so why bother with the borderline cute monstrosity which is the new 3310?

It's not even as of feature phones ever went away: Alcatel and Doro have basic handsets available from virtually every mobile retailer in the UK, and some of these handsets are far better specced than the new 3310, so apart from a bit of a nostalgic talking point (for the hipsters), the new Nokia 3310 is pretty pointless.

One of the main reasons that I ditched my Nokia  Symbian series 60 phone in 2011 was that I'd had enough of trying to sync and maintain my contacts and calendar - losing this feature by switching to a basic feature phone just seems like a waste of the last six years.
I'm still not 100% happy with Android, but Windows Phone is dead (and increasingly horrible to use), so there aren't really any other viable options.

Sorry Nokia. This isn't the comeback that I've been waiting for.

Giffgaff - Changes for the better?

Giffgaff, the O2 MVNO has recently revamped their PAYG monthly bundles, aka "Goodybags".

Overall, I am pleased with their new offerings, because most of the Goodybags now contain more data and minutes, which makes them much better value than they were.
No price increases this time (thankfully!), so giffgaff's Goodybags are now much more in line with many of the other networks.

For me, the £10 Goodybag is now pretty great value for PAYG, though 2GB of data is still a bit tight - SIM only deals offer more at this price.

1p Mobile Mobile Network: PAYG Contract that takes the Pee

1p Mobile (www.1pmobile.com) has finally launched.
1p Mobile hasn't done very much marketing as of yet, possibly because of several months of delays in launching.

They are a new UK MVNO with the cheapest PAYG rates of any network.

1p Mobile's PAYG rates are a flat 1p per minute, 1p per text and 1p per MB of data.
This beats Three's 321 PAYG rates, but there is a big catch.

The 1p Mobile website is almost mis-selling their services:
They state that there's no contract, but by signing up to this service you're bound by an agreement that to cancel the service you'll give them 30 days notice. This includes obtaining your PAC code if you want to transfer your number to a different mobile network - That's a contract in my eyes, and it's blurring the lines between PAYG and contracts.

Secondly, you don't get these great PAYG rates on a PAYG service - you must top up your account by £5 every 30 days - This is completely contradictory to what 1p Mobile states on their website: They say that there are "no bundles to buy", yet every 30 stays your credit expires.
That's purchasing a bundle to me and you.

So, altogether this service is a bit of a con.
You have to spend £5 every 30 days to get the 1p per unit rates, so casual PAYG users will find that their credit has disappeared after the first month.
No credit? No service.

Admittedly, this mix and match approach could work for some people who regularly spend £5 a month buying a PAYG bundle from another mobile network, only to find that they don't have enough minutes or megabytes.
- There aren't many PAYG networks who offer 500 minutes for £5, so for some people this tariff could be great.

What irks me is the fact that 1p Mobile forces customers into buying a £5 bundle every month in order to use their mobile. There's no ability to have credit in reserve, so you are effectively tied in to a £5 a month contract.

For anyone wanting to sign up to 1p Mobile, they use the EE network and are hoping to provide 4G from mid October 2016, though with a maximum of 500MB (assuming you won't make a single call or send a text in this time), that 500MB won't get you very far.

Customer service is UK based (Alton, Hampshire), and I'll expect that they'll get a lot of calls from people who find that their credit has been taken after the first 30 days.

It's a novel idea which T-Mobile ran with a number of years ago.
Kontakt Mobile have offered a similar (but much better value) service for a few years now on the Vodafone network, and at least you don't lose all of your credit with them every month.

I test a lot of PAYG networks and I'm glad to see another UK MVNO, even if it is yet another one that uses the EE network.
However, 1p Mobile is taking the pee: It's a rolling, compulsory £5 a month bundle/contract which actually doesn't offer good value, unless your mobile use very closely matches this 1p per unit pricing structure.

I shan't be testing 1p Mobile.