Mobile Network Coverage in the South of England - Back to giffgaff

Where I live, all four UK mobile network operators have "good" coverage.
In reality they can all be a bit flaky.

Earlier this year EE vastly improved their coverage in my area, and after doing a few speed tests I decided to give them a go.
I have been using EE MVNO Life Mobile for several months because they are cheap and provide a good allocation of minutes, texts and data on a 30 day rolling contract.
However, I have had a few issues with a weak signal on this network over the past week or so, despite a day where there was no signal whatsoever due to a "mast upgrade" - If anything, the signal is now much worse.

So I have been looking at the various SIM only and PAYG options (even referring to my own PAYG bundles website) to see if I can find a better deal which works.

The best network for coverage is Vodafone, but they are too expensive and their customer service puts me off (I had a terrible experience with them a few years ago, and by the sounds of it they have become progressively worse). Vodafone's main UK MVNO Talkmobile was the best option, but their customer service is even worse (see my previous blog post)!

After a bit more research I've discovered that O2 has the best coverage for my area. Three's is pretty terrible and EE isn't good enough.

I don't want to pay O2's prices, though, so the best value (once again) becomes their own MVNO giffgaff.

Giffgaff do have some pretty reasonable PAYG monthly bundles, and you can easily change your bundle each month - or even buy a new one if you run out of minutes/data.
However, data speeds (and even reliability) on giffgaff have been pretty abysmal over the years, so I needed to do some of my own speed tests.
None of my speed tests would set the world alight: 0.55-1.6mbps download speeds were typical, but for my needs this should be acceptable, and I'm hoping that I'll get much better voice coverage than with EE, so I am considering moving back to giffgaff in September.

What annoys me is that all four UK network operates claim 99% of UK population coverage, yet they tend to ignore that fact that their geographical coverage is pretty rubbish.
The only network I've ever used with good voice/text coverage is Vodafone, yet EE and Three bang on about how great their coverage is at every given opportunity - It's a hard fact that they need to learn that their coverage really is not all that great.

New MVNO "1p Mobile" is supposed to launch in September. If/when this new network does get off the ground I'll consider trying them out, but this depends very much on what network they'll be piggybacking on.
I suspect that it'll be EE, because so many MVNOs use EE's network, so this might be a non-starter.

It's been a year since I last used giffgaff as my main network, so I hope that I'm not disappointed this time around.

Talkmobile Customer Service Experience

I've had a dual SIM phone for a few weeks and I'm really beginning to see the advantages of having one.
However, I have a main mobile number and don't want an alternative number, if I can help it. So, to keep things simple I've been toying with the idea of getting either a PAYG SIM for emergency use, or a data SIM card to go into my phone's second SIM slot.

For an emergency SIM, I can't fault Vodafone's network: I have never lived anywhere in the south of England where there isn't a good Vodafone signal for calls and texts. Looking at Ofcom's coverage maps, it's clear that Vodafone does have the best coverage for many miles around north Hampshire.
But Vodafone PAYG is stupidly expensive! They have hidden their new (July 2016) PAY pricing away on the Vodafone website so that you can't discover that it'll cost you 55p per minute!
Anyhoo, Vodafone are just too expensive and my thoughts were to try one of the few Vodafone MVNOs as an alternative - Talkmobile.

Talkmobile have come under a lot of fire over the past two years for really bad customer service (unexpected billing charges, crippling people's credit ratings through putting defaults on their credit files, etc.), so I am a bit wary of them.

Seeing how I won't be using this spare SIM very much I wanted to know how long my PAYG credit would last if I used Talkmobile, so I went onto their webchat.

I never got an answer to my question: All that the CS adviser wanted me to do was take out a SIM only contract with them. She refused to answer my question about PAYG and kept badgering me with their SIM only "deals".
I soon gave up and closed the chat window, as it was clear that if this is what Talkmobile's customer service is like, I (and you) would be better off giving them a very wide berth.

Talkmobile, you can't expect customers to put any faith in you if your customer service is this bad.

Is a 5 inch screen on a phone the #newnormal ?

Four years ago I got my first top of the range handset - It was the Samsung Galaxy S3 (I9300).
Prior to this I was using a curvy little Samsung Galaxy Fit (S5670), which had a diddy 3.3 inch screen.

 

Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Samsung Galaxy Fit

- Two Samsung phones that were a galaxy apart in terms of size

First impressions were astounding: My new Galaxy S3 was massive compared to my little Galaxy Fit!
The Samsung Galaxy S3 was a top of the range handset back in 2012, and could easily be considered to be the most cutting edge handset of the time. However, on looking back now, its 4.8 inch screen is actually a bit on the small size, its 1GB of RAM is actually laughable and that great 8MP camera really isn't that great anymore.

But, back in 2012, the Galaxy S3 really impressed people. I remember pulling out my new phone in the pub and people couldn't help notice how big the phone was. Certainly my jean pockets noticed the extra large phone after many years of carrying phones which were small enough to easily fit into your hand.

It's hard to think that a screen size of 4.8 inches is now pretty much the minimum I'd expect a smartphone screen to be. My current phone (Homtom HT3 Pro) has a 5 inch screen, and I wouldn't think of going any smaller than this.
I've just checked the comparative dimensions of my Homtom and the Galaxy S3, and my Homtom is around 1cm taller, yet it doesn't look or feel that big.

I have become used to smartphones which are this size, but four years ago I did think that maybe I'd made a mistake getting the Galaxy S3 - it felt too big for a very long time. I even switched to a tiny Nokia Lumia 620 halfway through my contract just so that I could put a mobile into my pocket easily!

Is 5.5 inches going to be too big for a smartphone screen? It's definitely "phablet" size, but I would certainly consider 5.5 inches to be perfectly ok: I got used to using mobiles with 5 inch screens easily enough, so and extra half a inch isn't going to make that much difference.

O2 Telephone Sales: LISTEN to your Customers!

Recently I requested a free SIM from O2 to test their services.

Shortly after I placed the order, one of their salesman called me on my phone to try to sell me something. I still can't figure out what he was trying to sell me, as the SIM I ordered was PAYG and yet he was trying to get me to take a contract with O2.

Admittedly, his sales pitch was bouncy and he was quite cheery, but he really needed to reign in his sales pitch: He was so fast paced I didn't have a clue what he was trying to sell - Was it a SIM only contract or one with a phone? (He neglected to say until right at the end of the call.)
Worse still he didn't listen to anything that I said: You've got to listen to your customers' needs before you can decide what to sell them, but this guy didn't want to know.
When I eventually managed to get a word in, my current contract stopped him dead in his tracks - there was no way that O2 could match what I am getting from Life Mobile (who he hadn't heard of).
- Note to O2 Sales Trainers; ensure that your salespeople know your competitors!

The salesman then carried on to offer me a "deal" which was roughly half of my current minutes, the same data allocation and more than double the price. Obviously, this was a pointless pitch, but he did say that O2's customer service was great and "came with love".
I'm not sure if I want "love" from O2...

His next pitch was for half of what I am getting from Life Mobile, but for £2 extra per month.
Did he seriously think that I'd take that offer?

Still, he got points for trying, and it was clear that he was enjoying trying to get customers to take up their offers.

Definitive Android vs Windows Phone Roundup

Android vs Windows Phone - A Definitive List of Pros and Cons

For two and a half years I have been testing mobile phone operating systems (Android and Windows Phone), mainly because these two mobile platforms are (generally) affordable and are ubiquitous on lower end/budget phones.

I have never bothered with iOS as it's too expensive and I have never understood why a basic mobile operating system should be so restrictive and expensive - My first encounter with iOS didn't even match my Nokia (Symbian) smartphone of the time, and iOS simply hasn't evolved enough to convince me that it's simplistic but clunky interface is worth tying myself in to the iOS ecosystem.

First things first - I loved Android when it first came out, but I have never liked the poor battery life and requirement for ever increasing amounts of memory needed to run the OS.

Back in 2012 I got a Samsung Galaxy S3, which was the best smartphone of its day. One year later, the battery life was struggling to last more than eight hours and there was some lag evident.

I tried a Windows Phone (Nokia Lumia 610) which was slow, but reliable.

Since then, I have been continually swapping between Windows Phones (8, 8.1 and Windows 10 Mobile) and Android phones running 4.4, 5 and 5.1

Throughout this time I have learned a lot about the pros and cons of both Windows Phone and Android.

I have written this list of pros and cons for both operating systems because every "Windows Phone vs Android" review simply breaks things down into what each OS looks like, with a brief mention of how Windows Phone and Android perform.

My lists break down the benefits and disadvantages of Windows Phones and Android phones. It doesn't matter which version of each OS you are running, as the list applies to all versions.

Windows Phone - Advantages:
Windows Phone works well as a "phone" - Calls and texts are simple. It's easy to block contacts and the native SMS app works well.

Live Tiles - Each one is basically a widget which gives you updates such as calendar events, email details, etc.

WiFi - You can leave WiFi on all of the time without reducing battery life too much, and it's very easy to connect to public WiFi networks.

NO LAG - Windows Phones don't lag, even the cheapest phones are very nippy.

Battery life is excellent.

The cameras are usually pretty good.

You can customise the colours and Live Tile colours quickly and easily.

Windows Phone - Disadvantages:

Outlook email and calendar apps are pretty poor.

Windows Maps is very inaccurate, missing location information and freezes when navigating.

Apps are generally very poor, and there are very few alternatives to the stock apps.

Cortana doesn't notify you of anything, so not much use as a personal assistant. And the Live Tile doesn't display any information.

The keyboard is really poor. Autocorrect is horrifically random.

Voice recognition is really, really bad!

Cortana search is awful, and search results are filled with sponsored adverts.

Bing is nowhere near as good as Google Search.

The Edge browser struggles to display websites correctly and often crashes.

You're stuck with Groove Music for syncing your music, which is expensive and poor.

Photo syncing? You're stuck with OneDrive. Other apps are passable, though there is Dropbox.

Microsoft apps ask for ratings continuously.

Apps force close regularly.

Quiet Hours often doesn't turn on or off.

The Action Centre notifications are unactionable.

Microsoft app support is nil.

Word/Excel, etc. are slow to open.

You currently can't buy Windows Phones any more now that Microsoft have stopped production and no other manufacturer wants to risk losing money on a dying OS.

Android - Advantages:

Everything syncs, even if you use alternative platforms, there are apps available.

The apps are good quality.

Google Maps is brilliant and navigation is excellent.

Voice search is fantastic.

Alarms and Silent Hours work really well.

Google Keyboard is brilliant.

Loads of phones available at all different price brackets.

Android - Disadvantages:

Lag is a problem, even on high-spec phones.

Apps are quite large, needing more storage space.

I've yet to find a SMS app which works really well.

The dialler (phone) app isn't intuitive, but it's good.

Want on the spot calendar visibility? You need a big calendar widget.

Want to see what the weather forecast is at a glance? You also need a widget for this.

Android phones can be much more expensive.

Notifications are key to functionality as there are no icon notifications.

Battery life is usually pretty awful.

WiFi and Bluetooth need turning on/off to conserve battery life.

You currently need at least 2GB of ROM and 16GB of RAM to have a half decent Android experience.

Android Flip/Clamshell Smartphones in the UK

Exactly one year ago LG released the LG Wine Smart flip phone in Europe. One year on and this design still hasn't managed to make a comeback to Europe and the UK.

The LG Wine Smart - Do people even want flip phones these days?

There are still plenty of people who clamour after a clamshell phone, but if you want one you are stuck with a proprietary operating system which - if you're lucky - might feature limited web browsing and email access.

So what happened to the LG Wine Smart?

• Firstly, no resellers took stock for ages, and if you wanted one of these phones you would have to track one down online. They still cost around £100.
• LG made a massive mistake by sticking Android onto a phone with a 3.2" display - It's not really big enough to be that much use. Given that this phone was (supposedly) aimed at the senior market, there's no point having big buttons and a tiny screen.
• It isn't stylish! Clamshell phones have typically been aimed at the fashion-conscious. This phone looked like it was made to match a glasses case from the 1980s. Why didn't LG put some thought into the design, rather than bunging Android into a basic "senior phone" design?
• On top of all of this, there is absolutely no external notification LED or screen: Ten years ago, most clamshell designs incorporated some form of external notification feature, and these were often quite stylish.

The Nokia 7020 was a fashionable clamshell phone from 2009 - It was relatively cheap (£80-90) and had an animated secondary display. Most importantly, Nokia had actually put some thought into the aesthetics of this phone.

Will we see any other clamshell smartphones in the UK? Probably not. It's not a big enough market and given that most of the main (and upcoming) manufacturers are almost exclusively using Android, to keep up with the competition there is little option other than to design a phone which has at least a 5" display, and nobody really wants physical phone buttons anymore.
Flip phones are huge in Japan, but maybe it needs a fashion movement to get them going elsewhere in the world.
It would be nice to see some more innovative designs in the world of phones: Rectangular slabs all look identical these days and there is nothing to make this design any more appealing without some radical design changes.