What to buy? Smartphone with specific requirements

Eye-Q

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After years of having a dumbphone which served me well I'm thinking about getting a smartphone, but I have quite specific requirements. Maybe someone has experience in that sea of smartphones, I really don't want to read thousands of tests to find a fitting phone...

I don't need the most current phone and I pretty much don't care about brands so if some unknown brand smartphone fits my requirements - why not?

Requirements:
  • The longer the battery life is the better, my dumbphone needs a charge every 1 1/2 weeks or so, and I really hate the work iPhone 4S for needing a charge every day or two days at most, even if I don't use it
  • Bluetooth for the hands-free kit in the car (I guess every smartphone has Bluetooth, but still...)
  • Not more than 200 Euros in Germany (!), can be used as well, I know people who have to have a new smartphone every 6 months so there are some out there with little wear and tear
  • Not bigger than 120mm x 60mm, the work iPhone 4S is OK, but it absolutely must not get bigger
  • No cheap plastic, at least it shouldn't feel cheap
  • No Windows Phone
  • Should be usable out of the box, I don't want to root a phone for being usable

Things I don't care about:
  • Camera - should be decent for snapshots, but for more I have a normal camera with zoom etc.
  • LTE - I don't really use the Internet that much, and if I use it on the go I mostly have some Wi-Fi I can access.
  • GPS - I have a satnav and don't want a phone holder for my car

Thanks in advance
 
Requirements:
  • The longer the battery life is the better, my dumbphone needs a charge every 1 1/2 weeks or so, and I really hate the work iPhone 4S for needing a charge every day or two days at most, even if I don't use it


  • If you are getting a Smartphone, you will have to get used to that unfortunately.

    Given the size requirement, the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact came to mind. It's small, packs a punch, looks good and has good battery life. People say that the UI isn't brilliant. You will have to watch some videos and judge it for yourself.

    One thing that I don't know is whether it will fit in your budget or not.
 
Ah..

The Moto Gs are within budget. Although the 2014 version is over the size requirements. The original might be better fit. Comes with near stock Android which is well praised by everyone. Battery seems to be ok-ish. It's plastic though. I can't comment on the feel of the phone.
 
The first-gen Moto G is still 1 cm too high and 0.5 cm to broad for Eye-Q's requirements. He said that's a hard requirement, so I didn't mention that one. Otherwise, the Moto G should be a good choice.
 
My G2 mini (D620) kinda fits those specs. And it's cheaper than 200?. It's a bit bigger, but only a bit bigger than the 4.7 inch display.
 
If battery life is paramount...what are people's experiences with those battery cases?
 
Well, I still have my dumbphone, but it turns out there is a useful feature I now want which isn't available on dumbphones, namely NFC...

The requirements are still as above (OK, NFC useable for third-party apps is a must which rules out iOS, and I already have an iPhone SE as work tool), but as the thread is almost 2 years old now the recommendation should have changed.

Anybody? :)
 
What's NFC?
 
Well, I still have my dumbphone, but it turns out there is a useful feature I now want which isn't available on dumbphones, namely NFC...

The requirements are still as above (OK, NFC useable for third-party apps is a must which rules out iOS, and I already have an iPhone SE as work tool), but as the thread is almost 2 years old now the recommendation should have changed.

Anybody? :)

Wait until October 4 to see what Google unveils as the replacements for the Nexus 5x and 6p, the Pixel and Pixel XL: http://www.androidcentral.com/pixel?utm_medium=superfeature&utm_campaign=navigation&utm_source=ac

Even if they don't strike your fancy, then you'll probably be able to get either the 5x or 6p for cheaper than you can now, even if they are a relative bargain already.
 
The 6p is way above my budget, maybe the 5x will come down, currently most auctions of the 5x on ebay sell for around 220 Euros, and 200 Euros are a fixed maximum for me.
 
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