Should I buy a Motorola Moto G

[ayjaycee]

OK - here's the problem. When I took early retirement last year, I found myself in the position of having to buy my own mobile for the first time (and, also for the first time, pay my own mobile bills). I really don't use the thing much and it is almost more of a comfort blanket than anything else. I happened to buy a sim free Nokia in Damascus duty free a couple of years ago for about £15 and that coupled with a Lebara Sim Card actually suits me down to the ground - the battery lasts forever between charges, it's got bluetooth for the car, I spend very little on calls (Lebara PAYG Credits do not time expire) and I really don't need it to do anything else. However, the appearance of good budget smart phones is now making me rethink. I have had my eyes on a 16GB Motorola Moto G and wanted to ask a couple of questions of you clever people on this site - from other posts, I know that at least a couple of you have used the same phone:

1. Can I just pop my current 'calls only' Lebara sim card into the Motorola after it has been cut down to 'mini sim' size and use it as I do at the moment in the Nokia (ie. for calls only)? The advantage is that I can then keep the same number?

2. If the answer is yes, can I then use the Motorola GPS facility as a stand alone with offline maps etc. as I currently do with my Nexus 7 tablet?

If those things can be done, the phone would be an ideal travel companion and save me having to carry both a phone and tablet and perhaps even an iPod.

Any advice much appreciated.

 

[tino]

I would recommend a Nokia Lumia 520 for around £70 if you really want a cheap 'smart phone' for occasional use.

Free offline maps and navigation from Nokia and free Nokia music service.

You can expand memory to 64GB using micro SD card.

 

[John Duncan]

As long as you buy a sim-free one (as opposed to a locked one; I think Tescos offer both). It'll be about 20 quid more expensive AFAICT. For the price I'm tempted to try one in preference to a Nexus 5 (but haven't been able to quite bring myself to buy a mildly inferior phone just yet).

 

[ayjaycee]

Tino, Thanks for that. Instinct tells me to stick with an android phone as I like and am used to the way android works and have always found the various mapping and travel apps great for overseas travel. I am no expert but AFAIK availability of such things is nowehere near as good with a Windows phone (at least, not yet).

JD. Thanks also for your contribution.

 

[daveh75]

Only costs a couple of quid to unlock the Moto G, so wouldn't worry to much about getting an unlocked one.

 

[Binman]

Yes to both of your questions.

Just make sure you turn off 'data' so that you dont inadvertantly use any data when apps are trying to update or sync.

I had written a better reply, but the forum wont let me post as its saying my reply was spam!

 

[bigboss]

Tino, Thanks for that. Instinct tells me to stick with an android phone as I like and am used to the way android works and have always found the various mapping and travel apps great for overseas travel. I am no expert but AFAIK availability of such things is nowehere near as good with a Windows phone (at least, not yet).

JD. Thanks also for your contribution.

I had a Lumia 920 prior to my current HTC One. Its mapping system is excellent, the best on the market after google maps. You can download maps of almost all countries.