Advice wanted on iPhone purchase please

[Terry Everall]

My better half and I both have iPhone 7 models bought outright as SIM only but are now about 7 years old. We would like same sort of size (6.1" screen) and not too heavy and must take good pictures 

We are considering iPhone 13 or 14 and wondered what specs in terms of model, memory and data we should aim for and where best to buy from and either cash or contract etc

[Kingster]

I have the iPhone 13 pro max with 256gb. Very pleased with it, and it does take very good pictures. Battery life is excellent, screen is very nice and all round I love it. 
 

In fairness it’s a bit big and heavy - but that’s not something that bothers me - but you may want to look at the non “max” iPhones for something a bit smaller. 
 

My missus prefers Samsung and has the S21 Ultra. It’s very nice too and probably has the edge over the iPhone in most respects - but being an Apple fan-boy I prefer mine 😁

[Murraymint]

Both the wife and I have iPhone 13's, good screen size and battery life seems fine. we just went for contract's and will switch to PAYGO later on.

[Rob Hunter - Club Secretary]

All the latest phones will be a massive step up from an iPhone 7.

 

I've an iPhone for work and an Android for personal use (current is a S20+ which has been brilliant for the last 2 years) and much prefer the Android phones.... better value, normally better batteries, processors and lots more apps. Cameras are pretty similar though

[Onliest Smeg David]

3 minutes ago, Rob Hunter Derby & Notts AO said:

I've an iPhone for work and an Android for personal use (current is a S20+ which has been brilliant for the last 2 years) and much prefer the Android phones.... better value, normally better batteries, processors and lots more apps. Cameras are pretty similar though

Snap!!!

 

[corsechris]

Just replaced our iPhone 7+ with iPhone 14+.  (We like the big screens). As you’d expect, big upgrade in camera performance and overall features, although what use we’ll make of many of them, I’ve no idea. Battery life on the 14+ is excellent, supposed to be best of the lot. A 13+ would have been fine, but we keep ours a long time so wanted the newest we could get. No need for the extra features in the Pro nor the desire to spend even more than we did.

 

Only reason to change for us was the end of support for the 7. 
 

We went with the ‘base’ spec of 128G, outright purchase direct from Apple. Traded in the old phones as I just couldn’t think of a use for them. Got a massive £55 each.

 

The setup procedure was utterly painless by the way, all data and settings directly transferred from old to new phone by the built-in migration tool. I did do backups beforehand but no need for them.

 

Apart from being forced into it by the end of support for the 7, and the price of course, happy/10.

[DamperMan]

Recently started a new contract for a iPhone 14 base model.   It is bigger and heavier than the 7… (that’s progress).  The main benefits I can fine are the nicer screen, and hugely better camera. It’s even good at taking out door photos at night.  5G does not seam better but I’m not a heavy data user.    I looked at contract vs Sim only.  I’ve been on sim only for a very long time.. But this time by the time i took the buying price into account there was not much in it cost wise.        There’s the usual gotchas like some contracts are 36 months which are only about £5 cheaper per month when comparing to  24 month contracts which ultimately  worked out much cheaper.   

[Mark Stanton]

Another vote for Samsung S20 and S21 - excellent cameras and phone and far more accesssible than the locked in iphones, who often purchase the camera technology from the Samsung Android developers.

 

Any update you undertake from an iphone 7 will provide you with a better phone and camera - I have an iphone 7 for work and a Samsung 20 for personal use - difference is chalk and cheese - the S20 also allows you to insert a micro card for extra storage capacity. S21 camera is really good

[Blatman]

I've been a Google Pixel user for years and I am yet to be persuaded against.

[dombanks]

My other half has the SE and she thinks for the price it’s a fab phone. I got a 13 mini to replace my 8 (14 wasn’t a thing at the time) 

 

for me it’s just the right size, not too big, not too heavy, good size screen, great camera, and the right price

[Stuart Davis AO - Devon Cornwall & Somerset]

I managed to drop two iPhone 11 Pros into water within a few months of each other 🤪 (they are not waterproof, despite what Apple say!)

 

On the first occasion my insurance provided a swap unit which was fine, but the second time they had no stock, so gave me a market value for a used unit. I went to this website (www.backmarket.co.uk) and bought one of their top condition phones for less than I was given and have been delighted with it. It’s pretty much as new, screen was perfect and battery life excellent.

 

So, if wanting to by the unit outright and just get a SIM only contract, I think it’s a great option. Obviously you will likely get better deals on the ones which are a generation or two old, but they are still excellent phones.

 

eg

 

https://www.backmarket.co.uk/en-gb/p/iphone-12-64-gb-blue-unlocked/0d7bc01c-3a57-4f7e-944d-966992390e97#l=10

[Stuart Davis AO - Devon Cornwall & Somerset]

Just to add, if photography is important to you then the Pro models with multiple cameras are well worth considering. My 11 Pro is not the latest model now, but has x0.5, x1 and x2 zoom cameras and takes excellent images. Camera tech seems to advance at an incredible rate in smartphones so the difference between a 7 and a 13 or 14 will be amazing I’m sure.

[john777]

I'm currently using an XS & camera is great, very happy with the phone. Bought it as refurbished & it's so good the wife has just got one as well.