Originally Posted by
wiseoldman Hmm. I'm pretty much neutral re: carrier as I've not yet had a chance to research that. Figured I'd pick up a SIM at the airport or a shop local to my hotel.
Pick a carrier that covers the areas you'll be in, if you have anyone to ask to go to those areas and check. Otherwise, it's blind chance. But you have to pick a carrier before you pick a phone. Not all phones will work on all carriers, even in the UK. You'll notice that EE has only 3 4G bands and Vodaphone 4. Since you don't know which carrier uses which band where, your best bet is to find a phone that handles 900 and 1800 2G (which is probably every current GSM phone) and Bands 1, 3, 7 and 20 for 4G.
After than, choose by functions, niceties (Do you want an SD card? Some phones don't have slots for them. Do you want a 3.5mm earphone jack? Some phones use Type C adapters. Etc.)
My one concern is that you're switching from the iPhone universe to the Android universe. Unless you've used an Android device extensively in the past, you're in for a shock. (And some things you take for granted in the iWorld you just can't do with an Android.)