Help picking a new phone please

[dznk]

I'm looking for some advice on purchasing a new phone for my Mum and any help would be really appreciated. As I'm not up to scratch on the latest goings on on the Android side of things, I'm looking for some advice.

She's currently on Windows Phone and likes it on the whole, but is in need of a new phone and for several reasons (limited selection of new phones, apps etc.) she is strongly thinking of going back to Android. I can't blame her and I'm helping her find a suitable Android phone for her to move to. I've had a good look myself, but I'm struggling to decide on which one would be best for her.

Her budget is around £250, but at an absolute push may go higher, but it was the plan to go up to or around £250 really. Her main requirement is actually the size of the phone. No bigger than a 5" screen really. She likes a medium-small size phone. Preferably a New phone but she is willing to buy Used if needed. Also, I've been looking at trying to get a phone that comes with or is upgradeable to Android 6 Marshmallow, for both security and feature reasons. CyanogenMod is a maybe but I'd rather her just stick with a stock phone to be honest.

So basically, up to or around £250. Can be New or Used. Needs to be a medium-small phone. Preferably comes with Android 6 or will be updated at some point to it. No preference on Brand as well. Any phone that is known to be fairly reliable will do fine

I've been mooching around have come up with the likes of the S5 Mini, Xperia Z3 Compact, Xperia Z5 Compact, Xperia M5 and maybe a Galaxy S5. The trouble is some of those phones like the S5 Mini and Z3 Compact are already nearly 2 years old. Also I keep reading how fragile the Z3 Compact is and how hot the Z5 Compact runs at etc.

Any suggestions on a suitable phone would be great. Thanks

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! How important is battery to her? If it's not crucial (i.e., she's not a heavy user or doesn't mind recharging at least once a day), then consider a Nexus 5. It may be 2.5 years old, but it's still on 6.0.1. The downside is that it's nearing its official End of Life--I don't think it will get N, and security updates are supposed to stop in Q3 of this year.

 

[dznk]

Thanks for the reply and info

Battery life is not crucial, she's a fairly light user overall. When it comes to playing games, she will often be at home with the phone plugged into its charger anyway. Otherwise it's just a few calls and texts, and a limited amount of browsing in the day.

That's good to know that the Nexus 5 is on 6.0.1. That's a lot better than many other models I've seen at around that age. Can't complain really. It does seem a good size as well for her, it's not actually as big as I first thought it was. It does seem as though she is a bit limited in her selection of phones because of the size and price etc. If I can pick a Nexus 5 up Used at a decent price, which it looks like I can, this may be a good phone for her to step back into the Android world with.

Thanks for the help

 

[B. Diddy]

It's too bad you're in the UK--Dailysteals.com currently has a refurbished 32 GB N5 for $140: LG Google Nexus 5 D820 Unlocked GSM (32GB) – Daily Steals. Not sure if this would work well in the UK, even if you got it.

 

[dznk]

Yep, I'll probably try and get a UK Sim-Free version. It looks like I can pick one up for around £140 ($200) here, including the accessories. A bit more expensive than your deal, but as expected with UK prices, we're a bit pricier than most unfortunately. Thanks for your help