Posted 11 hours ago

Mobile best cell signal budget phones

Hello, I have had Xiaomi phones, no issues but last year my usb port broke so I needed to replace , couldn't see anything much better then my redmi note9s (I'm on a budget) so i tried a tcl 40, it is terrible and cant be unlooked and the cell signal it receives is poor , sticking mostly to 'e'. (Proven by testing my partner's phone on same network in same areas and she gets 4g)
Anyone know a decent budget phone that has great signal (4g as EE turned off the 3g and 2g)
Community Updates
New Comment

14 Comments

sorted by
's avatar
  1. Uridium's avatar
    Bit over your budget but I recently bought a couple of Poco M6 Pro's for family members. £190 from Amazon but the Spec you get for the money is insane.
    £209 at the moment but they regularly drop lower

    No 5g but both users have no issues with fast 4g (edited)
  2. xCobehx's avatar
    Specify your budget and it’ll help you get better replies.(y)
    t3rm3y's avatar
    Author
    I would say around £150 , hopefully can sell the tcl 40 to reclaim some money. The old buy cheap buy twice. Yet I'm buying cheap again
  3. t3rm3y's avatar
    Author
    Coverage is good. I know this as my partner is on same network. She has a Samsung a41, I had a redmi note 9s also was fine. But tcl is very bad , so is the modem or receiver or whatever term for the hardware that receives the 4g signal.
    I could get a redmi note9s again, but rather have a new model.

    I also travel around for work, so coverage checker isn't ideal. Most areas have 4g now so it's a case that the hardware in the phone is pants so it doesn't pick up the signal well (edited)
  4. Mr.Plow's avatar
    If you like Xiaomi would this Redmi Note 12 be any good for you, it's on daily picks today, says £129 but there's some coupons, it comes out at £99 for me.

    (edited)
    t3rm3y's avatar
    Author
    Cheers got it for £99, might as well give it a go. Specs are similar to the note9s , slightly lower CPU , but newer so probably not noticeable
  5. KodaBear's avatar
    Just since you mentioned EE In your post, are you actually on EE Itself or a company that piggybacks on their signal?

    EE have 4G on a number of different frequencies. One specific frequency of note is B20 (800MHz) Which is important for indoor 4G Coverage as well as rural areas.

    While EE give their customers access to it, most of the cheaper piggyback brands do not - The main exceptions are 1P Mobile, CMLink and Popit.

    If you are on a different brand, not having access to this specific signal from EE will make a HUGE Difference to your signal.

    I say this as most phones these days are pretty similar when it comes to how well they can pick up and hold a signal. So it may be your SIM rather than phone that's making you struggle here.

    And finally, you say your TCL 40 Can't be unlocked - It's illegal for new phones to be sold locked in the first place now. If you try another network's SIM you should find that it's unlocked and accepts any network's SIM cards now.
    t3rm3y's avatar
    Author
    EE direct. SIM was fine in the Xiaomi phone, and my Mrs on EE has 4g but my phone shows 'e', and is extremely poor internet or none at all.
    By I locked I mean the bootloader to install custom ROMs. I have in the past installed newer models on phones which have improved cell signal quality but not possible on tcl.
    I cant afford to buy replacement phones to test signal, but also don't want a older model. I was hoping somebody was going to say " had tcl, binned it due to signal, got a xxx model and is vastly better "
  6. Deleted041071960810's avatar
    AFAIK no network has turned off 2g yet. It's still an important part of emergency services network iirc. But will be gone by 2033.
    t3rm3y's avatar
    Author
    Maybe not 2g then. , I get either 4g or 'e' only for data.
's avatar