SIM Only Guides & Advice

In-depth information to make you a smarter shopper.

We spend hours searching, trialling and testing – then make these guides so that you don’t have to.

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Who is the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer?

On: Friday, 25 September, 2020

Brand loyalists are often prone to exaggeration and hyperbole in attempting to defend the honour of their chosen brand against the merits of rival products. We’ve seen it many times over the years. Ford and Vauxhall, Sky and Virgin, iOS a...

A crash course in protective smartphone cases

By: Neil Cumins

On: Friday, 18 September, 2020

History is littered with unfortunate incidents involving smartphones. The slow-motion drop onto the floor of your local chippy…the toddler who knocks it off your patio furniture onto a flagstone…the sheer horror of seeing it descend int...

How a smartphone factory reset could increase your phone’s lifespan

By: Neil Cumins

On: Thursday, 17 September, 2020

However diligently we look after them, smartphones have a degree of in-built obsolescence. Components wear out, battery cells degrade, software conflicts multiply and touchscreen responsiveness begins to reduce. Then there’s more delibera...

How to take a screenshot

By: Neil Cumins

On: Tuesday, 15 September, 2020

On paper, taking a screenshot on your smartphone might seem like a simple process. In reality, this pre-installed utility is complicated by platform inconsistencies and practical issues. For one thing, screenshots aren’t always the most e...

Good and bad charging techniques

By: Neil Cumins

On: Monday, 14 September, 2020

If you’ve been a mobile phone user since the Noughties, you’ll have encountered various charging cables and connections throughout your ownership history. Each provided charge at different rates, to devices whose ability to store power ...

Six tips for taking great indoor photos

By: Neil Cumins

On: Monday, 14 September, 2020

There’s an oft-quoted statistic that three quarters of the photos taken on smartphones are never looked at once they’ve been saved to the device’s memory or the cloud. That’s a damning indictment of the disposable nature of photogra...

How do smartphone news services work?

By: Neil Cumins

On: Sunday, 13 September, 2020

The evolution of smartphone news services is one of the more debatable advances in mobile technology. Historically, if you wanted to know what was happening in the world, you loaded a news website or installed an app like BBC News. In the e...

How to spot fraudulent text messages

By: Neil Cumins

On: Friday, 11 September, 2020

With every passing week, there is growing awareness of the things being sacrificed to maintain lockdown, and the price being paid to keep infection rates low. These repercussions will last for many years, ranging from individual mental heal...

Six reasons why SMS messages are still important

By: Neil Cumins

On: Thursday, 10 September, 2020

Ask someone born this century about the importance of SMS messages, and you can expect to receive a glassy stare. Yet to most Millennials, the humble text message will have been a formative part of their childhood and youth. It’s often di...

The best smartphone productivity apps

By: Neil Cumins

On: Wednesday, 9 September, 2020

When the history books are written, they will divide the early 21st century into two distinct parts – pre- and post-coronavirus. We’re only just beginning to identify the profound changes this virus could wreak on our lives, from the ab...