Phone Trashed By Android Update - Alternatives?

[stevenrw]

Her 'indoors has a Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 which has been trashed by the recent Android Update. It now freezes, or runs like a dog. Brief investigation suggests that it isn't easy (nor advisable) to try rolling back the firmware so I'm looking for alternatives to replace it.
She is rightly concerned that should she need the phone in an emergency it will let her down.
I don't want any I-Nonsense anywhere near my Windows machines, and they are too expensive anyway, so does anybody have any suggestions for a replacement Android Smartphone up to absolute max around £200 that is available SIM free?
I have to say that I've not been hugely impressed by the Samsung phone. Or at least, I suppose tbh the phone was OK but the Samsung Kies software is just awful.

[MisterW]

I have a Motorola Moto G and I'm very pleased with it. The current version is available from Argos for £129.99 Sim free for the 8gb version, fine unless you want lots of apps/music etc. There's a 16gb version if you need more storage. here's also the LTE (4g) version for about £150. You might also get a 'locked' version slightly cheaper and unlock codes are available for about £2 on eBay. Mine was a tesco one which I unlocked that way.
The OS is pretty much vanilla Android with just a couple of Motorola apps but no ui tailoring.
Hope that helps

[Simon]

My experience with Android phones is quite limited, but I've got an HTC One M8, and have had no problems so far with Andoid updates.  The HTC Sense overlay seems very solid, and I've certainly never experienced freezes or any other such issues.  The One M8 is top of the range, but here's one within your budget you may wish to consider:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/HTC-Desire-610-SIM-Free-Smartphone/dp/B00K0H8B04/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1419161321&sr=8-7&keywords=htc

[Glenn]

I would go with the Moto G 2014 in that price range http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/mobile-phone/3543534/motorola-moto-g-2014-review/

[Baz]

cant you just factory reset 

[Steve]

I think that would be my first call , a factory reset once I'd made a backup.

[stevenrw]

AFAIK the factory reset just wipes all data and apps that have been loaded since the phone was activated. I don't think it touches the OS. I did look into it briefly but it started talking about rooting, roms and such. At which point I glazed over...

[nowster]

Backup. Factory reset. Perhaps reinstall the factory image of that version of Android (if available).

Sometimes when updates happen, the configuration in the /data partition doesn't get upgraded correctly, causing instability.

[stevenrw]

Interesting suggestion Nowster, but unfortunately the pile of poo that is Samsung Kies tells me that the last firmware update was successful and I am already using the latest version, so it will not let me reinstall. Grrr...

[Steve]

AFAIK the factory reset just wipes all data and apps that have been loaded since the phone was activated. I don't think it touches the OS. I did look into it briefly but it started talking about rooting, roms and such. At which point I glazed over...

A factory reset should wipe the cache and the Dalvik cache which contains the pre fetch data for optimising app loading . Obviously this has to rebuilt again once cleared, certainly if your swapping ROMS this is a recommendation but I guess it's possible with an update to mess up the cache data and/or slow the phone whilst it's being rebuilt.

[MisterW]

I,'ve certainly heard some reports of going very slow after Lollipop upgrades!
It needs to rebuild the cache for the change from Dalvik to ART. Apparently it can take some time to complete all the apps...
I didn't think that Samsung had released Lollipop yet though...

[pctech]

According to this site http://live.samsung-updates.com/index.php?device=GT-I8160 which tends to be quite reliable it hasn't been officially updated to Lollipop so I assume you've done this via Cyanogenmod?

I replaced my Ace 2 with an Ace 3 which is on 4.2.2, it received a firmware update recently but did not increment the android version.

[Steve]

No mention of custom rom, I think it was just the latest incremental Jelly Bean update that's caused the issue

[stevenrw]

Steve is right on the money - Android version is 4.1.2, no customisation or rooting. That's what makes it all so frustrating. It was just a "routine" update that has caused the problems. I don't know how often these are released, or if a further update would correct whatever went wrong with the last one.

[pctech]

Hmmm, can't comment as no longer have my Ace 2.

Was it operator branded or SIM free? Operator branded firmware usually has added bloat which is why since I switched over to Android smartphones I've bought them all SIM free as the frmware updates come quicker too.

[stevenrw]

It was a SIM free phone, but the update came via Kies which is the Samsung phone/device manager software, so I guess i might've had some Samsung bloat included. Th software file name defo wasn't "Android 4.1.2" it was something that appeared to have no clue as to its contents.

[Technical Ben]

Yep, Samsung has their own additional bits. Sometimes worth it (handwriting recognition etc). Hope you get it sorted!

[pctech]

Very odd.

Every update I've had usually comes via the Kies OTA on the phone itself (usually get a prompt when its logged onto the wi-fi at work while eating my lunch) and so far all been as good as gold (touches wood)