Tag / Three

by jo

Borrowing a Samsung Galaxy S8+ with Three

For the last month we’ve borrowed a Samsung Galaxy S8+ with the Three network. I’m with Three anyway, though my phone is only a Samsung Galaxy 5 – and well overdue an upgrade. I had a good play with it, trying out the various phone settings. Here’s how I got on.

Three need no introductions in this house – both Shaun and I are customers. They came in very handy recently with our sudden trip to Australia and their Feel at Home deal they do. Your UK minutes and data can be used abroad. Our bills that month were pretty good!

The loan of the Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone was so I could try out the photography. I knew we would be visiting a minimum of three football grounds for various reasons. As well as this there are those moments when you take a photo and it actually turns out to be really quite good – and taken on a mobile phone of all things!

So firstly I’d like to share the panorama photos I got from the football grounds.

Wembley – The SSE Women’s FA Cup Final

Wembley Panorama

Wembley – The Buildbase FA Trophy

York City at Wembley panorama

Sutton United – taken from the club next to it, but check out these photos of Absolute Bowie!

Absolute Bowie Ziggy Stardust era, Three, Samsung Galaxy S8+

Absolute Bowie - Lets Dance era

Charlton Athletic – Tottenham Ladies v Blackburn Rovers Women

Charlton Athletic Panorama

The Hive – Arsenal Ladies v Reading Ladies

The Hive Panorama

Pretty good quality, huh?

Here’s my favourite photos that I took without spending too much time setting up a shot and just going with what the S8+ could do when I did a simple point and shoot. Unfortunately I messed up – I added my Samsung account to my phone and saved my photos to the cloud. When I reset the phone it removed the photos, but fortunately the best ones I have taken are on Instagram.

Bee! Loving the camera on this S8+ for shots like this. #bee #nature #samsungs8 #s8plus

A post shared by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on

Hasn’t that come up brilliantly?

I like this photo, although wished for better weather. We had to make a trip to Swansea as my godfather died, so Shaun and I went to the funeral. We took the Second Severn Crossing and I liked how the two central parts of the bridge lined up to make two H’s.

A post shared by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on

H and I also had fun playing around with the filters on the phone, adding ears to ourselves because let’s face it, when you get the latest phone you want to do exactly that, right? I eventually downloaded Snapchat and can now see why it’s one of those apps you can distract a child with when they need distracting.

samsung silly filters, three

In May and June the photos here on Mum Friendly are all taken on the S8+. Would you have guessed? The quality is impressive. The only downside is zoom, but that would be the same with most cameras. Close up the pictures are fantastic.

Aside from the photos, how is Three as a network? We’ve been with several networks in the past, and are quite happy with Three. We get the same reception as previous networks and at a better price!

Samsung Galaxy S8+

This morning the S8+ was collected from work, and I’m sad to see it go. My old Galaxy 5 is good – but it’s not this good. I now have serious phone envy of myself which is really confusing.

I’m saving my money to try and get one – I’m on a SIM-only contract with Three so . It’s a big phone, and indeed was too big for most of my pockets – if you want smaller then the S8 might be better – that’s working on the assumption it has the same camera as the one we borrowed.

We received a Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone with Three, complete with a SIM for 30 days with 12GB data, 3000 texts and 300 minutes. All opinions are our own. Shaun was particularly jealous 🙂

by jo

Samsung Galaxy S5 Teddy Bear Tea Party

So as I previously mentioned, we were sent a Samsung Galaxy S5 phone to try out – just for a couple of weeks, mind. It was long enough to help me make up my mind about what I’m going to do when my current contract runs out – I’m switching to Three, and I’ll also be getting the Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini (I like a phone that fits in my pocket!).

From Samsung Galaxy S5 test

So it was a breezy Saturday in November when H and I got on the train and made our way to Oxford Street – an easy journey from here, thankfully. This was also a perfect opportunity to take as many pictures on the phone as I could before I had to hand it back!

We were invited to a Teddy Bear Picnic at Build a Bear, Hamleys – and despite us living in London, I don’t get into the West End that often, so for H this was a whole new experience (despite the fact she has been there before – she just has no recollection). Build A Bear, however, she’s been to several times! We met up with the other bloggers and the lovely ladies from the PR company, who took us upstairs – where the children were encouraged to be as noisy as they possibly could thanks to our fabulous party leader. H was a bit shy until she saw the ‘bear’ she’d decided she wanted – Olaf from Frozen. I got the chance to play around with the filters on the camera in the process which kept me happy!

From Samsung Galaxy S5 test

Oh, and to add to this, Olaf has ‘In Summer’ embedded onto a disc and placed in his paw from the ‘Pick A Sound’ booth. We were assured it wasn’t too loud, something I put to the test on the train on the way home, where the entire carriage wondered what on earth was going on, while I tried to smother Olaf to muffle the noise.. oops! Let’s just say, we know when H is awake if she happens to press Olaf’s foot… she makes sure we do.

From Samsung Galaxy S5 test

Finally, the children were all given hearts which would live inside the bear, and given various things to do to make sure the heart will keep a happy bear – or indeed, rubbing it on your knees so you can run faster.

From Samsung Galaxy S5 test

I can’t remember what they were doing here, other than rubbing it on their nose!

From Samsung Galaxy S5 test

The children all started to forget us adults were there (which was kind of nice, I could stand back, take photos and watch her enjoying herself) and played a few games – including ‘Dress the Reindeer’ – where they were encouraged to get whatever they wanted from the racks to dress up two Build a Bear Reindeers – they missed a trick here, surely? There should be a Sven!!!

From Samsung Galaxy S5 test

Anyway, the kids looked to be having a brilliant time, and us adults were all laughing along too, despite it being the middle of the day in Hamleys on a Saturday so pretty rammed!

I liked using the S5 for indoor photography – often I’ve found that pictures can be grainy, but I found the ones taken were really clear. My Picasa album has lots of pictures in there, with a selection in here.

H was happy to have another Frozen themed bear to add to her collection – the two she got when she was at holiday club have Elsa and Anna dresses as well.

From Samsung Galaxy S5 test

After Hamleys, we jumped into black cabs and headed to Scoff and Banter in Covent Garden for afternoon tea. I have a confession – I have never had afternoon tea, ever. I had no idea what to expect. So when this arrived and I was told this was my vegetarian selection, I had to work out where to start!! It was delicious – and I couldn’t finish it.

From Samsung Galaxy S5 test

Luckily as one blogger had to leave early there was room for Shaun too who had come into Central London to meet us! Scoff and Banter was lovely, H really enjoyed the food, and LOVED the milkshakes – she polished off a strawberry and a chocolate one pretty quickly!

From Samsung Galaxy S5 test

We chatted, ate, take photos and tried to convince Elly that I hadn’t laden down the S5 box with scones, and there really was a phone in there… Just kidding! Before long it was time to say our farewells, the phone and I. I gently wiped it clear of all my photos and fingerprints and sadly handed it back. The Samsung Galaxy S5 is a very lovely phone!

In fact, the biggest downer was walking through Covent Garden afterwards, and taking photos of the Christmas decorations, knowing that the pictures would have been so much better with the S5. We headed to the Tower of London to see the poppies afterwards, and I had to switch to using my camera – I do wonder how the S5 would have fared.

All in all, it was a brilliant day, and we had a wonderful time. I loved trying out the Samsung Galaxy S5, and found it easy to use (I have an S3 Mini at the moment) once I’d worked out how to get Swype going. Three as a network are definitely better signal-wise than my current provider – and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to try the phone and network to help make my mind up.

We were sent a Samsung Galaxy S5 to try and take photos at the event, as well as a bear from Build A Bear (or rather, a HAPPY Snowman!), and food afterwards – thank you Three & Samsung!Â