Topic: Need phone buying (UK) recommendations pls

My current phone of several years seems to have developed a charging issue. The other day, when connecting it to laptop chargers (which I’d done many times before) the charging port started smoking, and it’s recently been less reliable about accepting a charge generally.

So I need to either fix the fault or replace the phone, and as it also suffered a smashed screen recently too, I’m erring on buying a replacement.

My modus operandi for buying phones is normally to buy from eBay at around the £200 point (auction rather than Buy It Now) looking for models that are obviously a year or two old but still a step up from my last phone, and in new or like new condition.

Trouble is, cos my current phone is proving unreliable at charging, I feel the need to transfer everything off it is fairy pressing, which gives me little time to research the market. This is where you beautiful people come in…

Budget: c. £200
Needs: Good camera and to generally be a good step up from a Google Pixel 2 XL
Wants: Slot for a micro SD card, a 3.5mm aux/headphone port, a built-in stylus (a la Samsung Galaxy Notes)

Normally I buy Android.

So please, if you know the phone market (UK) pretty well, I’d be grateful for your recommendations.

And no, I don’t want a new contract.

Thanks.

@gcunit You may want to add "(UK)" to your thread title in case anyone fails to read your original post.

Forgive me if my US region makes this irrelevant. My provider only recently started offering free phones with a trade-in. I can trade any smart phone for a Samsung Galaxy S21, S22, or S23. Just wanted to make sure you checked if there's a trade-in offer or not. (No need to reply )

**If anyone didn't read above, @gcunit is in the UK, so please keep suggestions relevant to UK.