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I’m never going to spend over a thousand pounds on a phone. Or, well, on anything, other than a car.

My previous phones have included an early budget Honor and a Nokia Windows phone.

If others are content paying £40 a month for three years, I decided I could make do with a six year old handset, paying just £8.

But when an opportunity presented to get my hands on a refurbished Samsung Note20 Ultra for under £300, it seemed like a no brainer.

Yes, it is three years old at this point, but that’s barely significant given that it was the most powerful phone you could buy at the time, and in many respects still is.

Really, it’s an extremely powerful ultra portable pocket computer, more than a phone. It has a stow away slot for a pen. Plugged into a monitor and paired with a keyboard, it becomes a fully functional desktop computer.

Everything I ever wanted, but had never been able to afford, or rather justify. All now within grasp for over £1000 off the original asking price. The catch? Nothing really.

It’s refurbished, meaning second-hand, though in the world of smartphones that often just means somebody bought it, tried it for a few days, decided they didn’t like it, and sent it back.

That certainly seems to be the case with my purchase. I opted for a phone graded “good” rather than “excellent” as it amounted to a saving of £100. A good choice, because it arrived in excellent condition.

To be sure, that phone is a wonder to behold. It has an amazing large screen, fingerprint sensor underneath. The bundled pen is brilliant, air gestures the stuff of magic.

I can’t say I’m enamoured by the vast array of camera sensors on the back — the camera bump trend seems to have passed me by — but there’s no doubting the quality of the photos it takes.

All said, it’s an absolutely amazing gadget, unlike anything I have used before.

Ah, but is it right for me? Well I’m tapping out this post on my diminutive Samsung Galaxy S8, which I’ve owned since 2018, a year after release. It’s a very little phone by modern standards, which comfortably sits in my left hand, as I type with my right forefinger.

That’s something I can’t easily do on that mammoth slab. Yes, perhaps I could scribble out my post using the S-Pen instead. Or initiate DeX mode and tap away on my keyboard. Yes, there are many options available to me.

I don’t know what it is about that brilliant flagship, but I think I will be returning it. Is just too big and bulky? Or is it too over-the-top for my needs? Or does it simply offer no perceivable benefit over what I already have?

Or is it my conscience speaking to me from deep down, pointing out that we’re living in the midst of a cost of living crisis, during which more than a million children in the UK find themselves sleeping on the floor.

Could it be that deep down I recognise this is a distasteful luxury I don’t really need, and will never take full advantage of, at a time of rising poverty and reliance on the generosity of others?

For on top of my printer beside my desk, I have a growing pile of charity mailings, demanding my attention. Trussel Trust pleading me to support their food banks. Centrepoint asking me to help the homeless. MuslimHands asking me to help earthquake and flood victims. The UNHCR asking me to aid refugees.

What, and I just blew £300 on a phone, even though my existing flagship — albeit six years old — remains perfectly functional, like all of my other apparently ancient gadgets the tech industry will have me believe I must upgrade, though I’m perfectly capable of extending their lifespan myself.

In the end, I think that fancy Samsung Note20 Ultra will be going back. Momentarily, it was an object of desire. But no sooner had it arrived, I realised that wasn’t what I actually desired at all. Using it for a few short hours, I realised it’s not actually something I need. That was just technolust again.

So ultimately I will return it, and then to cleanse my conscience will finally open that pile of mailings on top of my printer. For certainly I will be asked about how I spent that £300 when so many were in the queue asking for it already.