My old man wasn’t quite genius with electronics but he liked the iphone. Basic use is easy and you don’t need the latest model. Of course good old Nokia would be best if you need only call and txt, battery last over a week.
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I need a phone ...
- Thread starter Jim Moore
- Start date
EricV
Well-known member
In the end, the first question is what does the OP need to do with the phone?
If all he needs is talk and text, a simple flip phone will do the job. And let's be real for a minute, a guy that hasn't had a phone ever, doesn't need the latest, greatest phone with unlimited everything. Keeping the monthly re-occurring cost down is probably more important while still doing what he needs it to do. Mint Mobile or Cricket both have basic plans. Even the Tracphone will do fine in most cases.
I like Motorola phones too. Lately there is a trend among the major carriers to shut off your phone and demand you buy/use a 5G compatible phone, despite 4GLTe still being completely in use and most areas outside major cities not having 5G. AT&T did this to me and when I refused to buy a new phone, eventually sent me a replacement 5G phone at no cost. It's a junk Alcatel phone that is so-so at best, but I don't run apps and never stream anything. I live in an area that doesn't have 5G. And I consider 5G a joke for the little kiddies that don't own a PC and do their entire life on their phones, including streaming movies they BUY. 5G is for people that want to live on their phone, pay with their phone at the coffee shop, etc.
I agree, do NOT buy a phone from a carrier, or fall victim to their "free" or $0.99 phone deals. You can get unlocked phones for reasonable prices. Ask someone you know to help you if need be. Pay attention to what carrier it will work with and know what carrier you want to use before you pick out a phone.
If all he needs is talk and text, a simple flip phone will do the job. And let's be real for a minute, a guy that hasn't had a phone ever, doesn't need the latest, greatest phone with unlimited everything. Keeping the monthly re-occurring cost down is probably more important while still doing what he needs it to do. Mint Mobile or Cricket both have basic plans. Even the Tracphone will do fine in most cases.
I like Motorola phones too. Lately there is a trend among the major carriers to shut off your phone and demand you buy/use a 5G compatible phone, despite 4GLTe still being completely in use and most areas outside major cities not having 5G. AT&T did this to me and when I refused to buy a new phone, eventually sent me a replacement 5G phone at no cost. It's a junk Alcatel phone that is so-so at best, but I don't run apps and never stream anything. I live in an area that doesn't have 5G. And I consider 5G a joke for the little kiddies that don't own a PC and do their entire life on their phones, including streaming movies they BUY. 5G is for people that want to live on their phone, pay with their phone at the coffee shop, etc.
I agree, do NOT buy a phone from a carrier, or fall victim to their "free" or $0.99 phone deals. You can get unlocked phones for reasonable prices. Ask someone you know to help you if need be. Pay attention to what carrier it will work with and know what carrier you want to use before you pick out a phone.
EricV
Well-known member
Good luck with that. Remember when TV went digital? Bet you had a perfectly good TV that you eventually dumped to buy a new digital TV just because it became too big a hassle to try and use the old TV.
The best phone I've ever had was a tiny Motorola flip phone that was analog and 3G. Always had a signal when no one else did. Internet capable in a pinch, but not user friendly for that. Long gone now. When they dump 4G LTE, that will be the end of 'obsolete' phones for a while.
Heard that.. I'm just tired of "buying" new phones full of verizon, google, samsung crap that I can't remove or disable. Yeah I know about rooting phones- life is too short and that won't stop the nagging to try this or that stuff I don't want anyway. So if I have to have that junk at least I'll get something cheap and used.
I used to have an old tracfone flip- nice and small. worked fine as a phone but perhaps a bit too primitive for texting and so on... my old Note5 was about perfect, too old for the worst of the samsung and google brain-damage software.
EricV
Well-known member
tracphone offers smart phones now too. I haven't tried them, but they appear normal/average for the genre.
I agree 100% with you on the garbage added to phones. I bought my last motorola for cheap on ebay as a refurb unlocked phone. Still came with tons of apps I couldn't delete. Jeeze, I had hoped to do away with all that. Just locked them all out best I could.
It's too bad the world at large is subject to the poor decisions of 1% of the population. Advertising is dead, stop wasting money on it for doGs sake. Spam calls, junk mail, the tiny return on those could to drop to zero and companies would still try using it. For every 100 coders sitting on their parents floor trying to sell their app to Apple/Amazon/Google there is a real person that actually has a job doing something productive for society. And for every 1000 coders, there is one raking it in pounded out crap code on contract, sitting on the floor of their $800k home that's paid for from doing the same. It's like sports 'heros', very few make it big, but every kid thinks he will.
Amos Malone
Well-known member
The OP has not clarified his requirements for a phone since his first post, claiming all he wants to do was call and text. Except for saying that he will not be needing a phone for at least a little while longer.
Most have argued that all he needs is the simplest, cheapest, phone he can get. While that view has some valid points it may not be the best solution for Jim. More expensive phones often have better reception, last longer and have less manufacturer spyware installed. One of the least problematic phones I've ever used is also the most expensive one. But it was cheaper to get that one on a subscription, than buy a cheaper phone and pay full price for the connection.
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Advanced phones last shorter and have more spyware installed (compared to dumb phones), I'd say.
Smartphones without updates (that usually occur a few years after they were released) quickly turn into doorstops due to security reasons and lack of necessary updates for applications - this is of course by design, to keep selling new devices.
As for spyware, I bet both android and ios has their fair share of problems, especially when compared to basic phones where there simply isn't much space left for spyware, and even if there were the devices are severly lacking in hardware, making exploits tougher.
Are you perhaps comparing low-cost android phones (which usually come with some extra manufacturer crap/branding installed) vs more expensive units that run unadulterated android?
Then I agree, with pure android one only need to worry about spyware from google and the app-developers, excluding the manufacturer of the unit from the list
Example of a contemporary "smart" dumbphone (AGM M6).
4G, easy to replace battery if away from a charger, dual sim and long talk/standby times, has led-flashlight, fm-radio and a camera from the 90's.
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