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I'm just back from a holiday which included dropping my phone and cracking the screen. The phone is a UMI Super which has served me very well, with the exception of a spotty GPS. However I found myself with a very real problem. The crack was across the top right corner of the screen about 1/2 an inch in from the top. It had the unfortunate side effect rendering the whole right hand side of the screen 1/2 an inch in unresponsive. This prevented me from unlocking the phone with the PIN (the fingerprint scanner on the back worked fine, however I forgot that I had set the phone to shut down during the night and it requires the PIN when the phone wakes up).
This effectively left me without a phone for the remainder of the trip and while I will get the screen replaced and continue to use the phone, I'm also considering getting a backup feature phone, or another smartphone, or when I change phone in the future move to a feature phone entirely.
In examining what I was missing out with the loss of the phone, I realise I only use it to message (the very odd call), Internet, Navigation and Netflix. However, with Netflix now allowing downloading of many shows, I can use a tablet better for this, and I can consider using a phone with hotspot for streaming and messaging.
What feature or smartphones do you suggest as a move away from large flagship devices? I have unlimited 4G data and am living in Ireland. My understanding is that most feature phones are aimed at the older generation (large buttons, loud speakers etc) and not for "I just don't want something that breaks easily" people. Budget is in the 100-150€ range, though I will entertain more expensive devices if the recommendation comes with good reasons.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday August 10 2017, @11:24AM (9 children)
If there's no particular reason you need a brand new model, you might look into older model Android phones that can be flashed to run current versions of Android/LineageOS/etc... My current phone is like four years old but runs a rooted, -O3 version of of the latest LineageOS (based on the latest release of Android) quite well.
If you want durability, get an OtterBox. I don't as a general rule endorse many products but an OtterBox case does in fact make your phone a hell of a lot more robust vs. abuse, judging by what my phone has managed to stand up to so far.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Thursday August 10 2017, @12:34PM (5 children)
Yes my last couple phones have been in otterbox cases. otterbox seems to be downsizing its choices unless you buy an iphone you might be out of luck for an otterbox case. They used to make a larger variety of cases. Searching amazon for nexus otterbox will find you "supcase" and similar products which actually aren't that bad.
The phrase op needs to search for is "rugged" The PR and marketing people seem to have settled on "rugged" as their adjective for non-wimpy phones. Also much like all advertising for e-readers is women in swimsuits reading at the beach although I've never seen that actually used that way, ALL and I mean all, advertising for "rugged" phones across the entire industry is construction workers in hard hats and reflective vests on a dirt covered worksite, no "rugged" phones have ever been used camping or hiking or granny dropped it or whatever, its kinda a joke WRT marketing. Apparently my elderly MiL is a burly male hispanic construction worker according to all the advertising I've seen, OK then. I mean, she has a granny automobile and takes granny drugs, its not like no one knows how to market to grannies, its just no phone companies know how to market to grannies. Someone gonna make a lot of money off that someday when they get it right.
Probably you're better off financially and ergonomically buying a regular phone and an indestructible otterbox-alike case, than buying a "rugged" phone which is just someone buying and installing the case for you while marking it up 100% which means you'll get a "rugged" phone with specs from 2012 or earlier for a premium 2017 price. Its not hard to buy a 2017 phone and a tough 2017 case and keep the 100% markup profit for yourself. I don't think you can buy a "rugged" phone withe specs better than 2014 or so no matter how much you're willing to spend. Its basically a scam for people to screw over corporate accounts.
Perhaps the best alternative is a redundant array of inexpensive phones. Once you get past the "I must have one and only one phone for five years" thing, for the cost of a really tough top end phone you can buy a new "pay as you go" phone every week or two for practically nothing, even cheaper if you go used.
I am a little confused about the euro market, in that in the USA 150 euro isn't going to buy a "large flagship device" or even the cheapest rugged device. Walmart sells a huge number of $10 to $20 feature phones non-contract so 150 euro would buy approximately ten or so disposable phones. If you could get a couple months out of each phone before breaking it, that 150 euro would provide many years of service.
(Score: 2) by jcross on Thursday August 10 2017, @03:00PM
It's a carrier, not a phone maker, but check out Consumer Cellular's site. They definitely seem to be marketing to grannies of some sort.
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Thursday August 10 2017, @03:47PM
Thanks for this. The 150€ is to enable me to buy a device that has 3/4G connectivity, to allow it to work as a hotspot for a tablet or some other devices, and I would like potentially to use it as a navigation device, hence why smartphones are in scope of the recommendations.
I have almost always in the past had a mainstream flagship, until their features outstripped my needs, and now I just want a phone that be used to navigate, steam music (while cycling) and do Netflix (though Netflix can be done on a secondary device like a tablet). Whizzbangs now like NFC for android pay or fingerprint scanner or 20MP selfie cam or LED strips along the side that ensure I can never lie about not seeing that notification from the wife can all be ignored.
The UMI Super's only real flaw was that it had very poor GPS. I may just get another one or something similar to it and have a 20€ feature phone as backup to make calls if I ever run afoul of breaking it sufficiently that I can't make calls even in an emergency.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @04:01PM (2 children)
"Perhaps the best alternative is a redundant array of inexpensive phones. Once you get past the "I must have one and only one phone for five years" thing, for the cost of a really tough top end phone you can buy a new "pay as you go" phone every week or two for practically nothing, even cheaper if you go used."
This. Been doing it for years now.
Laptops, too. Buy two, have a cold (or hot) identical spare on tap. Can even be shipped to you by a friend if you are away for a few weeks. Just swap SIM, or hard drive, and you're up!
~childo
(Score: 2) by VLM on Thursday August 10 2017, @05:32PM
Chromebooks, yeah. I don't run anything locally installed and all I need is working openvpn (check) working VNC/rdesktop (check) working ssh (check).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @08:04PM
You are not seriously recommending phone RAIP, are you? Sounds kind of raipy.
(Score: 2) by Justin Case on Thursday August 10 2017, @01:15PM
+1 for LineageOS. If my phone gets broken it will be because I smash it for constantly nagging me. Or, you know, I could take control by installing a non-malicious OS that understands I am the boss.
Look for used phones on https://swappa.com/ [swappa.com] perhaps already rooted and/or comes with an (aftermarket) protective case. Check the list of supported devices [lineageos.org]. If someone else got LineageOS working on the device, that means it can be rooted (though it may be difficult). I got a very pleasant unit in great condition with lots of extras for about $120 US. Swappa has very responsive help staff to support buyers through the purchase process.
https://f-droid.org/ [f-droid.org] has free as in freedom apps, or you can install Google apps and be back to square one.
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Thursday August 10 2017, @03:24PM
I did this with the Nexus 5x. It is about the oldest phone with a lot of LTE antennas (it will get LTE service in most countries). Also the Nexus line has a decent track record of supporting the developer community. I payed about $200 a year ago for a used device in the USA.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 10 2017, @09:05PM
I've been happy with the Nexus 5 and later 5x - I never used a case on my 5 and it lasted 2 years before the screen shattered, have had a 5x for about a year now (always in a rubber edge case) and it looks much less dinged and warped than my 5 did at this point.
Software wise, they're always up to the minute with what Google is releasing.
Price wise, they were pretty damn cheap for a smartphone - around $200 when new, I wouldn't be surprised to pick one up used for less than half of that.
If you can get GoogleFi in your area, it's a decent competitive service provider. Of course, the 5 and 5x work with other carriers as well.
🌻🌻 [google.com]