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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @08:50AM
Resistance is useless
(Score: 1) by ptman on Thursday August 10 2017, @08:59AM (4 children)
I believe there are lots of different Nokia featurephones available. Some are quite small and have amazing battery life.
Another option is one of several Raspberry PI based phones. Some have big screens, some have small. Lots of variety.
(Score: 1) by ptman on Thursday August 10 2017, @09:02AM (1 child)
I think some of the DIY phones were maybe based on arduino, not Raspberry Pi as I first recalled.
(Score: 2) by linuxrocks123 on Friday August 11 2017, @02:18AM
There's this:
http://www.davidhunt.ie/piphone-a-raspberry-pi-based-smartphone/ [davidhunt.ie]
If I can possibly make it work, some variant of that plus a keyboard and nice case is going to be my next phone.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @10:03AM
i use a nokia c130, and its pretty good (haven't tested if it exfiltrates any data, no access to gsm/gprs/etc test equipment). Cost like 50ish bucks.. It lasts a week on a full charge after a year of usage, and does not support MMS... only sms and voice. But its just nokia-branded, there is a microsoft logo on the label behind the battery. Only modification i made to it was cutting power pin to the bluetooth chip.. (i haet bluetooth)
Nokia is gone man, nothing remains but that pretty logo.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday August 10 2017, @03:32PM
I have no idea if Carphone Warehouse are as good now as they were in the 90s when I was first buying a mobile phone, but they used to have a great "if you don't like it, bring it back within 2 weeks for a full refund" promise. I made use of that - I got a Moto which I couldn't get to communicate with my Psion 5 PDA, and had a godawful 3-line UI that pissed me off something rotten, so I just took it back and went for a cheaper Nokia that had fewer features to not work for me, and they provided service with a smile. Staff were happy to give impartial advice too.
But that's nearly 20 years ago, so probably utterly useless advice. However, *somebody* must have been to a shop and had a good experience since then.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by moondrake on Thursday August 10 2017, @09:26AM (5 children)
I am interested in this as well. Have been looking at things like plasma mobile and Jolla lately, but i wonder how good these options actually are. I have no interest in pokemon apps and the like, but I do need a browser, email, etc stuff that works reliably and not to slow...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @11:18AM (2 children)
Have you considered Blackberry?
(Score: 2) by moondrake on Thursday August 10 2017, @12:40PM (1 child)
I did, but I do not consider it free (in the philosophical sense) and hackable enough. Perhaps I am wrong though?
(Score: 2) by damnbunni on Thursday August 10 2017, @03:01PM
Blackberry phones are just Android these days. They have a very locked-down bootloader and some extra security stuff that may or may not actually help.
I have one because I wanted a physical keyboard, and they're really the only option.
(I'd rather have a phone based on their previous QNX-derived OS, but it's basically EOL.)
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday August 10 2017, @03:26PM (1 child)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 10 2017, @09:01PM
I'm going to back up Phil here, from my perception Jolla is a great bunch of engineers with a great vision, and insufficient financial backing to make it stick. Lack of sufficient financial backing leads to under-developed products that struggle just to ship, much less excel.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(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]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday August 10 2017, @11:46AM
Maybe you can get a nice deal on a BLU phone [soylentnews.org]?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Informative) by RamiK on Thursday August 10 2017, @11:50AM (3 children)
Much like this guy [xda-developers.com], I'm inclined towards Xiaomi since they have a good FOSS policy company-wide and offer cheap models with decent hardware. But there are a lot of recently added, and possibly better, options from many other manufacturers here: http://www.cyanogenmods.org/lineage-os-14-1-rom-update-devices-list-downlods/ [cyanogenmods.org]
Overall, if a LineageOS dev is picking a device up at the mid\low-end price range, it's almost a guarantee the hardware isn't complete trash and the device tree isn't an ad-hoc mess. There are exception I'm sure... But it's still a good rule-of-thumb to use whatever the devs are using for themselves.
compiling...
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Thursday August 10 2017, @01:38PM (2 children)
I used to swear by MIUI until last year. Not anymore. Their latest and greatest version has constantly regressed. Off the top of my head, it is now impossible to remove stock apps, delete whole threads of SMS (it crashes), impossible to set a live lock screen wallpaper.
Their service is so bad, it is not even laughable. They charge 'investigation fees' if you have broken your phone, and then charge exorbitant amount of to replace a broken part. This all if it is in warranty. If your phone is out of warranty, they will charge you 1.5 times more.
Whenever I ditch my Mi5, I am going for latest 1+ or, sucks to say, iPhone.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @05:25PM (1 child)
> I used to swear by MIUI until last year. Not anymore.
Ha? Just switch to non-MiUI apps or LineageOS like OP suggested. That's the whole premise of the reply.
> it is now impossible to remove stock apps
That's Google's policy. The way they told the OEMs to do things is to allow users to install whatever alternative they want and set that as the default while allowing them to "disable" the stock apps.
> delete whole threads of SMS (it crashes),
No one uses the default SMS app since the secure messaging apps all replace them. Here's 10; Pick one: http://www.techradar.com/news/top-10-best-secure-messaging-apps-of-2017 [techradar.com]
> impossible to set a live lock screen wallpaper.
Setting a separate lock screen wallpaper isn't even an AOSP feature let alone a live wallpaper. It's mods and OEM roms that hack-in the feature. If you want it, use LineageOS.
> Their service is so bad, it is not even laughable.
Service? For a cheap smartphone? Seriously this isn't a $600 ISP contract we're discussing. This is a 100-150€ contract-less phone. There's the google account for backup and Google's lost-phone service. And when something breaks, you take your phone to whatever shop in the area that offers repair or you just look up instructions on how to replace a part and buy the part over at ebay.
> Whenever I ditch my Mi5, I am going for latest 1+ or, sucks to say, iPhone.
OnePlus are great but slightly out of the price range. Still, was mentioned in the links. As for iPhone... This again? At 100-150€ contract-less? Good luck with that.
Seriously are you trolling? It's like someone asking a recommendation about an affordable family sedan and being offered a Lamborghini from a guy complaining he wasn't satisfied with Toyota's service... Holy shit soylent is going down the shit can.
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Friday August 11 2017, @06:55AM
You getting paid for that, yo?
That's the most nonsensical reply anyone could have ever have devised without making grammatical mistakes. To anyone who has ever used MIUI. Nice try...
What the fuck is wrong in your brain, man? If I were not in my office I would literally be rolling on the floor. Right now I am trying to contain it at my laughter. WTF?
HA???? JUST SWITCH TO NON-MIUI APPS BWWWAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!
I was replying to parent, a fellow Xiaomi user. You confused it with your own parents.
Now THAT's trolling.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @12:02PM (1 child)
Good luck finding a smartphone that actually provides root access to the owner of the device. Most mobile devices have to be rooted.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @03:43PM
That's been a constant annoyance. I had a nexus one years ago that made the process trivial, but those aren't cheap phones and these days they don't even come with removable batteries and micro sd slots as far as I can tell.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday August 10 2017, @12:03PM (8 children)
This is a discussion relevant to me, too. I have a very old Samsung Stratosphere II I have been nursing along for years, having replaced several hardware components in it. The reason is I like the slide-out physical keyboard. Nobody has that anymore.
I have been wondering if a mobile equivalent of System76 has arisen somewhere that would produce a phone with a physical keyboard. Anybody know of one?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @01:32PM (2 children)
Since the Stratosphere is a Verizon phone, the newest physical keyboard phone is the LG Enact. I personally use the LG Mach on Boost(unlimited 4G) and the Motorola Photon Q on Freedompop. I like the Motorola more, but it double keys for some reason(bad keyboard?). The LG Mach is a usable phone even though it is 5 years old. I rooted both and purged them of all the Sprint garbage and I have few issues and they are much faster.
I almost went to the Enact on Total Wireless but Boost started doing unlimited and Total only gives 5Gigs max.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday August 10 2017, @05:24PM (1 child)
Thanks for that. I used to have LGs and then switched to the Samsung lines. Is the Enact sound?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 11 2017, @04:39AM
From what I have read it's almost the same as the Mach, and I think the Mach is a solid phone. I've been using it for 3.5 years so far. I've been through 3 tho. For some reason one lost all Wifi earlier this year and the other I had issues with tethering on. I bought a couple of spares and continue to do so since they are getting harder to find and a good drop can definitely ruin your day.
My son complains that the screen on the Mach is crap(the Photon Q is MUCH Better), but I don't use it for much other than calls/texts and on the go internet. I don't clog up my phone with all kinds of apps.
(Score: 1) by ptman on Thursday August 10 2017, @02:34PM (1 child)
I'm hoping something will come out of this: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gemini-pda-android-linux-keyboard-mobile-device-phone#/ [indiegogo.com]
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday August 10 2017, @04:06PM
That looks like a winner. Thanks! I'll be watching that.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by damnbunni on Thursday August 10 2017, @03:04PM
Blackberry Priv or KeyOne.
If you don't care about apps AT ALL beyond email and a browser, a Q10, Classic, or Passport.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday August 10 2017, @03:36PM (1 child)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday August 10 2017, @04:13PM
The obsolescence of my current device has been growing as an issue for a while now, and, also, I've grown so irritated with government and corporate overreach that I just don't trust a damn thing they have to offer. So I've been toying with the idea of rolling my own from scratch so it has the features I want and is something I completely own. Is that nuts? Have any Soylentils done that sort of ground-up project before?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Thursday August 10 2017, @01:15PM (7 children)
The quotes I've been getting from shops locally are that it will cost 80-100€ to repair the phone, which is irksome, as the phone itself is only 130€. Apparently I have to replace "both screens" which I guess is the glass front and the LCD behind it. I have refurbished my older Samsung Galaxy S4 which is holding up fine, for now, so I'm definitely going to get a replacement for my UMI Super.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday August 10 2017, @03:18PM (5 children)
Erm... If you have a Samsung Galaxy S4, what do you gain by buying another phone? The Galaxy S4 is easy as hell to flash new firmware on and it runs the latest LineageOS peachy keen.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Thursday August 10 2017, @03:53PM (4 children)
Yes, it also has a replaceable battery. I'm working on doing exactly as you say, putting LineageOS on it, and in the end that may suffice. However, I don't know if it safeguards against the problem I ran into on holidays, that is, if dropped and the screen cracks, the phone may become unusable. A decent 20-30€ feature phone as a backup that isn't "big buttons and extra loud speaker for grandpa" is kinda what this submission is about, and also if there were any really really cracking smartphones that I could be tempted into getting.
Also I'm a bit of a novice at flashing ROMs and was waiting to see if they could repair my UMI before I did something to the backup phone that I might be unable to undo (ie brick).
(Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday August 10 2017, @06:02PM (3 children)
It's really pretty easy. Heimdall and the builds here [lineageos.org] won't let you flash the wrong model's image. If you need an image for the Sprint model or a little more responsiveness and control, the guys over here [androidfilehost.com] built an optimized version.
Just keep in mind that all your contacts, history, apps, etc... will be wiped, so you'll need to back them up first.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday August 10 2017, @06:03PM (2 children)
Oops, forgot instructions for the optimized build are here [xda-developers.com].
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Friday August 11 2017, @09:23AM (1 child)
Thanks for your links, I was able to successfully flash and install the OS and GApps. I only had one issue where the WiFi would not turn on, but I was able to solve that by rooting the phone. Odd that I could wipe the OS and install without first having rooted the phone though. Lets see how this holds up for me. I'm planning a trip to China next Spring, and if this phone lasts me until then I may pick up one while I'm there.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday August 11 2017, @11:21AM
Sounds like a plan. Just don't go searching for/browsing non-approved topics while you're there. We'd have to take up a fund to bribe you out of prison and I don't trust people to stay bribed unless someone's physically there doing the bribing.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 10 2017, @09:13PM
That's why I have a Nexus 5x, it was $200 to purchase new (on interest free payments), while a repair of my 5 was quoted around $130.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by inertnet on Thursday August 10 2017, @01:58PM
Cat (Caterpillar) has a range of more or less indestructible phones. Designed for use in construction, farming or general outdoor activities. The top model Cat S60 has a FLIR (infrared camera) and a 3800 mAh battery. I'm very happy with it, after several expensive phones that liked to break all on their own (bad camera in a new HTC, loose front and back screen on a Sony, bad iPhone battery days after warranty expired).
(Score: 2) by Techwolf on Thursday August 10 2017, @02:01PM (4 children)
While all the comments here are referring to used android phones, even I have one running Lineage OS has a backup business phone. For a new phone, recommend Moto G4. Its unlocked and comes only in two version, USA and international. The USA model I have, it works on all carriers. Thats right, ALL USA carriers. You don't have to pick a carrier then order a carrier spec phone. The international version I expect is the same. The reasons I like this phone, less then $200, unlocked, works with all USA carriers, no bloatware. That right, no bloatware from the get go. Can be book unlocked via website to load a different ROM is another plus.
(Score: 2) by Justin Case on Thursday August 10 2017, @02:36PM (2 children)
Most of what you describe sounds fantastic but
To be clear, you still have to ask their permission to unlock it?
(I don't understand the phrase "book unlocked".)
(Score: 2) by Techwolf on Sunday August 13 2017, @08:15AM (1 child)
Cell phone slang. "Unlock" mean it is not locked to any carrier, very common for contract phones to be locked to the carrier where the monthly price is use to pay for the phone, often at inflated prices.
"Boot Unlock" This is where the phone manufacture will either unlock or comes not boot locked in the first place. This allows one to re-flash the boot image, call "recovery" images. In the PC world, this is considered the BIOS. When the phone is boot locked, trying to replace the recovery software will fail in several different ways, including actually bricking the phone.
(Score: 2) by Justin Case on Sunday August 13 2017, @02:04PM
OK I follow you now. I wasn't quite able to resolve the typo book -> boot.
So you still need their permission to root it. What is your guarantee that they won't change their mind later? Or have other tentacles of control left behind?
Either the hardware is 100% obedient to me or I don't want it. I don't let machines tell me what I can and can't do.
Yes I know that is getting extremely hard to find.
(Score: 2) by bryan on Thursday August 10 2017, @05:57PM
Another vote for Moto G series. Closest you can get to pure Android (without the high cost of the Pixel or Nexus flagships.) I got my G5 Plus for about $200.
Due note, however, that this year's model is the G5 [wikipedia.org] (aluminum body, fingerprint reader, slightly faster CPU) while last year's model is the G4 [wikipedia.org] (rubberized plastic, slightly larger screen, slower CPU).
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Thursday August 10 2017, @03:01PM (1 child)
Got one last March for $80, very nice. Problems? Sound isn't loud enough, with the volume at max setting I can barely hear a phone call, nor the ringer. I can hear MP3's, but I'd like them to be louder.
I also seem to have an issue with my ring tone. I set it to what I want, and next time the phone rings it's something else. Not sure why, but as I get a phone call maybe once a month (unless I call a friend and ask them to call me back) it's hard to figure out what's going on.
90% of my communication nowdays is via text messages, those work fine on this phone.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @03:47PM
Don't buy from LG, I'm on my 3rd v10 because the idiots couldn't engineer it right, and I have yet to find a way of getting root.
If steer clear until they demonstrate that they know what qa is.
(Score: 2) by Sulla on Thursday August 10 2017, @08:08PM
I would suggest a BB Classic, BB Passport (if you are into that kind of thing), or a BB Priv. I currently use a Priv as my primary phone and a Classic as a backup. Good battery life, both have keyboards, sturdy and withstand being dropped on concrete.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam