What phone would you buy & why?

[gm280]

I guess I have to make a decision to remove our landline and go strictly cell phones now, or in the very near future. I have been fighting it for some time. But since we rarely get a legit landline call anymore, why pay a monthly payment? IDK.

So, my question is what smart phone would you buy and why. Keep in mind I am presently using an old Samsung SCH- A870. Yea, I know the Smithsonian Museum is probably wanting it for a ancient phone display piece now. And the saddest part is I've had this phone for well over ten years and it has only 10 hours and 1 minute on it for total time usage!. So it is hardly worn out.

But I am going to bite the bullet and get a new phone and one for the wife as well. She presently has a Droid Bionic (I think). It was a hand me down form my younger adult son when he upgrade years ago. So we don't need the latest and greatest, obviously, with all the bells and whistle ( I won't know how to use them anyway) but something decent and kind of up to date.

When I retired about 5 to 6 years ago, I stopped wearing a watch and just hate answering phone as well. I did the phone thing when working and I certainly don't miss it now. So keep that in mind and tailor your suggestions accordingly. I may want to do some web browsing, but certainly nothing serious. Let the games begin.

Oh and thanks very much for any suggestions and your responses. Since we know basically nothing about smart phones, everything will be interesting to read up on before buying.

 

[GA_Boater]

Since you don't use the cell phone much now, how much do you use the landline? What I'm asking is a smart phone really the right way to go? I'm in about the same situation as you and I use the cell for calling 911, waiting for the wife to call and to call her to ask how many bananas she wants. We hope bananas isn't an NSA trigger word!

I have a cheap Tracfone with lifetime double minutes and buy a $20 60 (120 doubled) minute refill every 3 months. I can text (seldom) and it has no camera (no need). I can't beat 80 bucks a year and it works for me.

 

[gm280]

Since you don't use the cell phone much now, how much do you use the landline? What I'm asking is a smart phone really the right way to go? I'm in about the same situation as you and I use the cell for calling 911, waiting for the wife to call and to call her to ask how many bananas she wants. We hope bananas isn't an NSA trigger word!

I have a cheap Tracfone with lifetime double minutes and buy a $20 60 (120 doubled) minute refill every 3 months. I can text (seldom) and it has no camera (no need). I can't beat 80 bucks a year and it works for me.

That sounds nice. I get a lot of phone emails from so many people. And I don't have anyway to respond to them but email. So I really don't know if they ever read their emails when I respond. I do get a lot of emails that say sent from my phone on them. IDK.

I was just thinking about being able to search the net when in the shop for parts and things. I still honestly don't know if I would serious use that capability or not.

 

[GA_Boater]

I get more spammers calling the cell than the landline, too. It must be fertile ground for them since the landline is on the Do Not Call list, like it bothers them.

 

[G_Hipster]

I'm extremely rough on cell phones so..... I just clip used ones off ebay 50-75(droid) bucks and keep going. I'll never have a need for a $700 phone and I prefer the droid over I-phone.

 

[Scott Danforth]

My requirements for a phone was a removable / replaceable battery and the ability to see the phone in daylight. At the time, I picked up an LG G4. Now the G5 is out

 

[dingbat]

As a says guy, I live and die by my phone.

I've had numerous blackberries and androids. I've had iPhones for the past 5 years. They will pry an iPhone from my cold dead hands.

The world of apps is growing daily. My phone is now a garage door opener, tv changer, security system, level, compass, etc. I use the camera on my phone probably 5-6 times a day. Rewiring something, take a picture. Tearing a brake assembly down, take a picture. Need the wife to pick me up a quart of oil while she's out, send a picture.

Uses go on and on

 

[bruceb58]

I got rid of my landline and got Ooma and transferred my number over to it. Costs $4/month but rarely do I answer incoming calls. I just have it there for emergencies. I have a UPS on it and the Modem in case power goes out.

I have had both iphones and Android phones. They are both good so its personal preference. I like my Samsung android because it has wireless charging. If iPhone ever puts that feature on their phone, I might switch back to iPhones.

I buy unlocked phones and use Straight Talk. It's around $47/month for one line.

The one brand phone I will not buy is LG. I had a Nexus 5 that was made by LG. It lasted 13 months old when it died. LG was not only no help but had horrible customer service. I will never buy another LG made phone.

 

[avenger79]

I like the Iphone if nothing else for it's simplicity. it can do everything you want it to do.

the younger guys I work with explained it this way, Android is for techies who want to tinker with the thing and find extra features etc.
the Iphone is for older folks who just want to pick it up and use it.

 

[ezmobee]

I'm an android fan but honestly for you needs, I'd recommend whatever iphone you can get a deal on. They really are easy to use and even my older parents and in-laws have figured them out quickly and enjoy them.

 

[StarTed]

My wife and I have Tracfones for when we're away from home. Our cell coverage is too spotty and the batteries go dead in a few hours, usually start beeping in the wee hours. I think Tracfone offers a somewhat smart phone that is cheap to own and operate. Walmart carries them and the cards to add time.

We're with GA_Boater on this and I keep building up minutes every 3 months.

 

[82rude]

bruceb58 what I don't get is what right do providers have to lock your phone in the first place?I mean you fulfill your obligation to the provider for your phone then you have to pay an extra fee to use it how ever you see fit.All I can say is thank god for the internet and unlocking services.Not sure about where you are but up here the thieves want between 35 to 50 to unlock ,it cost me 5 bucks on line.I havnt used my phone for over a year now and frankly don't miss it atall, as a matter of fact I'm much happier unplugged from nanny cellphone.Not sure of my exact model but mine is a sonim xp5? tuff as nails ,armored basically.

 

[gm280]

My wife and I have Tracfones for when we're away from home. Our cell coverage is too spotty and the batteries go dead in a few hours, usually start beeping in the wee hours. I think Tracfone offers a somewhat smart phone that is cheap to own and operate. Walmart carries them and the cards to add time.

We're with GA_Boater on this and I keep building up minutes every 3 months.

StarTed you and GA_Boater have interesting ideas. I have to look into those type phones. Being how I very rarely even turn my phone on, I guess buying a smart phone really isn't a great idea. I take my phone with me when we go out just in case we get separated and I need to call my wife or for any type emergency. But that really doesn't happen either. It is merely an added precaution I guess. But then I know absolutely nothing about the phone industry and have no idea what I would want. So many options and plans and phones, it is really a lot to take in and decipher. I would like to be able to search the web for parts and things when I am working on projects in the shop. But that would be about the extent of that. I guess I really don't know what I want...yet! :sorry: I need to do more studying. I hate to buy things with no knowledge about what I want. And that is really funny being how I was a computer programmer, circuit designer and a reverse circuit engineer before retiring. But I left all that behind me when I retired with 38 year career. Most replies I received from here and my old office are leaning towards iphones. :noidea:

 

[bruceb58]

bruceb58 what I don't get is what right do providers have to lock your phone in the first place?I mean you fulfill your obligation to the provider for your phone then you have to pay an extra fee to use it how ever you see fit

If you buy a phone on a contract, they have to unlock it for free at the end of the contract, at least in the US. That is what I did with my first iPhone.

Basically, it's stupid to buy a phone on a contract these days. You end up paying more in the long run.

 

[shaw520]

I agree,.. contract are a huge ripoff

LG G4 for me,... had ZERO luck with Samsung and ZERO support from Samsung,... Im still paying for a Samsung S6 thats been fried for months,... Samsung or Verizon will do nothing about it.
Guess im one of the few that have had great luck with LG,... I fell in the lake two yrs ago with a LG Spectrum in my pocket,...was in the water a good 4-5 mins and it still works today !

 

[southkogs]

We switched off our landlines about 7 years ago and went VOIP. First with Vonage, and then we swapped over to Magic Jack. We did that for about five years, and then just let it go altogether. We were using our cell phones so much the landline just wasn't getting any calls.

When my last Verizon contract ran out, we were still on flip phones but our monthly cost was too high (in my opinion) so we did roughly what Bruce did. Picked up a couple of Straight Talk plans and I bought some used, unlocked smart phones.

I wanted three things from my phone that took me to a smart phone: 1) ability to make phone calls, 2) the ability to synch my calendar and view it while not in the office and 3) the ability to receive texts (sending them was optional ). I chose the Apple phones mainly because of how pervasive they are - and all my computer stuff is mainly Apple anyway, so integration was nice.

To this day I do not - and intentionally I probably won't - send, receive or view email on my phone. I don't do very much web searching on it either. HOWEVER - I do keep finding interesting things to play with on the phone and have kind of enjoyed it. I used Google Maps CONSTANTLY - I have a compass that I use quite a bit - I have a Navigation stuff for the boat - some tools for measuring for design work - and the camera. Amazingly - especially on the trip I'm on right now - when I pay attention what I'm doing, the camera on the iPhone 5 or newer is better than the stuff I used to shoot on professionally. I've been enjoying that part of the crazy thing quite a bit.

So - I suggest looking at a prepay plan (Straight Talk for example) and working with an unlocked iPhone (I buy them used off of Amazon).

 

[bruceb58]

+++1 on what Southkogs said. StraightTalk and a used phone be it an Android or iPhone. The phone just has to be unlocked which is easy to find used.

I don't use a ton of apps but the thing I use a lot is online banking depositing checks. I never ever go into a bank anymore to deposit a check.

Other apps I use are for controlling thermostats, Google maps, Strava for my bicycling, Gas Buddy to find cheap gas, Weather Apps, Dropbox where I store my to do lists, Calendars for appointments which is synced to my home PC, Camera, Garmin to sync my bicycle computer....

There are a bunch of other apps that I don't use very often that I wouldn't want to be without but I use them just occasionally.

I do a lot of email on my phone but that is mainly because I read work email and I have a vacation rental house where I get a lot of emails and have to answer them promptly if I am away from home.

I do not have one single game on my phone.

 

[bruceb58]

If you are tempted to try the recent Google Nexus phones, they have a great service called Project Fi. You have to use the Google Nexus phone. The cost of the service is $25/month and you get 1GB of data which isn't a lot. Every additional GB is $5. 2GB would be plenty for me so it would cost me $30 on average. The phone basically works on any carrier that it can latch onto and also makes calls on WifFi if available which is why it's so cheap.

 

[ezmobee]

My wife and I have AT&T for our smartphones and a wireless-based home phone. However Verizon recently added a tower near our seasonal campground where previously nothing worked. Not wanting to switch off AT&T at the moment I bought a Total Wireless phone from Wal-Mart which runs on the Verizon network. The phone is an LG Premiere. It was only $129 or thereabouts and really isn't that inferior to my much more expensive LG G4. I'd highly recommend it if you're considering a pre-paid plan https://www.walmart.com/ip/Total-Wir...phone/51413975 (now it's only $99)! The service which includes a decent amount of data is only $35/mo.

 

[garbageguy]

I

...the younger guys I work with explained it this way, Android is for techies who want to tinker with the thing and find extra features etc.
the Iphone is for older folks who just want to pick it up and use it.

+1 on that
I'm sure I utilize a small fraction of it's capabilities - but it just works. Occasionally find a use I never thought of. Here's one. I boat in familiar waters, use charts for longer trips, but use the GPS map app sometimes in the boat. I drop, and save, "pins" next to certain channel markers, so I can confirm where I am, and need to go.