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Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

Endless Mike posted:

If you have an existing Verizon account, they'll just activate the included SIM card to your account. From there, if it's fully paid, it should be as simple as swapping the SIM with the new provider. I know there's some limited period (60 or 90 days?) where Verizon phones are locked, but I'm not 100% sure if that applies to fully unlocked phones.

Verizon postpaid phones are locked for 60 days, after 60 days of use they are automatically unlocked.


Uthor posted:

This is for my mom. I called my sis and since the stores are now open, they may just go to one and get the phone activated at purchase. I was trying to minimize contact with other people, but :shrug:

Thanks, I'll talk it over with them in the morning.

If you haven’t bought the phone yet, for Verizon prepaid I would just recommend buy unlocked from Apple , then get free SIM card from Verizon. Verizon prepaid is tough right now, the prepaid doesn’t have great customer support , so traditionally stores were the best solution , but of course now it’s a pandemic.

Verizon stores are now allowing walk ins , so I would recommend just going to a store and activating a SIM card, then immediately heading out to do the rest at home.

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Arbite
Nov 4, 2009





I'm liking the look of Motorola G8's, but is there something else in that price range the thread would recommend over it?

Maugrim
Feb 16, 2011

I eat your face

Arbite posted:

I'm liking the look of Motorola G8's, but is there something else in that price range the thread would recommend over it?

I was looking at a G8 Plus as a replacement for my G5, and ended up buying an Oppo Reno Z. There's not much to choose between them specs wise but for me it came down to the Reno having more internal storage (128GB vs 64).

It hasn't arrived yet though so I can't report if it's decent.

Impotence
Nov 8, 2010
Lipstick Apathy

taqueso posted:

Some of these prepaid B-tier services look tempting. Vsble is unlimited on VZ's network for $40/mo including taxes and I saw reports of 30Mbps which would be plenty. Looks like I've got plenty of research to do.


e: Do you have the T-Mobile prepaid unlimited (non-plus) plan? What modem are you using?

Bit old of a quote but I've been on Visible for two months now.

It's is $25/m with party. If you have a ton of Verizon users (for example, a suburb where there isn't much ATT/TM coverage), your service will be completely unusable. If you need low latency, you might get 120ms+ while Verizon direct gets 15-30ms on LTE - data traffic is 100% backhauled to one of two points, NJ or Colorado and back. Modern devices + VoLTE only


It's usable.

venomsnek
Apr 13, 2018

THE KING UTTERED SOMETHING
Need to replace my phone and I found 2 promising candidates


UMIDIGI A5 Pro (32GB, 4GB RAM) Unlocked Smartphone with 6.3" FHD+ Waterdrop Full Screen and Triple Main Camera(16MP+8MP+5MP), Global 4G LTE Dual SIM GSM International Version(Space Grey) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07V1BYH6S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3I.3EbEPMSZ30


Or


UMIDIGI Power3 Unlocked Smartphone 64GB+4GB RAM 6.53" FHD+ FullView Display 6150mAh Big Battery Mobile Phone,48MP AI Quad Camera,Global LTE Bands with Mufti-Function NFC Android 10(Midnight Green) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B085TDC6XM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_DJ.3EbCCBCDQQ


Is it worth the extra hundred dollars?

Or is there something better in the sub 300 dollars Canadian price range?

Impotence
Nov 8, 2010
Lipstick Apathy
The Umidigi Official Store has the A7 Pro for 164CAD and the Power3 for 190CAD, if you're ok waiting for shipping.

sourdough
Apr 30, 2012

venomsnek posted:

Need to replace my phone and I found 2 promising candidates


UMIDIGI A5 Pro (32GB, 4GB RAM) Unlocked Smartphone with 6.3" FHD+ Waterdrop Full Screen and Triple Main Camera(16MP+8MP+5MP), Global 4G LTE Dual SIM GSM International Version(Space Grey) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07V1BYH6S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3I.3EbEPMSZ30


Or


UMIDIGI Power3 Unlocked Smartphone 64GB+4GB RAM 6.53" FHD+ FullView Display 6150mAh Big Battery Mobile Phone,48MP AI Quad Camera,Global LTE Bands with Mufti-Function NFC Android 10(Midnight Green) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B085TDC6XM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_DJ.3EbCCBCDQQ


Is it worth the extra hundred dollars?

Or is there something better in the sub 300 dollars Canadian price range?

I know nothing about this brand or phone prices in Canada and would recommend something more name brand in general, but a 50% larger battery, double internal storage (usable storage will be more than double after system partition is taken into account), and newer OS (Android 9 vs 10, doubt either ever sees an update) is easily worth the price difference.

venomsnek
Apr 13, 2018

THE KING UTTERED SOMETHING

sourdough posted:

I know nothing about this brand or phone prices in Canada and would recommend something more name brand in general, but a 50% larger battery, double internal storage (usable storage will be more than double after system partition is taken into account), and newer OS (Android 9 vs 10, doubt either ever sees an update) is easily worth the price difference.

Unfortunately Canadian carriers don’t like non contract phones so the only big name options in that price range are the Moto g7 play,LG k41s or Samsung A10e which are all pretty lousy in terms of specs and cost the same or more than these ones

Imported phones usually offer a better selection and value

I think I’m going to spend the extra hundred and hope for the best.

Appreciate the input :)

owl_pellet
Nov 20, 2005

show your enemy
what you look like


Country/Provider: US/Verizon

Budget (phone): N/A

Features I know I want: In order: Android, battery life, UI responsiveness, speed, storage must be at least 128gb, if I can help it size not much bigger than current phone (5.66 x 2.74 x 0.33 in)

I currently have a Pixel, but the battery is kinda shot and the performance is starting to be a little hitchy. I looked at what phones Verizon has to offer, went back a few pages in this thread, and tried to do some research elsewhere online. Seems like the Pixel 4 was kind of a bust and the go to Android phones these days are the OnePlus 8 line and the Samsung S20 line? Verizon currently has the Pixel 4, but not in the 128gb version so that is out. They have the OnePlus 8 but only the base model, not the Plus. For the Samsung, they have the S20, the S20+ and the S20 Ultra.

Considering my requirements, what is the opinion of the thread?

Edit: also I guess it would be nice if it had decent speakers since I frequently listen to podcasts with no headphones while cleaning or making food or whatever but that's definitely a nice to have and not a must have.

owl_pellet fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Jun 11, 2020

Moo the cow
Apr 30, 2020

I have a Moto G4 Play: 8GB 1GB RAM

I like it, but it is slow as poo poo. e.g. if I am playing a podcast with Podcast Addict, unlocking the phone has a 3 second delay before I can enter my code.
Likewise, swapping to an open app has a similar delay.

I am guessing that the 1GB memory is the problem?



a) anything I can do to resolve this?
b) what is recommended as a replacement?
There are so many Moto Gs, I am not sure which one hits the sweet spot. I am not a power user: mostly forums, few speciality apps and it would nice if it were one of them with a decent camera.
Not important: battery life, storage, youtube, gaming

Pricing is all over the place on amazon:

Motorola Moto G8 Power Lite (6,5" HD+ display, 2.3GHz octa-core processor, 16MP triple camera, 5000 mAH battery, Dual SIM, 4/64GB, Android 9), Arctic Blue
£144 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-display-octa-core-processor-battery/dp/B085JBFZVR/

Motorola One Macro (6,2 Inch HD Plus Display, Macro Vision Camera, 64 GB/ 4 GB, Android 9.0, Dual SIM Smartphone), Space Blue
£146 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YNKC9X6

Motorola Moto G8 Power Lite (6,5" HD+ display, 2.3GHz octa-core processor, 16MP triple camera, 5000 mAH battery, Dual SIM, 4/64GB, Android 9), Royal Blue
£144 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-display-octa-core-processor-battery/dp/B085J9DBVH/

Motorola Moto G8 (6,4" HD+ zero-notch display, Qualcomm Snapdragon SD665, 16MP main camera, 2MP macro camera, 4000 mAH battery, Dual SIM, 4/64GB, Android 10, Pearl White
£172 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-zero-notch-display-Qualcomm-Snapdragon/dp/B0846HHQXP/

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
country/provider: US/Verizon

Alright, so, my mom's got a Samsung Galaxy Note 5. She is not a fan of it(neither am I), and while charging last night it seems to have kicked the bucket, no force restart methods work and the red light is slowly glowing on and off every 10 or so seconds. nothing is working to get it turned on, so I'm going to say it's a lost cause and use this to get her a new phone.

I use a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, and it's my favorite phone by a country mile, and I want to get one for her. I took her phone to the verizon store and the guy straight up said "yeah it's toast" and recommended I check for "certified pre-owned smart phones" for an affordable replacement.

I know the note 3 is archaic as hell by smart phone standards now, but it still is basically perfect for my needs and only crashes or chugs occasionally. funny enough, the one thing that completely kills it constantly is videos on twitter in a browser, as soon as one starts autoplaying if I minimize the browser or move away in any form, it makes my phone almost lock up from the processing or straight up hard crash and reboot. fuckin twitter.

but anyways, where would the best place to find a good condition, reasonably cheap Samsung Galaxy Note 3? and does the note 3 use the same SIM card type as the note 5, so I can just swap that over to the note 3 and just be done with it? I assume I'd have to take it to the verizon store to activate it or add it to my family's account, right? I can spend around 300-400 dollars straight up, but would obviously want to spend as little as possible getting a replacement phone for her.

sourdough
Apr 30, 2012

Moo the cow posted:

I have a Moto G4 Play: 8GB 1GB RAM

I like it, but it is slow as poo poo. e.g. if I am playing a podcast with Podcast Addict, unlocking the phone has a 3 second delay before I can enter my code.
Likewise, swapping to an open app has a similar delay.

I am guessing that the 1GB memory is the problem?



a) anything I can do to resolve this?
b) what is recommended as a replacement?
There are so many Moto Gs, I am not sure which one hits the sweet spot. I am not a power user: mostly forums, few speciality apps and it would nice if it were one of them with a decent camera.
Not important: battery life, storage, youtube, gaming

Pricing is all over the place on amazon:

Motorola Moto G8 Power Lite (6,5" HD+ display, 2.3GHz octa-core processor, 16MP triple camera, 5000 mAH battery, Dual SIM, 4/64GB, Android 9), Arctic Blue
£144 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-display-octa-core-processor-battery/dp/B085JBFZVR/

Motorola One Macro (6,2 Inch HD Plus Display, Macro Vision Camera, 64 GB/ 4 GB, Android 9.0, Dual SIM Smartphone), Space Blue
£146 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YNKC9X6

Motorola Moto G8 Power Lite (6,5" HD+ display, 2.3GHz octa-core processor, 16MP triple camera, 5000 mAH battery, Dual SIM, 4/64GB, Android 9), Royal Blue
£144 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-display-octa-core-processor-battery/dp/B085J9DBVH/

Motorola Moto G8 (6,4" HD+ zero-notch display, Qualcomm Snapdragon SD665, 16MP main camera, 2MP macro camera, 4000 mAH battery, Dual SIM, 4/64GB, Android 10, Pearl White
£172 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-zero-notch-display-Qualcomm-Snapdragon/dp/B0846HHQXP/

Yeah your phone is old and very underspecced at this point, nothing is going to make it good. How much does a Pixel 3a cost for you? It’s top tier camera, will actually get software updates for another year or two unlike those Motos, and is the default recommendation for budget/mid range option that just works well. The only reason to go for something like the Moto G8 Power (and not the Lite one probably) is if you want battery life above all. And unless the price is wildly different, the 3a seems better than any of those for what you’re prioritizing.

Endless Mike
Aug 13, 2003



Please buy your mother something that is not a six year old phone. I know you are happy with yours, but with your budget, you can get a new mid-range phone that will be faster, have longer battery life, run mostly up to date software, have an actual warranty, and will get security updates. Duckman might be able to offer some Verizon-specific recommendations, but looking through Best Buy, there's some Motorolas, the Pixel 3a, and some other stuff that would fit the bill.

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

Captain Invictus posted:

country/provider: US/Verizon

Alright, so, my mom's got a Samsung Galaxy Note 5. She is not a fan of it(neither am I), and while charging last night it seems to have kicked the bucket, no force restart methods work and the red light is slowly glowing on and off every 10 or so seconds. nothing is working to get it turned on, so I'm going to say it's a lost cause and use this to get her a new phone.

I use a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, and it's my favorite phone by a country mile, and I want to get one for her. I took her phone to the verizon store and the guy straight up said "yeah it's toast" and recommended I check for "certified pre-owned smart phones" for an affordable replacement.

I know the note 3 is archaic as hell by smart phone standards now, but it still is basically perfect for my needs and only crashes or chugs occasionally. funny enough, the one thing that completely kills it constantly is videos on twitter in a browser, as soon as one starts autoplaying if I minimize the browser or move away in any form, it makes my phone almost lock up from the processing or straight up hard crash and reboot. fuckin twitter.

but anyways, where would the best place to find a good condition, reasonably cheap Samsung Galaxy Note 3? and does the note 3 use the same SIM card type as the note 5, so I can just swap that over to the note 3 and just be done with it? I assume I'd have to take it to the verizon store to activate it or add it to my family's account, right? I can spend around 300-400 dollars straight up, but would obviously want to spend as little as possible getting a replacement phone for her.

Sorry man, but this is a little bit of just lol. The Note 3 is a CDMA calling phone, so Verizon won’t even activate it because CDMA is being killed at the end of the year. We’re hesitant here to recommend a year old phone, let alone a phone from like, loving 2013.

FYI the oldest phones that are LTE calling and supported is the Note 5 and Samsung S6 I think. Don’t but those phones though.

If it helps, Samsung kind of missed on the Note 5, so even new it was not their best model phone (obviously not as bad as the Note 7).


So I don’t think Verizon specifically has a promo (but I also still am not back in store so I could be wrong), but you could probably find a promotion on a Samsung S10/10+, or a Note 9 at this point. If she’s comfortable with a Samsung I get wanting to stick with it.

Typing it out , if she doesn’t need a S Pen I would hunt for a S10 or 10+ deal, it’s big screen and still recent where Samsung will support it. It’s also, and this is key, newer than a loving Samsung Note 3.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
genuine question, why are you hesitant to recommend a year old or older phone? a need to be on the cutting edge, or some other reason? this is for an old lady who uses her phone for facebook, call people and play puzzle bobble and jigsaw puzzle apps, she doesn't need something new or complicated. She has generally liked the samsung phones either of us have had(the Note 5 being the exception, but was still usable), the one iphone I got her was a nightmare for her.

my limit for a phone for her is $400. the S10/S10+ are out of my price range, even with the discounts I found they were still 200+ more than my max. if the note 3 won't be activated by verizon because of some tech obsolescence then that's one thing, she likes my phone and its ease of use which is why I wanted to go with it despite being older, so that's a shame I can't just grab a 70 dollar new in box one off ebay and add it to my account.

this one's at my exact price limit, would it be sufficient? https://www.verizon.com/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-a51/

ratings seem to average around 4 stars, with people complaining about battery life and such. battery life is irrelevant since we've got Ankers, but if it's got some other unlisted glaring flaw then I'll skip it. if it's good enough other than the battery, then I'll go grab one tomorrow.

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer
Samsung A51 is fine. Current medium Samsung phone.


Buying old phone models is just asking for random tech issues , hardware issues , etc. they tend to be forgotten after a few years, so that’s why it’s like “don’t start behind the curve.”

I will say, I probably got fixated on the Note brand due to the note 3, hence recommending a S10, but I agree you won’t find a S10 isn’t ya to price range. for someone with basic needs the A51 is fine. If it helps, I really think it will be as ease of use as a Note 3 is , honest to god.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
excellent, the ease of use is key, as I'm sure if you've dealt with old people who look at technology like my grandmother viewed my nintendo 64 as voodoo magic, you understand.

she has unstable hands so I'll have to get her cases and screen protectors and all that so she doesn't immediately break it, but at least it should work fine for her.

and I do get the hardware malfunctions and such with older phones, but for basic uses combined with them being a comparative pittance on ebay for literally brand new ones, it's very tempting to just go with an old one. not being allowed on the account due to unsupported tech is a killer though, yeah.

Thanks for the help!

Space Gopher
Jul 31, 2006

BLITHERING IDIOT AND HARDCORE DURIAN APOLOGIST. LET ME TELL YOU WHY THIS SHIT DON'T STINK EVEN THOUGH WE ALL KNOW IT DOES BECAUSE I'M SUPER CULTURED.

Captain Invictus posted:

and I do get the hardware malfunctions and such with older phones, but for basic uses combined with them being a comparative pittance on ebay for literally brand new ones, it's very tempting to just go with an old one. not being allowed on the account due to unsupported tech is a killer though, yeah.

There are reasons old phones are cheap, and it's not just that everybody wants to be super fashionable on the cutting edge.

Even "basic use" in the modern world means putting a lot of your life onto your phone. Security is very important, and regular updates are your first line of defense. Google is gradually getting better about providing OS-library-level updates that aren't gated behind phone manufacturer and sometimes even carrier approval - but a few years after launch, updates for any phone will be hard to come by. Samsung is notably bad at this. They would very much prefer you keep buying new phones.

Also, lithium-ion batteries have a finite lifespan. They degrade faster as they go through charge cycles, but they'll eventually go bad just sitting in a box on the shelf. Good quality replacements for older phones are hard to find, and external batteries eventually won't solve problems like the phone dying in cold weather. Plenty of "old dying phone" glitches just come from the battery not being able to sustain like-new voltages under heavy load.

The only phone manufacturer who's made even a few steps towards prioritizing longevity is Apple, and they're just making a token effort so people keep paying for iCloud and the rest of their service platform. Android is even more of a wonderland of planned obsolescence and "why would we spend money updating your old device for free, when the other option is that you pay us for a new one?" If you and your mom prefer Android/TouchWiz/OneUI quirks to iOS quirks, then you're better off buying new mid-market phones over old flagships.

Impotence
Nov 8, 2010
Lipstick Apathy

Space Gopher posted:

Samsung is notably bad at this. They would very much prefer you keep buying new phones.

I honestly' wouldn't recommend samsung to anyone anymore. While the hardware is fine, they introduce more and more bullshit, from unremovable, undisableable, push notification full-panel ads for other samsung products, forking old versions of the AOSP browser into lovely, vulnerability-filled "Samsung Browser", unremovable Bixby stuff and various bloatware garbage

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

Biowarfare posted:

I honestly' wouldn't recommend samsung to anyone anymore. While the hardware is fine, they introduce more and more bullshit, from unremovable, undisableable, push notification full-panel ads for other samsung products, forking old versions of the AOSP browser into lovely, vulnerability-filled "Samsung Browser", unremovable Bixby stuff and various bloatware garbage

There’s just limited good options because Android is a bit of a dumpster fire at the moment.

Samsung still has all the bloatware stuff. Nothing has changed their in 10 years.

Motorola makes decent mid range phones , but now they’re doing the Razr flip phone thing which just doesn’t work. To be fair, their entry level phones are solid.

LG is worse than Samsung.

Google really has some flaws with the Pixel 4, and the 3a is over a year old now.

And in the US at least, customers take it as a binary choice, which is usually “Apple or Samsung,” with some people on the lower cost end looking at Motorola. So....it’s not changing anytime soon.

Moo the cow
Apr 30, 2020

sourdough posted:

Yeah your phone is old and very underspecced at this point, nothing is going to make it good. How much does a Pixel 3a cost for you? It’s top tier camera, will actually get software updates for another year or two unlike those Motos, and is the default recommendation for budget/mid range option that just works well. The only reason to go for something like the Moto G8 Power (and not the Lite one probably) is if you want battery life above all. And unless the price is wildly different, the 3a seems better than any of those for what you’re prioritizing.

Thanks for the advice.

The Pixel 3a goes for £300 here: twice the price of all the Moto Gs I listed and I am not sure I can justify the cost, given how light a user of the phone I am
(I usually use a PC or a tablet, so the phone gets most of its use as a podcast player. Even the camera is a minor use as I usually carry a real camera when I go out, so it's mostly just occasional snapshots)

Any more thoughts?

Smashing Link
Jul 8, 2003

I'll keep chucking bombs at you til you fall off that ledge!
Grimey Drawer
I think Sundar Pichai mentioned a little while ago that Google will be investing more R&D into the Pixel line, possibly even designing new chips like Apple. I am hoping the Pixel 6 or 7 or whenever this happens will be a big improvement, but I will stick with my Razer II til then. What I want most in my next phone is small size, no bloatware, and AI call screening so Pixel it is.

Pharnakes
Aug 14, 2009
Looking for a phone to replace my Samsung s7 edge.

If it hadn't broken I wouldn't be looking for a new phone for at least a year, so I'm not really looking for an upgrade as such.

Priorities are durability, battery life, price, camera quality in about that order. Would like to avoid spending more than £200, ideally not more than £150.

Maugrim
Feb 16, 2011

I eat your face

Pharnakes posted:

Looking for a phone to replace my Samsung s7 edge.

If it hadn't broken I wouldn't be looking for a new phone for at least a year, so I'm not really looking for an upgrade as such.

Priorities are durability, battery life, price, camera quality in about that order. Would like to avoid spending more than £200, ideally not more than £150.

How durable does it need to be? There are some out there built specifically for ruggedness but if you just want it to survive the occasional drop, I'd suggest looking at the Moto G8 Power and keep it in its case.

Pharnakes
Aug 14, 2009
Rugged as possible.

I got the S7 originally because of it's waterproofing mainly, it died because it dropped in the parlour and a cow trod on it :v:

I'm not necessarily expecting a phone that can take that but, yeah, durability is definitely the number 1 priority.


I swear she did it on purpose as well the bitch

Maugrim
Feb 16, 2011

I eat your face
For your budget there aren't that many really rugged phones about, but you do have options. CAT is the best known brand in the UK and the CAT S31 is exactly 200 quid on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B076PBM1YS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_SGK6EbNJACJQS

There's also a great deal currently on the Blackview BV5900 but I have no idea if it's any good. (e: 32GB storage vs 16GB would be a very good reason to go for this one over the CAT S31 imo)

Maugrim fucked around with this message at 23:37 on Jun 17, 2020

AnonymousNarcotics
Aug 6, 2012

we will go far into the sea
you will take me
onto your back
never look back
never look back
Does anyone have a recommendation for a screen protector for the Galaxy Note 10+? I don't trust any review sites bc of affiliate marketing etc and the ones I bought to try were poo poo (Zagg)

Spikes32
Jul 25, 2013

Happy trees
Debating between the pixel 3 and pixel 3a. Almost the same price point now. The 3 has worse battery life and no headphone jack, with better performance. 3a's headphone jack and battery might make up for the performance hit, but I'm curious if there's anything else I'm missing or another competitor at a similar price point.

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

Spikes32 posted:

Debating between the pixel 3 and pixel 3a. Almost the same price point now. The 3 has worse battery life and no headphone jack, with better performance. 3a's headphone jack and battery might make up for the performance hit, but I'm curious if there's anything else I'm missing or another competitor at a similar price point.

Not sure on alternatives , but I would take the 3 over the 3a. Build, performance, wireless charging, battery is still pretty good.

Facebook Aunt
Oct 4, 2008

wiggle wiggle




Any opinions on flip phones or bar phones for olds? Are they all basically the same?

Last year I gave my old smartphone to my mom after her flip phone died. She likes google maps and plays one game, but finds it infuriating to use as an actual phone. She'll call a business and then they do the [press # for thing] and she looks back at her phone and the numpad has disappeared. She gets frustrated and doesn't remember which icon brings it back. And sometimes when she's talking on the phone her ear hits the mute button and then things go to hell as both parties go "hello? are you still there?" and the other guy hangs up before she remembers to look to see if it has muted again. It's a moto e 2nd edition from 2015 so I've considered that a better smartphone might be less aggravating, but then again it might be pissing away money on a technology that just doesn't suit her.

What I'm looking for is
  • Physical numpad (she doesn't text).
  • Largest screen possible with physical buttons, because her eyes are old and suck.
  • Some version of google maps or alternative would be great, but doesn't seem common on dumb phones.
  • Good battery life.
  • 4G I guess. 3G isn't being phased out until 2025, but she'd be mad if her phone still worked then and she had to replace it. (She was mad when 2G was phased out and she had to replace a perfectly good flip phone.)

Canada. These are the bands available:
4G LTE and LTE Advanced: 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 1900 MHz and 2100 MHz downlink and 1700 MHz uplink (AWS).
HSPA: 850 MHz, 1900 MHz (UMTS).

Thanks.

Uthor
Jul 9, 2006

Gummy Bear Heaven ... It's where I go when the world is too mean.
Last I looked, Nokia still made pretty good dumb phones, but none of them worked on the network my mom uses. Otherwise, whatever is cheap from the carrier you use.

(I'm about to get my mom an iPhone years after she gave up a Windows Phone to go back to a flip phone. Figures crossed.)

taiyoko
Jan 10, 2008


I could use a recommendation for a plan.

Current: Mint Mobile's $20/3GB (price being that low by paying for a full 6 months up front)

Phone: unlocked Pixel 2

Budget: Willing to go up to $35/month for similar data, something not on T-Mobile

So the reason I'm looking to switch off Mint is because although I had ok-ish reception at home at when I first got it, I'm now exclusively using Wi-fi calling at home because I get absolutely no signal. I have overheard some scuttlebutt that something happened with the towers when T-Mo merged with Sprint that has hosed up reception around here. I don't get a signal at home or at work, and I'm frustrated with the fact that MMS (including group texts) just Does Not Work At All on Wi-fi Calling. I get a notification that there's a new MMS to download, but it won't download unless I'm on LTE. I looked at Visible, but apparently the Pixel 2 is not supported with their BYOD and I'm not looking to replace a phone I just bought last year and is working well.

Impotence
Nov 8, 2010
Lipstick Apathy

taiyoko posted:

I could use a recommendation for a plan.

Current: Mint Mobile's $20/3GB (price being that low by paying for a full 6 months up front)

Phone: unlocked Pixel 2

Budget: Willing to go up to $35/month for similar data, something not on T-Mobile


Assuming you want prepaid as well and assuming you do not want sprint, if you're ok with paying 12 months, u/u/5gb is $20 x 12: https://www.boom.us/xtreme360/ lets you choose between Verizon, ATT, or Tmo (guess by colour, purple is TMO - they own a trademark on shade of magenta).

VoLTE does not work on ATT BYOD, unless device is ATT branded (hit or miss really, ATT chooses whether or not to enable it by idiotic policy).

They have a 30 day free SIM trial (mix of 450 items, MB/sms/minutes) somewhere in the individual plans menu that's explicitly $0 to add to cart. I'd order that first before paying upfront.

All MVNOs are deprioritized below normal users across basically every carrier, so if you have heavy existing presence of, say, Verizon, you may want to go direct

Impotence fucked around with this message at 05:06 on Jun 21, 2020

Mr. Crow
May 22, 2008

Snap City mayor for life
I'm probably in the market for a new phone but haven't kept up with them... I want something with as close to pure android as possible but is also cheap / small.

I have a Nexus 6p that I'm trying to root but getting errors while sideloading it... not sure how much effort I care to put into getting this working as I'm pretty sure the phone's hardware is just garbage. My wife got a Pixel 3a last fall, is this still probably the best option for the above? Any bullshit surprise hardware issues like the 6p that we've found out about?

regulargonzalez
Aug 18, 2006
UNGH LET ME LICK THOSE BOOTS DADDY HULU ;-* ;-* ;-* YES YES GIVE ME ALL THE CORPORATE CUMMIES :shepspends: :shepspends: :shepspends: ADBLOCK USERS DESERVE THE DEATH PENALTY, DON'T THEY DADDY?
WHEN THE RICH GET RICHER I GET HORNIER :a2m::a2m::a2m::a2m:

Gotta say I'm shocked there's a 6p out in the wild that hasn't fallen prey to the boot loop death knell. I loved my 6p while it worked but drat did it die hard and fast.

Mr. Crow
May 22, 2008

Snap City mayor for life
Especially with the abuse I've given it, I've tomahawked it a few times out of my pack while mountain biking. I've only had to replace the battery once and while it definitely has hardware issues I think part of the cause was battery related because a lot of my random reboot issues were gone after getting rid of the original battery. Been having pretty bad performance lately as well, a lot of system freezes but I was able to root it this weekend adn it's been pretty responsive and feels like a new phone again despite the GPS still being hosed, pretty sure I've just banged the sensor around to many times.

anakha
Sep 16, 2009


regulargonzalez posted:

Gotta say I'm shocked there's a 6p out in the wild that hasn't fallen prey to the boot loop death knell. I loved my 6p while it worked but drat did it die hard and fast.

Outside of a couple of battery replacements, my 6P is still going strong. I'm shocked as well.

lwoodio
Apr 4, 2008

Can someone recommend family plans for

Phone 1- ~7GB per month, possible need to use as mobile hotspot
Phone 2- ~1GB per month
Phone 3- business phone that will not need data

Am I better off without a family plan due to the difference in data use?

SouthShoreSamurai
Apr 28, 2009

It is a tale,
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.


Fun Shoe
Country/Provider: US - Verizon

Current contract status: Monthly - out of contract

Budget (phone/plan): No reasonable limit

Features I know I want: I use my phone for gaming and streaming music/pods mostly.

I've been in iPhones for a while now, I'm not really looking to change. My bigger question is whether the 11 is worth paying double the XR for. If I can get 90% the performance of the 11 for half the price kind of thing.

(I also take pictures/vids of the family, but I already thought those look great on older iPhones)

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Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

lwoodio posted:

Can someone recommend family plans for

Phone 1- ~7GB per month, possible need to use as mobile hotspot
Phone 2- ~1GB per month
Phone 3- business phone that will not need data

Am I better off without a family plan due to the difference in data use?

Do you own your own business , and have you owned it more than 2 years ?

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