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Spagghentleman
Jan 1, 2013
There’s a whole Reddit group frothing at the mouth over QWERTY dumb phones. Unless you can use 3G there is absolutely nothing out there.

Just a bunch of group funded projects in concept phase that will more than likely go nowhere.

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Maldraedior
Jun 16, 2002

YOU ARE AN ASININE MORT
after years of abuse and several major surgeries my S8 Active has decided to die and I think instead of resuscitating it I should probably let it go. The main selling point when I got it was the smaller size and the fact that my coworker dropped his 20 feet off a ladder onto a sidewalk and it lived. The Pixel looks like it might be what I want to go with but how sturdy are phones now? Can I grab one off the internet and just move the SIM or do I need to let AT&T know? I rarely use it for games anymore it's mostly for music and youtubes.

CaptainSarcastic
Jul 6, 2013



Maldraedior posted:

after years of abuse and several major surgeries my S8 Active has decided to die and I think instead of resuscitating it I should probably let it go. The main selling point when I got it was the smaller size and the fact that my coworker dropped his 20 feet off a ladder onto a sidewalk and it lived. The Pixel looks like it might be what I want to go with but how sturdy are phones now? Can I grab one off the internet and just move the SIM or do I need to let AT&T know? I rarely use it for games anymore it's mostly for music and youtubes.

The main thing that might require a new SIM card is 5G. AT&T is pretty obnoxious about maintaining a whitelist of phones, but something standard like a Pixel should be fine. Pixels are relatively sturdy, and finding a ruggedized phone in a smaller form factor is probably going to be difficult. My work phone is a Galaxy Xcover 6 Pro, which is mildly ruggedized, but it's also bigger than I would like - it is way bulkier than my personal Pixel 6.

Swapping a SIM between phones isn't usually a big deal, but like I said above about AT&T and some of their obnoxious policies, I can't swear to that. Aside from the possible need for a 5G SIM, though, I doubt you'll see a hassle unless you somehow manage to get a phone they don't have on their whitelist.

Ham Equity
Apr 16, 2013

i hosted a great goon meet and all i got was this lousy avatar
Grimey Drawer

Maldraedior posted:

after years of abuse and several major surgeries my S8 Active has decided to die and I think instead of resuscitating it I should probably let it go. The main selling point when I got it was the smaller size and the fact that my coworker dropped his 20 feet off a ladder onto a sidewalk and it lived. The Pixel looks like it might be what I want to go with but how sturdy are phones now? Can I grab one off the internet and just move the SIM or do I need to let AT&T know? I rarely use it for games anymore it's mostly for music and youtubes.

I am an enormous loving klutz and drop my Pixel phones all the goddamn time on all sorts of surfaces (concrete, tile, carpet, etc.). I've been using Spigen TPU cases for my last couple of phones, and run into no issues with them breaking.

CommonShore
Jun 6, 2014

A true renaissance man


Phone rec please. Ideally under ca$300 but I could grumble and go up to $400 if it meant a boost in how long I can expect the phone to last me.

Canada. Need an unlocked android phone that's rogers network compatible because gently caress contracts.

My priorities are that I hate bloatware, and I rarely use my phone for anything other than IM/texting, listening to podcasts over bluetooth or the phone's speaker, and having a web browser handy if I need it, with the camera as a secondary function. I have virtually no apps installed. I'd probably like something that has about 32gb of storage on top of OS just so I don't get annoyed with messages about running out of space if I queue up a bunch of stuff. I also value durability and battery life. Something that I can open up and repair would also be nice but I know not to hold my breath for that one anymore.

About a year ago someone told me about OnePlus phones, and they sounded good, but since then I've heard that they're not as good as they once were. If there's another brand that fills that "is phone, does smart phone things, no other nonsense" slot, I'd be interested.

Basically I want something that will run smoothly for a few years before I have to upgrade again.

CaptainSarcastic
Jul 6, 2013



CommonShore posted:

Phone rec please. Ideally under ca$300 but I could grumble and go up to $400 if it meant a boost in how long I can expect the phone to last me.

Canada. Need an unlocked android phone that's rogers network compatible because gently caress contracts.

My priorities are that I hate bloatware, and I rarely use my phone for anything other than IM/texting, listening to podcasts over bluetooth or the phone's speaker, and having a web browser handy if I need it, with the camera as a secondary function. I have virtually no apps installed. I'd probably like something that has about 32gb of storage on top of OS just so I don't get annoyed with messages about running out of space if I queue up a bunch of stuff. I also value durability and battery life. Something that I can open up and repair would also be nice but I know not to hold my breath for that one anymore.

About a year ago someone told me about OnePlus phones, and they sounded good, but since then I've heard that they're not as good as they once were. If there's another brand that fills that "is phone, does smart phone things, no other nonsense" slot, I'd be interested.

Basically I want something that will run smoothly for a few years before I have to upgrade again.

It looks like right now Best Buy Canada has the Pixel 7a on sale for $400. It's unlocked, and while I am not familiar with Rogers it would have to be fairly odd to not work with a Pixel.

Rocko Bonaparte
Mar 12, 2002

Every day is Friday!
I have a OnePlus 7T that I don't want to have to repair again so I'm starting to consider a replacement. The day-to-day, raw specs on that phone have been really good and I have fussed with myself over how little it seems stuff has advanced since I got it. The counterpoints to this are pretty simple:

1. The rear case panel is glass and cracks as soon as you sneeze at it. I had replaced it when doing other repairs (see below) and I don't think it survived two weeks before it was screwed up again.
2. The USB-C port is garbage and I've already had to replace it once. It was a really annoying repair that required pulling apart most of the phone for access. I think along the way, I made my pictures fuzzier (probably got the inside of the case by the camera sensor dirty with my goon hands). I don't want to have to do this again, but I have started to see it failing the charge when plugged in again so it's a matter of time.
3. The camera sensors on it were never particularly good. I want to say I don't take many pictures but it might just be a factor of that more than anything else.
4. I think it's been a bit goofy with Bluetooth pairing. Particularly with car Bluetooth systems, it's been on and off and the audio often gets screwed up on the first attempt and I have to restart Bluetooth to try again.

I'd rather stay below $1000 in finding a new phone and am willing to wait through to the end of the year if there are obvious generation changes that will trigger sales. I mostly just browse and shitpost on it so it's probably not even worth considering CPU specs too much. I had pondered just getting the Pixel 8 that Google's slashing, but I don't have to jump on a new phone right away unless that's the best I'll see until, like, December.

Perhaps the only other thing for quality-of-life is I think I'd prefer a more stock Android. I previously had an Essential PH-1 and had become accustomed to its interface over, say, Samsung. OnePlus did their own thing but it wasn't as divergent.

Serephina
Nov 8, 2005

恐竜戦隊
ジュウレンジャー
Hello thread.

New Zealand is cutting off the 3G network later this year, and so I'll need to upgrade within the next few months. My current phone has done everything I ever needed it to, which is why I kinda ignored society's switch to smartphones. Behold, the Samsung GT-b2710:

My one's still going strong, still got memos to myself from 2013 on it.

So! I'm after a dumbphone that will never, ever, touch the internet, not even to update. Brick form factor, compact, preferably water resistant. Must haves: calling, texting, customizable ring and text noises. Colour screen optional. Must not haves: a touchscreen, modern mobile OS's that will probably break. I have previously bitten the bullet and purchased a CAT B35, which looked like it fit the bill on paper, but the second I tried using it I found that its embedded OS (KaiOS) was a unusable disaster, even after updating it.

So I'm looking for, how shall we say, hand-on experience? Anyone got a family member stuck in the stone age like myself whose phone they'd recommend? Yes, I know that the local mall will have a bunch of POS burner phones that I don't feel like buying a dozen of to find out how each is terrible in its own unique way.

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

Serephina posted:

Hello thread.

New Zealand is cutting off the 3G network later this year, and so I'll need to upgrade within the next few months. My current phone has done everything I ever needed it to, which is why I kinda ignored society's switch to smartphones. Behold, the Samsung GT-b2710:

My one's still going strong, still got memos to myself from 2013 on it.

So! I'm after a dumbphone that will never, ever, touch the internet, not even to update. Brick form factor, compact, preferably water resistant. Must haves: calling, texting, customizable ring and text noises. Colour screen optional. Must not haves: a touchscreen, modern mobile OS's that will probably break. I have previously bitten the bullet and purchased a CAT B35, which looked like it fit the bill on paper, but the second I tried using it I found that its embedded OS (KaiOS) was a unusable disaster, even after updating it.

So I'm looking for, how shall we say, hand-on experience? Anyone got a family member stuck in the stone age like myself whose phone they'd recommend? Yes, I know that the local mall will have a bunch of POS burner phones that I don't feel like buying a dozen of to find out how each is terrible in its own unique way.

If you are able to buy the banana phone, buy it

https://www.hmd.com/en_int/nokia-8110-4g


If not any Nokia flip phone is fine

https://www.hmd.com/en_us/feature-phones

cruft
Oct 25, 2007

Samuel Glompers posted:

Is there a qwerty feature phone / dumb phone that will still function in 2024? Praying someone can say yes

I've been using the Light Phone 2. It seems to check many of your boxes.

Serephina posted:

So! I'm after a dumbphone that will never, ever, touch the internet, not even to update.

The Nokia 6300 might be for you! Also check the dumbphone finder at https://josebriones.org/

After recently switching from a Pixel 6 to a Nokia 2780 and then a Light Phone 2 (cruft jr took the nokia), I started a whole thread just for dumbphones, if either of you are interested. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=4052229

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Serephina
Nov 8, 2005

恐竜戦隊
ジュウレンジャー
Thanks for the tips. Nokia bricks aren't sold in NZ for some strange reason, might look into getting one shipped over. Or just buying a series of $30 cheapos and replacing them as they die, as apparently 'nice' dumbphones aren't a market locally =/

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