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slidebite posted:What's the go-to Android based phone with a decent display, minimal, if any bloatware (I loathe Samsung because of this) AND has a headphone jack? I use it outside so a bright display is really nice. Pixel 5a 5G maybe?
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Apr 8, 2022 00:55
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slidebite posted:Can you still buy those new or do you need to troll used? Going to the Google store only the 6 shows as an option It shows an option for me.  https://store.google.com/us/product/pixel_5a_5g?hl=en-US
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Apr 8, 2022 19:16
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Farecoal posted:My Moto G Power (2020 model because Motorola loves confusing product names) is starting to show it's age. I've liked Motorola, I've used them for the past couple of phones, but apparently the new Moto G Power kind of sucks? I was looking at either the Moto G Stylus 5G or Nokia X100 as a replacement. I just want a relatively budget phone that doesn't have manufacturer bloat. The main thing with Motorola is that their software support is absolutely abysmal. I bought two Motorola phones last year because I like the hardware and the minimal spin on Android, but ended up buying a Pixel 6 this year because I was tired of the endless lies that my Motorola One 5G Ace would get updated past Android 10 "soon." As of today, it is still stuck on Android 10, but the Motorola reps are saying that not only will it get Android 11, but it will also get Android 12. Yeah, right. If you don't care about updates (Motorola frequently lags on security updates, too, despite only doing them every other month) then Motorola could meet your needs. I don't know how Nokia is about updates, but it's pretty much a given that they are better than Motorola. Also, I don't know if the app you are using would be impacted by this, but you should be aware that Google is planning to remove apps from the app store if they fall behind too far. It's not slated to start until November, but it probably doesn't hurt to be aware of it: https://www.androidpolice.com/play-store-hide-old-apps-api-security/
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Apr 14, 2022 05:13
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Farecoal posted:The Pixel 6 is pretty expensive, and the X100 is apparently a T-Mobile exclusive The Pixel 5a 5G is pretty highly recommended, and the Pixel 6a is supposed to launch next month, so those are options beyond the Pixel 6. I strongly considered the 5a 5G myself but the specs are so close to the Motorola One 5G Ace I was moving away from that I had a hard time justifying what was spec-wise a sidegrade. The preliminary reports are that the Pixel 6a will have the cameras of the 5a but the processor of the 6, so it might be a less expensive but promising option.
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Apr 15, 2022 05:07
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. Unfortunately I can't seem to find any recent budget phones that at least match my current Moto G Power (apparently the new Moto G releases are slower than before thanks to a worse chipset), so I might end up going for a Pixel 6 anyway. Ugh
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Farecoal posted:No headphone jack Ah, yeah, 3.5mm jacks are disappearing. I don't know if a USB-to-3.5mm adapter would work for your purposes, and haven't run into a situation where I've needed one myself. Now that I think about it I should probably get one just in case, just for the edge cases I very occasionally run into where connecting a phone to computer audio is helpful. Edit: This spurred to go ahead and order an adapter just in case, so by next week I should at least have the option myself. $12.99 for an official Google USB-C to 3.5mm adapter at Best Buy, which is probably overkill but 
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Apr 15, 2022 05:56
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T.C. posted:Okay, so I have a pixel 6. I really like it as a phone, but it's too big. It's been months and it's still annoying. I might downgrade to the five, which is still a bit bigger than I'd like but not the worst. The pixel 3 was a pretty good size, in my mind. The Pixel 6a is supposed to be out next month which should be a little smaller than 6. I've heard good things about the 5a 5G, too. Small phones are getting fewer and farther between - the market has really tended toward phablets. Personally the 6 is a comfortable size for, but my last phone was the size of a Pixel 6 Pro and that was really on the edge of too big for me.
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Apr 23, 2022 07:14
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Duckman2008 posted:B. Outright price wise, $300 or lower you’re looking at Motorola. Which, they’re ok but you’re just not getting a consistent phone at that price. I’d probably recommend something like the Samsung A42 (or 52) for $400. You’re at least getting more reliable software updates , it is not made all of glass (but doesn’t do wireless charging) and is a big step up from the cheap phones. As the owner of two current Motorola phones I feel compelled to point out that their software support is just incredibly bad, like hard to believe how bad it is. Do not believe anything they say about updates, especially not Android version updates. They only put out security updates once every 2 months, and they still frequently fall behind on those. They lag a year or more on Android version updates, or just renege on their promise to update phones at all. If you care about timely updates or an up to date phone then avoid Motorola. This has apparently been the case since Lenovo acquired them. It's sad, because I really the like the phones themselves, but it is absolutely stunning how terrible the software support is. https://www.computerworld.com/article/3655737/android-12-upgrade-report-card.html?page=2#toc-4
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Apr 24, 2022 10:46
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Cowman posted:My kid finally broke her phone and I'm looking for a replacement ASAP. It was an old Samsung Galaxy so we're looking at Android phones. The Pixel 6a could be announced in a couple days. If it is urgent then maybe a Pixel 5a 5G? If she is used to Samsung bloatware then there are a lot of models I am unfamiliar with out there.
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May 10, 2022 18:14
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Cowman posted:Turns out she needs a new phone by Saturday so I went ahead and ordered the Pixel 6 since it has a better camera and seems better in general. The 5a 5g didn't seem to fulfill everything she needs so I went with the 6. Thanks for the suggestion though! I like my Pixel 6 - hope it works well for her.
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May 10, 2022 20:46
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Timby posted:Phone: Moto G Power 2021 If you set up autopay then the same plan on Verizon prepaid would be $45 to start, then $40 after 3 months of service, then $35 after 9 months. I'm not sure about T-Mobile pricing but I assume they would have something comparable. I tried to check Tracfone pricing but their site isn't working properly right now.
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May 18, 2022 06:40
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K8.0 posted:People are going to tell you the P6P and P6 have the best Android cameras. I'm going to tell you the P6 is a total piece of poo poo that consistently takes worse pictures than my Pixel 2. I will say it's better for video, though, but not by a ton. I'm happy with the camera on my Pixel 6.
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May 29, 2022 04:04
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K8.0 posted:If you want a fingerprint sensor worth a poo poo, do not get a Pixel 6. Front fingerprint sensors are cancer so you're hosed either way, but it seems that the P6 has among the worst of them. All those things are fine on my Pixel 6, so maybe the truth is in the middle or something? I've been using the Pixel 6 as my daily driver for months, and my experience is like the opposite of what you are describing. Aside from us both agreeing it's fast.
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Jun 20, 2022 21:39
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K8.0 posted:It's not an AT&T problem, it's a Verizon problem. Verizon bought TracFone and thus Straight Talk and they've been running it straight into the ground, which is why I already switched away. Her phone is one of the newer Samsung phones from AT&T's approved devices list as of January or February, it's definitely account fuckery and not a device problem. Thankfully I was finally able to reach someone that could force-activate her SIM so it could be transferred but holy gently caress their service is so bad now. My impression is that which carrier is good is highly dependent on geography - around here Verizon is easily the most reliable and consistent, T-Mobile is the worst, and AT&T is somewhere in the middle. In another part of the country it's going to be a different ranking. And Verizon buying Tracfone was a questionable regulatory decision that I had qualms about when the news first broke, despite my own phones being on Verizon and Tracfone using Verizon towers. The Sprint/T-Mobile merger shouldn't have been allowed in my opinion, and Verizon buying one of the biggest, oldest, multi-carrier MVNOs seemed like getting into similar territory to me.
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Jul 5, 2022 18:40
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regulargonzalez posted:I think the consensus for best cheap phones are whatever Motorola is in your price range. That depends on whether you care about updates or not. Motorola Android updates are usually slow, if they happen at all, and their security updates are only every two months and frequently late. They also often don't support their phones as long as other manufacturers - the $400 Motorola One 5G Ace I bought last year hits end of support in January 2023, for instance. With Motorola the hardware is fine, but the software support is terrible. This is coming from someone who bought two Motorola phones last year and really liked them, until the software support problem became unbearable and I jumped to a Pixel 6 this year.
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Jul 22, 2022 18:33
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Dejan Bimble posted:Iphone xr and under 30 dollars My secondary phone is on a Tracfone plan (using Verizon towers) that costs me $21.55 per month including fees and such. Unlimited talk, text, and 1GB of data per month. The data rolls over each month, so it just builds up over time since I don't use that phone for much of anything, and now has like 9 or 10GB of data banked up. If you don't need much data something like that might work for you. My primary phone is on Verizon prepaid and gets 5GB of data per month (no rollover) and at this point costs me $26.25 per month. That's with a discount for autopay and a couple discounts for having had the plan for over 9 months. I don't use much data, so the 5GB is overkill for me, but I like not having to worry about it.
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Aug 2, 2022 23:35
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I liked LG and owned a whole sequence of their phones, but very well might have been lucky and only had better models. I did appreciate their minimal spin on Android, which is part of why I'm now on a Pixel.
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Sep 2, 2022 19:05
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Duckman2008 posted:In theory no, they should see where it’s now coming from. Disclaimer that I’ve never actually done it, but I think it would be ok. Yeah, I don't know for sure, but it seems like differentiation by phone number is way less a thing than it used to be. How many landline phone numbers got ported to VoIP, for instance? And with number portability the differentiation between carriers got watered way down, too. My personal phone number started off as a Verizon number, then went through Cricket, Boost, and AT&T before coming back to Verizon. Like, around here if I saw 541-915-XXXX I used to know it was an AT&T cellphone, but now I can't be sure. Hell, even area codes are less meaningful than they used to be.
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Oct 3, 2022 04:09
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pandy fackler posted:Hello thread. I am not wealthy and hitherto my available phone options have been "whatever is cheap". Fortunately I have a job with good employee benefits and I just discovered that they will reimburse a phone purchase for up to $700 once every 3 years. With this budget in mind, I would appreciate some recommendations for a phone with an android operating system. Honestly, if work only pays for a new phone every 3 years then you probably want to go higher in the product stack for longevity of both performance and updates, which does indeed usually mean no headphone jack and no SD card. Newer phones come with more onboard storage space, so are you really sure you need the SD card slot? My Pixel 6 has 128GB onboard and so far I'm not even close to that limit. You can go up to 256GB or 512GB on storage space on a lot of phones. If you really want secondary storage you could get low-profile USB-C thumb drives, or a USB-C to USB-A adapter and use whatever, just with less convenience. They also make wireless storage devices - I have a thumb drive around here with its own wireless transmitter so I can access it using wifi, and a much larger portable drive that does the same (but needs external power to work). Headphone jacks can be added using USB-C adapters as well, or you can do what I did and dehumanize yourself and face to Bluetooth.
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Oct 6, 2022 18:41
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pandy fackler posted:Thank you. I'm willing to give up the headphone jack if there's an adapter option. I did bite the bullet and switch over to Bluetooth headphones, but the thing is that my friends and family are often using pretty old audio production equipment and I would still like to have the option to use my phone for music in those situations. I have several thumb drives that have both USB-C and USB-A plugs on them. It seems like they would work well for your transferring needs - plug into the laptop with the USB-A side, copy whatever you need, then plug it into the phone using the USB-C side and copy it onto your phone. I have both of these thumb drives, for instance, which sound like they would accomplish what you describe: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/pny-64...p?skuId=6335301 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandis...oductVariations
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Oct 7, 2022 00:45
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Obama2 posted:Does the starlink for boats plan suck rear end yes or no Are you going on a cruise, or would this be on a private boat? Because for cruises there are often hard-to-find special temporary plans for cellphones that might serve your needs. I briefly worked 3rd party customer support for AT&T and they had a cruise package that was a much better deal than an international roaming package, but you kind of had to know it existed and was hard to find even as an employee.
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Oct 18, 2022 23:20
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Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:Thanks for the input. I really appreciate it. Cell phone camera performance is not best judged by raw megapixel count. It's gotten to a similar point as CPU clockspeed on PCs - it provides some information, but only in vague terms. Pixels have the advantage of a lot of AI processing which makes a difference in how they capture images.
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Oct 25, 2022 19:35
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runawayturtles posted:I currently have a Pixel 3 that's just about dead, so I need a new phone: Maybe the Pixel 6a? It isn't much bigger than the 3, and would meet most of your description. The trend in phones has been generally going big, and I don't see that changing any time soon.
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Nov 4, 2022 06:29
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roomtone posted:i hadn't considered that. That's pretty much what I do with my phones, and even though I have a small number of apps installed I really only regularly use a few of them. I get notifications that Android has removed permissions because I haven't used an app in 3 months with some regularity, although at this point it's slowing down because so many apps have already had their permissions removed via this process.
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Nov 23, 2022 04:36
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I actually bought a bunch of 3.5mm and USB-C stoppers since I use those ports so rarely that I am more concerned about them collecting dust/lint than I am having them in the first place. The phone I am using lives in my pocket, so the better it seals the more comfortable I feel. Of the 5 phones I interact with with any regularity none has an open USB or Lightning port, and of the 4 with 3.5mm jacks only 2 are open, mostly because one is my alarm clock and the other is my work iPhone and I hadn't thought about plugging them (but probably will now that the idea has occurred to me).
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Nov 25, 2022 23:51
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Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:Just got my first new phone in about 11 years - Google Pixel 6 (based on recommendations from this thread) replacing my Samsung Galaxy S3. 1. I just turned that off on my phone. 2. Not sure - haven't felt the need to try. 3. The forward arrow is available from the 3-dot menu in the upper right. 4. I use my old phones as media players, remote controls, alarm clocks, messing around with setting them up as IP cameras, stuff like that.
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Nov 27, 2022 06:59
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CongoJack posted:What is a reasonable price to pay monthly for a phone plan? My family wants to change to Verizon but it would be $60 a month and I don't know if that is reasonable or not. I think a lot of that depends on your needs and usage patterns. Personally I pay $26.25 per month for Verizon prepaid, with unlimited talk/text and 5GB of data. The caveat here being that Verizon doesn't have 5G in my town, so their high-speed 5G being unavailable on my plan means nothing to me. If you use a lot of data, or need the fastest throughput for data, then that will impact what plans and pricing make sense for you.
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Dec 6, 2022 22:55
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CK07 posted:Thank you for being the voice of reason and expertise for my fevered brain. It's so loving stupid that there are a thousand Android phones out there, but only five of them are worth buying. Yeah, the odyssey I went on in that regard over the last couple years was really enlightening. It is remarkable how few actually good phones there are.
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Dec 13, 2022 04:05
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My main memory of actually using the 3.5mm jacks on my phones is mostly that they would invariably end up collecting lint to the point of getting a spotty connection to my headphones and frequently require trying to blow out the port and twist the connector around to make contact. Having a dongle for those rare occasions I actually need a 3.5mm jack is not a big a problem from my point of view.
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Dec 15, 2022 22:24
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Tiggum posted:I've literally never had a single problem with a headphone jack on any device. It's always been something else that broke that forced me to replace them. I use headphones with my current phone almost every day and it's one of the few functions of the phone that's still working perfectly 100% of the time. The USB port, on the other hand, only stays connected so long as I don't move the phone while it's plugged in. And no bluetooth device has ever worked reliably in my experience. Some of that could be differences in how we use devices - I never used 3.5mm headphones that frequently. I only had concerns with USB ports on the old USB-micro style connectors - USB-C is much better. And I use Bluetooth daily without issue, but at this point it is almost all newer and decent quality - Soundcore earbuds, JBL headphones, Jabra and Plantronics earpieces, and so on.
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Dec 16, 2022 10:29
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Arbite posted:In Canada, been a while since I've needed a new phone. I'm seeing an unlocked Motorola One 5G Ace for $299 new. The camera's better, I like having some battery, and the 6 gigs of ram would be a step up, but if something better for about that price can be recommended I'm all ears. DO NOT BUY THAT PHONE. Support ends for it at the end of the month. This month. It's because I bought one of those in 2021 that I bought a Pixel 6 in 2022. The only possible saving grace for the phone is that LineageOS has an updated firmware for it, which I intend to install on mine once Motorola's support for it officially ends. Unless you were already intending to run an alternative ROM it seems like a bad idea to buy one.
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Jan 17, 2023 08:50
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Arbite posted:Eesh, thank you. I'll keep looking then. That would be a better phone and actually has a reasonable support window on it. I'm really happy with my Pixel 6, and I've been considering getting a 6a for my Dad. The Motorola One 5G Ace is actually a nice phone, but the software support is so bad that it made it untenable. A 6a will give you a better camera and better performance than the Ace and will have a support lifespan better than that of a fruitfly. Apparently once Lenovo bought Motorola support for their phones just tanked, and I see no signs of that changing any time soon. I'm weird and have two active phones, so my Ace is still up and running.
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Jan 17, 2023 20:07
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boneration posted:Hey there, my phone is an aging Samsung A8 that the battery has more or less crapped out. I was looking at the Moto G Play from Costco which is three years newer (2021 vs my 2018 Samsung). It's on sale for 149.97 and I was thinking that might be a decent bet for me to upgrade to. But the thing is I tried to compare them online and while I found some comparos the numbers don't mean much to me. Like do I really care about the speed of the cores or whatever? The screen looks like it's lower resolution maybe? If that is actually the Moto G Play (2021) then definitely don't buy it - support for the phone ended last month. I have one that I bought in 2021 because I had not yet learned my lesson that Motorola support is the worst in the business. In general I would advise against Motorola as a brand because their software support is incredibly bad, and their support lifetimes incredibly short. If somewhere is still selling the G Play (2021) it seems like borderline fraud since it is no longer a supported phone.
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Feb 10, 2023 00:28
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Doom Mathematic posted:I'm considering buying a Pixel 6a. It appears to meet my needs in terms of functionality, size and price point. Any showstopper last-minute considerations? Is there some other phone which I should obviously buy instead, or at least consider? Not that I'm aware of. I fairly recently got one for my dad, and I was tempted to give him my 6 instead and keep the 6a. I really like my 6, and the slightly better camera was maybe the biggest factor that made me hang onto it. I liked the size of the 6a a little better and felt like it was easier to hold (especially one-handed), but since I wanted my dad to have a smartphone as easy to handle as possible that also tipped the decision.
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Mar 24, 2023 06:56
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Duckman2008, if I switch from Verizon prepaid to postpaid will I keep the loyalty bonuses I've built up? Verizon has finally started to roll out 5G here, and I'm slowly considering making the jump to have access to C-band 5G instead of just the LTE equivalent. No rush - coverage here is still nowhere near complete.
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Jun 7, 2023 07:08
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Duckman2008 posted:Ymmv, sometimes yes sometimes there is an account specific offer where upgrades can get it. Only way to know is to ask, I would call sales at (800) 256-4646 Okay, thanks! I'll continue to dither about it and look for deals.
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Jun 7, 2023 19:21
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K8.0 posted:I'm not sure if this is the right thread to ask, but I need to get someone a mobile hotspot. It's going to be used almost exclusively maybe 1-2 days a year for replacing home internet when it's down for WFH. The hotspot itself can always be plugged in when in use, and probably a lot of them would be fine, but figuring out what sort of plan to go with that can provide the necessary level of performance without being disgustingly expensive the 99% of the time it's doing nothing is a bit difficult. Ultimately the work is valuable enough that a lot could be justified, but I'd prefer to cost them as little as possible. Is there some sort of data-only plan that can quickly be activated when needed if you already own a hotspot and have a SIM, or is getting hosed just inevitable? Do you have any idea how much data they will need? I keep my secondary phone on a Tracfone plan that has rollover data, partly for reasons like what you describe. I generally don't use that phone, and it just banks 2GB of data every month for roughly $20 on autorefill (I'd have to check exactly what I'm paying - I think it's a little less than that). At this point it has 28.88GB of data saved up, so I have a reserve if I need to use it as a hotspot. CaptainSarcastic fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Jun 15, 2023 |
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Jun 15, 2023 19:25
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For the previous two posts, I would suggest either Pixels or Samsung phones. I personally don't like Samsung phones, but I know a lot of people are happy with them. My Pixel 6 is easily my favorite phone ever, and the Pixel 6a I got my dad is also a great phone. Since both of you talk about keeping phones for a reasonable length of time both Google and Samsung support their phones for a goodly amount of time. For that same reason I would strongly recommend AGAINST Motorola. They have the worst software support of any major phone manufacturer, and reviews of their phones often don't mention this. Since being acquired by Lenovo several years back Motorola has a pattern of lying about Android version updates, short support windows, and late security updates. The hardware itself is often fine, but the software support is worst-in-class.
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Jun 17, 2023 21:40
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Killer_B posted:With either the 6/6A, how has battery life been? Looking on some other boards, folks have complained about their 6's having horrible battery life/getting hot. My battery life is generally good, with the only thing that really will drain me fast being wireless Android Auto. Otherwise with light use I could do 2 days between charges. I do mean pretty light use, though - my work timeclock, occasional searches, and the Awful app are most of what I use. Most of the time I have had the phone I've had it in LTE-only mode since there was no 5G in my town. Now we have some coverage but it's so recent I don't feel like I can say if it has affected my battery life switching to 5G mode or not.
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Jun 18, 2023 07:38
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Duckman2008 posted:Get a pixel 7a and give up the headphone Jack and get an adapter. 
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Jun 29, 2023 04:35
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Branch Nvidian posted:My octogenarian grandfather is on my parents Verizon plan. After some family medical emergencies a few years ago, we forced him to get a cell phone and got a Galaxy A31. Was fine for him initially, but he started getting dick pill ads in the Samsung weather app and he constantly bitched about getting "tweets or twicks" (texts) from scam numbers, so we gave him my late-grandmother's iPhone 6S Plus. He seems to get along with it pretty well, but the battery on it is beyond shot and fluctuates wildly, never knowing if the phone will last a couple hours or a couple days kinda defeats the entire point of giving him a phone in the first place. My dad is an octogenarian, and he was resistant to smartphones until I got him a Pixel 6a this year and showed him how much you can control it with voice commands. He's not a Luddite, though, although he had kind of talked himself into thinking he was incapable of learning new things, which has largely vaporized since he has got more familiar with the phone. He has started texting and actually sent me pictures and poo poo, and is able to stay in better touch with my niece because of it. Not saying that is definitely going to work in your case, but it was close enough I figured I'd share my experience.
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Jul 4, 2023 23:58
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