Need New Phone

[Richard]

Ed P wrote:

I still like the convenience of being able to glance at a watch rather than ‘dig’ for a phone. Having even a cheap ‘smart’ watch on your wrist allows the Bluetooth in it to keep your phone unlocked all the time the two are close. (around 20 ft in this case).

I like a watch, but one needs a specialised battery which needs time for a cross country trip; one is a very elderly wind up and the rest are dead, so I am currently sans watch, though back with Bluetooth earpiece.

I never could juggle and will not start now. I do not have a wallet, a habit from the 40~50 degree C Middle East where jacket and their pockets were a non starter. So I have a small ‘belt wart’ that contains licenses, ID*, cards and money. As I cannot look down I have it arranged for sight free access. The phone, (just) fits in a shirt pocket.

[*Often needed overseas, habit die hard.]

I did not realise either the loss limits or purchase limits on a ‘phone flick, wave or tap and pay’, Almost every transaction of mine these days exceeds those limits. I do not get out much, so go for bulk smash and grab shopping. That might be a limitation on the wave and pay utility value for me. For very small amounts, say <£5, I prefer cash rather than checking off lots of small items at months end. Today’s ‘venture out’ was for my wife to see the out of hours GP. Painful for her, but possibly/hopefully not too serious. I am a bit automated, one car key plus house key right hand pocket, other car and small change in the left pocket, cards, cash, license, ID, etc on my belt, phone in shirt pocket. Once dressed, day or night I am then ready to roll out and respond to whatever has gone wrong, ‘this time’.

Thank you gentlemen, this has been instructive, I do now have a fuller appreciation of different approaches than my own.

[Bob Williams]

Being one-handed for the same reason as PM, with an elbow crutch to my LH side, I have similar problems. Living near an old market town, which has many shops that only take cash, I have to have a pocket for coins, which means the phone cannot go in that pocket of course. For the same reason, I have to take my wallet. That’s a RH rear pocket job. The wallet has so many cards besides debit and credit and is made from material that prevents RF theft: I take out all my cards, because I never know which one I leave behind will actually mean losing something I might need. Or want, a distinction which is blurred by my inability to recognise the difference, now I am knocking on a bit!

I cannot wear a battery-driven Quartz watch. They just stop. Put in new battery, they go. And stop again, within hours. I have learned to live without a watch, but will one day soon buy an automatic, self-wind watch like I once had. When I was single. ?

So if I need to know the time, or the phone calls me, I have to perform a complicated procedure, to access the phone pocket. I have learned not to put it into a shirt pocket, for the same reasons Richard has evidenced. On the other hand, if I am out with SWMBO, I can request a time check from my own personal Timekeeper, followed by the amusement of watching her squint at the tiny face of her minuscule watch. Although I also find, as I get older, that time itself means much less than it once did. I have an ongoing reminder about the passage of time, from my own dear SWMBO.?

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[The Duke]

Amazon US are selling an add supported moto G4 for $120. Now that is a steal. I’m imagining the adds will be akin to how they work on a kindle e reader and fire. Ie the unlock screen. Which for me is totally fine, they don’t get in the way at all.

 

[PlaneMan]

That was in my news feed about 3am this morning, as you say a steal.

[Ed P]

Thanks for all the feedback. I have (temporarily) solved all my phone problems by managing all the convoluted keys to get into recovery mode without falling into (unintelligible) Chinese test routines! This will enable me to put off the inevitable purchase and keep an eye on the offers for Wileyfox etc.  I know that I will need a new phone when the battery gives out in six months or so. (getting battery replacements for more than a year or two is the big downside with a Chibay phone).

I think I’ll add ‘reception/aerial/Good GPS’ on to my wants list as I just spent a week in the ‘Gods Own’ areas of South Devon where one bar and a glimmer of 3G was often all that is available. Not brilliant when you are trying to hike using maps you forgot to download, and the GPS is ‘wonky’. Still the alcohol in the form of cider/ale was a good compensation.??

[blacklion1725]

Ed not sure about current models but my youngest has had a Sony Xperia Z3 for a couple of years, still going strong, and among other things battery life is superb – best I’ve seen on a premium phone, and reception/GPS all top notch.

They have them on ebay £150 – £160 “New” which is a little suspicious given how long these phones have been out, and very good/excellent refurbs for less than that. Just a suggestion, but they look like great value to me (I’d trust the UK refurbs more)

[Author]

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