Lets Talk Cell Phones

originally posted by: elevatedone
Why 2022 ? If I may ask.

I'll be eligible for a mostly free upgrade at that point and this one will certainly last to that point.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Cool. Free is good.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I cut out the inside of the Bixby button on the inside of my otter box case, only did that after they got rid of the option to turn that button off. I have a sg8+ . Use to make me so mad everytime I hit that dang button by mistake. Bad placement for a useless app.

originally posted by: elevatedone
a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Cool. Free is good.

Free?
Is that like a free toothbrush from the dentist?

Most of the free phones I see are only if you sign up for 24 or 30 months of service.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
Most of the free phones I see are only if you sign up for 24 or 30 months of service.

Which I do and I don't really care what the plan costs since work picks up the tab anyhow.

Don't bother upgrading to 5g,. 5g can't go through buildings,. Hence why the reason for lockdowns with all the 5g towers sprouting up,. Funny how the people who are forcing 5g on everyone else don't want it anywhere near themselves..

originally posted by: elevatedone
Hey everyone, hope you're all doing well.

It's that time again, time to upgrade the ole cell phone. Been doing some research and wanted to come to you guys for thoughts, concerns etc.

Been researching this ever since I decided to remove myself from the surveillance state as much as possible...

Best OS I've found seems to be GrapheneOS, but it is only supported on google phones - so get an old Pixel 3a(XL), and install GrapheneOS. Most apps work with it, but no Navigator (yet)...

I do really like using Navigator, so I'm planning on getting an older phone linked to a dummy gmail account that I use only for navigating, and just buy burner SIMs for it, keep it in the car, and only use it for navigating.

I have a s20 ultra... Love it.

The 120hz makes it a little easier on my eyes if I'm doing some extended reading, which I love to do.

If you don't use a phone much, a base s21 or iphone 12 will do all you need very quickly with less of a footprint in the pocket (where you keep your phone and wallet).

The s21 ultra can use the S pen, but it doesn't come with it, and it doesn't go in the phone, so a case or using it at home will have to suffice. No expandable memory, that kills it for some, but you can always double up on memory for 50 bucks and you should be good at 256gb.

I always tell people not to overpay if they're not going to use everything. If you're happy with a decent phone now, get a decent phone next. If you use your phone a lot however, don't deprive yourself.

When it comes to tech, I don't mind spending a bit more.

I went from a Galaxy S8, that had it's lithium ion battery decide to become a balloon one morning, to a S20+ and, honestly, the difference in performance is noticeable. The S8 got a bit sluggish for me if I didn't take care to close apps every few days. With the S20 that isn't the case - at all. Every so often I realize that I've got dozens of apps running in the background and never noticed as the phone never slowed down at all.

Another person suggested the S20 FE and, at least in my view, it seems to be the best bang for the buck phone on the US market.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

The lack of expandable memory is what kills a lot of phones for me, I need to be able to plug in a micro SD as I will typically exceed even the 256 offered model. I was actually looking at one of the Asus gaming phones that has 1 TB, but I'm not a huge fan of the price point. Sticking with my amazingly bad Pixel 3 for the time being.