What smartphone do you use?

[GuitarStv]

... Teams works fine on a desktop BTW.

Bit off-topic, but I never thought I'd see you perjure yourself like this. Teams is barely usable on any platform.

Sorry, I forgot the quotes.  Should have read "fine".  It's still a buggy memory hog, but is running as well as it ever does.

:P

Whoop.  And now my company has said that all employees must use Microsoft's MFA . . . so they gave me a cellphone, as there is no other way to use MSMFA.

[eyesonthehorizon]

... Teams works fine on a desktop BTW.

Bit off-topic, but I never thought I'd see you perjure yourself like this. Teams is barely usable on any platform.

Sorry, I forgot the quotes.  Should have read "fine".  It's still a buggy memory hog, but is running as well as it ever does.

:P

:D
Highly accurate! My faith in you is restored. Sorry you've been shackled to a smartphone after all that. You could always mount a frame for it directly to the wall at home....

[sonofsven]

Just to prove that the google god is always listening, I got an email ad for a new Moto g power (last years model) for $139.
I passed as mine still works fine.

[GuitarStv]

Just to prove that the google god is always listening, I got an email ad for a new Moto g power (last years model) for $139.
I passed as mine still works fine.

If you just wait long enough, people will give you a cellphone.  :P

[maisymouser]

I've been doing well with the Motorola smartphone I picked up for $40 new just before COVID.  Loved my "dumbphone" that I had before that, but finally had to upgrade as 3g service was getting so unreliable at my house that sometimes I wouldn't have service for an entire weekend.  More recently my wife picked up a brand new "Blu" smartphone for $10 that also works great.  No reason to spend triple digits on a smartphone for the average person that just needs standard fare.

Where did your wife get this phone for $10?

[Phenix]

Another vote for the Moto G Power. I'm not a heavy phone user, but there are many conveniences of having a smart phone. As an adjunct professor, I like being able to respond to my students promptly (something I always appreciated as a student) and I can't access my school email from my work computer (though I can scroll through MMM forum all day long). I also really like my daily crossword app, podcasts, and music. I've had my Moto G Power 2021 for 18 months (I believe I paid $199) and I still get 2 solid days of battery life and occasionally push it to 3 when I forget to plug it in on the 2nd day.

Side note: my wife has the Moto G Power 2023 and the first one we received was a dud. I made 5 phone calls to Motorola telling them we needed a replacement, but they could only offer a refurb (but it had only been out for 2 months so there were no refurbs in stock each time I called). Learn from me, just order a new one, report the initial transaction to your credit card company, get your statement credit, and move on. Calling Motorola is very frustrating and it was so much easier to let my credit card company handle the issue.

[BlueMR2]

I've been doing well with the Motorola smartphone I picked up for $40 new just before COVID.  Loved my "dumbphone" that I had before that, but finally had to upgrade as 3g service was getting so unreliable at my house that sometimes I wouldn't have service for an entire weekend.  More recently my wife picked up a brand new "Blu" smartphone for $10 that also works great.  No reason to spend triple digits on a smartphone for the average person that just needs standard fare.

Where did your wife get this phone for $10?

I'm thinking it was Walmart perhaps?

[MayDay]

I have now had three pixels (or maybe one nexus and two pixels?), each bought new fairly soon but not immediately after they came out and each replaced after two years because they became very unreliable in a variety of ways.

I liked the 400-600$ price point but am sick of having issues crop up after a year and continue to get worse for a second year.

At this point I would consider even an iPhone despite disliking/avoiding apple products.

Things I want:
Last at least two years but ideally 3-4
Really good camera (pixel did the job)
Not buggy (I become enraged when tech doesn't just work, I have no patience for it)
Really like touch unlock but I assume that pretty common now, and it's not a hard requirement
Preferably 400-600 but willing to spend more if there is a good argument for why

I was very interested in the Nokia options mentioned in the spring but now it looks like they crapped the bed in some way.

Why is a solid mid priced phone so hard!

[bacchi]

I liked the 400-600$ price point but am sick of having issues crop up after a year and continue to get worse for a second year.

What do you mean by "get worse?" The buttons stop working? Camera gets cloudy?

[jfer_rose]

I bought a Pixel 4 two or three years ago and just noticed last week that it is no longer receiving security updates (and got its last one about a year ago). So I’m wondering how much risk I am taking if I continue using this phone?

It still works for the most part although there is one minor feature that stopped working. I’m mad about the fact that my phone would become a security risk so soon after I bought it.

[2Birds1Stone]

The Pixel phones are supposed to get 5 years of security updates after release, IIRC.

That being said, I've used devices long after the security updates stopped. Definitely be careful with new applications. It's definitely more risky than having a fully supported device....

[Daley]

I bought a Pixel 4 two or three years ago and just noticed last week that it is no longer receiving security updates (and got its last one about a year ago). So I’m wondering how much risk I am taking if I continue using this phone?

It still works for the most part although there is one minor feature that stopped working. I’m mad about the fact that my phone would become a security risk so soon after I bought it.

The Pixel 4 went end of life last year, IIRC, though Google's own website links full OTA images for Android 13 on the Pixel 4/4XL devices with updates through February of this year (the 4a got updates just this month). Bright side is, there is some reasonably supported aftermarket firmware out there if you're inclined to such things... assuming you want to do so. Shoot me a DM if you want...

[SmashYourSmartPhone]

Anyway - what kind of phone are folks using these days?

Sonim XP3+.  Flip phone.  Android 11 Go, and while you can sideload apps, nothing works unless designed for a small screen and keypad only input, so I don't bother.  I just don't expect much of it, and given that I cycle the battery once every week or two (depending on how often I remember to turn it off at night), the battery should last a good long while at less than 50 cycles a year.

I have no idea how one can work in tech these days without a smartphone. I have three different apps on my phone just to do 2FA for various work domains and vpn's....in addition to Teams and whatnot

Simple.  Work wants me to have a smartphone, work buys me a smartphone.  I've got... an iPhone something or another for work.  It sits on my desk plugged in and runs the update game regularly.

I've done mixed personal and work phones before.  It was cool when I was younger.  Now I simply won't.  Work stuff does not go on any personal devices, period.

The Pixel phones are supposed to get 5 years of security updates after release, IIRC.

And Google has the attention span of a toddler raised on YouTube Kids anymore, so the chances of that happening are certainly not 100%.  Or, "this is the seventh time we've announced a way to extend Android support windows, and we're getting exceedingly efficient at it," if you prefer.

[GuitarStv]

I have no idea how one can work in tech these days without a smartphone. I have three different apps on my phone just to do 2FA for various work domains and vpn's....in addition to Teams and whatnot

Simple.  Work wants me to have a smartphone, work buys me a smartphone.  I've got... an iPhone something or another for work.  It sits on my desk plugged in and runs the update game regularly.

I've done mixed personal and work phones before.  It was cool when I was younger.  Now I simply won't.  Work stuff does not go on any personal devices, period.

Yep.  This is also what I do.  When they found out I didn't have a cell phone they just gave me one for work, so it lives at my desk purely so I can do 2 factor authentication.

[LennStar]

I have no idea how one can work in tech these days without a smartphone. I have three different apps on my phone just to do 2FA for various work domains and vpn's....in addition to Teams and whatnot

Simple.  Work wants me to have a smartphone, work buys me a smartphone.  I've got... an iPhone something or another for work.  It sits on my desk plugged in and runs the update game regularly.

I've done mixed personal and work phones before.  It was cool when I was younger.  Now I simply won't.  Work stuff does not go on any personal devices, period.

Yep.  This is also what I do.  When they found out I didn't have a cell phone they just gave me one for work, so it lives at my desk purely so I can do 2 factor authentication.

Same here.
Well, once every half year or so I use google maps for navigation into unknown lands since I can use it privately.
But well, if I want a private phone, I just take my dumb old 30€ phone that I only need to charge once a week and that weights about 1/4 of the smartphone at 1/3 the size.

[MayDay]

I liked the 400-600$ price point but am sick of having issues crop up after a year and continue to get worse for a second year.

What do you mean by "get worse?" The buttons stop working? Camera gets cloudy?

I can't remember what the first one was at all. The second one, I can't remember any details (and H can't either, I asked him!) But it was something that made the phone so unreliable that I became uncomfortable depending on it during travel (concur app, airline app, hotel apps, etc). I think it may have been a failing charging port.

The third (current) one, the cell signal is becoming increasingly unreliable. I have bars of service but it gets an exclamation point and won't actually work. Starting and stopping airplane mode or turning the phone off and on often works. I replaced the SIM card and that didn't help. The touch sensor is also almost completely broken but I can live with that inconvenience.