Help Pick New Cell Phone (and make fun of me in the process) !

[MikeD1]

OK, so as many of you know I hate cell phones for many reasons and have therefor only 'minimally engaged' in that craze.

What I have now is an old school flip phone (my fav) and an smallish Andriod phone I rarely use (I can hear you all laughing ).
Both are on an old AT&T 10 cents a minute plan no longer offered but I am grandfathered in - basically I buy $100 worth of time annually and many years actually have carry-over $$

I rarely text, never surf or use navi, apps etc. etc. just need the damn things to make calls & take the occasional pic when I'm out & about picking up dogs or running errands or for emergencies.

I'd keep these phones forever but they are both 3g and I need to replace them soon with something at least 4g.
Preferably the replacements need to:

allow me to keep this bare bones phone plan unless there is absolutely no other option
are either flip or some small form factor (so many these new phones are like 3 x 6 or larger and a real PITA to carry)
have WiFi calling - my current phones do not support that & there is no cell signal @ the house, but we do have cable + wifi
not cost a fortune to buy - I don't need/want some super featured I-phone or fancy folding screen etc.

I've looked at unlocked phones on various websites, but when you read the comments it seems like it's a mixed grill of results where some ppl were able to move their SIM from old to new with no issues and others that it would not work for at all. Not sure what to make of all that !

Fully ready for a torrent of jibs and laughter, so have a field day with that, but hopefully somewhere in all that follows will be some useful info

 

[2fast4u]

You can get Pixel 3 or 3a's at really cheap prices, they will do all you ask and then some. Most come factory unlocked, you just put your SIM in it and go. This is a Google phone.

 

[AeroF16]

I picture you as the Jitterbug type...

 

[2fast4u]

I personally use a Samsung S21 Ultra, I love it for all it does, BUT, it is a pricey one!

 

[AeroF16]

Well that was supposed to be funny because jitterbugs used to be for really old people but now it seems they have smartphones haha.

 

[jroyk]

Well that was supposed to be funny because jitterbugs used to be for really old people but now it seems they have smartphones haha.

I'm old, and it was funny.

(I need a smart phone to supplement my brain.)

 

[Slowpoke387]

Gotta say I was extremely anti-Apple for the longest time. Now I've had three of them and I'm finally in the cult. Tried forever to not to look directly into the light. Found myself saying "but it's so beautifuuuul..." lol.
Iphone for the win. Even better if you have an Ipad and such, you can answer your calls directly on the ipad etc, but something tells me they dont have a flip-pad for you . Hey this was your idea...

 

[MikeD1]

If you still want a flip phone the Cingular Flip 4 looks like it will work for you

https://www.att.com/buy/phones/att-cingular-flip-4-4gb-black.html

If you are happy with a Flip phone, stick with one.

That one is on the list, would have jumped on it already if it had WiFi calling

You can get Pixel 3 or 3a's at really cheap prices, they will do all you ask and then some. Most come factory unlocked, you just put your SIM in it and go. This is a Google phone.

The $64M question is will I need a Google acct to use it ? Don't even get me started on Google ..................

I picture you as the Jitterbug type...

Actually, not far off the mark from a features stand point - don't need all the tech crap (not going to use it anyway) - just basic phone service !

I personally use a Samsung S21 Ultra, I love it for all it does, BUT, it is a pricey one!

Too big & clunky + expensive + chak-a-block loaded with 'features' I'll never even look at let alone use - hard pass for me !

 

[MikeD1]

Gotta say I was extremely anti-Apple for the longest time. Now I've had three of them and I'm finally in the cult. Tried forever to not to look directly into the light. Found myself saying "but it's so beautifuuuul..." lol.
Iphone for the win. Even better if you have an Ipad and such, you can answer your calls directly on the ipad etc, but something tells me they dont have a flip-pad for you . Hey this was your idea...

I - I - I - I refuse to look into the light. Only Apple stuff I own is an Apple II+ (seriously, still have it & it still works) !

 

[Markp]

If you don’t want big brother watching, listening, following every move you make I suggest you don’t get a smart phone. Get a regular phone or a satellite phone.

 

[MikeD1]

It has wifi in it, it doesn't use it for wifi calling?

No, it does not support wifi calling !
The Andriod phone I have now supports wifi and (if I signed up with Google) it will download stuff or let you surf the net, but will not allow me to make calls.

If you are looking for a phone that will allow wifi calling, make sure it specifically says that in the features/specs list !!

 

[Slowpoke387]

iphone 12 supports wi-fi calling.

 

[MikeD1]

True & the mini version is not obnoxiously huge, but they are very pricey like most things born of the "I" cult !

 

[jroyk]

iphone 12 supports wi-fi calling.

I think my iPhone 6 did. Now have a 10S.

 

[SilverBillet]

No, it does not support wifi calling !
The Andriod phone I have now supports wifi and (if I signed up with Google) it will download stuff or let you surf the net, but will not allow me to make calls.

If you are looking for a phone that will allow wifi calling, make sure it specifically says that in the features/specs list !!

Do you have your home internet with xFinity/Comcast? They have a variety of phones available and you can get on a special family plan where you only pay something like $12.50/Gb of data used by you and your wife combined. There are no other charges and no contract required as long as you have their internet services. They say that they have a lot of WiFi hotspots nationwide. Our cell phone bill is typically between $25-$40/ month total for my wife and I. We both have Apple phones which are promoted to be unhackable...as opposed to Android based phones? Good luck.

 

[SilverBillet]

I recently retired and needed to replace my company phone. Through my research the I-Phone downloads / backup, all your data & pictures to the cloud to save them and if you need to print them out or send them to someone, you have to go to the cloud to retrieve them. Doesn't have an SD slot for expanded memory.

I ended up buying a Samsung S10+ around Thanksgiving during the black Friday Sale that ran the whole month. I bought a brand new ( not refurbished ) unlocked phone for $699 . When you buy a phone that has Verizon , ATT&T or some of the other carriers you have to stay on their plan for a certain time before the phone will unlock and you can use a different carrier.

With the Samsung line you can backup / save your contacts, photos , data to the micro SD card ( secure disk ), pull it out and review everyting on the SD card with a reader and your USB port on the computer,it comes with great security and will update software automatically or you can manually update it. It's easy to disable the apps so they don't run in the background ( tracking you ) when installing apps select only when in " use " so they don't run in the background. The phone easily links to the WiFi in your house so you don't eat up your data limits with your carrier and then you can make phone calls through the VoiP in your internet line. I use Selectel as my carrier and they use all the Verizon towers and have great coverage regardless of where I'm at. Unlimited Text & talk with 3 gb of data at 4 g then 3 g after i reach the limit. All for $30 a month. If you think you need lightning fast download speeds a 5 g phone might be right for you. One more thing, if you like you can backup everything to the cloud because Android OS is owned by Google ( that is something I'm not fond of having big brother watching over me, that is why I save it to the Micro SD card.

The iPhones are much the same except not backed by Google. All your photos are saved on the phone and easily accessible but they are backed up on the Cloud in case you exceed the storage space on your phone orb your phone dies for some reason. I would go with the i11 or 12.

 

[ChargerChallenger]

Public pay phone😁

 

[BULL]

OK, so as many of you know I hate cell phones for many reasons and have therefor only 'minimally engaged' in that craze.

What I have now is an old school flip phone (my fav) and an smallish Andriod phone I rarely use (I can hear you all laughing ).
Both are on an old AT&T 10 cents a minute plan no longer offered but I am grandfathered in - basically I buy $100 worth of time annually and many years actually have carry-over $$

I rarely text, never surf or use navi, apps etc. etc. just need the damn things to make calls & take the occasional pic when I'm out & about picking up dogs or running errands or for emergencies.

I'd keep these phones forever but they are both 3g and I need to replace them soon with something at least 4g.
Preferably the replacements need to:

allow me to keep this bare bones phone plan unless there is absolutely no other option
are either flip or some small form factor (so many these new phones are like 3 x 6 or larger and a real PITA to carry)
have WiFi calling - my current phones do not support that & there is no cell signal @ the house, but we do have cable + wifi
not cost a fortune to buy - I don't need/want some super featured I-phone or fancy folding screen etc.

I've looked at unlocked phones on various websites, but when you read the comments it seems like it's a mixed grill of results where some ppl were able to move their SIM from old to new with no issues and others that it would not work for at all. Not sure what to make of all that !

Fully ready for a torrent of jibs and laughter, so have a field day with that, but hopefully somewhere in all that follows will be some useful info

You might as well have asked for a Unicorn...

 

[MikeD1]

Story of my life - everything I want ends up being a unicorn hunt - the (failed) quest for a '15 Sublime Hellcat, stripper plasma TV, last 2 gun purchases, Durango R/T with bench 2nd row, 2nd term for Trump (could still be realized) - now this. At least a have till Dec. before I hit the wall + I have a fall back position (the flip phone in post #2) !

 

[SilverBillet]

A few of my friends had the I-phones and that was one thing they didn't like was exceeding the internal storage limit and having to download to the cloud to free up space. with the SD card you just move it over there and your done and still have access to to all your documents.

My phone is a many year’s old i6 with not so much storage space. The new phones have much, much more storage capacity. I do pay an additional $0.99/ month for additional storage space on the Cloud but don’t have to download to or from the Cloud. It’s automatic. It saves al my photos on the phone.