The Joy of Running an Old ShedSmartPhone
Discussion
Does anyone else share the perverse joy of having a smart phone they don't care about?
I found this out by accident when I upgraded my phone to a nice 6-inch one, more Ram, faster response, etc, then found I was worrying about it too much. It was worth too much. What if I dropped it? What if it was stolen?
So after a while I went back to the old one for everything except "whist at work".
It's so much less intimidating. Less worry. It still seems to do everything the new one does, and the slow speed is acceptable now, where it wasn't before. Am I weird?
I found this out by accident when I upgraded my phone to a nice 6-inch one, more Ram, faster response, etc, then found I was worrying about it too much. It was worth too much. What if I dropped it? What if it was stolen?
So after a while I went back to the old one for everything except "whist at work".
It's so much less intimidating. Less worry. It still seems to do everything the new one does, and the slow speed is acceptable now, where it wasn't before. Am I weird?
Yep, it's nice not to have to use a case or a screen protector on an older phone or think about putting it in your pockets and sitting down.
There's a lot of satisfaction if you have an android phone going on xda-developers and installing an upto date custom ROM, even upgrading the camera to Google's Gcam (used on pixel and ported to most phones using Snapdragon gpus) can give an older phone a new lease of life.
There's a lot of satisfaction if you have an android phone going on xda-developers and installing an upto date custom ROM, even upgrading the camera to Google's Gcam (used on pixel and ported to most phones using Snapdragon gpus) can give an older phone a new lease of life.
My much-loved Samsung Galaxy K-Zoom is running Android 4something, usually does not bother me
but now I cannot download & use the COVID warning app offered by german health officials.
I am not smart - or dumb- enough to try a flash of the wohle thing to another operating system
because I doubt the multiple camera functions would be available afterwards.
Oh well, still a good phone with still the best camera evAr, a NOS example is lying in wait if I lose or damage it.
Fun fact : I once called the samsung customer center and was redirected :
"We are only dealing with mobile phones, we have to get you to the camera dept,
because this is basically a camera with a phone attached."
but now I cannot download & use the COVID warning app offered by german health officials.
I am not smart - or dumb- enough to try a flash of the wohle thing to another operating system
because I doubt the multiple camera functions would be available afterwards.
Oh well, still a good phone with still the best camera evAr, a NOS example is lying in wait if I lose or damage it.
Fun fact : I once called the samsung customer center and was redirected :
"We are only dealing with mobile phones, we have to get you to the camera dept,
because this is basically a camera with a phone attached."
Still using iPhone 8, had it for 2 and a half years now, literally no point in upgrading. £18 a month sim only deal, unlimited everything, cheap as chips. Went for a fresh battery in November last year, Apple cracked the screen so gave me a new phone rather than replace the screen. Will probably keep using it for another 12-18 months before upgrading to the latest iPhone, it all depend on the battery health, as that's a key issue for me.
I certainly could not write this post on a new phone outside in the sun unless I erect one of those old photographers camera black tent things they used to hide under when taking miserable looking Victorian group family pictures.
Todays feeble laptop and phone screens are no match for ten trillion candle power of fusing hydrogen in the sky blazing down on my garden, you can't see a damn thing. It's far too much of a risk to peer and squint whilst vaguely jabing the keyboard hoping you get the right messages (nude selfies) to the right recipients.
I wanted to upgrade my phone recently (I don't really know why, I probably got a cheeky advertising text from O2 saying it was time to do so). But when I responded like Pavlov's dogs and turned up dutifully at the shop with sanitized debit card in hand I was very disappointed in the current offerings.
Yes they might have more gigabytes, bigger displays and unlimited data, but the feeble ancient retired glow worm 🐛 they had employed to light the screen made the whole thing pointless. Even on maximum brightness you needed a Warden Hodges style WW2 Blitz blackout to see it.
My current prehistoric phone just made the young enthusiastic salesman glum and depressed as the chance of some easy commision on a new £45 a month two year rolling contract evaporated into the hot and steamy sultry air.
When I turned my ancient device on maximum brightness for comparison with his dimly lit offerings, it was like a King James biblical revelation!
'Let there be light, and there was light'. and I saw that the backlight was good!
He put his ultra cool sunglasses back on too conceal his disappointment and protect his eyes from the retina scorching illumination.
It's all in the name of saving battery power of course with these modern phones, for what? A total solar eclipse? So you can be served more targeted adverts for light bulbs? I'm not sure of the point if you can't see the bloody thing once dawn has broken on the Serengeti 6,700 miles away.
Todays feeble laptop and phone screens are no match for ten trillion candle power of fusing hydrogen in the sky blazing down on my garden, you can't see a damn thing. It's far too much of a risk to peer and squint whilst vaguely jabing the keyboard hoping you get the right messages (nude selfies) to the right recipients.
I wanted to upgrade my phone recently (I don't really know why, I probably got a cheeky advertising text from O2 saying it was time to do so). But when I responded like Pavlov's dogs and turned up dutifully at the shop with sanitized debit card in hand I was very disappointed in the current offerings.
Yes they might have more gigabytes, bigger displays and unlimited data, but the feeble ancient retired glow worm 🐛 they had employed to light the screen made the whole thing pointless. Even on maximum brightness you needed a Warden Hodges style WW2 Blitz blackout to see it.
My current prehistoric phone just made the young enthusiastic salesman glum and depressed as the chance of some easy commision on a new £45 a month two year rolling contract evaporated into the hot and steamy sultry air.
When I turned my ancient device on maximum brightness for comparison with his dimly lit offerings, it was like a King James biblical revelation!
'Let there be light, and there was light'. and I saw that the backlight was good!
He put his ultra cool sunglasses back on too conceal his disappointment and protect his eyes from the retina scorching illumination.
It's all in the name of saving battery power of course with these modern phones, for what? A total solar eclipse? So you can be served more targeted adverts for light bulbs? I'm not sure of the point if you can't see the bloody thing once dawn has broken on the Serengeti 6,700 miles away.
I currently have a Honor 8X that I bought for £229 18 months ago and a £10 PAYG EE sim. I prefer to buy outright the best Android phone I can get for around £200 and use it until it dies, gets too slow or something much better comes along for the money.
£200 actually buys you a pretty decent phone these days and it is at a price point where if you drop it you can buy another one without too much heartache.
£200 actually buys you a pretty decent phone these days and it is at a price point where if you drop it you can buy another one without too much heartache.
Yep, for £200 you can get a decent phone that does everything and has decent battery life, the main plus points for paying more is getting a better camera with image stabilisation and optical zoom but not sure if that justifies paying twice as much.
AJB88 said:
Its fine as long as you don't use it for sensitive data which 99% of people do.
People who use unsupported OS's for online banking etc, asking for trouble down the line.
I'd trust a peer reviewed custom rom with the source available which is on the latest google security updates over a manufacturers phone which isn't receiving the security patches anymore.People who use unsupported OS's for online banking etc, asking for trouble down the line.
untakenname said:
I'd trust a peer reviewed custom rom with the source available which is on the latest google security updates over a manufacturers phone which isn't receiving the security patches anymore.
100%, some of these cheaper old phones though don't even get custom ROM's just depends what you've got. AJB88 said:
untakenname said:
I'd trust a peer reviewed custom rom with the source available which is on the latest google security updates over a manufacturers phone which isn't receiving the security patches anymore.
100%, some of these cheaper old phones though don't even get custom ROM's just depends what you've got. peterperkins said:
I certainly could not write this post on a new phone outside in the sun unless I erect one of those old photographers camera black tent things they used to hide under when taking miserable looking Victorian group family pictures.
Todays feeble laptop and phone screens are no match for ten trillion candle power of fusing hydrogen in the sky blazing down on my garden, you can't see a damn thing. It's far too much of a risk to peer and squint whilst vaguely jabing the keyboard hoping you get the right messages (nude selfies) to the right recipients.
Yes they might have more gigabytes, bigger displays and unlimited data, but the feeble ancient retired glow worm ?? they had employed to light the screen made the whole thing pointless. Even on maximum brightness you needed a Warden Hodges style WW2 Blitz blackout to see it.
When I turned my ancient device on maximum brightness for comparison with his dimly lit offerings, it was like a King James biblical revelation!
'Let there be light, and there was light'. and I saw that the backlight was good!
He put his ultra cool sunglasses back on too conceal his disappointment and protect his eyes from the retina scorching illumination.
It's all in the name of saving battery power of course with these modern phones, for what? A total solar eclipse? So you can be served more targeted adverts for light bulbs? I'm not sure of the point if you can't see the bloody thing once dawn has broken on the Serengeti 6,700 miles away.
Good point PP, these new displays do use use the power, and with so many apps running too (including the hidden ones on these new things, like 'indexing') the power can suffer so they dim the display down from what would be possible .Todays feeble laptop and phone screens are no match for ten trillion candle power of fusing hydrogen in the sky blazing down on my garden, you can't see a damn thing. It's far too much of a risk to peer and squint whilst vaguely jabing the keyboard hoping you get the right messages (nude selfies) to the right recipients.
Yes they might have more gigabytes, bigger displays and unlimited data, but the feeble ancient retired glow worm ?? they had employed to light the screen made the whole thing pointless. Even on maximum brightness you needed a Warden Hodges style WW2 Blitz blackout to see it.
When I turned my ancient device on maximum brightness for comparison with his dimly lit offerings, it was like a King James biblical revelation!
'Let there be light, and there was light'. and I saw that the backlight was good!
He put his ultra cool sunglasses back on too conceal his disappointment and protect his eyes from the retina scorching illumination.
It's all in the name of saving battery power of course with these modern phones, for what? A total solar eclipse? So you can be served more targeted adverts for light bulbs? I'm not sure of the point if you can't see the bloody thing once dawn has broken on the Serengeti 6,700 miles away.
I had an embarrassing moment in a shop once when I went in with my old 3310 and the assistant (in her mid twenties I'd say) said to me 'that was my first phone when I was at school!).'
I refuse to pay a lot of money for phones. I currently have a 1st Gen iPhone SE. Before that i had some alcatel thing with a larger screen but it never sat right in my pocket, far too big. I saw the SE about 18 months ago, smaller screen, running latest iOS and thought i'd give the whole apple thing a go. I had always assumed apple stuff to be way too expensive, and me being a tight arse didn't want to pay anywhere near even second hand prices but when this SE popped up on FB Market place for £30, albeit in rose hold, i thought i'd take a punt.
I also switched to 3 PAYG Data reward sim card. 200mg free data a month (more than enough for me, as most of the time at work / home / friends, i'm on wifi anyway). I tend not to make any calls or texts so 3 Data Reward is perfect for me, probably spend about £2 every 4-5 months!
Ive been impressed with it and its done everything i need of a basic smart phone. Its getting on a bit now and battery health is down to 80% but i just charge it overnight, its fine.
Certainly couldn't pay anywhere near a few hundred quid for a phone though!
I also switched to 3 PAYG Data reward sim card. 200mg free data a month (more than enough for me, as most of the time at work / home / friends, i'm on wifi anyway). I tend not to make any calls or texts so 3 Data Reward is perfect for me, probably spend about £2 every 4-5 months!
Ive been impressed with it and its done everything i need of a basic smart phone. Its getting on a bit now and battery health is down to 80% but i just charge it overnight, its fine.
Certainly couldn't pay anywhere near a few hundred quid for a phone though!
I’m with this. My 2015 iPhone 6s Plus which was getting on (battery health down a bit, many a battle scar) but still working perfectly, was dropped badly and the screen broke in January this year - guessed it was time to move on. Thought about an iPhone XR or 8 plus.
Then noticed Argos were still selling the 6s Plus, brand new, at £299 - yes in 2020! Realised it was all I needed and replaced like with like. Just learned this ‘ancient’ model is to get iOS 14 later this year so that is good too.
Can’t see the attraction in spending more - don’t want any of the latest features ... plus I still have 3.5mm headphone socket unlike every iPhone from that point forward. The 6s plus performance is excellent, the camera is excellent and the battery life (from new, old stock!) is great - and now iOS has battery health protection built in, should stay that way for quite a while.
Then noticed Argos were still selling the 6s Plus, brand new, at £299 - yes in 2020! Realised it was all I needed and replaced like with like. Just learned this ‘ancient’ model is to get iOS 14 later this year so that is good too.
Can’t see the attraction in spending more - don’t want any of the latest features ... plus I still have 3.5mm headphone socket unlike every iPhone from that point forward. The 6s plus performance is excellent, the camera is excellent and the battery life (from new, old stock!) is great - and now iOS has battery health protection built in, should stay that way for quite a while.
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