# Phone Advice



## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

This will sound silly, but my current one (iPhone11) is dying a slow and painful death. Having gone through this before I want to switch out in advance.

Has anyone had experience buying”renewed” phones from Amazon? It’s the most convenient option for me.

My thing is charging cases. I have 4 and just switch them out. So I’m stuck with the 11 - very convenient to stay wire-free.

I can only find 64 gig new ones; I want at least 128 (preferably 256).

Worth it?

I can also switch out the battery and see if that works as my phone’s pristine. But somehow I would prefer a “new” one.


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## SinTaxERROR (Jul 23, 2019)

Get an iPhone 12 or better so you can access 5g… 5g not available below 12…


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

SinTaxERROR said:


> Get an iPhone 12 or better so you can access 5g… 5g not available below 12…


I don’t care about that. I need my charging cases to fit. 😂


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## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

I haven’t bought renewed phones but my friend has for years, and she said they worked fine. However, she’s not on the phones a lot. I still have my IPhone 8 and no plans to get any newer phones after this. No way am I paying $1000+ for a phone. 

You could just sell your charging cases if your new or used phone doesn’t work with them.


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

Might as well ask this, too.

Anyone with T-Mobile? Happy?


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## SinTaxERROR (Jul 23, 2019)

X


Invisible said:


> I haven’t bought renewed phones but my friend has for years, and she said they worked fine. However, she’s not on the phones a lot. I still have my IPhone 8 and no plans to get any newer phones after this. No way am I paying $1000+ for a phone.
> 
> You could just sell your charging cases if your new or used phone doesn’t work with them.


i still have my iPhone 8 as well… I’m just too cheap to upgrade…


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## Alltel77 (Mar 3, 2019)

Invisible said:


> I haven’t bought renewed phones but my friend has for years, and she said they worked fine. However, she’s not on the phones a lot. I still have my IPhone 8 and no plans to get any newer phones after this. No way am I paying $1000+ for a phone.
> 
> You could just sell your charging cases if your new or used phone doesn’t work with them.


You are smart. I worked for a cell phone years ago (not the one that my screen name is) and pretty much every new phone is way overpriced/already outdated at launch. I am still using my Samsung S8 but will probably buy last year's "hottest" but now undesirable phone at 1/3 the cost in a few months.


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## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

@Ms. Mercenary Not with T-mobile. The service isn’t reliable where I live or most parts of my state.


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

Invisible said:


> @Ms. Mercenary Not with T-mobile. The service isn’t reliable where I live or mod parts of my state.


I had it years ago, it was pretty good in NY/NJ. But I also frequent the mountains in VA. Then again, my AT&T sucks there, too.

It’s just much cheaper for me.


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## Uberdriver2710 (Jul 15, 2015)

Why get another phone? Just have your current battery replaced.

Less money, less headache


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

Uberdriver2710 said:


> Why get another phone? Just have your current battery replaced.
> 
> Less money, less headache


That’s what I’m leaning towards. It looks brand new, not a scratch (knock on wood).

If I trade it in, I can get a 14 wayyy cheaper, but I hate trading in. I still have every phone I ever used.


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## Alltel77 (Mar 3, 2019)

Ms. Mercenary said:


> That’s what I’m leaving towards. It looks brand new, not a scratch (knock on wood).
> 
> If I trade it in, I can get a 14 wayyy cheaper, but I hate trading in. I still have every phone I ever used.


Only thing is with iPhones is they basically become slightly more useless, slow etc after each OS update so you might be better off just getting a newer old model or switching to Android.


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## Uberdriver2710 (Jul 15, 2015)

Ms. Mercenary said:


> That’s what I’m leaning towards. It looks brand new, not a scratch (knock on wood).
> 
> If I trade it in, I can get a 14 wayyy cheaper, but I hate trading in. I still have every phone I ever used.


I'm still using a phone released in 2014. : )

New phones mostly suck for delivery/working.

But, I'm currently looking at a mission critical, first responder, working class phone:


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## Launchpad McQuack (Jan 8, 2019)

I used to be on MetroPCS. I believe they use the T Mobile network. In fact, I think T Mobile swallowed them up and they are now called Metro by T Mobile. It worked very well in New Jersey. Strong signal pretty much everywhere. Most of my family lives in rural Indiana, though, and the coverage was pretty bad there. Most of the way across Pennsylvania and in big swatches of Ohio and Indiana I would get absolutely no signal.

I switched to Straight Talk about a year ago, and used the AT&T SIM card. I get much more consistent coverage now, but it is not as good in New Jersey as MetroPCS was. There are still long stretches in Pennsylvania where I get no signal, but I get at least a usable signal in most of Ohio and Indiana. There are some very small pockets in New Jersey where I don't get coverage. In Highlands, for example. So MetroPCS was better in its good areas, but Straight Talk has been more consistently usable.


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## Nats121 (Jul 19, 2017)

Uberdriver2710 said:


> I'm still using a phone released in 2014. : )
> 
> New phones mostly suck for delivery/working.
> 
> But, I'm currently looking at a mission critical, first responder, working class phone:


Physical buttons (or at least always-on virtual buttons on the bottom bezel) and removable batteries are nice throwback features that many people including myself want.

Removable batteries are especially good for food delivery because of all the times a phone is removed from the car charger during a work shift.

I'm guessing that replacement batteries cost an arm and a leg though.

It sucks the way tech geeks think they know what people want and are allowed to dictate what we get. I don't believe there was any appreciable customer demand to eliminate removable batteries, or remove aux ports, or always-on buttons on the bottom bezel. The companies made those decisions for us in order to reduce productions costs and many tech geek reviewers (some of them probably bought off) gave thumbs-up to the changes.


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

Launchpad McQuack said:


> I used to be on MetroPCS. I believe they use the T Mobile network. In fact, I think T Mobile swallowed them up and they are now called Metro by T Mobile. It worked very well in New Jersey. Strong signal pretty much everywhere. Most of my family lives in rural Indiana, though, and the coverage was pretty bad there. Most of the way across Pennsylvania and in big swatches of Ohio and Indiana I would get absolutely no signal.
> 
> I switched to Straight Talk about a year ago, and used the AT&T SIM card. I get much more consistent coverage now, but it is not as good in New Jersey as MetroPCS was. There are still long stretches in Pennsylvania where I get no signal, but I get at least a usable signal in most of Ohio and Indiana. There are some very small pockets in New Jersey where I don't get coverage. In Highlands, for example. So MetroPCS was better in its good areas, but Straight Talk has been more consistently usable.


T-Mobile merged with Sprint, they combined networks.

They also have a e-sim trial - if you’re phone’s unlocked, you can try their network free for i think 3 months. I might do that. And hopefully go to CA end of October and see

I looked at the government’s coverage map, and they’re almost identical with AT&T.

I’m being petty; but I’ve been with ATT forever and they suddenly raised the price on my plan with zero notice. WTF???


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## painfreepc (Jul 17, 2014)

works well for me, is a white or black version and a 8.7 and 10.1 version,
using Mint Moble.

i have both the 8.7 and 10.1 version in black








Amazon.com: Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite 8.7" (2021, WiFi + Cellular) 32GB 4G LTE Tablet & Phone (Makes Calls) GSM Unlocked, International Model w/US Charging Cube - SM-T225 (Silver, LTE+WiFi) : Cell Phones & Accessories


Amazon.com: Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite 8.7" (2021, WiFi + Cellular) 32GB 4G LTE Tablet & Phone (Makes Calls) GSM Unlocked, International Model w/US Charging Cube - SM-T225 (Silver, LTE+WiFi) : Cell Phones & Accessories



www.amazon.com


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## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

Alltel77 said:


> Only thing is with iPhones is they basically become slightly more useless, slow etc after each OS update so you might be better off just getting a newer old model or switching to Android.


I live in the boonies and my iPhone has no issues. I used it as a hotspot and worked all day with it, when I worked from home. I don’t add a lot of apps, though. I have Verizon which works almost everywhere.


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## painfreepc (Jul 17, 2014)

just remember when you buy an unlocked that it is for Verizon network or AT&T/T-Moble network will not work on both,
and you do all the network setting in the phone, this is the issue many have when phone don't work right.


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## Mad_Jack_Flint (Nov 19, 2020)

Ms. Mercenary said:


> Might as well ask this, too.
> 
> Anyone with T-Mobile? Happy?


I use T-Mobile and it is F’ing Horrible as hell!


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## Mad_Jack_Flint (Nov 19, 2020)

Invisible said:


> @Ms. Mercenary Not with T-mobile. The service isn’t reliable where I live or most parts of my state.


It isn’t reliable in Houston City and T-Mobile issue is they overload their towers with MetroPCS their generic version, so it hurt the regular T-Mobile user!

I have gotten into so many heated arguments with them over their horrible service and they told me to go to another provider, so yeah they are just pathetic.


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## jaxbeachrides (May 27, 2015)

Mad_Jack_Flint said:


> I use T-Mobile and it is F’ing Horrible as hell!


I had Verizon forever. Switched to them for rideshare specifically. It never got any better.

So I've switched to t-mobile again. The data speeds are like ridiculous, and better urban coverage.

Verizon has better rural coverage. Otherwise the service has been getting worse.


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## Mad_Jack_Flint (Nov 19, 2020)

jaxbeachrides said:


> I had Verizon forever. Switched to them for rideshare specifically. It never got any better.
> 
> So I've switched to t-mobile again. The data speeds are like ridiculous, and better urban coverage.
> 
> Verizon has better rural coverage. Otherwise the service has been getting worse.


The only one I found that works in Houston is ATT because T-Mobile has so many blind spots especially in Sugarland.


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## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

painfreepc said:


> just remember when you buy an unlocked that it is for Verizon network or AT&T/T-Moble network will not work on both,
> and you do all the network setting in the phone, this is the issue many have when phone don't work right.


Not true. Your phone will work with both carriers once they set it up and port the number .

A rural cell phone carrier Sales Rep told me what you said when I moved here and was looking to switch from AT&T to elsewhere. They said I had to buy a new phone. Then I went to Verizon, and had no issues switching from AT&T. And I previously bought my phone at the AT&T store.

I then called the corporate office for the rural carrier to advise them how the rep was trying to scam new customers.


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

I might try going to T-Mobile regardless. I pay $160 for 2 phones (old now nonexistant plan; new ones cost more); T-Mobile’s offering $90 (fees included) for their top tier; I can get away with their $70 plan (I don’t stream much). That’s a big difference.

If I don’t like it, I can switch back or try Verizon.

I do need to consider a 5G-enabled phone then. Might as well take advantage if T-Mobile’s 5G (AT&T is in last place here).

My reasoning is their coverage (independent site) is pretty much the same where I live; and both suck in the mountains where I go. 😂

Now I need to figure out replacing the battery or not. It’s around $80. I might break my habit and just trade in this time. It brings my price waaaay down; as I said, both phones are pristine; only issue is the battery.


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## painfreepc (Jul 17, 2014)

Invisible said:


> Not true. Your phone will work with both carriers once they set it up and port the number .
> 
> A rural cell phone carrier Sales Rep told me what you said when I moved here and was looking to switch from AT&T to elsewhere. They said I had to buy a new phone. Then I went to Verizon, and had no issues switching from AT&T. And I previously bought my phone at the AT&T store.
> 
> I then called the corporate office for the rural carrier to advise them how the rep was trying to scam new customers.


Okay I don't know which service only does one of the two networks but there are two networks, CDMA network and GSM network, one of cell Services AT&T or Verizon does both of them one of the services only does one and there are some phones that will work on both Networks so I hope that clears it up because you need to check your phones IMEI see if it does both or if it only does one of the networks you need to know which cell service uses what network every single freaking phone will not work on both networks I know that for a fact I only use unlocked phones.


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## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

painfreepc said:


> Okay I don't know which service only does one of the two networks but there are two networks, CDMA network and GSM network, one of cell Services AT&T or Verizon does both of them one of the services only does one and there are some phones that will work on both Networks so I hope that clears it up because you need to check your phones IMEI see if it does both or if it only does one of the networks you need to know which cell service uses what network every single freaking phone will not work on both networks I know that for a fact I only use unlocked phones.


I know for a fact that I’ve had my first cell phone since 1999, switched many phones and carriers and never had issues. When you switch carriers, the new carrier will contact the old one to unlock your phone. 

The rural area I live, has limited towers obviously because it’s the sticks. The tower is a different carrier than mine. Yet my phone and service works better than people on the carrier. So go figure. And my phone isn’t new. And I don’t live in an open farmland area.

AT&T & Verizon are the most expensive but while both worked in various parts of the state I’ve been in and other states, I prefer Verizon. It’s worth the price to have the reliability especially if I have a car issue on a rural road where no ones around.


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## kdyrpr (Apr 23, 2016)

I have purchased 3 phones in the last 6 years. None of them cost me more than $150. All Motorola android. I don't need 1000 Gigs of storage or a camera system that rivals the Hubbel telescope. NONE of them quit on me. None of the batteries depleted over time. Are they "slower "than the vaunted "flagship" brands. Yeah. So inconsequential that I couldn't care less if something loads .123133 a second longer.


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## painfreepc (Jul 17, 2014)

kdyrpr said:


> I have purchased 3 phones in the last 6 years. None of them cost me more than $150. All Motorola android. I don't need 1000 Gigs of storage or a camera system that rivals the Hubbel telescope. NONE of them quit on me. None of the batteries depleted over time. Are they "slower "than the vaunted "flagship" brands. Yeah. So inconsequential that I couldn't care less if something loads .123133 a second longer.


I am the same I would say I've never bought a phone probably in the last 15 years that was more than $180, usually around $140 and high-end phones loading faster yes they load faster cuz they have a high-end processor it's like $1500 or $2,000 laptop is going to load faster than a $300 or $400 laptop,

Miny do like the high-end camera of the high-end phones if you're in the photograph and video that is kind of cool, Some people prefer the iPhones because if they're into all the bells and whistles of organization for business needs or anything like that everything is already preset up as packages, but you can do pretty much the same thing on an Android phone you just have to know how to set it up and most of them will be independent applications they won't be all prejoined together,

I already posted a little bit earlier the two devices that I use a Samsung T225 and a Samsung t515 8.7 inch version and 10.1 inversion international unlocked phones and they work great I've had no issues, actually I guess they should be referred to as phone tabs, only issue is some carriers won't let you hook them up as a phone I'm bypassing that by using Mint Mobile.


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

That’s another perpetual question - I’ve never strayed from the iPhone, and lately I’ve been envying you Android drivers because apparently you see way more than I do.

But I’m scared.

I’ve always been very sharp and tech savvy, but now I’m older. And I admit I frequently annoy myself with how slow I’ve become - both physically and, more importantly, mentally. So the thought of change terrifies me.


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## painfreepc (Jul 17, 2014)

Ms. Mercenary said:


> That’s another perpetual question - I’ve never strayed from the iPhone, and lately I’ve been envying you Android drivers because apparently you see way more than I do.
> 
> But I’m scared.
> 
> I’ve always been very sharp and tech savvy, but now I’m older. And I admit I frequently annoy myself with how slow I’ve become - both physically and, more importantly, mentally. So the thought of change terrifies me.


I just turned 60 and I try to keep my mind sharp by doing technical help on freelance sites online, I help people set up servers for their websites and do a few other things with networking that's my other job outside of uber so I do it pretty much at my leisure.


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## Alltel77 (Mar 3, 2019)

Ms. Mercenary said:


> That’s another perpetual question - I’ve never strayed from the iPhone, and lately I’ve been envying you Android drivers because apparently you see way more than I do.
> 
> But I’m scared.
> 
> I’ve always been very sharp and tech savvy, but now I’m older. And I admit I frequently annoy myself with how slow I’ve become - both physically and, more importantly, mentally. So the thought of change terrifies me.


Apple has you where they want you. You need to leave the vicious cycle of iPhone!!!!


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## Launchpad McQuack (Jan 8, 2019)

FL_Steve said:


> I then called the corporate office for the rural carrier to advise them how the rep was trying to scam new customers.


He might not necessarily have been trying to scam. He might have just not been up to date on his information.

There was a time when it was true that you couldn't switch between certain carriers. Back in the day, different carriers used different wireless communication protocols. Verizon and Sprint used a protocol called CDMA, while AT&T and T-Mobile used a protocol called GSM. The two protocols required different receiver hardware to work, so if you had a phone that was built to receive Verizon or Sprint CDMA signals then it wouldn't have the proper hardware to receive AT&T and T-Mobile GSM signals. At some point, though, the receiver hardware got cheap enough that the phone manufacturers started building phones with both CDMA and GSM receivers in them, instead of just one or the other. It became cheaper to just put both sets of hardware in every phone instead of operating two different production lines for the two different hardware sets.

And even if they hadn't started building phones with both sets of hardware, all of what I just said became moot with 4G (and eventually 5G). 4G doesn't use CDMA and GSM. There is one 4G communication standard, so the 4G receiver in a phone can receive any carrier's 4G signals. The CDMA vs. GSM discussion is mostly a thing of the past now, as almost all of the carriers are completely shutting down their 2G and 3G networks.


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