Thanks, I hate it - what phone should I get?

January 9, 2020 5:51 AM

I don't know much about phones and sometimes grumpy-snob myself into bad decisions. I have several phone choices from my provider but am utterly at a loss. Details within.

I have a five year old android phone which won't hold a charge in the cold and does not hold a charge very well anyway. I get my phone service from Republic Wireless and will probably just get a phone from them.

I don't do too much with my phone and don't anticipate this changing - I basically use it for texting, the occasional phone call and very sparing use of apps when I can't avoid them. Also telling the time. My big priorities are battery life and problem-free use; I'd rather have a phone that can do less but does it reliably than a phone which does a lot of stuff but is fragile or prone to problems.

I don't feel like a really expensive phone would serve any purpose but I'm also afraid of getting a really cheap one and having a lot of trouble with it.

It seems that I can choose between the motorola g7, the motorola e6 and a couple of versions of the Samsung galaxy before I get priced out - I don't want to spend more than $300.

It really annoys me that I have to do this, because I loathe phones, I hate reading on them, I hate staring into them, I hate carrying a tracking device everywhere I go, etc etc. I'm afraid that my hatred of and contempt for phones is going to push me to choose hastily or choose a phone that will be less useful.

What phone should I get? Do you have any opinions on the motorola ones? Does price matter? What is going to be the most durable one? I'd like to get at least three and preferably four or five years out of it.

Also, most people love phones, so the reviews rarely seem to address my concerns.

posted by Frowner to Shopping (15 answers total)

First, does your current phone have a removable battery? If so, you could just get a new battery for $20 or so.

If not, the cheapest new phone (which at Republic is the $149 Moto E6) will do everything you want much better than you will ever need. One of your priorities is battery use: For another $100, you could get the G7 Power, which has a 5000 mAh battery (compared to the 3000 mAh for the E6). That should alllow to go multiple days without charging, plus even if it deteriorates after a few years it should still be plenty of power. However, the G7 Power battery isn't removable. The E6's is. So if you get E6 you can get a new battery in a few years if needed.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 6:08 AM on January 9, 2020 [3 favorites]

It really annoys me that I have to do this, because I loathe phones, I hate reading on them, I hate staring into them, I hate carrying a tracking device everywhere I go, etc etc. I'm afraid that my hatred of and contempt for phones is going to push me to choose hastily or choose a phone that will be less useful.

Just as an option:

I feel the same way, and have opted for an old dumb phone (currently a Motorola WX416, bought unlocked on eBay for $12) and a cheap, flexible plan via Consumer Cellular I've been using CC since '07, and they've never once tried to scam or upsell me, and their customer service is helpful and easy to get at.

Also, the old Motorolas are durable as hell - the software on mine was written in '04, and I've dropped it multiple times w/just some nicks in the case.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:25 AM on January 9, 2020

I have a Motorola G7 Play and it's totally fine! I got it as a "need a phone this weekend" replacement for something that had broken and was nearly 3x the price and (in theory) nicer. But it turns out I prefer the Motorola. It's a good size. Battery life is good; I charge it at night and I'm never close to zero, and I use it more than you plan to. Dropped it a few times and it's fine. Surprising positives: the motorola "gestures" are better than I thought - specifically, turning the flashlight on/off by holding the phone and "chopping" it like a knife twice is shockingly useful. Also, there is minimal bloatware and the android install is clean and intuitive.

Downsides: It's not the worlds fastest phone and once in a while it has to think about things, or freaks out in a way that requires restart. It doesn't do a great job of hanging on to a really weak cell signal in some places. But overall it gives me the positive feeling that one gets from something that is fairly priced that delivers what it promises. It's not the best phone, but it does a good job and I'm happy with it for now, 6 months or so in.
posted by true at 6:43 AM on January 9, 2020 [2 favorites]

Hey, I'm like you! At least somewhat like you, in that I hate thinking about phones, shopping for phones, and phone culture.

I have a Moto G7 Power because the battery life is excellent. I agree with true that the gestures are surprisingly nice - I use the flashlight on/off gesture all the time.

For maximum reliability get a protective case and screen cover. I am clumsy so this is a must for me.
posted by medusa at 6:48 AM on January 9, 2020

A dumb phone still tracks you sadly.

Frowner: The "cheap(ish) but good enough" phones are either whatever the company now known as Nokia is putting out in that price range or the roughly equivalent Motorola phone.

The G8 will be out next month, which is probably why you can get a G7plus for $250 on Amazon right now...
posted by pharm at 6:56 AM on January 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

I'm nthing the Moto G7. I was an iPhone user since they debuted in 2007 but last September I switched ecosystems and went to Android with the Moto G7 for me and the G6 for my teenage son. We both are over the moon with our new phones. The G7 works just as well if not better than any iPhone I've ever had, and the "Actions" features are super handy (I especially love the "turn facedown to enable Do Not Disturb mode" one). The phone overall is very feature-rich and I'm still making discoveries of clever little things that make life easier (like the add 1 minute button for each timer, ability to snooze a text message, etc). The battery is more than good enough for me unless I've spent an unusually long time on calls during the day, which is rare for me.
posted by mezzanayne at 7:12 AM on January 9, 2020

I love my phone but I'm also a budget kinda person. I really don't think you can go wrong with any of the choices your provider offers. Those are the workhorses that everybody uses.

That said, the one thing that limits phone life is battery. I am a fan of phones with removable batteries so you can swap in a new one and eke another year or 2 out of the phone. It looks like the motorola e6 has a removable battery and the g7 doesnt. Some of the samsung galaxies do (J7 and S5 do).

I used to have one of the galaxies with a removable battery and I ordered a replacement on amazon when it started getting weak. That way I could keep one on hand in my bag charged up and the other in the phone. I did have to take the back cover off to swap the battery but it wasn't that hard.

If you really, really don't want to get a new phone you could always just replace the battery in the one you have. There are kits on amazon for $20-25, and according to my brother in law it's not terribly hard to do if you have steady hands. He replaced my nephews' batteries with no problem. Or you can take it to a service place. Replacement batteries for older phones tend to be cheaper, like $80 including the labor to put it in.
posted by selfmedicating at 7:13 AM on January 9, 2020

If you want a cheap, indestructible phone that makes calls and you can text on (T9 only) with a very long battery life that is under $100, the Nokia 3310 3G dumbphone fits the bill.
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:26 AM on January 9, 2020

I have Republic, and I got a phone used on Swappa. Choose Mint condition, unlocked, GSM, compatible with T-Mobile. Vendors are pretty good about corresponding. The Republic forums are pretty helpful, so you can ask some to check that a phone is compatible. I got the Moto G7 Power - you must check that it is the N American version. Let me know if you want more details.

You can get a G7 listed as Mint for 160. Order the case at the same time. I just cracked the screen in the 24 hours before the correct case arrived.

Tracking: Don't install any Amazon apps, remove facebook(facebook and the messenger app do gobs of tracking) which may be pre-installed, and disable Google location services. Whenever you get a notification, go in and disable notifications for that app. Notifications are annoying and often commercial; you might hate mobiles less without them.

You mentioned usefulness. I love GPS, and I have a heart-rate app that is useful to me. I like having music and podcasts stored on the phone for walks or driving. There are audio issues in my dance group, so I have a sound meter. I use Google Keep for lots of notes and lists. I use the camera regularly as an easy way to remember the price of a thing I might want to buy, or where I parked. There are some good astronomy apps; even at Solar Minimum, I want to know of any chance of Northern Lights. You may not care about the popular games, but there are some terrfic niche apps. I use Google Calendar with specific reminder times set, and am way more likely to be on time than pre-mobile days.
posted by theora55 at 8:07 AM on January 9, 2020 [2 favorites]

I'm like you hating phones. I got my current phone, the motorola g7, from my provider, new for $200. I love it. I did have to install the app "VolCon" because the physical volume buttons seem really touchy (i.e. bumping them and turning the volume up) and I literally never want the volume on. That app locks the volume where ever you set it. One drawback is that the g7 does not have a notification LED, which just seems weird. Oh, and the battery seems to last forever, especially compared to my previous Nexus phone.
posted by Pig Tail Orchestra at 8:09 AM on January 9, 2020

I've been very happy with Motorola phones. The thing that would make me hesitate to get the E6 is the low storage capacity. Especially if you want to keep using it for as long as possible. But if you aren't ever going to want to store photos or music on it and you rarely want to install any apps it might be okay. You might want to shop around a bit and see if you can get a better phone for a better price than what your provider offers. For instance, I see you can get an unlocked refurbished G7 Power from Walmart for $150 (64 GB vs 16 GB for the E6.) I wouldn't hesitate to save money by getting a refurbished phone myself. Since battery life is a big priority for you, the G7 Power might make a lot of sense.
posted by Redstart at 9:04 AM on January 9, 2020

It sounds like a Motorola is what you want. I was an iPhone user and had a G5 plus as a travel/backup phone. When my iPhone 6 broke the third time I switched to the G5 and it a G6 as a travel phone. Both worked well. I am back to an iPhone 11, mostly because the whole family has iPhones, but there are things I miss about the Motorola’s, like the gestures, which as stated above several times are more useful than you would think.
A friend owns a one man cell phone repair shop which does board level repairs. He has Re-soldered chips on my old phone that apple claims can not be repaired. He will not buy anything other than Motorola for personal use. I would recommend the G series for you, either G7 or wait for the G8. But the G7 or earlier would be fine. One nice thing about the G series is that they generally will support one generation for upgrades, so the G7 should have an Android 10 update within the next year (they are about to start testing the upgrade in Brazil).

Another bonus of the G series is that the newer ones are compatible with google fi.
posted by Short End Of A Wishbone at 9:14 AM on January 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

You cannot avoid being tracked by your cellular provider. In fact, the fundamental technology that puts the "cell" in cellular and enables so many phones to share a tower relies on being able to transmit into fairly small geographic regions.
posted by wnissen at 10:56 AM on January 9, 2020

I love the battery of the g7 power.
posted by typecloud at 2:21 PM on January 9, 2020

I get the impression you might want a galaxy brain second opinion. Here goes: I used to be a grumpy phone snob who had a flip phone. I understand the reasoning about tracking and expense. What made me stop worrying and learn to love the bomb was photos. The current iphone X and 11 are the most advanced cameras (in some ways) that have ever existed–it's a way to capture your experiences as has never existed before. The screen is amazingly perfect; it is enjoyable to read books on. And the form factor is kind of miraculous - I never thought I would like a phone and I was able to read news on this one. If you're going to carry the internet in your pants, you should see it most clearly, on the crispest screen, and have a camera to log your time here. I had no idea how it could become an art practice and give me access to so much more reading material–it's not all snapchat and duckface. Besides that, apple has a much better privacy policy than motorola and you could hop on t-mobile who are reasonable.
posted by sweltering at 2:05 AM on January 14, 2020