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Bad idea to buy a phone that doesn't support 5G?

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Bad idea to buy a phone that doesn't support 5G?

Old 03-03-19, 11:47 PM
  #51  
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Originally Posted by CliffordK
It really depends on how they roll it out.

At the moment, I have DSL.

150 K Bytes/sec, 1.5 M Bits/sec.

That is in theory, on a good day. Regularly in the early evenings, it drops down to about 50 K Bytes/sec. Sometimes even slower.

Windows updates?

You just better hope you don't get slammed with an update during those evening times when the net is just crawling. Start a download before bed... then find out that Windows rebooted 3/4 the way through the download, and your download is toast.

The details are still sketchy of what will actually be offered. But, they're talking about gigabytes of data downloads in seconds, or even a few minutes, rather than hours or days.

That would make my home DSL entirely obsolete. Even severely throttled has to be better than DSL at night when I start dropping downloads.

Are they planning to offer 1GB/sec, but limit one's monthly data to 2GB, or about 2 seconds worth of data?

Plus, I find myself on the road for about a week or two a year or so. Not enough to maintain a separate data plan, but long enough that being without data is a pain. It would really be nice if data was to follow me.

As far as land line, I lost power in our recent snow storm for almost 3 days. Cell data was almost non existent, and batteries went dead.

I had to go "old school" before the end of the power outage.



I have to work on future power redundancy. Solar? But, we had several days of clowdy/snowy weather. Other than a few brief openings, today may be the first day with significant sunshine since last Sunday... hopefully... the sky looks BLUE.
I used to dial long distance and win radio contests with one of those, back when they wanted caller X and not texts.
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Old 03-10-19, 03:22 AM
  #52  
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agreed with people above saying no reason currently
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Old 04-12-19, 10:47 AM
  #53  
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5G has been turned on in Chicago and Minneapolis. Apparently even in these cities there is very little coverage available. Speeds are faster than 4G, but not dramatically so. It will come online in 30 (?) cities this year, Seattle will no doubt be one of them. I'm glad I didn't spend $$$ on a phone that won't handle it.

4G speeds should in theory improve over the next year as some traffic migrates to the 5G network, freeing up bandwidth.
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Old 04-12-19, 11:40 AM
  #54  
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
5G has been turned on in Chicago and Minneapolis. Apparently even in these cities there is very little coverage available. Speeds are faster than 4G, but not dramatically so. It will come online in 30 (?) cities this year, Seattle will no doubt be one of them. I'm glad I didn't spend $$$ on a phone that won't handle it.

4G speeds should in theory improve over the next year as some traffic migrates to the 5G network, freeing up bandwidth.
I was traveling last week and found it interesting that my 4G LTE speeds were noticeably slower outside Seattle even with decent signal strength, so I think some places might appreciate the bigger jump in speeds compared to our region.
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Old 04-12-19, 05:03 PM
  #55  
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My 4G phone already gives me speeds that sometimes beat my home broadband, but that's just using speedtest. I don't think the throughput is truly that good, but I'm still impressed. I have an iphone 6S which is three years old and still good enough for me.
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Old 04-20-19, 09:13 AM
  #56  
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
I could use a few second opinions.
I have oftentimes bought reconditioned phones at maybe 1/4 the price of the brand new model that just came out. I got my current S7 when the S9 was shipping and before the S10 came out. If I were buying today, I might look at an S8 ($315), or get another S7 (189$).

And when this is all you spend, there is no point in the "insurance". Worst case, you just go out and get another one.
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Old 04-20-19, 09:31 AM
  #57  
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Originally Posted by Rollfast
I used to dial long distance and win radio contests with one of those, back when they wanted caller X and not texts.


Then I suppose you remember "Dialing for Dollars". What a ridiculous concept for a TV show. You cut a phone book into pieces, and spin a wheel to determine the "count" and the "amount", and call people up to see if they're 1.) watching the show and 2.) know what the count and the amount are. Would never work these days.
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Old 04-22-19, 08:30 PM
  #58  
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Here is what T-Mobile's Chief Technology Officer has to say about the 5G hype: https://www.t-mobile.com/news/the-5g...ot-good-enough
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Old 04-25-19, 01:43 PM
  #59  
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Originally Posted by Shimagnolo
Here is what T-Mobile's Chief Technology Officer has to say about the 5G hype: https://www.t-mobile.com/news/the-5g...ot-good-enough
That's a good piece, and thank you for that, but why does he want to be seen as someone who cares about rural America when his network is the worst in rural areas? Well, I can guess why, but he has to do more than just talk to convince me he cares about rural areas.
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Old 04-25-19, 03:13 PM
  #60  
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Originally Posted by Marcus_Ti
Problem with non-top-tier phones...they're basically abandonware and unmaintained the second they hit retail. Only the top phones tend get any attention from developers either OEM or XDA.
Sounds like FUD to me.
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Old 04-25-19, 03:25 PM
  #61  
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I just bought a Motorola Moto Z3. Should arrive shortly.

They are one of the few phones that are "expandable". And, Motorola has promised a 5G addon once everything is finalized. Probably with an extended battery pack. Of course, rather than a sleek phone, you'll have to be carrying around a clunky add-on. But, it is somewhat future proof.

I hope T-Mobile invests in fixing their coverage holes before spending too much time upgrading to the latest. Nonetheless, I could imagine going tethered, getting 5G for my PC, and dropping the land lines. If, of course, prices could be competitive.
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Old 04-25-19, 03:33 PM
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Originally Posted by teejaywhy
Sounds like FUD to me.
Why do you think Google started the Android One initiative? Low end phones that actually are updated wouldn't be a positive news item---if they were already being updated and maintained....of course if you research the One phones, even they have underwhelming late updates.

It is the same reason why the new(er) version of android has such low penetration, and always has. Because the lag from release to hitting stock RTM firmware (that isn't updated) is 1-2 years. Which is why 2-year old Oreo has now (finally) gotten a simple-majority of Android marketshare.

And some OEMs are terrible about updating even their flagships...LG in particular has a bad rap. Samsung had one for many years, but turned around.
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Old 04-25-19, 03:44 PM
  #63  
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Originally Posted by Marcus_Ti
Why do you think Google started the Android One initiative? Low end phones that actually are updated wouldn't be a positive news item---if they were already being updated and maintained....of course if you research the One phones, even they have underwhelming late updates.
What is Android One?

Android One, simply put, is a hardware and software standard created by Google to ensure that devices regardless of price point and form factor receive regular updates, security patches, bug fixes, and manufacturer support for a period of between two and three years.
My current phone is a Samsung S4 Zoom.

2013 release.

2019 now...

So, I'd be in almost the same boat with Android One. 3 years of updates, 3 years of unsupported or marginally supported.

I wonder how many personal devices, phones, computers, etc... are upgraded during that 3 year lifetime? How many are older, perhaps much older? Or get passed to a new owner for continuing use?
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Old 04-25-19, 03:51 PM
  #64  
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Oh, one other thing about perpetual software updates. Good... but what happens when one needs a hardware upgrade?

In the case of this thread, 5G is just around the corner, but most of the phones don't support it, and it is unlikely to be fixed by some software patch.

Faster processors
More memory.

Oh, and now most new phones have only marginally replaceable batteries.

Living in a glass house?

What about using a glass phone? Wrap-around glass. Glass back.
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Old 04-25-19, 03:57 PM
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Originally Posted by CliffordK
My current phone is a Samsung S4 Zoom.

2013 release.

2019 now...

So, I'd be in almost the same boat with Android One. 3 years of updates, 3 years of unsupported or marginally supported.

I wonder how many personal devices, phones, computers, etc... are upgraded during that 3 year lifetime? How many are older, perhaps much older? Or get passed to a new owner for continuing use?
You poor suffering soul.

Google made the Android OS a free for all to encourage adoption, as they got caught flat-footed by iPhone....now that it is a majority on the market, they have a real problem trying to clean up the unethical behavior (it should be criminal, given how phones are now vaults of people's lives--not just a phone book and phone) of OEMs of SoCs as well as hardware as well as the phone-brands themselves who want to pump-and-dump in order to keep their bottom-lines up.

Of course, Google for their part is no saint in this either. Anyone can clone Android to compile/build it themselves--but it takes many days of intensive fixing to even get it to simply finish a compile nvm boot nvm run well. Because Google doesn't care if /master branch works, so long as they satisfy the availability of the code for GPL etc. There's Google's infamous Project Treble, whose goal was to take unmaintained device-drivers out as an excuse not to update Android. That is right, it isn't just the phone-brand not updating things, it is Qualcomm and everyone else up-the-food-chain too...Well, TL;DR long-story-short far too late, this led to "GSI" or Generic System Image(s)--firmware images that should be portable/installable to any handset. YAY! Update problem solved!

Except not...IRL these GSIs frequently don't even boot. IRL these frequently have broken feature sets. IRL these frequently run badly WRT battery life etc. Presuming your phone even allows GSIs to be flashed.

Originally Posted by CliffordK
Oh, one other thing about perpetual software updates. Good... but what happens when one needs a hardware upgrade?

In the case of this thread, 5G is just around the corner, but most of the phones don't support it, and it is unlikely to be fixed by some software patch.

Faster processors
More memory.

Oh, and now most new phones have only marginally replaceable batteries.

Living in a glass house?

What about using a glass phone? Wrap-around glass. Glass back.
We live in a throw-away society. AKA a "consumer economy".

No one makes money if your phone lasts very long. Non-user replaceable batteries are one of many ways to force users to upgrade, as cells go bad in a fairly predictable decay pattern..

Last edited by Marcus_Ti; 04-25-19 at 04:04 PM.
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Old 04-25-19, 04:13 PM
  #66  
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Originally Posted by Marcus_Ti
You poor suffering soul.

We live in a throw-away society. AKA a "consumer economy".

No one makes money if your phone lasts very long. Non-user replaceable batteries are one of many ways to force users to upgrade, as cells go bad in a fairly predictable decay pattern..
In my world, life of 3 years is barely broken in.

But, yes, I could imagine why a company may wish to sell a consumer a $1000 phone every year, or better yet, every 6 months.
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Old 04-30-19, 03:13 PM
  #67  
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Where once marketing departments had people holding their breaths wanting to see what's new in cars, now other marketing departments have us holding our breaths wanting new phones. Which cost as much in dollars as many cars did BITD.

I just replaced my Galaxy S4 with a new Moto X4 for under $140, including tax and Amazon ads. I wanted to buy it for $20 more without ads, but that option disappeared before I could buy. It upgraded automatically to Android 9.0. Unlike the S4, the screen on the Moto is bright enough to use as a biking computer. I can live without 5G for now, and probably for as long as I'll keep this phone.

(The really frustrating part of my search was that most 'reviews' I found said nothing about call quality. Silly me - I want a tool I can use to speak with people who aren't right in front of me.)

I can't help thinking of something I was taught some years ago, when I was a budding Programming Support guy - (paraphrasing) you can tell the pioneers by the wounds in their backs....

(signed) philbob57, skeptic and Luddite

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Old 05-02-19, 08:10 AM
  #68  
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From what I see, the Pixel 3 has the best camera on a phone at the moment. I have a first gen Pixel XL and it makes fantastic photos and the current ones are supposed to be even better. The resolution is not going to let you get the photos enlarged much beyond 8x10 but neither is any phone camera. If you want bigger resolutions, you have to have a dedicated camera. Even better, there is a rumored cheaper version of the Pixel 3 coming out soon that is built of plastic instead of aluminum and glass but it still has the same camera. Wouldn't be surprised if they come out with the Pixel 4 this fall and then the 3 will be on special as they try to blow them out.
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