Smart phone vs flip phone

[Tekamthi]

just to clarify, you only need data for loading maps, not the GPS itself. you can also load up maps while on wifi and use them (with GPS) without a data plan. i just reposted and article about this here.

doing the above is a true travel superpower... takes a little tech-literacy maybe, a small budget for extravagance, and some care in the field not to smash your device, but well worth the trouble

 

[watson]

not going to lie here, for the past 2 years ive been trying to find reasons to ditch my smart phone and just use a flip phone.. i still to this day cant come up with a reason not to use a smart phone as a traveler... the gps is too good. the power to google something, come to STP, view pdfs' railmaps etc. is just unmatched. i think next time i settle down and get myself together ill end up dropping the smart phone getting a flip phone and just reading books instead of binging on tv and video games.

 

[Matt Derrick]

some alternatives:

1. the pine phone a linux-based smartphone.
2. the librem 5, another linux-based smartphone (pre order).
3. the e phone, a deGoogled/unGoogled android OS available to install on almost 100 phones.

probably some others, but you can also try this article on un-googifying your phone:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/using-android-without-google/

 

[WizardBlown]

Can't watch porn on a flip phone

 

[castler]

Especially if u can't provide consistent funds for a data plan on a smartphone - mine has wifi capabilities so even if I can't continue service, I have wifi as backup which is super nice. I don't think flip 80s style fones even have wifi.

Flip fones are more durable in general. Unlike the screens on smartphones which crack if you so much as poke it.

Also the downsid of smartphones is if the screen gets moisture, it's hell to dry off as remnants sticks and it takes several wipes to get it all off.

Last week I just picked up an "Anker" bluetooth keyboard from Wally world and love it! I paired it to my android smartphone as the small screen is rather tricky to edit text or type in general, this product works and now I have a cheap version of a MIcrosoft Surface/Dell XPS.

I major advantage I like about it is it no longer displays the "on-screen keyboard", so U can input text without it gobbling up half ur screen.

It takes 2 AAA batt and keyboard is thin - I kept the box it came in so it has a layer of protection in the pack.

 

[Matt Derrick]

Last week I just picked up an "Anker" bluetooth keyboard from Wally world and love it! I paired it to my android smartphone as the small screen is rather tricky to edit text or type in general, this product works and now I have a cheap version of a MIcrosoft Surface/Dell XPS.

Yeah I agree that If you can't afford / don't want a computer/laptop/tablet, a smartphone with a bluetooth keyboard is pretty great. Combine that with a travel bluetooth mouse on an android phone and you'd be surprised what you can get done on something so small and cheap. I still have this folding microsoft bluetooth keyboard and it's amazing in certain situations.

If you're looking for cheap, but good, smart phones, I highly recommend www.swappa.com. I've gotten my last four phones from there and phones for my family and they've all been great. Just search for the big expensive phones from like 3-4 years ago and you'll usually find them for around 100-150 dollars and they will last you years. Beats paying for a brand new 100 dollar phone that is super crappy.

 

[Usagi]

some alternatives:

1. the pine phone a linux-based smartphone.
2. the librem 5, another linux-based smartphone (pre order).
3. the e phone, a deGoogled/unGoogled android OS available to install on almost 100 phones.

probably some others, but you can also try this article on un-googifying your phone:

They're all useless if your goal is avoiding the spying. All phones sold in the USA (and most elsewhere) are required to have a baseband CPU.

Baseband processor - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This is the hardware level exploit they use to spy and control cell phones remotely. It's impossible to talk to the network without it. It's impossible to audit the software/firmware running it. It's impossible to get around it at all. So unless your goal is getting an interesting toy/pocket computer to hack on those options you listed are useless to most. Same deal with the average non-Android flip phone. If it can talk to the cell phone network it's spying on you at all times.

not going to lie here, for the past 2 years ive been trying to find reasons to ditch my smart phone and just use a flip phone.. i still to this day cant come up with a reason not to use a smart phone as a traveler...

I've lived without a cell phone for about four years now. I use a landline for making calls. I no longer use txt messaging or any type of instant messaging service. I don't use any google, apple, amazon, or any other big tech services. All of that crap is blocked from my LAN. If you come to my house and ask me for a wifi password the internet would probably be useless to you. You can't search the web with google, you can't check facebook, twitter, or whatever other social media. You can't shop on amazon and the vast majority of the web will be broken for you because almost every website relies on google, cloudflare, and amazon these days. The internet becomes a very lonely place with all that blocked until you start using it like the old days. I spend my time on BBSs and forums like this one. If I do lurk a big tech service I do it through a proxy like nitter.

The first week is the hardest but after that you start to enjoy the peace of mind and will break the addiction. I'm way happier now than I was when I participated in social media. If big tech wasn't intentionally trying to break the web I wouldn't miss their stuff at all. The only thing I use from big tech these days is youtube. But I never use the web interface. Subscriptions I replaced with RSS feeds. I browse it from a CLI. I download or stream the content using yt-dlp and pipe it into mpv (my local video player). I replaced netflix and streaming services with torrents. Everything is automated using scripts and servers to store/download content I'm interested in. I buy books directly from the publisher instead of amazon now.

If I'm away from home and need use of a phone I look for a pay phone (they still exist) or ask someone to borrow their cell phone. Since everyone else has one I've never been in a situation where I couldn't make a call. I really enjoy not having a cell phone. People can't get in touch with me 24/7 anymore or bother me with their bullshit. You have to come by where I'm staying or catch me on the landline to get in touch. I quickly discovered I only have like 5 real friends. The other 800+ were just social media fodder. Most have not even bothered to attempt contact with me since I deleted all my social media years ago.

Anything you use your phone for can be replaced with something else. You don't need google maps when you have real ones. Real maps don't need an internet connection or a charged battery. I do not miss having GPS. If I did I would just buy a dedicated GPS device.

You should try to break the addiction. If you absolutely need a cell phone get a flip-phone with the ability to remove the battery. Just be aware it's no safer privacy wise than a smartphone.

 

[00kissmarrykick00]

Even though this thread started in 2019, now in 2022, it's easy to get a smartphone. Smartphones have become cheaper, and are even given for free on government programs.

Flip phones are very nostalgic and aesthetic but they are hardly practical with all of the needs that something is basic as a phone is expected to do today.

The next best thing will be folding phones, for the flip phone fans. Even though you would have to drop a few k on something experimental now, folding phones will be affordable just like all other technology becomes after it becomes mainstream. As for smartphones, in general, having your GPS in your pocket is too good to pass up - as a traveler.