Looking for a new phone with LTE band 42

[Korth]

I subscribe to Public Mobile

3G = 850 (5), 1900 (2)

4G = 850 (5), 1900 (2), 700 (12/13/17/29), 1700/2100 (4), 2600 (7), 1700/2100 (66)

I also subscribe to Xplornet

4G = 3500 (42)

I usually carry a smartphone (mobile talk and text) and a tablet (mobile data) at work, at job sites which can range across half of BC and AB.

I foolishly left my tablet on a conveyor at a bottling plant. I didn't realize my mistake until after it had gone through the industrial stamper, wrapper, oven, boxer, and palletizer machines. Needless to say I need a new tablet.

I love my pimped out Cat S61 smartphone but it lacks band 42. I'll have to replace it. I'm no longer interested in carrying around an extra device for data. I already lug around too many tools.

A list of "all" phones compatible with these bands:

(asterisk* = dual-SIM, strikethrough = phones I do not want)

Apple iPhone 11*/11Pro*/11ProMax*, 12*/12Mini*/12Pro*/12Max/12ProMax*, SE2

Google Pixel 3/3XL/4a/5

Asus ROG Phone 3*

Oppo Find X2*/X2Pro*

Motorola Edge+

Essential PH-1

Does anyone have any comments or recommendations about any of the remaining devices?

Or should I wait a little bit because something new and better is just around the corner?

I'm leaning towards a Pixel (because GrapheneOS), I'm also leaning away from a Pixel (because no dual-SIM and no built-in SDIO hardware).

Some of these models are costly, which sucks, but I think it would still work out costing me less than a steady stream of tablet replacements.

[Korth]

@sheytoon 

I use Xplornet in BC. Fraser Valley, it gets kinda spotty near Abbotsford and Aldergrove but works fine in some of Chilliwack, Hope, and places beyond Hope. Their rep told me they don't have proper cell towers but they do have lots of little repeaters and rooftop installs (equipment they've setup for their subscribers?). Signal is generally pretty good outside the cities, it often works in faraway rural off-the-road places where Public Mobile's service is weak or absent. I've noticed a few spots where somebody's ham radio (or commercial broadcast or machinery or something) randomly smears my reception at certain times of day.

[sheytoon]

Just curious, which province are you using Xplornet mobile service? As far as I know, they use B42 in rural parts of AB, NB, ON and maybe QC?, but that's meant more for fixed wireless home internet purposes. In MB they are building out a mobile service, but that won't use B42.

[Korth]

@will13am 

The Oppo phones caught my attention. But limited availability and high prices around here, while Pixels are "cheap" everywhere.

GrapheneOS is a strong feature for me, it's already fully supported (designed for) Pixel, recompiling it for a different platform would take time. (It took me a couple days to port the OS onto my Cat phone - because I had to rescale all the UI elements for different display, and I had to rebuild all sorts of hardware-specific driver objects, and I had to jtag undocumented opcodes through the SPI ROM bootloader, lol - then another three months of testing and tinkering and tweaking and debugging and actual usage before I got it fully stable.)

I'm getting lazy. Need something which "just works" (or rather, which somebody else has already done all the work in figuring out the rooting, modding, etc). I've got more interesting projects to worry about, a killer smartphone (which I hardly make much use of) doesn't really interest me anymore.

The Xplornet is mobile data subscription. Plug in their SIM card, configure their APN, just like any other provider. I pay $20/month for 60GB at 5Mbps across a coverage zone I'm always wandering within. Device needs to be radio-compatible with their unusual LTE band.

[Korth]

Yeah, not going to waste more time on this.

Pixel seems like the best choice. The specs on that Motorola look pretty impressive but I wouldn't need them enough to justify the price.

I guess I gotta order some SIM breakdout boards and SD breakout boards and find some kind of matchbook-sized plastic case to build my own multi-SIM multi-SD holder. So I can "swap" between all the tiny cards by pressing buttons instead of by doing minor surgery on my phone while in nasty industrial environments. A project, yay!

[will13am]

@Korth , is the Xplornet service needed for to reception purposes?  Band 42 is pretty obscure which explains the limited hardware options.  Anyway, I am kind of partial to the Oppo phones.  They are the parent of OnePlus, well regarded elsewhere in the world.  The only Oppo phone I have ever owned was the find 7a.  It was a great phone.  The VOOC charging system was ahead of its time.  I wish they would come back to this part of the world.  

[Korth]

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@sweetescape58 wrote:

I am wondering if the Samsung Galaxy FE is compatible with Public Mobile. Can anyone tell me as I would like to get it, thanks, Leanne

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Galaxy FE has six SM variants. (And none of them support Xplornet's band 42.)

G781U and G781U1 (USA and USA-Unlocked) and G781W (Canada) are fully compatible with Public Mobile (Telus) if not firmware-blocked.

G781B (International) is also compatible with Public Mobile (Telus) if not firmware-blocked, though it lacks a few minor 4G bands.

G781O (China, Hong Kong) and G781N (Korea) are incompatible with Public Mobile (Telus).

5G data and full 4G/LTE/LTEA speeds are not available on current Public Mobile plans anyhow (they're all upper-capped at 3Mbps). VoLTE is also not available on Public Mobile. So these costly phone features would be wasted on Public Mobile unless Telus decides to upgrade Public Mobile services in the future.

[NDesai]

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@sweetescape58 wrote:

I am wondering if the Samsung Galaxy FE is compatible with Public Mobile. Can anyone tell me as I would like to get it, thanks, Leanne

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Yes, the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is compatible with Public Mobile. 

[BasesLoadedWalk]

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@sweetescape58 wrote:

I am wondering if the Samsung Galaxy FE is compatible with Public Mobile. Can anyone tell me as I would like to get it, thanks, Leanne

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It should be fine. If the phone works with Telus, then it would work with Public Mobile. Telus does sell the S20 FE.

[sweetescape58]

I am wondering if the Samsung Galaxy FE is compatible with Public Mobile. Can anyone tell me as I would like to get it, thanks, Leanne

[NDesai]

Another vote for Pixel. I still use my Pixel 3 and it's been running like a new device. Clean Android is a great experience and all Google apps just works flawlessly without any issue. In terms of network connectivity, I haven't experienced any issue with my previous Pixel 2 and the current Pixel 3. 

[BasesLoadedWalk · Accepted solution]

I just got a Pixel 4a 5G and it's very snappy, and doesn't have any bloat software with it. It's a great mid-tier phone. It is missing wireless charging and waterproof rating though (use a decent case and this isn't going to be much of an issue). If you want something higher end, I do think the Samsung S20 FE is decent too. I personally would go with the Pixel for best bang for your buck, and you were leaning towards that phone anyway.