RETURN OF THE FLIP PHONE

[joyfulrebellion]

Hi Community, 

One of my New Years “Resolutions” is to shift my experience of the current culture surrounding communication. I am en route to transitioning to an old school flip phone where I can call and hear the people I Love’s human voices and keeping all other visual communications on my laptop. 

Has anyone else made this sweet step backwards technologically? And, will I still be able to use a Public Mobile SIM card in this transition?

Thank you for your input! 

Be well, be brave, do good

[bob2021]

For those of you who have a ZTE Cymbal 2, does it has a voice type (speach to text) function which you can use to write message, or use voice to search the contact list?

I am considering getting a flip phone for my parents who are in their 80's - because they are:
1) touch screen challenged,
2) modern phones with glass back and 6+ inch screen are too heavy for them to hold steady

Of course, they are not likely to be able to use T9 input therefore voice type would be very useful.

I thought the Alcatel Flip 3 with Google Assistant might be the answer until I found out Google has removed the ability to voice type, or use assistant to make call or send SMS.

Non-4G phones are not an option because of the pending 3G shutdown.  Ideally a low end Android phone with 4 inch screen and plastic back would be ideal but they don't make those anymore.

[darlicious]

@Anonymous 

Good one.....there is a word I have been spelling wrong my entire life...ok not spelled wrong but with the wrong definition. Scrabble-wise I'm still ok!  Uh oh! Am I getting the strap for that?😎

[LurganIeUk]

On Telus Web site on Prepaid Tab

[softech]

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@LurganIeUk wrote:

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@softech wrote:

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The Clie was also a TV remote control. Me and some coworkers were in a restaurant in Belleville ON. 

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yes, Clie was my remote control when I eat out..  I did that too LoL .. and I really upset there is no more IR for any phone these days.

Yes, I am a die hard fans for Sony, too.. but Clie really upset me too.. my TH55 was like $500 or $600 back in 2004.. then Sony decide to stop their whole Palm line.. Sony is always like this.. they spent so much money in make fancy gadget ..overpriced toys.. then they notice they didn't get the market they want.. so, they pull out of the market immediately... 

my Clie was like that.. my Sony Tablet S was like that too..  😞

[LurganIeUk]

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@softech wrote:

@hairbag1   Moto Tac 650 was the first phone I bough.. on Bell.. I always a big fans of flip phone all because of Startac...

@Anonymous   i used to like Palm.  .. used Treo 680..

my favourite...although not a phone .. was the Sony Clie TH-55.. was a nice one.. almost have everything I need except no cell feature.. 

yes.. liked the BB before.. and Z10 was the last one I use myself, too..

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I had a Sony Clie and a Sony Desk top in 2001. I lost all respect for Sony as I contracted a carrier and the guy in charge was an ex Sony store manager and he gave the the scoop on the over priced junk they sell AND what I experienced. If you recall the Clie was also a TV remote control. Some coworkers and I  were in a restaurant in Belleville ON. I changed the channel on the TV and they all complained about it and the server pulled a chair out, climbed up  and changed it back and by the time she got off the chair, it switched back. Tee Hee. 

ps. battery and on/off switch on Clie was a defect before it went into production. 

[softech]

@hairbag1   Moto Tac 650 was the first phone I bough.. on Bell.. I always a big fans of flip phone all because of Startac...

@Anonymous   i used to like Palm.  .. used Treo 680..

my favourite...although not a phone .. was the Sony Clie TH-55.. was a nice one.. almost have everything I need except no cell feature.. 

yes.. liked the BB before.. and Z10 was the last one I use myself, too..

[Anonymous]

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@hairbag1 wrote:

Motorola Micro-Tac 550...still have it too.

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 @hairbag1 : I had a StarTac in there somewhere too. I got rid of all my old CDMA's when CDMA disappeared in Canada. I had quite some brand loyalty to Motorola back then.

[LurganIeUk]

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@darlicious wrote:

@pkaraa 

Yes....legally they cannot refuse but their policy is 12 months since you were last a customer. If hou have a problem then just tell them your next move is a CCTS complaint. That will illicit the code. 

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Sometimes on an older phone you can get a code off of eBay for $5. 

i liked our flip phones.  2 - 4 weeks on a charge. 

[hairbag1]

Motorola Micro-Tac 550...still have it too.

[Anonymous]

 @softech : iirc i500. Thing of beauty. Little stylus too. It might have been my last CDMA phone. Somewhere I had the even smaller V3620. Cute little thing. Never liked all the candy bar and brick phones..until I discovered the Blackberry.

My first phone was the old Motorola brick phone.

[softech]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I had the old CDMA Razr with Telus (natch). Then I stumbled across a Palm OS flip smartphone from Sprint that Telus agreed to allow on their network. Also CDMA.

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Palm OS flip.. which one?  the Samsung one?

[Anonymous]

I had the old CDMA Razr with Telus (natch). Then I stumbled across a Palm OS flip smartphone from Sprint that Telus agreed to allow on their network. Also CDMA.

[softech]

if they refuse to unlock for you .. maybe time to get a new Razr instead..

[Anonymous]

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@darlicious wrote:

@pkaraa 

Yes....legally they cannot refuse but their policy is 12 months since you were last a customer. If hou have a problem then just tell them your next move is a CCTS complaint. That will illicit the code. 

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 @darlicious : Why would the code become illicit? 🙂 Ohhh...elicit. Got it. 🙂

[darlicious]

@pkaraa 

Yes....legally they cannot refuse but their policy is 12 months since you were last a customer. If hou have a problem then just tell them your next move is a CCTS complaint. That will illicit the code. 

[pkaraa]

@darlicious 

with my standby number I was with Rogers till march 2021 then I moved that number to PM.

so I guess I m good for unlocking that phone. right?

[computergeek541]

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@darlicious wrote:

@pkaraa 

Even if it is compatible you would have to get it unlocked through a private party unless you know someone with fido service. As of April 2020 rogers/fido will not unlock their phones unless you have been a customer in the previous 12 months. The phone would have 2G and probably 3G but not 4G LTE.

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Unless @pkaraa tells us the exact model number, there's no way to know about compatibility. The original Motorola Razr that Fido sold does not have 3g.

[darlicious]

@pkaraa 

Even if it is compatible you would have to get it unlocked through a private party unless you know someone with fido service. As of April 2020 rogers/fido will not unlock their phones unless you have been a customer in the previous 12 months. The phone would have 2G and probably 3G but not 4G LTE.

[pkaraa]

It's from 2008. Don't have exact details. Will msg dad to send me the phone and test. 

[computergeek541]

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@pkaraa wrote:

I have an old Motorola razr unused new From fido. Can I get that unlocked to use with public .... how?

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If this is the original Motorola Razr V3 from Fido, this model is not compatible with Public Mobile. Which Razr generation/model/variant is it?

[pkaraa]

I have an old Motorola razr unused new From fido. Can I get that unlocked to use with public .... how?

[stevenanto]

How about the coolpad snap? It seems like it is one of the more reliable ones, has great camera, expandable storage, and battery of course.

Its also much cheaper than the razr. I also find that the razr is cool but upon reading reviews that the hinges creaks and camera sucks it just might not be the best option

[stevenanto]

@a4chiu Thats an interesting choice if it suits him. I remember when they first came out they were all the craze because they were way slimmer than all the other flip phones. 

[computergeek541]

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@a4chiu wrote:

May I suggest the new Motorola Razr phone? It is a folding flip phone, but still has android OS. 

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For anyone considering this, there have been numerous different models that used the name Razr, some of which are not compatible with Public Mobile. Ensure that your phone has at least UMTS 850/1900MHz compatibility.

[a4chiu]

May I suggest the new Motorola Razr phone? It is a folding flip phone, but still has android OS. 

[darlicious]

@joyfulrebellion 

I held out as long as possible actively using my flip phone until late fall 2019 after joining public mobile. Once I no longer needed to back up freedoms poor signal with telus' signal because both lines were with pm (telus) I finally put both sims in the dual sim A3 and the flip phone became the back up. 

It didnt take long and the flip phone came out for the bf after he lost his phone. It came out a further 5 more times in 2020 as the bf lost, found, dropped, left, recovered, smashed, killed and bought phones like a monthly transit pass. He even lost but luckily recovered my beloved alcatel A392A but he also unfortuately allowed a freshly split chunk of firewood drop on top of it that initially killed it but it rebooted into just a flip phone with a smashed screen its texting days behind it now. 

You will likely need a full sized sim card so be on the look out for the original housing that comes with a triple punch sim card. There are plenty of samsung rugby or sonim phones out there if you need a more rugged phone but they still have a great mp3 and fm radio built into them and a camera for basic pics and speech to text capabilities. There's joy to be had in being off the grid so to speak....

There's a few leads here....  https://recy-cell.ca/en/buy/samsung-rugby-3-a997-unlocked-9-10/

Before....1 year ago......charging....After....but still working!

[kselmak]

I have a family member who did that and is very happy that way.

What i did once is dug out an old android phone, it's Android 2.x so as your can imagine nothing can be installed on it, so not much beyond talk and text can be done, maybe calculators and disconnected calendar just like the flip phone. On the plus side the older battery was just enough. I did that out of necessity i didn't want to buy anything and i lent my spare Huawei, i knew i would have it back in couple of months

I suggest you go through your drawers.

[HALIMACS]

May the FLIP be with you

[sheytoon · Accepted solution]

@joyfulrebellion congrats on taking this step! To answer your question, your existing SIM will work as long as it fits. In terms of frequencies, you just need 3G UMTS/WCDMA band 2 (1900 MHz) and 5 (850 MHz).

[softech]

.. haha.. i thought you were talking about those Smart flip phone.. but i guess you are looking for those older "non-smart" phone..

Telus does have some choices like these:

Prepaid ZTE Cymbal 2

Prepaid Coolpad Snap