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Pirarius · ‎11-20-2019

Hi!

My GF is currently with Koodo and will be buying a new phone. She wants to go with Public Mobile with this new phone. From what I understand, she just needs to buy an unlocked phone (on Ebay, or Best Buy, or something like that) get the SIM card from Public Mobile, stick it in and it will work. But she really doesn't know what phone to get. So I would like some precise and concise suggestions, considering her needs:

- Android.

- Will work for sure with Public Mobile.

- Not too pricey (let's say around 400$ CAD or less).

- Not too big (fits in the pocket and in the palm of the hand).

- Works fast enough for smooth use of Web, mails, music, videos (no gaming).

- Has a good camera.

- Has very limited bloatware.

- Is easy to use.

- Is reasonnably sturdy.

- From a reliable brand.

- Recent (2019).

I don't know much about cell phones (don't have one, don't want one), so I don't need a complicated answer with technical details. Just specific phones you think would be good for her, and why you think it fits in these criterias.

Thanks in advance for your help!

popping · ‎02-24-2020

@dvallance wrote:
The UMIDIGI A5 was already mentioned. ...very good "bang for your buck" phone. Got mine yesturday and it's working great.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07TG3NCCT/ref=cfb_at_prodpg

I got my A5 pro when it was on sale last November.

If you find the volume is low during calling, you can try the Volume Booster app or adjust internal settings.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.goodev.volume.booster&hl=en_CA

Check for OTA update. Currecnt version is UMIDIGI_A5_Pro_V1.6_20191227

dvallance · ‎02-24-2020

The UMIDIGI A5 was already mentioned. ...very good "bang for your buck" phone. Got mine yesturday and it's working great.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07TG3NCCT/ref=cfb_at_prodpg

Pirarius · ‎11-24-2019

Thanks for the info. Quite informative.

srlawren · ‎11-23-2019

@Pirarius wrote:
@srlawren wrote:
But Bluetooth, you've never heard of that? I'm actually quite shocked.
No, I've heard the term many times. I just don't really know what it does. Never had a cell phone.

@Pirarius oh okay. It's another wireless radio protocol. Where NFC only reaches a few inches (by design), and WiFi can cover a small to medium sized home, Bluetooth is in between the two, covering roughly 30 feet*. It' used for a lot of different things. Computers often use them for wireless mice (though some mice which come with their own USB dongle use a dfiferent format). Phones mostly use them to connect to wireless headphones or headsets for wire-free hands-free calling or listening to media. It's also used to connect to other devices like smart watches, proximity trackers (maybe you've heard the term Tile trackers? possibly not). There are other uses too but these are probably the most common.

EDIT: forgot my * note! Here it is:

* that 30 feet is a very rough guesstimate. It varies based on a lot of things, including the devices at either end of the connection, any radio interference (microwave ovens are notorious for interfering with Bluetooth as well as 2.4 GHz WiFi signals), any walls/floors/ceilings/windows/furniture/people/pets between the two devices, and probablya whole host of other things.

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Pirarius · ‎11-23-2019

@srlawren wrote:
But Bluetooth, you've never heard of that? I'm actually quite shocked.

No, I've heard the term many times. I just don't really know what it does. Never had a cell phone.

srlawren · ‎11-23-2019

@Pirarius wrote:

I don't know what NFC or Bluetooth are (never used it anyway).

@Pirarius you're welcome for the insights. Is this statement above true? I understand not know about NFC, as it's not as widely known. It's a very short-range radio called "near-field communications", and it enables things like tap to pay, and to pair your phone to some devices. But Bluetooth, you've never heard of that? I'm actually quite shocked.

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Pirarius · ‎11-22-2019

Great insight @srlawren, thank you.

I mentionned the poor battery life when looking at the Talk time in the "theinformr.com" comparing tool and it was lower than the G7. But it's true that internet and video time seem pretty good.

I don't know what NFC or Bluetooth are (never used it anyway). For us, I think the better camera, better performance and better display are the main advantages of the A50. And I do find all the different useless apps on my GF's Samsung Galaxy annoying, but I assumed it was the same for all brands.

And yes, I did mean warranty (pardon my french ), and you bring very good points. I will think about all this.

Many thanks!

srlawren · ‎11-22-2019

@Pirarius a few more thoughts for you, just my opinions:

The A50 is a great device. It's on the shortlist of phones my partner and I are looking at for her (young adult) son, where one of the biggest requriements is good or great battery life, given that he's on it ALL the time, and his aging Galaxy S7 is on the charger a lot. At a 98h rating in the GSM Arena review, I wouldn't say it has poor battery life. In fact, I'd say it's on the high end of average. Anything "around" 100h is quite good. The G7 Power at 147h is in another league entirely, but yes there are sacrificies such as screen resolution and lack of features.

The A50 costs a bit more but does include more "nice to have" features such as NFC, newer Bluetooth 5.0, etc. I'm not a huge fan of Samsung genrally BUT their newer OS versions are MUCH better than they used to be. Their hardware is usually great but in the past had been hampered by too many changes to Android and too many duplicated apps. These are both still a problem in OneUI but not as bad. It may be totally fine, I just personally prefer closer-to-stock Android experience. I do think this would be a great phone for a more average user though!

Regarding warantees (I think that's what you mean when you talk about no guarantees): yes this could be considered an issue. To be completely honest, for a device that costs $2xx-3xx, I don't personally think the risk is that bad. Worst case scenario you could either pay someone to fix it at a local shop, and probably still have paid less overall than if you'd gone with some other devices that include a warranty, OR, take the phone for recycling and buy something else. If it was a $800, $1,000, $1,200, +++ (flagships keep getting more and more expensive!), then I'd be far less comfortable. But in the end, this is a personal decision for everyone based on your needs and budget and so on.

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Pirarius · ‎11-22-2019

Thank you @srlawren and @geopublic for the additionnal input. With all the great suggestions, I am now considering the Moto G7, Power and Plus and the Samsung A50:

https://theinformr.com/cell-phones/compare/4209,4207,4206,4229/

I do love the really long battery life of the G7 Power (great for back-country camping (I know we wouldn't have a network there, but there are still apps that are convenient)) and its lower price tag, but I'm wondering how much the lower RAM will affect its usage over time (we want durability here) and how much the lower resolution of the screen and quality of the camera will disappoint. But do keep in mind that we are switching from a mid-range Samsung Galaxy phone of around 2013, so anything considerably above that might be fine.

If she decides to go with something a bit more expensive, the Samsung A50 seems much better in certain aspects (performance to maybe last many years?), but still not that good with battery life. I'm wondering if it's worth the extra 100$. Samsung is selling it at 320$ these days on Amazon.ca:

https://www.amazon.ca/Flip-Cover-Samsung-Galaxy-Mega/dp/B00DXMWYSI?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1

Durability is of big importance to us. So paying a little more so that it'll work smoothly over a long period of time, might be a good idea... if it does deliver.

The plan for now is to wait for the Black Friday deals and see if anything great comes out.

I do wonder about all the "International version with no gurantee" mention on most phones I see on Amazon. Is it really a good idea to buy a phone without a guarantee?

Thank you all again for all the help!

geopublic · ‎11-21-2019

@srlawren My son uses this model, he loves it because it supports fast charging so the battery is not an issue for him.

srlawren · ‎11-21-2019

@geopublic wrote:
@Pirarius Best to go with a better display instead of the power I would recommend this one:

https://www.amazon.ca/Motorola-Unlocked-Smartphone-International-Model-Deep/dp/B07NP2Y82Q/ref=mp_s_a...

@geopublic the downside to that model is that it's battery life is awful https://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_g7_plus-review-1887p3.php.

Don't get hung up on the number of "hours" in the rating, but instead use that rating as a tool to compare one phone to another. The G7 Plus gets a 59h endurance rating on GSMAreana, while the G7 Power gets 147h, nearly 3 times as much. The G7 Play gets a quite decent battery life at 103h, while the regular G7 is pretty poor at 67h, but still not as bad as the G7 Plus.

At 147h rating, the G7 Power is the 3rd best phone overall out of all the phones reviewed by GSM Areana. Check out the table here, sorted from best to last: https://www.gsmarena.com/battery-test.php3

Again, don't get caught up on "this phone will last this many hours", because that's based on an artifical usage pattern. Instead, use it as a relative number to compare against other phones you're considering to get an idea of the relative battery lfie of each.

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geopublic · ‎11-21-2019

@Pirarius Best to go with a better display instead of the power I would recommend this one:

https://www.amazon.ca/Motorola-Unlocked-Smartphone-International-Model-Deep/dp/B07NP2Y82Q/ref=mp_s_a...

srlawren · ‎11-21-2019

@Pirarius wrote:
@mrphone wrote:
https://www.amazon.ca/Motorola-XT1955-2-Unlocked-Smartphone-International/dp/B07QC3FF3Q/ref=sr_1_3?k...

Moto G7 Power is a good price right now. I have just an E3 and it's plenty of phone for me (web surfing, twitter, maps, youtube)
Thanks for the link. This model says it's the international version. Will it still work on the PM network?

@Pirarius the relevant specs listed in the Amazon listing are:

3G UMTS 850/900/1700/1900/2100 - 4G LTE Cat7 (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 17, 28, 66)

If this is accurate, this phone is a great choice. The two bold & italicized 3G bands are the only two absolutely required. The bold italicized LTE band is the "main" band used by the Telus & Bell network (which PM runs on), while the remaining bold bands are also helpful for additional coverage in certain areas. This phone is a good choice for compatibility.

EDIT: some potential downsides that may or may not be important to you:

- low resolution 720p display and a fairly large screen means not a sharp display

- no NFC radio means no Google Pay, no tap-to-pair with Bluetooth accessories, etc

- Bluetooth is older version 4.2 which is not ideal particularly for use with newer truely wireless buds that use 5.0 for independent connections to the phone per ear (rather than daisy chaining); lack of higer-res/lower-latency Bluetooth codecs like aptX, aptX HD, LDAC, AAC means you won't get the most out of nicer headphones that feature one of these

- Camera probably is less than stunning--check out some reviews to be sure if this is important to you

- plastic body may not feel or look great--though is likely more durable than glass-backed phones

- relatively slow processor

Main upsdies:

- price

- AMAZING battery life. (https://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_g7_power-review-1889p3.php)

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Pirarius · ‎11-21-2019

@mrphone wrote:
https://www.amazon.ca/Motorola-XT1955-2-Unlocked-Smartphone-International/dp/B07QC3FF3Q/ref=sr_1_3?k...

Moto G7 Power is a good price right now. I have just an E3 and it's plenty of phone for me (web surfing, twitter, maps, youtube)

Thanks for the link. This model says it's the international version. Will it still work on the PM network?

mrphone · ‎11-21-2019

https://www.amazon.ca/Motorola-XT1955-2-Unlocked-Smartphone-International/dp/B07QC3FF3Q/ref=sr_1_3?k...

Moto G7 Power is a good price right now. I have just an E3 and it's plenty of phone for me (web surfing, twitter, maps, youtube)

Pirarius · ‎11-21-2019

That's great. Some models are consistently recommended by many, and that helps me a lot in the decision. Thanks again to all!

THEnewfie · ‎11-21-2019

Even tho it's solved, I cannot help but toss in my 2 cents lol. Id suggest something from the Samsung "A" series if you want a top tier name. A50 is 300ish new on eBay. It's got most of the usual Samsung features that you see on flagships. An even better value for money is the Motorola "G" series of phones. Both of those suggestions will have okay cameras.. not good ones. For the best camera at the price that's also rockin a good name.. that's the pixel 3a imo. But that's getting up at the top end of the budget..maybe even a lil above. It'll also run the smoothest for the longest and will have the easiest use out of all the choices I spoke of.

I'd also say you should most definitely give the switch a try with the current phone and start saving some $$ asap lol. If you're smart enough to create this community profile and post, you'll have no troubles setting up your PM account 👌 it's pretty painless I gotta say. IMO, much better than dealing with "people" lol.

Pirarius · ‎11-21-2019

@AE_Collector wrote:
You got it correct, just move the PM SIM card and your done.

i assume you don't have a tab at Koodo to put towards a new phone before leaving.

You are following the current PM promotion that ends today and aren't concerned about grabbing it before it is too late? There will be more promos. This one is a bit better than some if you want a $35 or higher PM plan.

AE_Collector

No tab at Koodo.

I didn't notice the current promotion. We are looking at the 15$ plan for now.

AE_Collector · ‎11-21-2019

You are following the current PM promotion that ends today and aren't concerned about grabbing it before it is too late? There will be more promos. This one is a bit better than some if you want a $35 or higher PM plan.

AE_Collector

AE_Collector · ‎11-21-2019

You got it correct, just move the PM SIM card and your done.

i assume you don't have a tab at Koodo to put towards a new phone before leaving.

AE_Collector

Pirarius · ‎11-21-2019

@AE_Collector wrote:
And one more point...a new phone obviously isn't a requirement with moving to public mobile. If it works on Koodo it will work on Public Mobile.

Yes get Phone, get PM SIM card, create account online, port existing number in online.

AE_Collector

The old phone works very poorly and that is why she was thinking of changing it. But maybe we could try the procedure of switching to PM with the old phone and if all goes well, buy a new one and switch the SIM card afterwards. Or is it complicated to change from one phone to another once the account is linked to the phone?

AE_Collector · ‎11-21-2019

And one more point...a new phone obviously isn't a requirement with moving to public mobile. If it works on Koodo it will work on Public Mobile.

Yes get Phone, get PM SIM card, create account online, port existing number in online.

AE_Collector

Pirarius · ‎11-21-2019

Thank you all for the fast and very relevant answers. This is very helpful!

srlawren · ‎11-21-2019

@sheytoon wrote:
I would also suggest Moto G7 or Google Pixel 3a.

@sheytoon 3a is $399....USD. It sells for $549 CAD from Google, which exceeds @Pirarius 's stated "under $400" budget requirement. Great phone though.

Moto G7 is probably a better fit with the budget. If she doesn't mind going a little larger physically, the G7 Power has amazing battery life, but otherwise the regular G7 would work. Other than the "good camera", it ticks all the boxes. Well, I guess it's a "good enough" camera, but not a great one. You'd have to exceed the $400 budget to get a very good/great camera.

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