Rugged Basic phone

kbf64 · Oct 4, 2020

Anyone using a rugged "basic" not smart phone these days? I was looking at this:

Amazon.com: Cat B25, Dual Sim, Rugged phone, GSM Factory Unlocked

Buy Cat B25, Dual Sim, Rugged phone, GSM Factory Unlocked: Cell Phones - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Rickenbacher39 · Oct 4, 2020

Does 2G technology even work any longer?

L84Cabo · Oct 4, 2020

Rickenbacher39 said:
Does 2G technology even work any longer?

In Europe maybe.

Certaindeaf · Oct 4, 2020

Doesn't walmart sell $20 burner phones anymore?

Certaindeaf · Oct 4, 2020

L84Cabo said:
In Europe maybe.

Moldova?

Alexx1401 · Oct 4, 2020

As mentioned the 2G is going away for one. Another is for that price you can buy a nice Smart phone. Some plans for them are $20 a month + whatever the local taxes add. Put it in one of those Otter Box kind of cases and it's damn hard to break one. Then if you just want a phone you have it and you can use to "smart features" if you want. The phone is cheap enough that if you do manage to break it you can just buy another one and they transfer you # to the new one.

Flopsweat · Oct 4, 2020

Alexx1401 said:
As mentioned the 2G is going away for one. Another is for that price you can buy a nice Smart phone. Some plans for them are $20 a month + whatever the local taxes add. Put it in one of those Otter Box kind of cases and it's damn hard to break one. Then if you just want a phone you have it and you can use to "smart features" if you want. The phone is cheap enough that if you do manage to break it you can just buy another one and they transfer you # to the new one.

I have been using a case called Unicorn Beetle for my phone and tablet for several years now. Costs less than half what an Otter Box does, is much lower profile and has repeatedly saved both devices from falls that I'm very sure would have otherwise been terminal. You can get a cheap 5G smart phone for $200 that will last you longer than 5G will be around. Just don't get a data plan or if that's not an option get the cheapest plan and turn the data connection off on the phone.

Alexx1401 · Oct 4, 2020

Flopsweat said:
I have been using a case called Unicorn Beetle for my phone and tablet for several years now. Costs less than half what an Otter Box does, is much lower profile and has repeatedly saved both devices from falls that I'm very sure would have otherwise been terminal. You can get a cheap 5G smart phone for $200 that will last you longer than 5G will be around. Just don't get a data plan or if that's not an option get the cheapest plan and turn the data connection off on the phone.

That would certainly work. My Tracfones run $23 and change a month. The service is there for any phone someone wants to buy that's not locked. This only gives 1 Gig a month of data but it rolls over. Last I checked my main phone has 12Gigs on it from it seldom being used. Both of us use Verizon towers. Normally great. Of course our house is in a damn dead spot for them

Get 1 bar here. If it's an important call we have to either go outside or upstairs to make sure it does not drop. If I try to use the 4G here forget it, like dial up days. For a long time I was looking at a booster for the house. Then I just decided to get another phone for the house. Bought an unlocked from Amzon, $70. $10 for an AT&T Sim from Tracfone. There is an AT&T tower I can see out my window. So of course that phone gets 5 bars. So now if we need to make some important call just use that phone here.
The unlocked phones are like all "tech". Keeps getting better and cheaper. I was looking at some unlocked phones the other day on Amazon since mine is getting old. Found a couple really nice ones for $100. The best part about these is if I ruin one somehow I really don't care. Just buy another one. I well remember when these first hit and many would buy insurance policies on the damn phones they cost so much. They still have some that are 1K and more but I have no idea what the hell they do. I am sure more than I would ever bother to learn to do :s0140:

Flopsweat · Oct 4, 2020

Alexx1401 said:
That would certainly work. My Tracfones run $23 and change a month. The service is there for any phone someone wants to buy that's not locked. This only gives 1 Gig a month of data but it rolls over. Last I checked my main phone has 12Gigs on it from it seldom being used. Both of us use Verizon towers. Normally great. Of course our house is in a damn dead spot for them Get 1 bar here. If it's an important call we have to either go outside or upstairs to make sure it does not drop. If I try to use the 4G here forget it, like dial up days. For a long time I was looking at a booster for the house. Then I just decided to get another phone for the house. Bought an unlocked from Amzon, $70. $10 for an AT&T Sim from Tracfone. There is an AT&T tower I can see out my window. So of course that phone gets 5 bars. So now if we need to make some important call just use that phone here.
The unlocked phones are like all "tech". Keeps getting better and cheaper. I was looking at some unlocked phones the other day on Amazon since mine is getting old. Found a couple really nice ones for $100. The best part about these is if I ruin one somehow I really don't care. Just buy another one. I well remember when these first hit and many would buy insurance policies on the damn phones they cost so much. They still have some that are 1K and more but I have no idea what the hell they do. I am sure more than I would ever bother to learn to do

My first smartphone my company gave me. Because I could check my schedule from Outlook on the phone, suddenly I didn't have to lug my laptop (they were heavier back then) to every meeting. I only really needed it for probably one out of three or 4 meetings and they were not all in the same building. Shortly after I got familiar with it, I managed to launder the phone and completely killed it. The hair drier and rice trick didn't work. I went to the phone store and the first question was did you buy insurance :s0092:

. No of course not. Since I had just started a new contract with the new phone I couldn't get a new one free or discounted for signing up. I wound up shelling out $600 for a new one. I don't specifically remember if I bought the insurance but I have a hunch.

Alexx1401 · Oct 4, 2020

Flopsweat said:
My first smartphone my company gave me. Because I could check my schedule from Outlook on the phone, suddenly I didn't have to lug my laptop (they were heavier back then) to every meeting. I only really needed it for probably one out of three or 4 meetings and they were not all in the same building. Shortly after I got familiar with it, I managed to launder the phone and completely killed it. The hair drier and rice trick didn't work. I went to the phone store and the first question was did you buy insurance . No of course not. Since I had just started a new contract with the new phone I couldn't get a new one free or discounted for signing up. I wound up shelling out $600 for a new one. I don't specifically remember if I bought the insurance but I have a hunch.

When the S3 hit one of my kids had to have one. He was working 2 jobs so why not. We had to co sign for him. He managed to drop 2 of them in the damn toilet. Both times the deductible was IIRC a couple hundred. I finally told him WTF? Put the damn phone down when you go to pee Son :s0140:

Quirt Evans · Oct 10, 2020

If the emphasis is on "Rugged", very few, if any phones can come close to Sonim.
Overwhelming choice for bush pilots, oil workers on the North Slope, fishing and hunting guides in Alaska/Canada, military, and first responders.