Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Gadgets & Tech So called 'Smart' phones.

Having owned a smart phone for some time I have gone back to a dumb one. It doesn't have internet capability, GPS, a camera, accelerometers, or a touchscreen, but its advantages greatly outweigh these wonders, most of which I never used.

Little bigger than my car key, it's a fraction of the size of my old smartphone, which was too big to fit comfortably in my pocket, and all I need to do when someone calls is open it and talk (I don't have to wrestle with the touchscreen to accept the call). It has never 'frozen' - something the smart one did all the bloody time.

But the best thing about it is that it requires charging only about once a month! The 'Smart' phone was so smart that it required charging every day - sometimes twice a day.

I don't think I'm a luddite, I own and use a desktop, a laptop and have kindle and a tablet, but just because technology exists is no reason to pack it into a phone. Sometimes, keeping things simple is the best solution.

Anyone else 'downgraded' due to getting fed up with these technological wonders proving a right pain in practice?

Never upgraded - seems like a mobile phone, and just a phone, it perfectly adequate. I don't want to fiddle about all day with a gizzmo when there are people to talk to and things to do.

Well, you are smarter than me Moonstar.

I had to try the techno-wizardry before realising it was more trouble than it was worth.

Androids i bet???

Not sure how hard it is to charge a phone once a day unless you don't live in a house with electricity. I guess if you don't need any of the other features then, stick with a feature phone. In my experience* the reason most people have problems with android phones is because they buy something like a galaxy ace for a few quid a month and think it will be the same as a £600 top of the line model, when obviously it won't. Either that, or they just fill it with crap apps that use up all the resources and cause it to freeze.

*(My experience is being a Samsung / Apple / Sony / HTC / LG / Nokia / Motorola certified mobile phone repair engineer)

I have a HTC and I never have a problem with it. I just charge it overnight while I sleep. The only time I had problems ever with a touch screen freezing is when touch screen phones starting coming out and I bought a really crap phone back then. I don't think I could ever go back to a basic phone now.

It is very little to do with the cost of the phone or the applications on it. It is to do with the fact that the hardware involved in GPS, accelerometers, a big screen, high speed data transmission, and a high powered processor needed to support all its tricks take power.

Yes it's easy to charge it overnight, but its also easy to forget to do it. And if you use the facilities provided, you will run the battery down well before the end of the day anyway. An example: My daughter has a super-duper i-phone. When used for GPS in a car it gets almost too hot to touch and the battery is exhausted in less than an hour. She could plug it into the car's power socket of course but the car has a GPS system anyway so it's pretty pointless.

The phone itself is far too big for trouser pockets - she uses her handbag but I don't carry one.

My point is that adding all these gimmicks to a simple phone doesn't make it a better phone. It makes it a worse one. If I could find a simple phone with a low powered B&W screen like the kindle, I'd jump at it. Not having to charge it for possibly months on end is a HUGE advantage, as is small size. I have only two portable appliances in which the battery is not a nuisance. A 10" Galaxy tablet, and the original Kindle.

Finally, the low cost of a simple phone means it is no longer a catastrophe if I drop it or break it. I don't even bother to insure it. If it goes wrong I dump it and buy a new one for a tenner.

I think the market for gimmick-stuffed smart phones has probably peaked. It certainly has in my case. What I want is a minimum-hassle thick-as-planks phone.

just get what suits you..agree with your point about battery life if your out and about...hoping this is the next leap forward...and size of the super phones...i went for galaxy s3 mini...which suits me...just needed phone/mp3 player /plus a bit of internet

Snap! I'm currently using a galaxy mini, lovely phone works great but all i use it for is text and calls dont even know what half the stuff on it does? I use the tablet and laptop at home, ive still got an old nokia flip phone which im gonna use when my contract ends, it will also save me at least £20 a month!

Yes Silvertigra. I think flip phones are the most practical format for phones you carry in your pocket with coins and keys etc. The screens and pushbuttons are well protected from damage.

'Smart' flip phones simply don't exist. I expect the desire for a large screen is seen as more important, although they are so power hungry that you are lucky if you can watch a single video on them without having to connect it to a charger before the end.

Tis right i'm afraid, my battery is on 6% as i write this.

bluetooth drinks the battery power like you wouldn't believe.

Bluetooth?

Bluetooth, used for broadcasting music to car stereo to save the clutter of cd's in vehicle.

Also used for handsfree in car so police man won't issue points and fine

Have you not got a lead you could use from the headphone socket on the phone to the input on car stereo if it has one?