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Feeling going retro ... Bye smart phones ?

J

Jibbajabba

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 13, 2011
1,024
5
I have had iPhones (original, 3G,3GS,4,4S) and since then Android phones (Nexus 4, S3,S4 and now Note 3).

Lately I feel like going back to a small phone with decent battery life. I have some Nokia Lumia 520 which lasts days and another 625 I could have for free. OK, granted, it is not quite retro, but given the limited options on WP and lack of apps (none of my IOS /Android apps are available on WP), it does feel like going retro. I tested the 520 for a few days and using a phone just as that, a phone, means it lasts ages.

Granted, I initially missed a set of apps, but I realised that I only used them because I can, not because I need.

I might just be getting old, not wanting to keep up with the new and bigger phone buzz .... but it is nice not to have to worry whether my phone is still charged enough to see me home :p
 
R

Robster3

macrumors 68000
Dec 13, 2012
1,987
0
Good for you, if i didn't need a smart phone or any phone for business i wouldn't have one:)
 
J

Jibbajabba

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 13, 2011
1,024
5
Well depends. The smaller Windows phones still got Exchange, tethering, VPN and Good for Enterprise is available too. So you could still do 'business' :)
 
MRU

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,368
8,948
a better place
You haven't really said goodbye smartphone. You still have access to every feature that makes a phone smart ....

When you go back to using an old Nokia 3210 get back to us ;) :)

Then this thread would get interesting ... The 520 was the best value smartphone on the market (price/peformance) until the Moto G snuck in and took the crown.
 
R

Robster3

macrumors 68000
Dec 13, 2012
1,987
0
MacRumorUser said:
You haven't really said goodbye smartphone. You still have access to every feature that makes a phone smart ....

When you go back to using an old Nokia 3210 get back to us ;) :)

Then this thread would get interesting ... The 520 was the best value smartphone on the market (price/peformance) until the Moto G snuck in and took the crown.
Click to expand...

Or maybe this :p
 

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maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,489
43,414
Jibbajabba said:
Lately I feel like going back to a small phone with decent battery life. I have some Nokia Lumia 520 which lasts days and another 625 I could have for free.
Click to expand...
You're not really giving up on smartphones, but rather large phones. I'd say go with a model that best fits your needs and if battery life is high on that order, definitely get one of the smaller puppies
 
ucfgrad93

ucfgrad93

macrumors Core
Aug 17, 2007
19,538
10,823
Colorado
maflynn said:
You're not really giving up on smartphones, but rather large phones. I'd say go with a model that best fits your needs and if battery life is high on that order, definitely get one of the smaller puppies
Click to expand...

Agreed. It is a very misleading thread title.

I would suggest getting a phone with a replaceable battery, an external battery, or a couple of chargers.
 
S

sentinelsx

macrumors 68010
Feb 28, 2011
2,004
0
Unless you are going back to a phone with a full hardware keyboard, i find it quite masochistic to want to be able to write texts etc by pressing number keys in quick succession. Also modern phones can show SMS as a convo instead of an inbox and outbox in old flip/bar phones, so unless a 'retro' phone can show threaded SMS etc, it gets pretty tedious to keep up with even SMS.

You can just not use wifi, and cancel your data plan, and your smartphone will probably last for 3-4 days with an easier to use interface (big touch screen instead of archaic buttons and small screen). My brother uses his Nexus 4 for just calls, texts, some picture taking and music, and it lasts 4 days easy. Doesn't have a data plan and mobile data remains permanently turned off too. Also he keeps wifi and location off unless he REALLY needs it which is rare.
 
SomeGuyDude

SomeGuyDude

macrumors 6502a
Mar 19, 2011
730
2
NEPA
You know if you just turn off absolutely everything that sucks up battery (data, GPS, etc) and only turn the screen on to make phone calls your average smartphone can last forever, right?
 
AppleScruff1

AppleScruff1

macrumors G4
Feb 10, 2011
10,026
2,949
pdqgp said:
One of my favorite old-school phones

Image

Then there was,

Image
Click to expand...

I still have the top one in my collection. That was the coolest phone there was at the time. Even better, not everyone had one.

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spinedoc77 said:
I miss my Motorola V3688, that phone was freakin tiny. It was so small it fit into that tiny pocket on jeans, the little one that was above the real jeans pocket.

http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_v3688-79.php

I think it may be somewhere in a box in storage, I may have to find it just to play with it lol.
Click to expand...

That would be called the watch pocket. :)

fifth-pocket.jpg
 
M

McCool71

macrumors 6502a
Sep 16, 2012
561
280
SomeGuyDude said:
You know if you just turn off absolutely everything that sucks up battery (data, GPS, etc) and only turn the screen on to make phone calls your average smartphone can last forever, right?
Click to expand...

Good point - I travelled last year and was in a country with very high cell phone and data rates.

Had my cell phone in flight mode most of the time with GPS enabled to use pre-downloaded offline maps once in a while, and it easily lasted 4-5 days between each charge even when hooking up to the hotel wi-fi every evening to check facebook/mail/the latest news for a few minutes.

The best thing though was that I was reminded of peaceful and relaxing it is to be offline and not available all the time :)
 
Lloydbm41

Lloydbm41

Suspended
Oct 17, 2013
4,019
1,456
Central California
Still have my Motorola Razr V3. And the original box and all the accessories from *gasp* Cingular. :D And it still works just like the day I got it, even with a very ancient now O2 sim card in it from the UK. This was THE phone to have before the iPhone came out. Loved this phone.
 

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TacticalDesire

TacticalDesire

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2012
2,286
23
Michigan
I have a 520 I would switch to should something happen to my Moto X. Used the 520 for about a month as my daily driver. Some things were good, others not. Some things were a little slow but that was to be expected and not any worse than say an iPhone 4s and app selection is limited but it was manageable as I still had ESPN, weather, email social networks etc. Not ideal but it was doable and I could do it again if I had to. I would also invest in a couple of extra batteries. Overall I think the 520 is good for a basic user who doesn't need a lot. I am not necessarily a basic user per say but I guess I could be if I had to.
 
AppleScruff1

AppleScruff1

macrumors G4
Feb 10, 2011
10,026
2,949
Lloydbm41 said:
Still have my Motorola Razr V3. And the original box and all the accessories from *gasp* Cingular. :D And it still works just like the day I got it, even with a very ancient now O2 sim card in it from the UK. This was THE phone to have before the iPhone came out. Loved this phone.
Click to expand...

That's the original that was made from aluminum? That was a great phone. And sooo desirable at the time. It was expensive too. Then the price came down and they started to make them out of plastic. The original was the epitome of cool. And you didn't see 12 years old carrying them around at the mall either. :D

Here in MA, Cellular One became Cingular. I had a couple of Star TACs on Cellular One back in the 90's.
 
Lloydbm41

Lloydbm41

Suspended
Oct 17, 2013
4,019
1,456
Central California
AppleScruff1 said:
That's the original that was made from aluminum? That was a great phone. And sooo desirable at the time. It was expensive too. Then the price came down and they started to make them out of plastic. The original was the epitome of cool. And you didn't see 12 years old carrying them around at the mall either. :D

Here in MA, Cellular One became Cingular. I had a couple of Star TACs on Cellular One back in the 90's.
Click to expand...

Yep, it is the aluminum version. Indestructible and I still even have the leather belt holster. Funny to think I used to carry it around on my belt. :p But yeah, this was the #1 selling phone in the US and as I recall, it was $400 without a subsidy.

And I remember the StarTac. Went through a couple of those as well. In the early 90's I had a huge brick of a phone mounted in my car. It was simply to big and heavy to carry around.
 
J

Jibbajabba

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 13, 2011
1,024
5
Oh man flip phones - loved them .. My first one was a Motorola 8900 I think ..

I think it is a bit of a wrong title. Let's face it - you can barely get a non-smart phone nowadays anyway. Thinking about it, I think my problem, if you call it that, is the fact that I use my phone a LOT for browsing / video etc., especially on my long train commute each day (90 minutes each way). This of course kills the battery and yes, you can have a spare battery, bigger battery, battery pack, chargers all over the place etc., but I am tired of it lol ..

Probably similar to some people not taking their wallet to stop spending money. It is like me having a great phone (Note 3 is by far the best I have owned so far), I use it a lot because I can ..

I even started taking my Surface 2 Pro with me to watch movies on the train etc., but this thing is far from light and does require a bag (which I also hate carrying).

So, I now dug out my Lumia 625 as day to day phone, for texting, whatsapp, mail and ... well ... phone ... and take my note for watching stuff .. works well for me ... Still odd to have a "phone" which lasts 3+ days .. that IS like having a mobile / cell back in the day :D

I think my old Nokia phones were lasting for a week sometimes, to a point where I forgot where I put the charger lol .

----------
Vegastouch said:
And to think this was a good idea back i the day. You only needed to be able to get to a phone, lol.

Image
Click to expand...

Had one for years - and never EVER got a page lol
 
E

Einaudi

macrumors newbie
May 1, 2014
2
0
London
What a coincidence

My daughter dropped her iPhone down the toilet... they don't like that

We're currently waiting for a verdict on whether or not it can be repaired so I gave her my 5S to be getting on with and dug out my Nokia 6303i

That was over a week ago

... I'm not going back to the iPhone!

Now I'm unreachable when I want to be unreachable (Like when I'm out with the dogs)... remember that feeling?

Possible with a smartphone I know but who ever turns mobile data off?... you just don't

I do have an iPad2 so I can still do all that I used to do, but I don't keep it in my jeans pocket

There's a lot to be said for keeping it simple
 
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