What?
My previous phone broke down: a part of the screen got shattered (from 4 separate falls), the speaker is damaged, the battery doesn't last enough for my usage -more on this bellow- and its internal storage is too low.
While I could still use it -and actually I've been using it for about a month in this state- it's furstraiting and simple things like read a message, take a photo, translate something,... take me lots of time to get right.
Note: I've owned 7 phones before my current one. This is the first one that I've bought. The previous ones were either gifts or hands down from a friend/family member that wanted to upgrade. Thus I started on the quest of getting a new phone.
What I use my phone for?
Primary
- WIFI hotspot I depend heavly on my phone to use the data network (4G). Where I'm at, this is the only way I'm able to my work effectively. I just recently got a GlocalMe with a dedicated data SIM which will elevate some of this usage while indoor.
- IM, mainly WhatsApp I depend heavly on phone to use WhatsApp while on the go. While not on the go and when I have my laptop I'd usually use the Web version. I use this to keep contact with my friends on family.
- Calls/SMS I still find myself using calls and sms only when the receipient doesn't have a WhatsApp account (rarely) or they don't have an active internet connection.
- GPS & navigation When traveling or locally, I find myself depending heavely on Google Maps for navigation or for delivery people to know my address.
- Misc utilities Calculator, flashlight, translation, quick note taking, clock...
- MFA device Google authenticator for some accounts and a banking client app for OTP.
Secondary
- Camera I don't use the camera professionally (check my shared photos). I use it for some video calls or to take some casual photos.
- Fingerprint login Maybe because my phone didn't have a good fingerprint login, but I still find myself using a pin.
How did my previous phones broke?
I never updated a phone because of its processing power, storage or camera. The only reason I'll have a new phone is when the old one is not practically usable for me.
I want my new phone to address as much as possible of the causes bellow.
What I'm looking for in a new phone
- Address all my primary needs.
- Have a certain protection against the previous reasons that my phone broke.
- Have a good battery that'll last me for atleast one full day on my usual usage.
- Nice to have/future proof:
- NFC I have a couple of things I'd want to experiment with, also pay on touch would be amazing.
- USB C The universelaty upgrade from mini-usb would be nice. Also No more fideling with face up-down.
- Being rootable I'd love to install and experiment with LineageOS.
- 5G support In the -low chance- case we get some coverage in
- Able to support AR that'll be nice.
- Physical kill switch for mic & camera.
- Trust-worthy manufacturer This is only a wish, I don't have much context on how to validate this.
- Audio jack I want to use my current noise-canceling headphone without having the need to carry an adapter.
- Runs on Android based OS I have a couple of side loaded apps and I find iOS to be too restricting.
Things I don't care about
- Thinness I usually carry my stuff in a backpack when outside, and my phone stays usually at my table when indoor.
- Expensive camera For the reasons stated above.
- Large screen estate I don't need a small one neither want a semi-tablet. I just need to be able to write comformtably and for the text to fit.
I expect my phone to live for atleast 2 years (average life for my phones is 1 year).
Candidates for phones
Based on the the causes listed above, I decided I want a rugged phone. This limited my options tremendously.
Next I searched local suppliers for what they had. And the best model I've found that had a good build quality review was CAT® S61.
The other candidates were some off the shelf models, mostly dirt cheap Chinese rugged phones that I think are poorly build, or some very expensive models from Samsung that were very expensive for me and I didn't find enough reputation for them online.
It checks off a good portion of what I'm looking for and have some cool additional features: thermal imaging camera, indoor air quality sensor and laser assisted distance mesurement.
- Address all my primary needs.
- Have a certain protection against the previous reasons that my phone broke.
- Have a good battery that'll last me for atleast one full day on my usual usage.
- Nice to have/future proof
- 5G support
- NFC
- USB C
- Able to support AR
- Being rootable I didn't dive much into this yet, but based on a thread on XDA-Developers, it doesn't look like it's feasible.
- Physical kill switch for mic & camera.
- Trust-worthy manufacturer I don't know much about this point to form a good opinion, but atleast I found it more trustworthy than other manfacturers available and they have a good -human- support team that'll respond to queries.
- Audio jack
- Runs on Android based OS
All in all, I found the trade-offs good for my situation and decided to buy it. It was listed off as USD 850 which is equal to LBP 6,205,000. But that's for another blog.
Migration process
I reguraly take full backups for my phone and have sync with google enabled. Thus my migration process was very smooth: apps + data.
The only problem I faced was with Google authenticator not acknowledging my new device. I only had 2 accounts and was able to register my new device with a backup code I took before.
Conclusion
Considering everything, I'm happy with this purshace and I'll see how it holds up with me.