is a cheap budget phone good enough for my purpose?

[kenny1999]

I am interested in a budget phone sold for about $100, but my friend strongly advised me not to get it.

I do not play any mobile game at all.

I do not watch any youtube video at all. I do not even listen to music with my phone.

Mostly I will send some text message on whatsapp, taking a few pictures or videos, but browsing the web for information (e.g. using chrome or other preinstalled browsers) are what I will do so often. Sometimes I will also use Google map in order to look for nearby places.

Is a cheap budget phone good enough for my purpose? Will it make a huge difference if I get a more expensive phone? (When I don't play games and I only browse websites)

 

 

[Mordred]

If you don't need high end graphics, a lot of storage space or a good quality camera on your phone. Then there is nothing wrong with a cheap phone for just phone and text. I use one for work purposes and keep my high end phone for everyday home use.

[CharonY]

It always depends on what you want to do. I still occasionally use my old Symbian cell phone (with keyboard). Obviously nothing works except calling and texting, but that is all I need to do, especially while traveling. Maps is the only feature I miss. I have an android but use it actually less (I just hate the idea of having it).

[Sensei]

6 hours ago, kenny1999 said:

I am interested in a budget phone sold for about $100, but my friend strongly advised me not to get it.

Show the brand and, more importantly, the model ID, then we will be able to tell more..

Your question is a bit like asking "is a $10 book worth reading?"..

6 hours ago, kenny1999 said:

I do not play any mobile game at all.

Too ambiguous. There are games with high requirements and there are games without requirements.

6 hours ago, kenny1999 said:

I do not watch any youtube video at all. I do not even listen to music with my phone.

mp4 and especially mp3 does not require high requirements, unless it is 4K+. YouTube automatically selects the most optimal resolution for your device.

 

6 hours ago, kenny1999 said:

but browsing the web for information (e.g. using chrome or other preinstalled browsers) are what I will do so often.

Modern websites are quite demanding. They have many video ads on the screen at the same time..

If the device is too weak, enjoyment will be low and annoyance high.

Most of the mobile operators here have dropped 2G and are in the process of dropping 3G, so older cell phones won't even connect to the Internet (if you plan to buy a used and/or leased device). The same thing will happen sooner or later with 4G (aka LTE). Older devices lack support and updates, so older mobile browsers may have trouble opening modern websites.

 

1 hour ago, CharonY said:

I still occasionally use my old Symbian cell phone (with keyboard). Obviously nothing works except calling and texting, but that is all I need to do, especially while traveling.

Legacy devices with well-known bugs are trivial to hack..

 

[CharonY]

1 hour ago, Sensei said:

Legacy devices with well-known bugs are trivial to hack..

Fair enough. Though all I have on it is: I'll be in the lab by 5, my plan has landed, I'll be 30 min late. It also has no internet access or bluetooth. I suspect there might be ways to use the cellular network itself, but I have the suspicion it might not be worth the effort.

[MigL]

9 hours ago, kenny1999 said:

Is a cheap budget phone good enough for my purpose?

As long as it's not a 'flip' phone, you should be OK for your stated purposes.

But phones are like computers ( sorry, are ); once you 'discover' the extra features, you eventually find a use for them.

[Sensei]

On 5/22/2024 at 2:48 AM, MigL said:

But phones are like computers ( sorry, are ); once you 'discover' the extra features, you eventually find a use for them.

I bought mine just to write applications on them..

 

 

Try Kali NetHunter Rootless Edition https://www.kali.org/docs/nethunter/nethunter-rootless/

Better if you have a >6" display and/or an external display (mirror screen/share screen function). It is a "Linux emulator on an Android phone". So you have a mouse cursor, terminal, bash etc. etc.

(obviously, with a rooted phone will work better, but it's better than nothing).

 

Edited May 23 by Sensei

[MigL]

Even a >6 in screen would drive me nuts ( or has that ship sailed already ? ) trying to read the miniscule text.
They tell me my Samsung has a beautiful screen, but I need to change glasses to see it clearly.

I do my Linux distro installs on 3x3x1/2 in Android TV boxes ( AMLogic 4 and 8 core chipsets ) hooked up to older 26-32 in flat TVs.
Much easier on the eyes and at $ 40, much cheaper than a phone, even if you include the cost of an old flat panel TV and keyboard/mouse.

Edited May 23 by MigL

[Sensei]

On 5/23/2024 at 1:43 PM, MigL said:

Even a >6 in screen would drive me nuts ( or has that ship sailed already ? ) trying to read the miniscule text.

LOL. I say the same thing about reading anything on a laptop screen 13.6"..

Here the laptop is connected all day long to a docking station to which 40", 27", 24" monitors are connected..

 

I'll give you a tip: if the application does not allow you to zoom in/out, take a screenshot and in the image viewer you can zoom in/out..

There should be apps available in the Google Play store to zoom in/out parts of the screen.

 

On 5/23/2024 at 1:43 PM, MigL said:

Much easier on the eyes and at $ 40, much cheaper than a phone, even if you include the cost of an old flat panel TV and keyboard/mouse.

Old flat screen TVs are very energy hungry. Connect a wattmeter to measure it and calculate the cost. TV with 100W consumption, running 10h per day, with energy price $0.29 per kWh, in a year of use will cost you $106.

 

 

BTW, you can connect modern smartphones to OTG adapter and then to hub and plug USB keyboard, mouse, external SDD, pendrive, ethernet etc. and mirror phone display on flat TV screen too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_On-The-Go

Check it in the shop first. There are different variations. micro-B USB for old phones, USB-C v2.x for newer phones, USB-C v3.x for newest phones.

 

[kenny1999]

Hi all above, thanks for all the advice, I am going to read and study them in a few days.

Meanwhile, I have copied a comparison of my current old Android phone bought a few years ago and the phone I am now interested in. Will these "better" worth an upgrade? Because my old Android phone can still be used correctly, only the battery is a bit failing.

1.67x more battery power?
5000 mAhvs3000 mAh

4GB more RAM memory?
8GBvs4GB

4x more megapixels (main camera)?
50 MP & 2 MPvs13 MP

32.14% faster CPU speed?
2 x 2 GHz & 6 x 1.8 GHzvs8 x 1.4 GHz

22.55% bigger screen size?
6.74"vs5.5"

1.6x more megapixels (front camera)?
8MPvs5MP

192GB more internal storage?
256GBvs64GB