[Completed] Looking for a backup phone - XDA Assist

Hey guys,
I've been looking for a cheap backup phone. My current carrier is T-mobile prepaid.
I'm looking for a phone w/ LTE capabilities, Android or windows 8.1, and must be cheap! I'd say my budget is around 120-130 USD max. I prefer a new handset please (warranty purposes). Any reputable seller is fine.
Some phones I found:
Samsung Galaxy Light
LG F3
LG F6
Nokia Lumia 635
What would you guys recommend?

The question you're asking is complicated. As there are many variables in choosing a device, because every user is slightly different in their needs. The one suggestion I can definitely make is, choose a phone with a good ( strong ) support. It avoids a lot of the pitfalls, and issues related to owning a device. Especially if you plan on Rooting, or Modding the device. Because if an issue arises it is easier to find / get help. As for where to purchase a device I would suggest checking out the link below.
Swappa Buy and sell gently used mobile phones and tablets safely

prboy1969 said:
The question you're asking is complicated. As there are many variables in choosing a device, because every user is slightly different in their needs. The one suggestion I can definitely make is, choose a phone with a good ( strong ) support. It avoids a lot of the pitfalls, and issues related to owning a device. Especially if you plan on Rooting, or Modding the device. Because if an issue arises it is easier to find / get help. As for where to purchase a device I would suggest checking out the link below.
Swappa Buy and sell gently used mobile phones and tablets safely
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well from what I'm seeing, there aren't that many phones to choose from in the first place. All I really want is the best overall phone. I don't really care much for rooting and whatnot as this is just a backup phone. The main feature I want is LTE while being cheap. I will mostly use the web browser and watch videos on the go. Nothing too major.

Again, it's a tough task to suggest a specific device. Because as I stated there are many variables. I would suggest making a list of your wants, and needs. Then look for a device with as stated before, good support. Best of luck .

Related

[Q] Kids Rom

I have seen some threads for kids apps. I am interested in finding/building a kids ROM.
My child has a prepaid SIM card and RAZR to be used for certain situations. I would want to be able to let my child carry the phone all the time but restrict what numbers could be called.
So my idea, which can't be an original one, is leverage Android power to install a rooted ROM but run in user mode when I give it to my child. User mode could restrict calling to the phone book only or restrict wi-fi/data access; basically anything that you wanted to restrict or remove. Maybe there could be a ROM builder.
I have many scenarios in mind but maybe they could all be solved by software apps instead of getting into a custom ROM? I'm tech savvy, but haven't ever done a ROM. If the answer is to develop a custom ROM, what device should I choose that would get the most community support? I figure it would be a low end phone, since the point is to make a children's rom.
May I ask how old is your child?
[Sig] dId you know? If you Insert a Coin on your Desire, then it levels up to HD, Z or S :[/Sig]
i was thinking of my son when you mentioned this, it is a great i dea, and i also thought if the original att kid's phone that was out a few years back. it was revamped and it sucked. but good luck on either building one or have some one make one ( put a bounty on it?)
Phones and ROMs
My child is 8 years old. I figure in a few years that it would be fine, but it seems like there would be more of a market for this.
I would put up a bounty for it but I'd prefer to make this a community effort too.
So I will change tack here and ask what the best ROM might be for me to start with and what phones might be recommended? I'm figuring that CM would be easiest to start with, generically?
Thoughts?
I think that is a very good idea.
A good part of that could be accoimplished with a kids theme on an existing ROM.
im sorry but the RAZR is a dumb-phone! it doesnt support 3rd party modding. im afraid you are mistaking the word 'ROM' and actually don't know what it means! You will have no luck finding such ROM for the RAZR... A bootloader of any sort does not exist!
You need a smartphone if you want such a job done, but it requires a investment into a smartphone which are generally more expensive and not intended for 'kids'
I understand...
@olyloh6696: Thanks for looking in on the thread!
You misunderstood what I was explaining. She _currently_ has a RAZR. I want to figure out what the best GSM _android_ phone would be to do the project I'm describing would be. I would of course have to get the new phone; I do understand that the RAZR does not support android (dumbphone).
Any thoughts on phone model or something out there like this already?
rykerwilliams said:
@olyloh6696: Thanks for looking in on the thread!
You misunderstood what I was explaining. She _currently_ has a RAZR. I want to figure out what the best GSM _android_ phone would be to do the project I'm describing would be. I would of course have to get the new phone; I do understand that the RAZR does not support android (dumbphone).
Any thoughts on phone model or something out there like this already?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi
well i guess the best option for a relatively cheap phone (that has android) is the zte blade (in my sig) it is a british phone, but gsm, so i think it should work in the us. if you read reviews for it, it has specs of the desire, nexus one, etc in a cheap budget range. read some revies on it! it also cost £100. Not sure what your budget is though. before you set out to buy the phone, you may need to look up a rom that supports the requirements you want, or you could request one/build your own.
good luck
Unrelated, but the RAZR does support modding lol. Back in the day, pre-Android, I used to hack the hell out of my Razr. There's even a hidden feature called Club Lights that uses the phone's microphone to detect music and make the lights on the phone go with the beat. Youtube it.
That's a great idea... it would be great on a tablet too.
I'm always worried that my son is going to click around in the market and download tons of apps without know it.
Remove Dialer.app, replace with custom Dialer.app
Is the source for the Dialer.app known, i.e. part of the main trunk of the Android sources? I was just thinking that it might not be too hard to just modify that original source to limit it only to the "contacts" tab, that way you can only call the contacts tab.
Another feature I thought of is using some kind of Dynamic DNS client to be able to dial in to the phone.
I was thinking that there could be a "phone home" app that would call home and report the currently used minutes and GPS coordinates, or similar.
Just trying to get the features set worked out and find out if there is existing apps that do this stuff.
2018, quick google search for Kids Custom ROM.... dead thread no progress. There is definitely a market for this, since it's easy to shove a phone into an OtterBox like case and let them have at it with safe guards. My kid has had an Ipad since age 2 without issue. Now she asks for my phone on occasion (years later). It would be easier to just take a custom ROM shove it on a cheap device and give it to her.
Sure, I am a minority, definitely but I can't consider myself the only person who would want to do this.
This is what I'm looking for my child. I'm a software engeneer but I've never works on Android. I think it's not a great works for an Android developer.
I'll follow this post for news.
digging this one up again. anyway to take something like at Nexux 5x and put a totally stripped down version of android on it to achieve something like the lightphone?
nvrpunk said:
2018, quick google search for Kids Custom ROM.... dead thread no progress. There is definitely a market for this, since it's easy to shove a phone into an OtterBox like case and let them have at it with safe guards. My kid has had an Ipad since age 2 without issue. Now she asks for my phone on occasion (years later). It would be easier to just take a custom ROM shove it on a cheap device and give it to her.
Sure, I am a minority, definitely but I can't consider myself the only person who would want to do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Per capita, there are very few people that actually root or flash custom ROMs, the number of kids that could/would use such a ROM is even less than that, this means it is not worth a developers time and hard work to build a ROM for this purpose, especially considering the plethora of different devices out there in the world. There would not be enough kids using "this" or "that" device with "this" or "that" custom ROM. To be as convenient for kids as what you are asking about, there would have to be a "kids ROM" for a large number of devices. This is not a reasonable expectation by any standard.
Add to that, the fact that rooting devices and flashing ROMs can quickly go bad if the user is not familiar with certain aspects of using a device that is rooted or flashed with a custom ROM, this makes for some rather difficult issues to solve due to user error, ignorance and inexperience of the user.
If you want a "safe" or "basic" ROM for a device, you'll have to learn how to build it yourself because I can promise you that no developer is willing to put that much time and effort into building ROMs that will only be used by a small number of users.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

[Q] Android phone for devlopement

Hi,
I am at point where I would be buying a new mobile phone. I don't have budget problem, but I am looking from the point where I'll be able to use my phone as development device.
I have shortlisted some options:
Nexus S: This seems to me an idle device for development. It also has NFC. You have early access to the android flavors. But with dual core processor phone in the market, I not sure if this a good choice.
Samsung Galaxy s 2: The phone is expensive, but has many feature(except for NFC ). Do you think this can be a good device considering future versions of android might be out by November-December(speculating)
Wait for another device: Wait for a device. But then everything can't be obtained in a single device. How long will I wait?
HTC Sensation: Not much info about it.
Any other device
I seem to prefer device with NFC and dual core(may be because it a future ready).
Really confused. Just looking for a device that can be used for development on current and future flavors of Android.
Also I have read about rooting a device. Not sure if this is a proper question, but if someone roots a device can the person explore the full capabilities of the device(provided the rooting is proper).
I prefer not to wait for another device and I am confused between Nexus S and Galaxy S 2.
Please give you opinion about my choice or some other device that I should consider.
Thanks
Prerak Desai
if you need a phone for development, first choose your target audience.
i dont think a vast majority of the people will be upgrading too soon to dual core...
now if u wanna push boundaries with your programming, go ahead with the latest...
but its good to have a phone that a greater percentage of the people have...
also, do consider the major portion of people are on android 2.2 and 2.1 (more than 85% as on google site)...
think from a developer pov, not a user...
Thanks HyprGeek for the reply. Seems to give me a point or two to think about.
But don't you think if I buy what majority are buying today, then in about a month time something new will come up and the crowd will start moving towards it. Then i'll be stuck with old device.
I personally feel you need have something(especially electronics device) that arefuture ready so that you don't regret your decision in a short time.
What do you think from a general point of view, which device I should consider?
Thanks,
Prerak Desai
well, u need to detemine how big the "crowd" is...
http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html
and i dont think computers/mobiles can ever be future ready...

[Q] Rooting/Flashing Chinese Android phones. ups downs do's dont's ?

Hi,
So I want to dump my WP7 phone (i will say no more) and go back to the tinkering world of Android. I am a budget minded shopper who likes the look of all those super cheap Android phones that float around. But going to one of these phones would of course be pointless if I am as stuck with the basic software as I am with WP7.
There are already a few threads on weather it is possible to root these phones, as the general answer seems to be either buy one that is confirmed to work with one of the universal tools... or buy and hope.
There is a thread on the ability to flash but I cant seem to open it, just loads forever, so I hope this isn't too much of a dupe.
Anyway, I am aware roms depend on memory, cpu type, and other internals, but can you match the important specs to the closest western equivalent and then use these roms or is the danger of bricking your phone just too great?
If there is a reasonable chance based on the above thinking, I am thinking along the lines of investing in a sub £100 phone and swallowing the brick i create if it doesn't work out. But if the chances are stupidly small then it is obviously best worth avoiding.
Just looking for some sensible advice on the matter really? Putting the potential quality issues of chinese phones aside for a second is it worth a shot?
Nothing on this?
q+a forum the right place for this?

Broke my Htc One, looking for a temporary low-budget phone

Hello,
As the title states, I broke my 1-year-old HTC One, and I'm looking to buy a new temporary low-budget smartphone. (w/o contract)
Having previously broken a relatively high number of devices from numerous brands and types (yes, i'm that clumsy), and currently not willing to splash the cash, I'm just looking for a smartphone, that can simply just run the usual apps, and that would last me at least 5-6 months until a new set of phones are released into the market.
I have a rather decent experience with android devices, so I'd prefer them over Windows phones, but anything would work.
My budget is around 150$, and I'm really unwilling to surpass 200$
Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thank you
-George Kayogre
Definitely the Moto G! You can pick one up for 150 bucks or so off contract I believe. Although if you have Verizon you can only use the G with their prepaid plans.
There are 3 threads already established that are devoted to discussions about devices, please read, and if necessary, repost your question in one of these threads: The what should I buy thread or the The Device Suggestion Thread or the The Device Comparison Thread.
There are also several other discussion threads that you probably should review to help you. They are What phone do you wish you had? or
The Worst Android Device That You've Ever Had & Why or even this place that talks about The best phone you ever owned.

[Completed] Recommend Dual-Sim, Stock(-ish) Android Phone, 200$

Gents,
Will be travelling lots for my job in the next few years. Would like to get a dual-sim phone. Current phone is a Nexus 5X, which I do love, and that I got precisely because of stock Android - just about every single one of the Asian skins is complete anathema to me.
Budget is around 200 U.S., though could be convinced to spend a bit more if there's a sizeable gain to be had. Priorities : processing power, stability.
I ask here because I'm pretty sure I'll have to delve into the custom ROM scene, which I'm totally not afraid to do (I've flashed a fair number of ROMs before), but I'm afraid I might be forgetting a phone that has high community support. I know the obvious choice is OnePlus, but the 3/3T is way out of my budget.
My best options, I think, are either Redmi Note 3 or Mi5. Potentially a OnePlus 2, but those are a bit higher-priced. Any others you can think of, that are powerful and well-supported?
Cheers!
SilverJS said:
Gents,
Will be travelling lots for my job in the next few years. Would like to get a dual-sim phone. Current phone is a Nexus 5X, which I do love, and that I got precisely because of stock Android - just about every single one of the Asian skins is complete anathema to me.
Budget is around 200 U.S., though could be convinced to spend a bit more if there's a sizeable gain to be had. Priorities : processing power, stability.
I ask here because I'm pretty sure I'll have to delve into the custom ROM scene, which I'm totally not afraid to do (I've flashed a fair number of ROMs before), but I'm afraid I might be forgetting a phone that has high community support. I know the obvious choice is OnePlus, but the 3/3T is way out of my budget.
My best options, I think, are either Redmi Note 3 or Mi5. Potentially a OnePlus 2, but those are a bit higher-priced. Any others you can think of, that are powerful and well-supported?
Cheers!
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Hello,
Please post your query here Device suggestion thread with all relevant details, the experts there maybe able to assist you.
Regards
Vatsal,
Forum Moderator.
Will do, thanks.

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