Help - need a new phone

[slovcan]

Hi folks, not strictly MGR related, but help.

It has been a NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD- expensive month . In one of our Nor'easters a branch came off one of our birch trees ...... and through the back window of the neighbour's car. Home insurance? $1000 deductible. Owner's car insurance? Only allowed 3 glass claims in 5 years and just had one 2 weeks before. So, $400 for the window and $600 to get the trees (2 together) taken down.

Then yesterday my trusty Nokia N9 died - 2 weeks after I put in a new battery (the 3rd, I think - had that phone for about 7 or 8 years). It won't recognize the sim card and the micro USB port for charging and saving my documents, pictures, notes, contacts and whatever else no longer works. Lost everything.

Anyway, need a new phone. We have had the N9's for 8 years. Awesome phone and especially the MeeGo operating system. From what I have read about Android, IOS and Windows 10 Mobile, none of them will individually do what our N9 does. I don't want an iPhone - Apple scams their customers with battery tricks to entice them to buy new iPhones every couple of years. So, that leaves Android and Windows 10 Mobile. I know Windows 10 Mobile isn't going to be developed any further, but it will be supported as it is. The functioning of Windows 10 Mobile seems to be more like MeeGo than Android is. BUT, I think there is a Microsoft Launcher that you can put on Android phones that make them almost Windows phones. Best of both worlds? I really don't know. I have never used any operating system except MeeGo.

I have narrowed my phone choices down to the Nokia 5 or 6 or Motorola G5 Plus for Android and Nokia/Microsoft Lumia 950 for Windows 10. My preference is always Nokia - always top quality phones.

Here is what my N9 64G did and are must haves for my new one:

- Screensaver with dimmed clock, ringer setting & current weather
- Security lock that automatically engages after 5 or 10 minutes of inactivity
and needs a pin number or some
other secure way of unlocking
- Call recorder that automatically records and saves phone calls
- Light sensor that turns off the screen when in a pocket or against your ear
- PDF, Word & Excel viewer (preferably with editing capability for Word and
Excel)
- Full function calendar
- Minimum of 32G storage or seamlessly expandable with a Micro SD card
- Battery must last at least a full day – N9 lasts 2 days with checking email at
0900, 1200, 1700 & 0000 plus
updating weather forecasts every 30 minutes
- Good camera
- Good GPS
- Good music player

What do the smart guys with smart phones recommend? I need to get one fast and don't know enough to make a good decision right now.

Thanks,
Glenn

[hrissim]

Originally Posted by slovcan

Hi folks, not strictly MGR related, but help.

....
I have narrowed my phone choices down to the Nokia 5 or 6 or Motorola G5 Plus for Android and Nokia/Microsoft Lumia 950 for Windows 10. My preference is always Nokia - always top quality phones.

Here is what my N9 64G did and are must haves for my new one:

- Screensaver with dimmed clock, ringer setting & current weather
- Security lock that automatically engages after 5 or 10 minutes of inactivity
and needs a pin number or some
other secure way of unlocking
- Call recorder that automatically records and saves phone calls
- Light sensor that turns off the screen when in a pocket or against your ear
- PDF, Word & Excel viewer (preferably with editing capability for Word and
Excel)
- Full function calendar
- Minimum of 32G storage or seamlessly expandable with a Micro SD card
- Battery must last at least a full day – N9 lasts 2 days with checking email at
0900, 1200, 1700 & 0000 plus
updating weather forecasts every 30 minutes
- Good camera
- Good GPS
- Good music player

What do the smart guys with smart phones recommend? I need to get one fast and don't know enough to make a good decision right now.

Thanks,
Glenn

Hello, Glenn!
Definitely Xiaomi.
Covers all of your requirements even more
Recommend them - personal 2 years experience with this one.
The best price/quality ratio.
Budget for choosing the model?

By the way - Nokia is far behind the quality used to be...

[slovcan]

Originally Posted by hrissim

Hello, Glenn!
Definitely Xiaomi.
Covers all of your requirements even more
Recommend them - personal 2 years experience with this one.
The best price/quality ratio.
Budget for choosing the model?

By the way - Nokia is far behind the quality used to be...

Hi Hristo,

Thanks for the info! I've never heard of that phone, but from your link it looks like a winner. I will do some more research on that one. Excellent!

Like I said, it was a very expensive month. I didn't budget for a car window, tree cutting OR a phone. I want to keep it under $300 CAD if at all possible.

Glenn

[hrissim]

Originally Posted by slovcan

Hi Hristo,

Thanks for the info! I've never heard of that phone, but from your link it looks like a winner. I will do some more research on that one. Excellent!

Like I said, it was a very expensive month. I didn't budget for a car window, tree cutting OR a phone. I want to keep it under $300 CAD if at all possible.

Glenn

You will not regret.
This manufacturer is unknown in the Western World /for now/.
Do a research for the owner opinions, the sales of the company, the quality, so on.
Do your choice with the model equipped with a Snapdragon processor.
The only one is better - Huawei but with no automatic phone call recorder Pricey.
Better camera - Leica optics in high-end models.

[topman]

How about a second hand N9?

[slovcan]

Originally Posted by topman

How about a second hand N9?

Yes Topman, I have looked. I can get the 16G ones, but I need more storage than that. If I could find another 64G I might well go with that.

Cheers,
Glenn

[slovcan]

Originally Posted by hrissim

Hello, Glenn!
Definitely Xiaomi.
Covers all of your requirements even more
Recommend them - personal 2 years experience with this one.
The best price/quality ratio.
Budget for choosing the model?

By the way - Nokia is far behind the quality used to be...

Hi again Hristo,

You have the Redmi 3 Pro. I can't get that one here, but can get the Redmi 4X https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redm...eview-1628.php . It doesn't have the battery life of yours, but looks like it will be OK. It has the Snapdragon 435 which I think is a slower or less powerful one than yours has. It has Android 6, so not the newest, but maybe still OK? It has an app on it called "Recorder". Is this the one that records calls? Can it be set to record all calls automatically or do you have to manually start recording for each call? It does look like a great package.

Oh yes, one more thing - does yours have a voice translator on it that you can speak to in Bulgarian and your phone speaks back to you in English? A friend in Slovakia has this on his Samsung Galaxy 7 and I really want that translator.

Thank you,
Glenn

[hrissim]

Originally Posted by slovcan

Hi again Hristo,

You have the Redmi 3 Pro. I can't get that one here, but can get the Redmi 4X https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redm...eview-1628.php . It doesn't have the battery life of yours, but looks like it will be OK. It has the Snapdragon 435 which I think is a slower or less powerful one than yours has. It has Android 6, so not the newest, but maybe still OK?
1. It has an app on it called "Recorder". Is this the one that records calls? Can it be set to record all calls automatically or do you have to manually start recording for each call? It does look like a great package.

2. Oh yes, one more thing - does yours have a voice translator on it that you can speak to in Bulgarian and your phone speaks back to you in English? A friend in Slovakia has this on his Samsung Galaxy 7 and I really want that translator.

Thank you,
Glenn

Good morning, Glenn!
1. Yes it has it.
The big China brands like Xiaomi and Huawei developed custom operational systems based on Android. For example Xiaomi`s MIUI.
Automatic call recorder function is part of MIUI - built in.
Huawei hasn`t it in their OS - EMUI.
2. Negative. You surprised me with this one. Will answer like that - "I really want my Rover 75/Mg accelerate 0-100km/h in 4 seconds"
Mine has text to speech function built in and vast variety of other ones built in too.
But yes - maybe there is an Android app which can do this? I don`t know - never needed function like this one.
Meybe the Xiaomi flagman has this function built in - I don`t know this either.

The phone choice is like everything else - depends on personal needs.
Higher expectations lead to high price.

Urgent always leads to headache or high price.

[vacuman]

Originally Posted by hrissim

Hello, Glenn!
Definitely Xiaomi.
Covers all of your requirements even more
Recommend them - personal 2 years experience with this one.
The best price/quality ratio.
Budget for choosing the model?

By the way - Nokia is far behind the quality used to be...

I agree...I bought a Xiaomi redmi 4x last November from Gearbest. Amazing phone for the price...search Youtube for more reviews and links to deals.

[Groundsman Willie]

Google Translate should do the job, pretty sure you speak into your phone, and it will print a translation on the screen, and speak it out too