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Hey phone/plan nerds. I've gotten a CAT S42 to review. It's a dual SIM unlocked GSM/LTE phone with Android 10 (promised to get 11, so that's cool). Looks like it supports all the standard AT&T/TMo bands, and none of the Verizon or Sprint space. I'm currently looking at the $15/mo Mint plan and then deciding if I want to keep it or ditch it after the 3 months for $45. Is there anything else I should be looking for in the sub $20/month space? I'm in a pretty solid Verizon area, and AT&T/T-Mo seem to be fine, which is what steered me in the Mint direction.
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Oct 6, 2020 00:45
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Biowarfare posted:Verizon has a Visible MVNO but your phone isn't compatible Yeah. I have a shitton of Verizon lines already and if it was compatible, I would have just added it to our unlimited for $20/mo. I ended up buying the 3 month Mint 3gb SIM, which should be sufficient to evaluate the phone.
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Oct 6, 2020 14:42
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Jasper Tin Neck posted:My Nokia 8 has developed bright and dark patches on the screen and the battery life has tanked, which I've read are both signs the battery is damaged, so I Don't gently caress around with lithium batteries. Once they start to swell, they're done for and they need to be gone. Have we learned nothing from the Note 7?
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Nov 24, 2020 14:44
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Charles posted:I don't see that one on AT&T's list, they are going to a strict whitelist model for activating devices. I know Tmobile is good about unlocked devices, what is Verizon like? My wife's Pixel 5 is directly from Google unlocked and there was no issue with Verizon.
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Aug 31, 2021 19:58
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LastInLine posted:In addition to all of that which is all true, having a headphone jack be some kind of dealbreaker is absurd in 2021. You're spending a grand on a phone, maybe pick up some decent, modern headphones while you're at it. There's absolutely no reason to want a headphone jack so much that it negates buying the better made and better supported phones on the market. It's crazy to die on that hill. But the buds I got in 2015 with my Galaxy S6 work just fine!
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Oct 30, 2021 13:00
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LastInLine posted:Maybe back when you couldn't just pick up a pair of wireless buds for next to nothing I could see it and yes the whole transition sucked but once you're on the other side it's so much better. Are these people building PCs with 3.5" drives? Do they only buy carbureted automobiles? How much tilting at windmills can a person do? I was being sarcastic. I actually agree completely.
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Oct 30, 2021 16:05
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CaptainSarcastic posted:I have one use-case where the 3.5mm jack is important, and that is to easily record voicemails on my computer so I can forward them as needed. 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable from phone to computer microphone jack and it's really easy and high quality. Any other option is a lot more involved and a hassle to accomplish something I don't want to be spending time doing in the first place. This is more a thing for my work phones than it is my personal phones. Are there still providers that don't have visual voicemail?
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Oct 31, 2021 00:16
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CaptainSarcastic posted:Yes. And even if my work phone did have visual voicemail the transcription is often rear end in my experience, and would necessitate being able to copy and paste it which I'm not sure would be that easy, either. That seems crazy to me, but I also sometimes forget that I live in capitalist utopia. And for VVM utility, I was thinking more along the lines of the save feature and downloading the audio files from your phone that way.
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Oct 31, 2021 14:32
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Also, mvno carriers are the first to get de-prioritized when towers get congested.
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Dec 2, 2021 21:02
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K8.0 posted:I'm in a bit of a weird situation. I need to get an unlocked work phone, which to me basically narrows it down to the Pixel 5a and 6. I know the 6 is generally seen as a better value, but I absolutely loving hate glass backs and slippery phones in general, and I refuse to use a phone condom. I also don't have a lot of time to make a decision. Dear goons, please help me. Pixel 6/Pro + grip tape, obvs.
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Feb 17, 2022 16:20
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Duckman2008 posted:Yeah, whenever your job sends you an ATT SIM, just swap it and you should be fine. A Note 10+ will work on both. The dumb poo poo from years ago is now thankfully irrelevant. Ugh. Remember when the original Galaxy S line had individual models for different carriers, including physical differences like body shape and whether or not it had FFC? Can we forget about those days forever?
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Mar 15, 2022 12:59
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CaptainSarcastic posted:There are still Verizon-specific models, usually a variant to include their mmWave 5G. A few phones have a standard version and a "UW" version which is Verizon-specific. Although if they are unlocked I would assume they would work on the other two carriers, too. I think even the Verizon Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are "UW" versions, although there is little to make that obvious aside from being $100 more expensive than a regular unlocked Pixel. I mean, that's to be expected during transitional times like these, but outside of the modems, the Galaxy S differences were crazy. The Verizon version was literally a different shape and didn't have an FFC. THE T-Mobile one was also a different shape, and included an FFC. And I believe the AT&T one was the same shape as the T-Mobile, but without an FFC. Then there was the international version on top of that.
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Mar 16, 2022 13:47
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CaptainSarcastic posted:All those things are fine on my Pixel 6, so maybe the truth is in the middle or something? I've been using the Pixel 6 as my daily driver for months, and my experience is like the opposite of what you are describing. Aside from us both agreeing it's fast. Dude's got a massive anti-pixel hardon in the other thread, so take that with a grain of salt. My p6p has been just fine so far. Any issues have been minor and accounted for by the fact that all software is lovely.
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Jun 21, 2022 00:01
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Duckman2008 posted:Not to rain on anyones parade, but LG made some of the worst phones, with the worst hardware and software support, no software updates, and their solutions were to try and sell by gimmicks like sliding second screens, curved displays for no reasons, etc etc. They dominated the feature phone era, but yeah. They poo poo the bed once they started smartphones.
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Sep 2, 2022 15:54
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I'm able to use my GVoice number more often as I think places are giving fewer fucks so long as the verification passes.
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Oct 3, 2022 12:29
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No phone is waterproof, and so far (even with the advertising about how much water abuse they can take) no manufacturer is warranting against water damage. It's actually a pretty lovely thing to say "it's IP68 but if a seal fails and a water sensor gets tripped you can gently caress off".
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Nov 23, 2022 16:17
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bigtag posted:thinking of getting a pixel when my contact runs out this summer. is there a date for the new one? Generally early October.
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May 24, 2023 22:55
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So, yeah. AT&T sucks for a lot of reasons, and poo poo like this is a big one. My mom and stepdad trialed their service at their place way up in the north of MI (Petoskey/Harbor Springs area) because the coverage map showed their house way up in the woods was under their coverage. Surprise, it was not. At least they got a good salesman who didn't bullshit them and they had everything laid out for returning the phone(s) if it didn't work. Anyone who's still with them after their fake 5G shens, I just can't with.
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Jul 13, 2023 14:12
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Dex is pretty solid. I do my classes on my Tab S8+ in Dex mode and it's pretty damned close to just a laptop when I have a mouse attached and the keyboard cover. Samsung does a lot of stupid software poo poo, but Dex is excluded.
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Jul 18, 2023 15:20
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The last option is the best one. AFAIK Verizon only charges for activation of phones bought through them (which further cements that it's a bullshit fee, but whatever). I popped the SIM from my P6Pro right into my 8 and it Just Worked™.
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Oct 19, 2023 12:01
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All the downsides of Verizon service (admittedly still better than most) with none of the customer service.
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Dec 15, 2023 13:53
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