iPhone SE ??

What are your *needs*? Do you want a phone? "Tip calculator"? Portable web browser? etc.

And, what are your capabilities/limitations (dexterity, vision, etc.)?

I keep a 6S in the car (too big to carry on my person) for the times when I need a camera, internet access, etc. while traveling. I carry an old LG on my belt, otherwise (much smaller size, less obtrusive, etc.)

Both are annoying as they are effectively two-handed devices (I think you need a slide-phone to get around that). But, better than nothing.

[Note that I don't use a phone AS a "voice communicator" so can't comment on that aspect]

My girlfriend has an Android smartphone, I was amazed at what you can get for not much more than $100 in Linux-land these days

I think you'll find iOS "weird". After having several smart phones, I definitely prefer the larger ones. My Note-5 isn't quite big enough. I think I'd like it about an inch larger (still pocket sized but just).

Fine if you're happy about paying fancy money just for the name. I wouldn't touch anything Apple, personally. It's a cult for those with more money than sense.

That must be about the first sensible comment you've ever posted here.

They aren't much more expensive than the equivalent Samsung. You pay for quality.

I finally broke down and got my first cell phone and got the SE. All the power of the 6 in a small size, and only $200 new. Since I already have an iPad I don't need to buy any apps for it, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the iPad rings when the phone does, and I can make and receive calls on the iPad now too. Android may do that too, but I think it just shows you're better off staying within one system or the other.

The LG is "handy" because it's small (~3 inch display) so it doesn't require a shirt-front pocket or other place suitable for large items (if I bend over to lift something, I don't want a phone slipping out of a shirt pocket and crashing on the cement).

It sees most of its use as:

- timepiece (I don't wear a watch as my hands are often around things that object to unwanted conductors)

- camera

- magnifying glass (what idiot decided that 4 pt type was useful for ANYTHING??)

- quick check of email (WiFi)

And, it lets my music come with me so I can just step into the car without having to figure out what I want to listen to *there* (the music pauses as soon as I exit the vehicle and resumes the next time I reenter it)

It *could* have use as a calculator (I'm pretty good at doing arithmetic in my head so not needed).

And, of course, as a 911-phone (thankfully never needed).

[It also lets me interact with much of the kit around the house using a "visual" interface]

It would be *lousy* as an ebook reader. I currently use Color Nook's for that -- though they are painfully large which makes carrying them places tedious (doctor/dentist office, any place where I am likely to have time to kill, etc.). I may try to use the 6S in that capacity as it would be considerably more portable than the Nooks (despite being pretty small)

For me, much of this is an exercise in learning what it is like to have to *carry* a piece of kit around, keep it charged, etc.

I keep my Note-5 in my front pants pocked on the weekends. Workdays, I carry it in a belt "holster". Works fine.

Texts (pick up milk), Internet, settle arguments, look up movie times, make reservations, watch movies, navigate, find restaurants...

Audio Books are quite nice on long trips.

I use an HP-11C emulator on mine. Works great, though the hysterisis on the buttons sucks.

A regular phone (thankfully, I receive exceedingly few calls).

I have a 7" Nook (a subsidized Galaxy Tab-A), too, but I don't use it as an eReader. It's too big to carry around. I use it in the gym to watch Netflix. Makes a couple of hours on the treadmill bearable.

It shouldn't take a lot of thought. I just "hang it up" (Qi charger) by the bed at night. It doesn't move overnight. As a bonus, it's there to keep my blood pressure record (Bluetooth connected meter).

Nothing wrong with the Apple phones, they're rather nice, as are the new higher end Android (Huawei, Samsung etc.). They just work. I did notice some glitchiness it tethering iPhone to Win 7 but they seem to have fixed that. I have an "obsolete" iPhone 5 (battery already replaced once) and the youngster the smaller size of 6 (he had a choice between the larger screen and more memory and wisely chose the latter.. it doesn't take long to fill up the smaller memory allocations. C. has a Blackberry Priv, again - very nice phone. All the nice ones are $500+. USD- nice being a combination of great super-sharp screen, responsive touch, powerful processor, reasonable battery life, enough memory, not too ugly, good cameras. The biggest gripe I have with Apple is the lack of a micro SD slot and the high prices they charge for memory.

I think the SE still has a 3.5mm jack, which is a deal breaker for me if it's gone.

If you want to get full use of it try to get a generous or unlimited data plan (at least 2G/month) until you figure out how you will use it. You may be able to dump satellite radio and your GPS and your mini camera (and your calculator, and a flashlight and a few other things) and, if necessary, you can even call people on it (one of the lesser-used apps). A lot of the time you can use Wifi but the times when it comes in most useful seems to be when you're out of range of free Wifi.

--sp

--
Best regards,  
Spehro Pefhany

I haven't noticed anything getting better. I have an iPod Touch (essentially an iPhone-5, sans radio). It's always "interesting" getting stuff moved to the iPod and iTunes *insists* on doing things its way, including mucking up my music library.

IMO, iPhones are great if you live in an iWorld. If you do Windows, you're much better off with Android.

I've never used the jack on my current phones. Everything is Bluetooth now. I'd gladly trade it for more water resistance.

But you can use *it* as a hotspot (of course your data plan applies). I do it all the time.

I think you'll be happier with an Android. You'd probably think the Apple OS is Californicated. I think of it that way.

Before you get a cell phone consider what Dr Devra Davis has to say about them:

--
To respond to me directly remove sj. from the my email address's domain  
name. This is a spam jammer.

You're gonna pay extra $$$ for the name. Go Android as others have said...

--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. 
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

.

is a book published in 1982. It mentions a coupe of companies that - at the time - could charge 50% more for their products than the competition could .

Hewlett-Packard was one I rememeber, and IBM another. Apple now seems to be in the same happy position.

I've got a Samsung S4. When I bought it was about half the price of the S5, and - while not as good - was quite good enough to do the stuff I wanted a s well as I needed it done. My wife gets her mobile phone from her employer , and she's now got an S5, but she's happy to nick mine to do something hi- tech if the S5 is out out of reach. The camera isn't as good, but if my wif e wants to take photos she's got a proper - if compact - camera. A Lumix so mething or other with image stabilisation, and a zoom lens ...

--
Bill Sloman, Sydney

"shit's gay brah, the OS might give me a case of the gays"

That's a false trade. There is no reason why they can't waterproof a

3.5mm jack- Samsung does it AFAIUI. My car is old enough that it can pair with BT for calls, but not stream music so I need the aux port or an adapter of some kind. I also have two Bose noise-cancelling and a couple other expensive headsets with 3.5mm cords.

I was looking at the Sony top end noise cancelling BT headphone- even better than the Bose, but unfortunately priced even higher.

Hence my 'tethering' comment above, but not all data plans allow it. Sure is nice to be able to use a full laptop interface while driving down the Pacific Coast highway (as a passenger, of course!).

--sp

--
Best regards,  
Spehro Pefhany

Had mine for a year now - great phone. No problems to date. Good size.

--
Jim

Lot of apps for Android that are not available on iOS.

Yeah, the problem of size creep on phones is rather annoying. I'd look at getting a Moto G5 Plus with a 5.2" screen, it's a good compromise and a lot smaller than the 5.5", 5.7", 5.8", and 6.2" screen phones, though larger than the iPhone SE. The G5 often goes on sale at Fry's, Amazon, B&H, and Costco. Unlocked to work on all four U.S. carriers and their MVNOs. I'd only buy quad-carrier unlocked phones at this time (and note that the iPhones sold direct from Apple in the U.S. meet this criteria, but if you buy the current generation iPhone from a GSM carrier (AT&T or T-Mobile) it will not have the CDMA radio needed for Verizon and Sprint)). The flagship phones from LG (G6) and Samsung (S8/S8+) and Google (Pixel) also are also available quad-carrier unlocked.

I never knew how much more capable Android was until I was trying to put some apps on my wife's iPhone from work, and it became clear that such apps were not available because of iOS limitations.