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Help Don't want my wife to get an iPhone...

Just Mark said:
Hey everyone:

Apologies in advance if this isn't the right forum to ask.

I am looking for an android phone for my wife, who insists she "needs" an iphone 6 S.

When I ask her WHY she needs an iPhone 6 S plus, she says, "Because they are easy to use and so much better than other phones."

Also, she spends a month in Thailand each year, and in Thailand they said they didn't have any SIM cards for Samsung Galaxy Note II. They (she wouldn't say who exactly) kept telling her that EVERYONE in Thailand uses an iPhone. I think that is why she wants an iPhone; all her friends back in Thailand own iphones...

There is no way I can let her spend $800 on a phone. She just is NOT a power user. she mostly uses her current phone for:

facebook
whatsapp / viber / Line
Youtube
Yahoo Mail
instagram

Occasionally she will use chrome or opera, but that is rare.

She had a Galaxy Note II. She lost the stylus within about three days of owning it. She hasn't missed it. She never actually hand writes anything.

Preferably, it would be something with a nice and big screen. It should be EASY to use. Preferably on T-Mobile.

I would really like it under $300 if possible.

Thanks in advance.
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Look into getting a Nexus device for her. They are unlocked and can be used on any GSM network. The newer 5X and 6P are well within the price range. The devices are solid and have plenty of user memory.
 
anotherusername1 said:
Thanks to everyone who has responded so far. I appreciate it,

So to clarify about the SIM card issue:

Apparently she COULD get a SIM card for her Note II when she was in Thailand last time.

However, they td her without an iPhone she would have to go another store and download the memory onto a computer, and then upload it into the phone after changing the SIM card.

They told her with an iphone she didn't have to do that.

So i am guessing that possibly the benefit of an iPhone is that (maybe) once you put in a new SIM card, you can just download all your contacts and app data from the cloud???

(My wife is not particularly technical and she hates it when i try to "troubleshoot" for her, which is another reason i am trying to discourage the iPhone purchase: i would be EVEN WORSE at troubleshooting shooting an iPhone than i would be trying to troubleshoot an android phone.)
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Uh no. The idiots in Thailand don't know what they're talking about. With an iPhone, they'd have to do more stuff to transfer over the contents of the phone. On Android to Android, moving contacts is as simple as signing in into the new device and it occurs automatically if it's saved to cloud. If it's local and not saved to cloud, your wife has a Samsung. So all you need to do is download Samsung Smart Switch on both phones and click migrate. It gets more complicated moving from the Note 2 to Apple.

On a side note, if her friends use iMessage she'd really have a reason to use an Apple device.

How about getting an iPad mini instead? It's half the price of an iPhone and can basically do everything an iPhone can except for calls and sms. Then get her a cheaper phone for that. All it all an iPad+phone is cheaper than an iPhone.

Also, getting an iPhone 5S or a 6 shouldn't be too bad. I have a lot of friends still using theirs and it isn't noticably slower.
 
I just switched from an iPhone 6s. I've got the S6 Edge now.

I got bored with the iPhone. I was originally an Android fan anyways.

Perhaps try finding a used S6 or even maybe S5? However if she really wants an iPhone, she'll be unhappy and find something wrong with any device you get her that isn't the one she wants.
 
anotherusername1 said:
Thanks to everyone who has responded so far. I appreciate it,

So to clarify about the SIM card issue:

Apparently she COULD get a SIM card for her Note II when she was in Thailand last time.

However, they td her without an iPhone she would have to go another store and download the memory onto a computer, and then upload it into the phone after changing the SIM card.

They told her with an iphone she didn't have to do that.

So i am guessing that possibly the benefit of an iPhone is that (maybe) once you put in a new SIM card, you can just download all your contacts and app data from the cloud???
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Total BS. Download the data from the phone to a computer, then back up to the same phone, just because she changed the SIM? That's just nonsense: either they were confused, lying in order to sell a phone, or your wife (who you describe as non-technical) misunderstood what they were saying.

Your contacts aren't even in the SIM these days - they will either be in the phone, or in the phone and synced with Google (and if they were in the old SIM you'd just import them to the phone before changing SIMs). So if all you are doing is changing the SIM, you just change the SIM. Obviously your phone number changes when you do that, so you need to tell people which number to contact you on, but that's also true whether using iOS or Android.
 
Sento said:
how is the note 2 getting too slow?? it is 4 years old but has 2gb ram with a quadcore cortex a9 processor, the iphones JUST started getting 2gb ram last year.
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Different OS, different way of managing apps. You can't simply compare specs that way.
also dont get a 5s, iphones start slowing down after 2 years because apple intentionally slows them down with software updates, doing that should be illegal
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Can you prove it's intentional, or just that they don't worry too much about optimising for older devices? Bear in mind that with many android devices you won't get software updates for 2 years in the first place, and few will have updates beyond 2 years.

Anyway, there is an answer to that: you aren't obliged to update. And you should certainly watch the web to find out whether an update degrades the phone before applying it (my daughter never updated her iPhone 4s beyond iOS 6, and only replaced it - with a HTC M9 - this summer). Of course eventually you find that apps you want require the later OS, but it will last longer than 2 years.
 
Two things here. Let's stick to the topic of helping the OP fin his wife a new phone that's right for her. Arguing semantics and name calling won't be tolerated. Thread cleaned.:)

To the OP, I have been using an Honor 5X for the last month and am very impressed with the phone and it retails for only $200, has dual sim and SD Card storage for easily moving from phone to phone or using a native sim when traveling overseas.

http://androidforums.com/forums/honor-5x.3283/
https://store.hihonor.com/us/honor-5x
 
chanchan05 said:
On Android to Android, moving contacts is as simple as signing in into the new device and it occurs automatically if it's saved to cloud. If it's local and not saved to cloud, your wife has a Samsung. So all you need to do is download Samsung Smart Switch on both phones and click migrate. It gets more complicated moving from the Note 2 to Apple.
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Just to clarify, she wouldn't be changing handsets when she goes to Thailand (and India, and Nepal and Bali). She would just be changing the SIM card in the same handset.

~~~~~~~

Here's the thing though: she has T-Mobile and they have a network in Thailand. So she would get free text and data (meaning, she would get the same amount of text and data at 4G and 3G speeds that she gets with her current prepaid T-Mobile plan here in the states.) The only thing is that phone calls while in Thailand are 20 cents a minute.

But she prefers to use text / Naver Line / Viber / whatsapp, so it might be feasible for her to go there and just use the same phone and sim card as she already uses back here at home.

I haven't found out for sure if T-Mobile has the same network and pricing in India and Nepal and Bali yet though. Need to look into that.
 
Hadron said:
Your contacts aren't even in the SIM these days - they will either be in the phone, or in the phone and synced with Google (and if they were in the old SIM you'd just import them to the phone before changing SIMs). So if all you are doing is changing the SIM, you just change the SIM.
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That's what I thought: Just change the SIM, tell everyone of your new nmber, and you are pretty much ready to go.

Is it possible that changing the SIM would affect her NON-google app data, like whatsapp, Naver Line, viber, and facebook??? Is that what the store who was using the sim card might have been trying to tell her?
 
anotherusername1 said:
That's what I thought: Just change the SIM, tell everyone of your new nmber, and you are pretty much ready to go.

Is it possible that changing the SIM would affect her NON-google app data, like whatsapp, Naver Line, viber, and facebook??? Is that what the store who was using the sim card might have been trying to tell her?
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Nope. The phone isn't affected in anyway by the simcard, apart from getting service.
 
anotherusername1 said:
That's what I thought: Just change the SIM, tell everyone of your new nmber, and you are pretty much ready to go.

Is it possible that changing the SIM would affect her NON-google app data, like whatsapp, Naver Line, viber, and facebook??? Is that what the store who was using the sim card might have been trying to tell her?
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I don't use it personally, but I believe Whatsapp creates a messaging account based on your phone number, right? Don't know what the app would do if the phone number changed.

EDIT: Actually I just had a look over at their FAQ and it seems that they will have you verify the new phone number. But it won't migrate over your old account info unless you follow this process, which seems like it would be inconvenient to do every single time you swap SIMs.

And actually the first link advises not to swap SIMs too often as it can cause problems with verification.

But for all other apps it should be fine as as long as they are linked to the Google account or locally stored and are not reliant on phone number like Whatsapp. But I would double check just to make sure.

I happened to remember this detail about Whatsapp because some relatives tried to drag me into using it a while back.

EDIT2: Did a bit more googling, it looks like you can also leave Whatsapp configured as is and people can just message you at your old (original) number. Apparently the only downside this has is if you lose your original SIM card and lose your phone as well, there will be no way to retrieve your Whatsapp account and you will have to create a new one.

Or at least that's what the internet said. I take no responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of this information :p:p but you should be able to verify with a bit of your own research
 
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Well, now that I fixed the mic on her Note II (using the ultra-high tech method of using a needled to dig out the lint blocking the microphone hole in the bottom edge of her phone), there is the chance that maybe, just MAYBE she won't get an iPhone (or a new phone)

Someone mentioned the Honor 5X and I looked at that and the OnePlux X and they both look pretty good.

I know they both have better processors (octa-core versus quad-core) and more RAM (3GB versus 2GB), and higher resolution screens, but neither of them seems to be a HUGE improvement over the Note II, right?

The note II has a (lower resolution) Super AMOLED screen, while the Honor 5X has higher resolution IPS-LCD Screen, while the OnePlus X has a SMALLER AMOLED screen.

both the honor 5x and the oneplus X have significantly better cameras, but my wife can't take a decent photograph to save her life...

But am I right in assuming that they are both relatively "minor" upgrades over the note II?

Or am I missing something.
 
Her phone (the Note 2) has been around for a while. A positive to upgrading is software upgrades.

If she is happy with the Note 2 then she has no reason to upgrade.

I'm not sure what OS the note 2 is currently on but I can gaurentee it will never be upgraded again as far as the OS. (That's not important to everyone including me, but it is to some.)

The newer the phone or more importantly, the hardware in it, the better though.
 
SOLUTION: the Huawei Honor 5x dual SIM support too.
I just got my wife one after her HTC M7 screen broke (and the att support contract deductible was $200!)
Just had it a week, she is no power user either, but likes the bigger screen v M7.
The UI is iOS ish too.... check out the reviews... $200 new from newegg or hihonor.com.
 
rlanelkn said:
SOLUTION: the Huawei Honor 5x dual SIM support too.
I just got my wife one after her HTC M7 screen broke (and the att support contract deductible was $200!)
Just had it a week, she is no power user either, but likes the bigger screen v M7.
The UI is iOS ish too.... check out the reviews... $200 new from newegg or hihonor.com.
Click to expand...

Uh...that went well...

so I told her about the Honor 5X and she liked how it looked. I had her just about convinced.

Then she saw the price...

She yelled - no, she SCREAMED out - "I don't want a cheap phone!!! You can have a CHEAP PHONE if you think it is so good. I want a NICE phone!!!"

Oh well... lesson learned: some people will pay for what others pay to avoid.

Or, as Bunk from The Wire would say:

"That's what you get for giving a fork when it ain't your turn."
 
anotherusername1 said:
Uh...that went well...

so I told her about the Honor 5X and she liked how it looked. I had her just about convinced.

Then she saw the price...

She yelled - no, she SCREAMED out - "I don't want a cheap phone!!! You can have a CHEAP PHONE if you think it is so good. I want a NICE phone!!!"

Oh well... lesson learned: some people will pay for what others pay to avoid.

Or, as Bunk from The Wire would say:

"That's what you get for giving a fork when it ain't your turn."
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Meanwhile,at the jeweler's shop................................

Ms. anotherusername1:
Excuse me sir.I would like for you to authenticate my engagement ring.Is is diamond,or,CZ?

Gemologist:
What did Mr. anotherusername1 do this time......................... ;) :D
 
Apple people think that just because they pay more the phone must be better. That's the fairy dust of marketing to gullible people.
 
anotherusername1 said:
Uh...that went well...

so I told her about the Honor 5X and she liked how it looked. I had her just about convinced.

Then she saw the price...

She yelled - no, she SCREAMED out - "I don't want a cheap phone!!! You can have a CHEAP PHONE if you think it is so good. I want a NICE phone!!!"

Oh well... lesson learned: some people will pay for what others pay to avoid.

Or, as Bunk from The Wire would say:

"That's what you get for giving a fork when it ain't your turn."
Click to expand...
That's the sort of customer Gucci likes..$1000 for this handbag ma'am.
 
Get her a ChinAndroid that looks like a iPhone maybe the Ulefone BeTouch 2 problem solved, then theme it too have the UI of a iPhone. Wait for her to notice! LoL
239.jpg
 
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