"David" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 15 Aug 2016 20:42:38 +0100, Theo wrote:

In uk.d-i-y David wrote:
For compatibility, I found:
[snip]
which suggests that dual band would be fine but quad band might be an
investment in the future.

Those things are meaningless these days, when you have UMTS and LTE to
consider. This indicates what bands are used:
http://www.gsmarena.com/network-band...sCountry=INDIA

While this has bands per operator:
https://www.frequencycheck.com/countries/india

It's probably OK to get a phone that doesn't cover every LTE band,
because it isn't the end of the world not to have LTE.

(1) Buy an unlocked phone then PAYG - especially as the phone is going
to be out of the country using other SIM cards for about half the year.

Yes.

(2) Buy something waterproof, if possible shock proof.

Dust proof might be something to consider.
(dust and water are not equivalent - dust can scratch for example)

(3) Buy something which can take an SD card to expand memory.

Not sure that's relevant to the criteria - unless you're talking about
pulling data off a dead phone.

(4) Buy something with an exchangeable battery so spares can be
carried. Power banks are O.K. but spare batteries are much lighter.

Yes, and perhaps an external charger so can charge multiple at once.
Depends how patchy the electricity supply is likely to be.

(5) Take out insurance so the phone can be repaired or replaced in
country. I assume any repair cover from a UK supplier bundled with a
contract will require returning the handset to the UK, but I could be
wrong.

Or a cheap phone where they can just buy another. There are some
affordable Android handsets available locally, so having something to
get them started and then buy a local phone if needs be. Though I
wouldn't use them for anything particularly security critical.

What does the team think? This does seem to comprehensively rule out an
iPhone.

Unless you're prepared to go used, maybe.

You haven't told us the environment - are we talking working in an
embassy or working in a rural village? It rather makes a difference.

I'd suggest something inconspicuous. If it's recognisably the latest
shiny,
it's more likely to be stolen or attract unwanted attention. If it's a
battered anonymous lump, it's probably not going to.

Theo

Thanks.

SD card to, for example, hold Here maps for use off line (and even a music
collection). I normally store phone photos on the SD card as well.

Location to be confirmed, but some time in towns and some time in rural
locations is likely.

There is a conflict in the requirements, in that some of the most
useful features might be things like mapping aided by GPS

That alone justifies a decent high end smartphone IMO with locations like
that.

but a new smart phone may be attractive to thieves.

Doesnt really matter much if its fully insured. Just a minor
nuisance to make a claim and restore from backup with an iphone.

My point about the iPhone was that I don't think it
offers expandable storage or exchangeable batteries.

That's correct. But you dont get exchangeable batterys
with most high end smartphones anymore now.

Granted that you can pay for extra memory
internally at quite a high price per GB.

Yes, but you didnt say how critical the price was.

iPhone 6 seems to be "almost waterproof".
Galaxy S5 is waterproof but S6 is not.

IMO this is best done with a waterproof case.

Obviously not an easy one.

Easy enough if price isnt that critical.