A friend may be off in a few months to two separate locations (work
related) and is likely to be spending around 3 months in each location.

Requirements a

(1) Smart phone

(2) Work in Africa (Ghana) and India

(3) Repair/replacement cover in case of damage

Someone has told him that iPhones are the best for India, but I am
sceptical.

For compatibility, I found:

http://selfhelp.carphonewarehouse.co...t.do?view()=c%
7B06748ad0-d047-11de-e56d-000000000000%7D

which suggests that dual band would be fine but quad band might be an
investment in the future.

My thoughts a

(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.

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

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

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

(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.

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


Cheers


Dave R



--
Windows 8.1 on PCSpecialist box

On 15/08/16 14:50, David wrote:
A friend may be off in a few months to two separate locations (work
related) and is likely to be spending around 3 months in each location.

Requirements a

(1) Smart phone

Nah, too much reliance on charging batteries and needing data service. A
magnet for theft, and being stupidly judged for ya choice of fashion.

Just get an almost dumb previous generation multimedia phone. Small,
cheap, easily available unlocked. Rugged versions available with
storage, email and good cameras.

iPhones probably were recommended as given their market volume, they are
a standard when networks were planning coverage and standards of data
service. Some years back, Blackberry probably had that standing.

--
Adrian C

"Adrian Caspersz" wrote in message
...
On 15/08/16 14:50, David wrote:
A friend may be off in a few months to two separate locations (work
related) and is likely to be spending around 3 months in each
location.

Requirements a

(1) Smart phone

Nah, too much reliance on charging batteries and needing data
service. A magnet for theft, and being stupidly judged for ya choice
of fashion.

Just get an almost dumb previous generation multimedia phone. Small,
cheap, easily available unlocked. Rugged versions available with
storage, email and good cameras.

iPhones probably were recommended as given their market volume, they
are a standard when networks were planning coverage and standards of
data service. Some years back, Blackberry probably had that
standing.



Pretty well any Huawei phone will suit the need. All are quad band,
some have 4G, all will take a micro SD card, and all (I think) have a
user replaceable battery.

The only issue is that Google in their wisdom will not allow back up
of the phone onto the SD card so you can have a copy if it is stolen -
they cite security as an issue, but that applies to all Android phones
anyway.


--
Woody

harrogate3 at ntlworld dot com

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

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 but a new smart phone
may be attractive to thieves.

My point about the iPhone was that I don't think it offers expandable
storage or exchangeable batteries. Granted that you can pay for extra
memory internally at quite a high price per GB.

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

Obviously not an easy one.

Cheers


Dave R

--
Windows 8.1 on PCSpecialist box

"David" wrote in message
...
A friend may be off in a few months to two separate locations (work
related) and is likely to be spending around 3 months in each location.

Requirements a

(1) Smart phone

(2) Work in Africa (Ghana) and India

(3) Repair/replacement cover in case of damage

Someone has told him that iPhones are the best for India, but I am
sceptical.

For compatibility, I found:

http://selfhelp.carphonewarehouse.co...t.do?view()=c%
7B06748ad0-d047-11de-e56d-000000000000%7D

which suggests that dual band would be fine but quad band might be an
investment in the future.

My thoughts a

(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.

(2) Buy something waterproof,

That drastically limits your choices, very few are that.

There are plenty of waterproof cases tho.

if possible shock proof.

Makes more sense to do that in the case too.

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

That also limits your choices. Makes more sense to go the other
route, one of the iphones with lots of memory like 128GB.

(4) Buy something with an exchangeable battery so spares can be carried.

And that radically limits your choices now even more.
And conflicts with the waterproof requirement even
when that is done with the case. Major effort required to
change the battery if the phone is in a waterproof case.

Power banks are O.K. but spare batteries are much lighter.

Why is the weight that significant ?

(5) Take out insurance so the phone can be repaired or replaced in
country.

The other alternative is to just buy another if you kill one.

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.

But a pure insurance that provides another new one wouldnt.

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

Yes, but there is a lot to be said for getting an iphone in the
sense that they are so easy to replace if that is necessary and
it is completely effortless to restore the backup to the new
phone and so effortless to avoid any loss of personal data
if it does get stolen etc.

Handles the waterproof and shock proof with one of the
best cases, avoid the battery problem with one of the
decent power banks, cut to the chase by buying one
of the large memory models.

Main thing a phone that can take SD cards gives you
is that you can take videos with you for long trips easily,
but how many want to watch them on such a small screen
and it may be easier to just pay for netflix etc anyway.

"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.

On 15 Aug 2016 13:50:02 GMT
David wrote:

A friend may be off in a few months to two separate locations (work
related) and is likely to be spending around 3 months in each
location.

Requirements a

(1) Smart phone

(2) Work in Africa (Ghana) and India

(3) Repair/replacement cover in case of damage

Someone has told him that iPhones are the best for India, but I am
sceptical.

For compatibility, I found:

http://selfhelp.carphonewarehouse.co...t.do?view()=c%
7B06748ad0-d047-11de-e56d-000000000000%7D

which suggests that dual band would be fine but quad band might be an
investment in the future.

My thoughts a

(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.

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

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

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

(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.

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

How about two or three of the same cheap Chinese phone (that's your
spare replaceable batteries sorted) and a couple of those zip-up PVC
waterproof bags on a string? And a BlueTooth headset or two. No need
to insure them as they're pretty much disposable, unlikely that they'll
all fail or get nicked (who wants a no-name Chinese phone anyway?).
They seem to come with dual-SIM, quad-band, SD slot as standard, for
£40-60 a pop. Whatever he goes for, a solar charging USB power bank
might be useful.

"Rob Morley" wrote in message
news:20160816012021.707a7529@Mars...
On 15 Aug 2016 13:50:02 GMT
David wrote:

A friend may be off in a few months to two separate locations (work
related) and is likely to be spending around 3 months in each
location.

Requirements a

(1) Smart phone

(2) Work in Africa (Ghana) and India

(3) Repair/replacement cover in case of damage

Someone has told him that iPhones are the best for India, but I am
sceptical.

For compatibility, I found:

http://selfhelp.carphonewarehouse.co...t.do?view()=c%
7B06748ad0-d047-11de-e56d-000000000000%7D

which suggests that dual band would be fine but quad band might be
an
investment in the future.

My thoughts a

(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.

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

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

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

(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.

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

How about two or three of the same cheap Chinese phone (that's your
spare replaceable batteries sorted) and a couple of those zip-up PVC
waterproof bags on a string? And a BlueTooth headset or two. No
need
to insure them as they're pretty much disposable, unlikely that
they'll
all fail or get nicked (who wants a no-name Chinese phone anyway?).
They seem to come with dual-SIM, quad-band, SD slot as standard, for
£40-60 a pop. Whatever he goes for, a solar charging USB power bank
might be useful.


Didn't I see recently that there is now a smartphone available in
India for something like £20?


--
Woody

harrogate3 at ntlworld dot com

On 15/08/2016 21:05, David wrote:
On Mon, 15 Aug 2016 20:42:38 +0100, Theo wrote:

snip

There is a conflict in the requirements, in that some of the most useful
features might be things like mapping aided by GPS but a new smart phone
may be attractive to thieves.


A decent screen and processor helps GPS along - a lot. I changed from an
iPhone 4S to a 6 two years ago and responsiveness improved no end.

My point about the iPhone was that I don't think it offers expandable
storage or exchangeable batteries. Granted that you can pay for extra
memory internally at quite a high price per GB.


Indeed. 64GB does it for me, but it is pricey. Backups go to iCloud, and
for extra battery I have a couple of those USB packs.

£500 is a lot to pay for a phone - but it works for me, and I'm not that
well off. If money was tighter, I'd go for a used 5S. If money was
tight, I wouldn't bother ;-)

On insurance, I use my Nationwide current account package - which
includes holiday insurance and car breakdown cover for £10/m - so it
more or less pays for itself. A catch is that they don't replace with
new, and there's quite a hefty excess (£75 IIRC).

--
Cheers, Rob

In message , at 08:16:33 on Tue, 16 Aug
2016, RJH remarked:
On insurance, I use my Nationwide current account package - which
includes holiday insurance

Look at the small print. In common with most holiday insurance (often
misleadingly called "travel insurance") there might be time limits on
your stay and a prohibition on doing any paid work while away.
--
Roland Perry

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 08:01:26 +0100, Woody wrote:

"Rob Morley" wrote in message
news:20160816012021.707a7529@Mars...
On 15 Aug 2016 13:50:02 GMT David wrote:

A friend may be off in a few months to two separate locations (work
related) and is likely to be spending around 3 months in each
location.

Requirements a

(1) Smart phone

(2) Work in Africa (Ghana) and India

(3) Repair/replacement cover in case of damage

Someone has told him that iPhones are the best for India, but I am
sceptical.

For compatibility, I found:

http://selfhelp.carphonewarehouse.co...t.do?view()=c%
7B06748ad0-d047-11de-e56d-000000000000%7D

which suggests that dual band would be fine but quad band might be an
investment in the future.

My thoughts a

(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.

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

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

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

(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.

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

How about two or three of the same cheap Chinese phone (that's your
spare replaceable batteries sorted) and a couple of those zip-up PVC
waterproof bags on a string? And a BlueTooth headset or two. No need
to insure them as they're pretty much disposable, unlikely that they'll
all fail or get nicked (who wants a no-name Chinese phone anyway?).
They seem to come with dual-SIM, quad-band, SD slot as standard, for
£40-60 a pop. Whatever he goes for, a solar charging USB power bank
might be useful.


Didn't I see recently that there is now a smartphone available in India
for something like £20?

Read in (I think) the Register that there is a 12% import duty on all
smart phones so Samsung and Apple are planning to build factories in
country.

Further discussions required.

One plan seems to be a reasonable smart phone for UK use and possibly city
use abroad, and one or more "burner" phones for rural travel.

I keep reading that in India especially you need dual SIM.

Is that because one carrier does a good deal for voice, and another for
data?

Cheers


Dave R



--
Windows 8.1 on PCSpecialist box

In message , at 13:16:55 on Tue, 16
Aug 2016, David remarked:

for something like £20?

Read in (I think) the Register that there is a 12% import duty on all
smart phones so Samsung and Apple are planning to build factories in
country.

Further discussions required.

Especially as India could suddenly decide to put a 20% duty on all the
major components used in a Smartphone, so you'd end up having to move
your entire supply chain (fabs and all) to India.
--
Roland Perry

"David" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 08:01:26 +0100, Woody wrote:

"Rob Morley" wrote in message
news:20160816012021.707a7529@Mars...
On 15 Aug 2016 13:50:02 GMT David wrote:

A friend may be off in a few months to two separate locations (work
related) and is likely to be spending around 3 months in each
location.

Requirements a

(1) Smart phone

(2) Work in Africa (Ghana) and India

(3) Repair/replacement cover in case of damage

Someone has told him that iPhones are the best for India, but I am
sceptical.

For compatibility, I found:

http://selfhelp.carphonewarehouse.co...t.do?view()=c%
7B06748ad0-d047-11de-e56d-000000000000%7D

which suggests that dual band would be fine but quad band might be an
investment in the future.

My thoughts a

(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.

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

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

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

(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.

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

How about two or three of the same cheap Chinese phone (that's your
spare replaceable batteries sorted) and a couple of those zip-up PVC
waterproof bags on a string? And a BlueTooth headset or two. No need
to insure them as they're pretty much disposable, unlikely that they'll
all fail or get nicked (who wants a no-name Chinese phone anyway?).
They seem to come with dual-SIM, quad-band, SD slot as standard, for
£40-60 a pop. Whatever he goes for, a solar charging USB power bank
might be useful.


Didn't I see recently that there is now a smartphone available in India
for something like £20?

Read in (I think) the Register that there is a 12% import duty on all
smart phones so Samsung and Apple are planning to build factories in
country.

Further discussions required.

One plan seems to be a reasonable smart phone for UK use and possibly city
use abroad, and one or more "burner" phones for rural travel.

I keep reading that in India especially you need dual SIM.

Is that because one carrier does a good deal for voice, and another for
data?

No, because many of the low cost carriers have free calls when
the call is to another customer of the same carrier. When you
have a number of carriers doing that, you dont see everyone
using the same carrier, so you need more than one SIM to
maximise the number of free calls you can make.

On Wed, 17 Aug 2016 06:00:53 +1000, Jock wrote:

snip
I keep reading that in India especially you need dual SIM.

Is that because one carrier does a good deal for voice, and another for
data?

No, because many of the low cost carriers have free calls when the call
is to another customer of the same carrier. When you have a number of
carriers doing that, you dont see everyone using the same carrier, so
you need more than one SIM to maximise the number of free calls you can
make.

Thanks.

Makes sense.

Cheers

Dave R



--
Windows 8.1 on PCSpecialist box