Shtf Phone

hexosan

What do people recommend as a good back up phone ??

pa990

hexosan wrote: »

What do people recommend as a good back up phone ??

back up.... any spare phone thats around the house.. or one of those €10 jobs from harvey norman

my3cents

OP do you mean backup thats tough and water proof or just a spare?

I have a couple of what were €20 phones, Samsung e1150's nothing special about them



They are small, being a flip phone you can't turn them on in a bag and charged they go at least a week between charges switched off and not used they only need charging once every six months.

One is in the car glove box and the other is in my walking rucksack stored in one of those waterproof phone bags that lidl sell every year. The waterproof bag has a lot of padding so provides some shock protection. Both are left switched off until needed.................. which reminds me to throw a fiver or tenner topup on each of them to keep them active (vodafone).

I also keep an old fashioned plug in Eircom phone for when the power goes at home because the phone lines have there own power and normally still work. I wouldn't put too much money into an expensive phone as a backup as in a real shtf situation I doubt much in the way of telecoms infrastructure will be working.

iainBB

I have seen a USB attachment for smart phone that allows you to use it as a satellite phone

my3cents

I think choice of provider is also important in a backup phone.

The main requirements would be maximum life of the top up and maximum time between the top ups required to keep the service active. I stick with vodafone and do put a tenner on each phone via internet banking about every 5 months. If I go to the UK I take my backups with me and use some of the credit up to stop it building up too much both have at least €40 on them.

A bad choice would be 3, even if you have a 3G phone as a spare any top up credit you build up gets cancelled after 180 days.

I did have a second SIM at one stage from O2 so I had the choice of networks but keeping another a third SIM topped up proved too much and when it went inactive I didn't bother with it but if you are organised enough having another network you can use has to be a good idea.

Which leads to the obvious point that a backup phone should ideally be unlocked in case you need to change SIMs around.

ShadowFox

I picked up one of these http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Soyes-S1-Ultra-Slim-Mobile-Phone-Size-of-the-Credit-Card-Unlocked-SIM-Free-/281411196173?pt=UK_Mobile_Phones&hash=item41856a150d mainly because of its size its the same as a credit card about as thick as 2 cards because im always forgetting my phone, so I have this in my EDC pouch with a meteor sim that I top up as I need it. ideal compact and light weight

bluestrattos

Nokia 3310.

After a nuclear holocaust only two things will exist: cockroaches and a working Nokia 3310.

Fries-With-That

ShadowFox wrote: »

I picked up one of these http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Soyes-S1-Ultra-Slim-Mobile-Phone-Size-of-the-Credit-Card-Unlocked-SIM-Free-/281411196173?pt=UK_Mobile_Phones&hash=item41856a150d mainly because of its size its the same as a credit card about as thick as 2 cards because im always forgetting my phone, so I have this in my EDC pouch with a meteor sim that I top up as I need it. ideal compact and light weight

This looks good, have you used it. I'm wondering what the sound quality for calls is like.

ShadowFox

Fries-With-That wrote: »

This looks good, have you used it. I'm wondering what the sound quality for calls is like.

I've used it locally just to test it calls are clear signal is full I'm heading to cork the weekend so will test it on route in places I know meteor signal is weak and let you know

my3cents

ShadowFox wrote: »

I've used it locally just to test it calls are clear signal is full I'm heading to cork the weekend so will test it on route in places I know meteor signal is weak and let you know

Interesting looking phone, handy if sound quality was good enough for it to double as a EDC MP3 player. I'd be interested to hear how the battery lasts in weak signal areas? I know some phones just keep trying to get a signal and waste a lot of power in going so. I like the cheap Samsung phones because they have a good battery life left on with no signal they are still good to make a call over a week later.

ShadowFox

my3cents wrote: »

Interesting looking phone, handy if sound quality was good enough for it to double as a EDC MP3 player. I'd be interested to hear how the battery lasts in weak signal areas? I know some phones just keep trying to get a signal and waste a lot of power in going so. I like the cheap Samsung phones because they have a good battery life left on with no signal they are still good to make a call over a week later.

I'd have no interest using it as an mp3 player just an emergency / backup phone so it will be powered off until needed . And as I said the Nokia and Samsung are great and cheap but double the size of this one size, weight and basic phone functions where the main things I personally wanted and this fits all of them so far

Sh1tbag OToole

iainBB wrote: »

I have seen a USB attachment for smart phone that allows you to use it as a satellite phone

Thuraya SatSleeve or the one iridium are making now?

aaakev

Sh1tbag OToole wrote: »

Thuraya SatSleeve or the one iridium are making now?

expensive bits of kit

hexosan

ShadowFox wrote: »

I picked up one of these http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Soyes-S1-Ultra-Slim-Mobile-Phone-Size-of-the-Credit-Card-Unlocked-SIM-Free-/281411196173?pt=UK_Mobile_Phones&hash=item41856a150d mainly because of its size its the same as a credit card about as thick as 2 cards because im always forgetting my phone, so I have this in my EDC pouch with a meteor sim that I top up as I need it. ideal compact and light weight

Available on aliexpress at the min for about €30 with a 16gb SD card.

aaakev

hexosan wrote: »

Available on aliexpress at the min for about €30 with a 16gb SD card.

Have you ever bought anything from there? All I hear online is its a scam site selling cheap knock offs

hexosan

I've bought a few things. You have to be realistic if you pay $2 for something that's normally €10 here well then it's going to be **** quality.

Sh1tbag OToole

aaakev wrote: »

expensive bits of kit

Yea you're better off buying a cheap satphone instead. At least it doesn't depend on another phone to work

Hillybilly4

Post SHTF? 2 syrup cans and a length of string.

my3cents

Hillybilly4 wrote: »

Post SHTF? 2 syrup cans and a length of string.

Do they take a mini, micro or nano-SIM?

the monk5845

The main requirements would be maximum life of the top up and maximum time between the top ups required to keep the service active. I stick with vodafone and do put a tenner on each phone via internet banking about every 5 months. If I go to the UK I take my backups with me and use some of the credit up to stop it building up too much both have at least €40 on them.

Why not buy a top up voucher from Vodafone that lasts 2 years before it expires and just store it with the phone?

my3cents

the monk5845 wrote: »

Why not buy a top up voucher from Vodafone that lasts 2 years before it expires and just store it with the phone?

Good idea but if you do then make sure you make a note of the voucher number in something that won't fade like an HB pencil.

Company I worked for did some research into how long various printing methods would say legible on receipts and none lasted very well, worst of all was the thermal printers used in most modern tills, heat and sunlight are the worst enemies, even after a year many well stored receipts are unreadable.

Then of course you have to take into account how long vodafone will allow a SIM to be inactive before they cut it off iirc its 12 months, thats happened to me a couple of times

ShadowFox

ShadowFox wrote: »

I picked up one of these http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Soyes-S1-Ultra-Slim-Mobile-Phone-Size-of-the-Credit-Card-Unlocked-SIM-Free-/281411196173?pt=UK_Mobile_Phones&hash=item41856a150d mainly because of its size its the same as a credit card about as thick as 2 cards because im always forgetting my phone, so I have this in my EDC pouch with a meteor sim that I top up as I need it. ideal compact and light weight

Ok this has been tried and tested and works great got 2 signal bars and a clear call when my smart phone had no service. I would recommend putting a strap on it as I dropped it, it got scratched but still works great. So good in fact I've ordered another to give to my kids when they are off on a school trip just in case

Gran Hermano

They're a bit cheaper on DX if you don't need urgent delivery. Small risk of customs
http://www.dx.com/s/soyes

J_A_F_A

A few items here that may be of interest (can't post a proper link yet) worldsim.com
The SIM cards don't expire for 12 months (& their Tri-fi gadget might go on my list for Santa.)

Happy Christmas to all!

J_

tc556guy

hexosan wrote: »

What do people recommend as a good back up phone ??

Hex clean out your inbox

hexosan

tc556guy wrote: »

Hex clean out your inbox

Done

ShadowFox

ShadowFox wrote: »

I picked up one of these http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Soyes-S1-Ultra-Slim-Mobile-Phone-Size-of-the-Credit-Card-Unlocked-SIM-Free-/281411196173?pt=UK_Mobile_Phones&hash=item41856a150d mainly because of its size its the same as a credit card about as thick as 2 cards because im always forgetting my phone, so I have this in my EDC pouch with a meteor sim that I top up as I need it. ideal compact and light weight

Just another add on for this the battery is only 320mah the emergency chargers you get are around 2500mah for the small one that's around 7 recharges of this to only 1 of your smart phone

wolfeye

Picked up a nokia 106 prepay locked to meteor for 12.49 euro in the carphone warehouse last week . You need to top up with 5 euro credit also to get it. So basically was 17.49 euro including the credit. http://www.microsoft.com/en/mobile/phone/106/

my3cents

I'm back in the market for a cheap emergency phone because my son has taken the Samsung 1190 and because I can't find a replacement small flip phone I'll take a look a the nokia 106 as an option.

my3cents

:rolleyes:Decided to stick with what I know and have just ordered a sim free Samsung E1270 from Amazon. Its a minor upgrade from the E1190 one I had and a little more useful as it has a USB charger and not the non standard one on the E1190.

I looked at a good few phones and noticed a couple similar to the Soyes on Amazon, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Generic-Slim-Pocket-Mobile-Phone/dp/B00N8O7T36/ & http://www.amazon.co.uk/Single-Pocket-Phones-Bluetooth-Battery/dp/B00OAVVWHU/ which I gave some thought to along with the Soyes but can't yet bring myself to try one. I suspect if I handled one I'd go for it.

My buying decisions were based on:
Cost - only need minimum features, phone and text.
Long battery life including off, on standby and talk time
Small Size
Sim free
Std Sim
Protected keypad - flip phone or carry in solid case
What I know and probably a good measure of prejudice.

A camera would have been a bonus but I carry a decent camera with me anyway so it wasn't a priority.

Edit: Amazon:rolleyes: spent half an hour "window" shopping to find something I actually wanted to put the price up to £25 for free postage and in that time the item became unavailable from Amazon (as the seller) and when I found it again (sold by Amazon) the price had gone up by £8 so ended up getting it in White (£21.49) and a copy of Collins Food For Free (£3.99).