do they still make things like the ipod? i basically want a smartphone thats not a phone. the only things i’m finding out there are mini tablets but theyre huuuuuge!
i would like to be able to:
connect to internet via wifi
run apps.
take pics
whatever else i’m not thinking of
most importantly; carry it in my pocket!
basically do everything you can do with a smartphone without having to have a phone contract! i’m also not an apple fan, but thats not a deal breaker if thats all thats available.
Just purchase a pre-paid phone and don’t activate it. I have an LG Volt for Sprint prepaid that I use exactly like you describe. It’s my mini-tablet. When it first turned on after purchase it spent about 10 minutes trying to connect to Sprint to activate, but that was all. I don’t have any nag screens or anything. It’s just like a tablet.
YMMV, not all phones will work exactly the same. Some phones will have nag screens every time you turn them on and some may not allow you to bypass the activation.
Another alternative is to buy a used phone from craigslist. Likely it won’t have a service plan, so you can see it in person if it can still be used without a plan.
You can also buy unlocked versions of the premium phones, but they’ll cost more since they aren’t being subsidized by the carrier.
You can get a pay as you go smartphone for a very low price and just not sign up for the contract or just get minimal front end contract for few bucks and let it expire. Some phones require you put in contract data before activating all features but many do not. I have 2 little Motorola G’s with nice feature sets I got for 30 each I use in just that way for mini tablets around the house.
Those don’t really exist anymore. (Or so I’m told whenever I look for one, because I’d like one to replace my very nearly dead Galaxy Player.)
The closest is to buy an unlocked phone (or “pay as you go” phone) and never use it as a phone.
There are very small tablets - 7 inch - and if you go the phone route, something like a Note II, 3 or 4 can be had from Swappa at a very reasonable price. I’ve used my Note II as a pocketable tablet that happens to have phone features for five years, and only now, with going to almost paperless news and entertainment reading, have I felt the need to upgrade to a bigger tablet.
Just be careful if you do decide to get an iPod Touch. They are more expensive than you’d pay for a comparable android device, and if you get an older/used one it won’t take the latest iOS version and so won’t be able to use most itunes apps.
The “just buy a phone with no phone plan” is a pretty good theory.
Also you can buy a prepaid phone with a small amount of time on it, and then your handheld device that’s not a phone can also make emergency phone calls. Since I assume that you’re not against your phone being a phone, you just don’t want a monthly charge for the damn thing.
I use my old Samsung Galaxy S3 like this. It doesn’t have phone service on it, but I use it in my house, where it’s connected to WiFi. I keep it upstairs since I don’t live with my phone permanently attached to me.
I don’t see why you couldn’t stand outside a cell phone store & offer to buy someone’s old phone for a few $ after their new one is activated. Tell them to do the factory data reset so that you don’t have access to any of their pictures/contacts/emails/apps. If it’s an older Samsung, or other model, which has replaceable batteries you can buy a new one (if necessary - not holding a charge) cheaply on e-bay.
You don’t need an unlocked anything to use it as a pocket/wifi-only tablet. Locking refers only to the ability to assign the phone to any provider network you want. If Verizon gives you a phone on a deal or plan, they co-own the phone until you’ve paid off the contract. But if you’re going to skip connecting to any phone network, locked or unlocked means almost nothing.
Buy any phone that pleases you on Swappa.com. One from one of the minor providers might be a better buy since it would have fewer takers. Unlock info is also often on the net, if not complete rooting so you can do all kinds of useful things the maker/provider don’t want you to.
Agreed - especially now that:
[ul]
[li]Modern handsets never have a stub antenna (so they don’t look explicitly like a phone)[/li][li]The cellular radio can usually be turned off (so the redundant phone components are not consuming much power)[/li][li]The remaining ‘phone-like’ features such as microphone, speaker, volume buttons are useful within non-phone apps[/li][/ul]
One provider last year was having close-out sales on an “old” model. Very cheap on Amazon. It was trivial to bypass the setup up screen. So I got one.
But I decided it would be nice if I could make calls. I got the same model but from a pay as you go provider with a cracked screen off eBay for cheap. Swapped MB with my phone. Unlocked it, rooted it and activated it on Tracfone. Frankenphone.
(I bought a second and then fixed the screen on the eBay phone. So 3 of basically the same thing. Portable little Android devices. Mp3 players. Etc.)
It is really easy to get a “new old” smart phone for $20 or less.
True. My point was just that if the guys at the store are giving you static about not buying a phone plan, you don’t need to buy a phone through the store.
I can’t really suss spending so much on a limited device, when the same thing, with an unwanted and ignorable function, can be had for much less.
If I were to remove three icons from my Note II (Phone, Contacts, Voicemail) there would be no sign left it had phone capabilities. And it’s an awesome little tablet/media device. The devices in the CNet article are kind of like paying a premium price for a three-legged horse.
