The kinds that’s all touch-screen, I mean. No front-facing hard keys at all, like most smartphones.
I had a lot of frustrations with my old bar phone, so when one of the keys stopped working I jumped to replace it, even though it was technically still functional. I wanted to finally get a smartphone, but I wasn’t ready to make that commitment, so instead I got an inexpensive model with a mild-to-moderate developmental disability.
It has the same basic form factor of a smartphone…all touch-screen in the front, no hard keys. I’ve discovered a whole bunch of new frustrations with this thing, but the biggest is answering. I swear I can’t reach into my pocket and grab this thing when it’s ringing without pressing a button I didn’t mean to.
I’ve answered calls I didn’t mean to answer, declined calls I didn’t mean to decline, and done other stuff I haven’t even figured out yet. There’s no way to force it to stay in locked mode when it rings. I checked.
I am at my wit’s end from having to treat this thing like a damned UXB whenever I go to answer a call. This is a dealbreaker. I swear it’s got me yearning for the simplicity of my old flip phone.
I am already shopping for a new phone, but in the meantime…does anyone else have this problem? Is there some solution I’ve overlooked? At least, has it been solved in the newer smartphones? That would give me some hope…
If anyone is interested, this is the phone.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4. Have you considered a wallet case for your phone? That way the screen is covered when not in use, plus it holds your DL, a few CCs, etc.
I don’t know anything about that phone, but real smartphones other than some real bottom of the barrel chinese garbage aren’t pressure sensitive- they use electrical resistance to figure out where you are touching. So you could press a case as hard as you want against the screen and it would do nothing, which is why you can’t use it with gloves either.
Hmm, I have a Moto X, which has no hard (or even soft) buttons on it at all. I’ve never had a problem with answer or declining calls when I take my phone out of my pocket. I tend to grab my phone from the sides or the top of the touchscreen (the Android answer-er is on the bottom part of the screen).
When it’s in your pocket, the screen should always be facing your body and it goes in top-down so when you reach in to grab it your hand goes across the back. When you pull it out, it’s already in your hand in the position you would use it anyway. Grab it by the edges, there are a whole two buttons to avoid.
So you shouldn’t need to fumble with the phone at all, it goes into your pocket in the most natural position you were already holding it, and it comes out the same way.
I have an LG smartphone, though a different model. It’s a pain in the ass - the screen constantly goes black while on a call despite being told to never power save or whatever the setting is called.
That’s a feature not a bug ;). It saves battery life.
Or are you saying you can’t hit the power button and turn the screen back on again? Because every smartphone these days turns the screen off on a call once the phone notices that your face is super close to the phone.
I’d like to shoot the engineer who redesigned the in-call screen to make the hang-up button very large, and exactly where my chin naturally touches the phone. And who also disabled the “home” button so I can’t switch away from the in-call screen while on a call.
Blech. I don’t want to be a dinosaur, but the old flip is looking better and better. I never had to worry about its attitude and orientation in my pocket, I could grab it with my big, clumsy paws whatever old way I wanted to, barely even had to look at it…
I have an LG Touch which looks like the OPs phone but it’s less wide.
I don’t have problems answering but the whole thing sucks, I agree. Since the screen is so small and my hands are so large it is very easy to hit the wrong button. Or rather, very hard to hit the right thing.
And it’s poorly planned out. It takes like 7 clicks to send a text message. Half the time I end up on the "send a voice message " screen instead. Wtf is a voice message anyway?? Wouldn’t I just choose “call” instead?
I hate it but it seems to be my only choice. I mean, I want something small since I don’t carry a purse. I can’t afford and don’t need a smartphone - which would be too big anyway. If love to go back to a Razr but I do like my keyboard.
Anyway. Good thing I am unpopular and don’t need to use the stupid thing much anyway. Sniff.
Now that looks interesting. I’m guessing that, when I finally do get a real smartphone, the solution will be some sort of hard case. But you have to get a case specifically for that phone, there are no generics…right?
I have the HTC One M8 and love it. If I weren’t using the Otterbox belt clip I’d probably have to have the Dot View flip case to protect it in my pocket.
So I’d highly recommend Googling ‘flip case’ with whatever model phone you have. Probably the easiest and least cost solution to the problem you’re having.
Ending the call is the issue I have - that swiping business is not a sure thing, so I set the on/off button on the top of the phone to end a call. Of course it can also mean I’ve turned the bloody phone off at the same time. :smack:
I hang up the phone with my cheek all the time. I finally downloaded some app that makes me click on something to complete a call, because I was calling all sorts of people all the time and was unaware of it.
It’s really annoying, and the voice quality is so poor it’s hard to call it a phone. I have a Motorola Razr.
I keep my phone in my shirt pocket, and I’ve found that if the screen is facing my body there’s a risk I’ll nipple dial someone by mistake. Or if the phone rings I’ll nipple answer it before I can get it out to see if I want to take the call. And if I don’t pull it out by the edges when it’s ringing, I WILL accidentally answer it before I’ve had a chance to see who it is.
I’ve found it safer to put the phone in my pocket upside down facing out. That way I’m less likely to press a side button pulling it out.
There are a lot of crappy smartphones out there. Even the major Android sellers make some crappy underpowered pieces of junk along with the good phones, so it’s worth reading some reviews before you buy.
There’s a reason the high end Android phones and iPhones cost more. They’re actually better in many ways.
