I am strongly leaning towards buying an android phone but have questions: Does an android phone still pack a lot of bloat ware? And do they offer longer term updates than they used too? Are they as secure against hackers as an apple?
Thanks
New low cost iPhone 16e
- Thread starter alarmguy
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I have the Samsung Galaxy S24 (the "cheapest" one in the "S" lineup). It has 7 years of software updates, a gorgeous 120hz display (cheap iphones still @ 60 hz), excellent camera, excellent battery life etc.
"Bloat" really depends on the carrier, I wouldn't consider my phone bloated in the slightest though it did come with a few pre-installed apps from my carrier/rogers.
Do phones from non-carriers have bloat? I do Tracfone at this time so if I were to make a change in a few years (not sure how long I've had my SE for), I'd want to get one off Ebay or whatever.
This would be a deal killer for us.
Are you sure about this? I’ll check it out after I start parking my coffee.
Of course AirTags will always work, but precision tracking is important to my wife and I.
For me personally, maybe not my wife, other than the above the phone sounds pretty cool to me. Not about the money it’s about just wanting something a little different I think.
I could care less about MagSafe, it will still do wireless charging.
Even now I use wire all the time to charge.
My wife uses her MagSafe charging stand, which is a combination, Apple Watch and iPhone charger.
The reason I hate using MagSafe is the amount of heat to produces. I have no problem just plugging my cable in.
I do use wireless charging in her new 2025 equinox. If I understand correctly, the 16 E will still charge.
We do have to remember this new phone will communicate using Star Link satellites.
That is pretty impressive but if it is missing precision tracking with the AirTags, it would be a no go.
Don’t forget with those trade-offs you are getting one big huge bonus for people that could use it.
The new Apple 16 E will be able to communicate using satellites.
I don’t care about MagSafe or a dynamic island but somebody said it doesn’t support precision finding with Apple AirTags. If that was the case, I probably would just go for $200 more even though $200 more is a hefty price just to have precision finding
The Pixel android phones sold by Google are free of any bloatware. And they now get a minimum of 7 years of updates (sent immediately when the update is released by Google...unlike other brands of Android phones where the update is delayed by a few weeks).
As for security, it is anyone's opinion as to whether Apple or Android is more secure. For what it is worth, U.S. Govt. agencies have issued both Android and Apple cell phones for official military business.
Is that good for areas with no towers? I'm not clear why this is important. I have long lived in an area where coverage is spotty, so if if it "just works" then that's a selling point to me. *Assuming it works on pre-paid services.
In an emergency the newer iPhones can connect via satellite and notify via text, your position and call for help. I believe it will also notify anyone on your contact list. Meaning no matter what and whatever service you have, in an emergency you can get help even if no cell coverage. So far this service is free from Apple. (there MAY be a two year limit, I dont know)
This service has saved dozens of lives in emergencies. (maybe more I dont know) Hikers, forests, boats, desolate areas there is always a way to get help with a new iPhone.
Coming onto its own now is direct satellite communications using StarLink and provided by the cell phone carrier. Right now that is T-Mobile, still in beta for some of it But yes, that would be for whenever there is no coverage, StarLink would be in use.
https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/satellite-phone-service
Just to be clear, we are iPhone 13s and I do not have this service so I advent looked much more into it. No one can deny its value to many people though. Many emergency systems are contacted if you are in an accident and unable to call for help. It will rely our position.
Here is a video
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Thanks. Not super interested in that, but I can see the value--I used to go hiking and just assumed that if I had a problem, the next person on the trail could just dig a hole for me.
Tech just keeps changing though. I can't imagine what me as a teen would have thought about, carrying a cell all the time. Heck these days I've taken a stance of occasionally leaving home without it--getting to the point where i almost feel naked without. Which makes me think i'm too reliant on it, or view it too much as a security blanket. Not quite a talisman but sometimes I wonder.
@supton
Not really related. SOME People call me an Apple fan boy in here. Im not really. I just like the way the system is put together in a cohesive way.
Last year a co-worker of my wife got T-Bone'd driving through an intersection. Occupants of both vehicles were injured enough that they had to be taken away in ambulances.
She told my wife that her Apple Phone detected the crash and notified emergency services and her children which she had in her emergency contact list. She wasn't even aware of it, but she found out her family was notified by the phone - crash detected
I fell a few months back, sure I had a concussion because of a headache that lasted weeks. Standing on the bed in the master br, measuring for a light fixture, some stupid move from me forgot I was on the bed and I walked off the bed like I was walking on the floor. Well, I fell and my head took the brunt of it, in the 50+ years on this planet I never smacked my head like this, and right onto the frame of the door, not the drywall which would the been softer. I was disoriented my wife came in to help me and it was hard to focus my eyes. We started to panic because my Apple Watch started a siren sound with a count down timer until emergency services would be notified if not cancelled.
Finding it hard to focus my eyes, my wife in a panic took my arm but could not disable it. Down to the last 15 seconds of the watch siren going off before contacting emergency services I took a guess where the cancel tab was and I got it right.
With all this said, if it is true that the 16e does not have precision apple tag finding it is a CERTAIN deal killer. But I need to confirm, it seems so hard to believer that would be left out. Im not calling into question the post from someone who says it's not included. I just need to see it.
Update -
Well I see it, deal killer for my wife and I. We have at least 8 AirTags. I even have an AirTag wallet and car, motorcycle keys. They will still work with the 16e but you won't have precision finding, which is a really cool feature. an arrow on the phone points where the air tag is once you get closer to it.
Boy, that is a sleazy thing to leave off but that is the business world...
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/02/20/iphone-16e-lacks-ultra-wideband/
Not really related. SOME People call me an Apple fan boy in here. Im not really. I just like the way the system is put together in a cohesive way.
Last year a co-worker of my wife got T-Bone'd driving through an intersection. Occupants of both vehicles were injured enough that they had to be taken away in ambulances.
She told my wife that her Apple Phone detected the crash and notified emergency services and her children which she had in her emergency contact list. She wasn't even aware of it, but she found out her family was notified by the phone - crash detected
I fell a few months back, sure I had a concussion because of a headache that lasted weeks. Standing on the bed in the master br, measuring for a light fixture, some stupid move from me forgot I was on the bed and I walked off the bed like I was walking on the floor. Well, I fell and my head took the brunt of it, in the 50+ years on this planet I never smacked my head like this, and right onto the frame of the door, not the drywall which would the been softer. I was disoriented my wife came in to help me and it was hard to focus my eyes. We started to panic because my Apple Watch started a siren sound with a count down timer until emergency services would be notified if not cancelled.
Finding it hard to focus my eyes, my wife in a panic took my arm but could not disable it. Down to the last 15 seconds of the watch siren going off before contacting emergency services I took a guess where the cancel tab was and I got it right.
With all this said, if it is true that the 16e does not have precision apple tag finding it is a CERTAIN deal killer. But I need to confirm, it seems so hard to believer that would be left out. Im not calling into question the post from someone who says it's not included. I just need to see it.
Update -
Well I see it, deal killer for my wife and I. We have at least 8 AirTags. I even have an AirTag wallet and car, motorcycle keys. They will still work with the 16e but you won't have precision finding, which is a really cool feature. an arrow on the phone points where the air tag is once you get closer to it.
Boy, that is a sleazy thing to leave off but that is the business world...
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/02/20/iphone-16e-lacks-ultra-wideband/
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Reminds me of a saying - when phones had cords people were free...
Oh so true!
i believe the maximum screen brightness on the 16e is 1200 nit vs the 16/16pro 2000 nit in the outdoor.
That's a pretty big deal too if you use it outside.
That's a pretty big deal too if you use it outside.
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Cellular technology should only be getting better come 2025 I’ve never needed my phone to be connected to the universe of satellites. But yes maybe beneficial to the outdoorsman type
Was that price for the 128gb SE?
I agree though that $599 is too expensive for what they’re offering.
Somewhere around there.
$599 for the most basic iphone without mmwave and other things is way too much. Tech is supposed to get cheaper over time, not more. I think iphone3 was $199?
Right around the time I got my iphone 14 (work phone, I have never bought myself a phone), I got my daughter whatever pixel was new then. She is a programmer and refuses to deal with apple's echosystem. I think it was $599. It was better than my iphone 14 at many things.
Hopefully IT will let me go off iphone on next re-up. I really don't want to deal with them anymore.
Right around the time I got my iphone 14 (work phone, I have never bought myself a phone), I got my daughter whatever pixel was new then. She is a programmer and refuses to deal with apple's echosystem. I think it was $599. It was better than my iphone 14 at many things.
Hopefully IT will let me go off iphone on next re-up. I really don't want to deal with them anymore.
Just occurred to me. Thinking about it, the 16e is expensive at $599. I can buy the iPhone 15 from Apple with more features for $699 and give up almost nothing, meaning it will have precision AirTag finding, duel lens camera, satellite etc. Even then, you may be able to pick up the iPhone 15 from other sources for the same price of the 16e.
Very strange how they picked that price. I guess wanted to get out of the low price class and maybe expecting price increases when the iPhone 17s start rolling out in just over 7 months.
I dont understand issues with the contactless payment that @factorytuned2012 had. Wife and I never pay cash and rarely use a physical credit card. Honestly? I cant recall when we ever used a physical card. The only place ever was Walmart but we dont go there often.
We use our iPhone 13s for every purchase we make and I mean EVERY purchase except for those oddball places that dont have it yet. Also more and more, I am using Apple Pay for my online purchases also. We use both our iPhones and Apple Watches for everything. I doubt I use more than $80 cash every 6 months for anything, if anything it would be maybe a drink at a bar on the beach or something.
Very strange how they picked that price. I guess wanted to get out of the low price class and maybe expecting price increases when the iPhone 17s start rolling out in just over 7 months.
I dont understand issues with the contactless payment that @factorytuned2012 had. Wife and I never pay cash and rarely use a physical credit card. Honestly? I cant recall when we ever used a physical card. The only place ever was Walmart but we dont go there often.
We use our iPhone 13s for every purchase we make and I mean EVERY purchase except for those oddball places that dont have it yet. Also more and more, I am using Apple Pay for my online purchases also. We use both our iPhones and Apple Watches for everything. I doubt I use more than $80 cash every 6 months for anything, if anything it would be maybe a drink at a bar on the beach or something.
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some iPhone 13 users have reported issues with NFC and contactless payments (Apple Pay) not working properly. Here are some key points based on user feedback and reports:
Common Issues Reported
- Apple Pay not being detected at terminals – Some users reported that their iPhone 13 would not register with contactless payment terminals, even though it was working previously.
- Intermittent NFC failures – The NFC chip sometimes stops working, requiring a restart or settings reset.
- Problems after screen replacements – Some third-party screen replacements caused NFC issues due to hardware pairing restrictions.
- Software-related issues – Some users faced Apple Pay issues after iOS updates, but later updates usually resolved them.
Possible Causes
- Software bugs: Some iOS versions introduced temporary NFC glitches.
- Hardware issues: A small number of devices may have defective NFC chips.
- Interference from cases: Metal/magnetic cases can block NFC signals.
- Settings or region restrictions: Certain settings or regions may affect Apple Pay usage.
Solutions That Worked for Others
- Restarting the iPhone
- Removing and re-adding cards in Wallet
- Resetting network settings
- Updating iOS to the latest version
- Trying Apple Pay at different terminals
Apple’s Response
- Apple hasn’t officially acknowledged a widespread NFC issue with the iPhone 13, but they have released software updates addressing some Apple Pay and NFC-related bugs.
- If issues persist, Apple recommends contacting Apple Support or visiting an Apple Store for hardware diagnostics.
