My six year old Moto G3 (3rd edition) reaches EOL early next year 'cause it doesn't support VoLTE.
I'm unwilling to shell out for 5G yet, waiting for rollout & hardware to mature for a couple of years for coverage & cost reduction, respectively.
Want to stay as close to pure Android 10 as possible. At least 4,000 mAh battery.
Main uses are make/receive calls, a few texts, and live weather radar for when traveling by motorcycle.
Not too concerned with cameras, as I use it mostly for a few reminder pics and visual notes.
The ruggedized phones from some lesser-known manufacturers have piqued my interest.
The Ulefone Armor X5 Pro and X7 Pro check all the boxes for me. The X7 Pro can be had from Amazon U.S. The X5 Pro has to come from China, either direct of from BG, Ali X & such.
I've read some reviews on Ulefone devices, and want to know if any of our forum members have direct experience with the Ulefone devices, either in U.S. or anywhere else.
I was mighty tempted to buy one a few years ago when my Note 4 died, but held off for a few reasons. Their phones are not really intended for use outside China/Asia/Europe. They are GSM and do support GSM bands that US carriers run on, but depending on your carrier, you might not have access to LTE bands or other bands so you might have coverage or connection issues. That was the main reason. I used to buy non-US phones and got tired of messing with the phone WAP/APN settings to get connectivity to the network. Second was the lack of suppprt-no updates for Android outside of China/Asia. No carrier updates either (probably, there may be workarounds). Plus you might have limited access to certain apps. Then there’s the issue of security, no OS updates means no security patches so I wouldn’t trust having my personal info on the phone or browsing the Internet. I don’t recommend buying non-US phone unless you know the risks involved and possible fixes.