Poll: Tablet Tethered to a Smart Flip Phone, Yea or Nay?

Smart flip phone and with tablet tethered to it, over standard smart phone?


  • Total voters
    0

mathelm

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2012
396
0
0
Visit site
Basically, what I'm saying is a flip phone that can act as a wifi access point for your tablet (like a lot of smart phones can now).


I was just googling the subject and found a lot more interest than I thought. For me this would be the perfect combo, and with the aging population (think eyesight) I think tablets are the future as apposed to 4 and 5 inch smart phones.


edit: please excuse the slight typo in the poll.....:-[
 
Last edited:

PWC Realtor

Well-known member
May 17, 2010
486
3
0
Visit site
At that point why not have the phone built into the tablet like the upcoming Samsung Note 8

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums
 

mathelm

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2012
396
0
0
Visit site
Mostly because you always need to have a phone on you. And the smaller the better. I work on a lot of things in a lot of places and am almost always by my lonesome. So I've tried to keep my phone on me (Under cars, topping 40 feet off a 80 ft tree, etc... ). Even with that phone being a military spec flip phone, I've gone threw a few. Which is why I've never owned a "smart phone" and this Nexus is my first android experience. All I know for sure is that the bigger the phone, the more chance of it being broke. The best phone I've ever had was the old motorola startac, except for the flimsy antenna it was perfect...

images


29665_1364483724657_4059342_n.jpg
 

Diknak

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2012
457
0
0
Visit site
Nope. I don't own a smartphone because it would double my phone bill and I don't really need facebook access from anywhere. The tablet is perfect for me because I am at work or at home most of the time, so I almost always have internet. And when I don't have internet and I am out and about, I still have plenty of offline content if needed.

Even if I did own a smart phone, I would not want this kind of functionality because it would requiring having your tablet with you at all times.
 

mathelm

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2012
396
0
0
Visit site
Nope. I don't own a smartphone because it would double my phone bill and I don't really need facebook access from anywhere. The tablet is perfect for me because I am at work or at home most of the time, so I almost always have internet. And when I don't have internet and I am out and about, I still have plenty of offline content if needed.

Even if I did own a smart phone, I would not want this kind of functionality because it would requiring having your tablet with you at all times.

Do you have a cell phone now?

Not sure you're understanding the concept. Basically, what I'm saying is a flip phone that can act as a wifi access point for your tablet (like a lot of smart phones can now). And what you said, I don't need both a smart phone and a tablet...
 

Jeremy8000

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2012
2,567
159
63
Visit site
A small flipphone simply wouldn't house a large enough battery to allow it to operate as a wifi hotspot for any really functional duration.
 

mathelm

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2012
396
0
0
Visit site
A small flipphone simply wouldn't house a large enough battery to allow it to operate as a wifi hotspot for any really functional duration.

Why not? I mean sure, the size of the needed battery would dictate the actual size of the phone. Which would still be smaller and less fragile than a normal smart phone is now...
 

mathelm

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2012
396
0
0
Visit site
do flip phones(feature phones) even have the capabilities to tether? I dont think so. I havent found one that can.

My point exactly....

Back in the day I did hack my sprint flip phone so I could plug my laptop into it like a modem for internet connection. I remember sprint actually wanted $10 bucks a month more for me to have the privileged to use my minutes in a different way... Reminds me of apple....
 

Chris Flowers

Well-known member
Jan 6, 2013
236
0
0
Visit site
I don't see the point. If you just wanted connectivity in a small form factor, why not just go for a 3G/4G WiFi dongle? Calls and messages via multiple IP call apps, messengers etc.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

mathelm

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2012
396
0
0
Visit site
Because I wouldn't always have the N7 on my person. And if I did, it simply wouldn't last very long......

btw, mines a 3g so...
 

Diknak

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2012
457
0
0
Visit site
Do you have a cell phone now?

Not sure you're understanding the concept. Basically, what I'm saying is a flip phone that can act as a wifi access point for your tablet (like a lot of smart phones can now). And what you said, I don't need both a smart phone and a tablet...

Ah, I misunderstood what you were suggesting. I thought you were saying that you needed the tablet at all times as the phone would just be a bluetooth connected device.

I would be down for your suggestion now that I get your concept. If I was willing to part for a data plan, that is.
 

Jeremy8000

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2012
2,567
159
63
Visit site
Why not? I mean sure, the size of the needed battery would dictate the actual size of the phone. Which would still be smaller and less fragile than a normal smart phone is now...

And being a flip phone, with the battery being only located in the main part of the body, you'd lose the potential volume afforded to the housing of the display part.
A compact 'bar' phone would be a lot less hindered by this, but even then you'd be asking a manufacturer of such to integrate a function at additional manufacturing expense on a model that would have generally lower sales volume to add a feature that it could not perform sufficiently to make it marketable as truly being able to fulfill that need for any viable period of time.

Fragility is one issue (which, right off the bat, is substantially increased in any flip-phone versus any bar-style phone), but that's why companies like Otterbox do well, providing for those willing to add a degree of additional bulk for substantial added protection.

It would be great to have an indestructible smartphone with hotspot, nfc, LTE, 2 week battery life that could be embedded in a wristwatch and transmit a 50" display to your sunglasses, but (exaggeration to enhance my point) the engineering requirements of a number of these characteristics are directly in conflict with those of others. All in all, phones are capable of getting smaller, more battery efficient, etc through technology innovations, but at the current stage of the game you have to compromise on your 'dream' phone and take one that can be realistically manufactured (i.e., not just technologically feasible but profitably marketable). And, of course, the market as a whole is demonstrating a preference for purchasing phones with larger screens.
 

mathelm

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2012
396
0
0
Visit site
That may be the biggest bunch of nothing I've ever tried to read in my life...

I wouldn't even know where to start to point out your fantasized misconceptions in the above....
 

Jeremy8000

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2012
2,567
159
63
Visit site
That may be the biggest bunch of nothing I've ever tried to read in my life...

I wouldn't even know where to start to point out your fantasized misconceptions in the above....

Then find a place. Your post, frankly, was rude, added nothing constructive to the thread, and failed to specify any errors in mine or points in which mine did not reference the issue you raised.

Sorry if you had difficulty reading my post; I'll try to boil it down for you.

1. You said you wanted a flip phone. Flip phones are comprised of two parts: the main body, and the display. The battery by conventional design can only be housed in one part, the body. That means a greater limitation to the size of the battery as a % of the volume of the entire phone when compared to a bar style phone.

2. You said you wanted a more durable phone. Flip phones have categorically been less durable than bar phones.

3. You said a sufficient battery could fit in a flip phone and still be notably smaller. Battery requirements to drive a wifi hotspot are substantially higher than those required by normal phone data usage. "Large" phones now, which have substantially larger capacity batteries than would fit in a smaller flip phone, already have a pretty limited duration for which they can operate as a hot spot (especially if running on LTE), meaning that while a company could make a compact flip phone that had the capability, it would not have the utility to make it worthwhile for enough people to warrant its inclusion from a cost perspective, as the company still has to pass along that cost to the majority who would not be interested in the feature given that limitation.

You asked "why not" in your response, and I gave reasons. I've summed them up here again in the hope you'll be able to see my reasoning. If you don't like someone's response when you open up a conversation, try to be civil and provide counterpoints. If I mistook your initial question (though that seems unlikely from your initial response), that's fine - say so and provide clarification.

That said, I too would love the option of a small flip phone that could effectively do all these things, be more durable and compact, etc, but the reasons above are "why not."

And once again, let's try to keep this friendly. These forums should not be the place for malignant posts.
 

mathelm

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2012
396
0
0
Visit site
1. I've got a tiny little straight talk samsung flip here running bluetooth who's battery last 3 days. Nexus is 10 hours at best. And it would only need to be a 5' hotspot, 10mw at most...

2. Stop talking out of your a$$. There is no one who doesn't KNOW that a flip is more durable than any bar phone. I ran over my old I580 with a truck... 2 different times. Have dropped this cheap samsung 40 feet, with it open even...

3. You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. I couldn't even finish the paragraph....

I didn't want to answer because your points are so far from reality that it's a waste of time...

This is friendly, I have a high tolerance for a lot of things. But BS isn't one of them, especially while trying to debunk one of my ideas...

Save yourself, delete your post....

176195.strip.gif
 

Chris Flowers

Well-known member
Jan 6, 2013
236
0
0
Visit site
Mathelm you seem to have a strange understanding of how an amicable discussion works. You can't float an idea, and then expect praise without criticism. Worse you don't seem to know how to handle criticism without replying and adding a large dose of sarcasm and dismissal.

It was a valid point about battery consumption. Most MiFi dongles have somewhere in the region of 4-5 hours before a recharge. Couple that with other basic mobile phone features and you're squeezing the battery life.

Certainly from personal experience with tethering to a smart phone, it hammers the battery, and I tether a lot due to work commitments. Lodging in hotels with no WiFi, I've tethered tablets and laptops many a time. Where possible I tend to keep the smart phone on charge if I'm tethering.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Channan

Keyboard Warrior
Mar 21, 2010
842
69
0
Visit site
Why a flip phone? Why not just any dumbphone? My sister's old LG Vu could Bluetooth tether for free. That was neat, since unlimited data only cost like $10/month on dumbphones.
 

Trending Posts

Forum statistics

Threads
942,402
Messages
6,913,898
Members
3,158,397
Latest member
maximusdebois