Which Smartphone is the best suited for my specific needs?

[DarkkPhenixx]

Hello everyone,

I'm Matt. I have Spinal Muscular Atrophy so I have really limited mobility. I'm looking for any touch-screen smartphone that is light, thin, not too large and with a physical home button on the front like the Galaxy's or iPhone (not on the edge because I can't access it and may not be able to turn the screen on).

Apparently, the Samsung Galaxy SII seems to comply with my needs. The problem is that it is quite old and may not be able to have the latest Android versions and updated voice-command. Some most recent Galaxys like the S3 have a thiner home button than the S2 and it is difficult for me to press it. Correct me if I'm wrong but S4 and S5 are heavier and thicker.

Well, I'd love to have your advice guys!

Thanks a lot,
Matt

 

[belodion]

Welcome to AC.☺

Before we go any further:
1) Are you rich?
2) How would you get on with the Samsung S pen?

Also, when you say home button on the front, do you mean the home button or the power button? So far as I can think, all home buttons are on the front. If you mean power button, would the double-tap-to-wake, and indeed the same to turn off when finished, of for example the LG G3 be useful?

Posted via Android Central App

 

[DarkkPhenixx]

Welcome to AC.☺

Before we go any further:
1) Are you rich?
2) How would you get on with the Samsung S pen?

Also, when you say home button on the front, do you mean the home button or the power button? So far as I can think, all home buttons are on the front. If you mean power button, would the double-tap-to-wake, and indeed the same to turn off when finished, of for example the LG G3 be useful?

Posted via Android Central App

Hi belodion,

Thanks for your reply.

1. I'm not rich but want a phone that really meets with my needs so let's forget about the price for now.

2. I'm not able to handle a pen, everything needs to be with my finger.

3. When I say home button, I mean the button that allows to turn the screen on or exit the sleeping mode, the one that you use very often. I'm not talking about the power button which you don't need to press very often. I didn't know that some phones used a "screen double-tap" feature to turn the screen on. That sounds great.

What phones do you think would work for me?

Matt

 

[DarkkPhenixx]

What phones have the double-tap-to-wake feature? Do you mean that you don't have to press any physical button to use your phone? Sounds awesome! Does it also work to power off or reboot the phone?

 

[belodion]

In the case of the LG G3, the power button is on the back, along with volume up/down buttons. You would have to use this to Power On the phone if it was in a Powered Off state, but if the phone was just sleeping, or switched off in the ordinary way, you wouldn't need to bother with it for the most part.
So to wake or switch on the phone, you'd tap the screen twice. On my specimen this action can be so light and gentle, you'd think it can't work, but it does. Once you're using the phone, volume can be adjusted using touch controls on the screen, rather than the volume buttons on the back. Many other things can be turned on and off, or adjusted, via touch controls on the screen. Capacitive or touch buttons/controls/sliders are obviously lighter to use than hard buttons, and the button you refer to in the Sammies is a hard button.
To switch off....though not Power Off...the G3, you can use the (capacitive) home button to take you to the home screen, then double-tap an app-icon-free space on the screen.
The Google voice search feature is available although I've never used. The
G3 is purty big, and not therefore light. Has a useful adjustment whereby you can adjust the height of the keyboard characters to suit individual needs.
I know that other phones have similar features to the above but I'll have to leave it to other members to offer advice about those.
Should you decide on a G3 it's not fantastically expensive, though very much a high-spec device.

Home button= wherever you are on the phone, pressing the home button takes you back to the home screen, on which your app icons and other odds are displayed.
Power button= button to switch phone on/off by a short press. A long press of it powers the phone off fully. On a phone without tap-to-wake feature this is the button you'd have to use to switch on/off.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[DarkkPhenixx]

Thanks a lot for this useful advice, belodion.

The LG G3 looks great but maybe too heavy for me.

Could someone tell me about the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini? Is it running fast and smoothly? Is it possible to download android's newest version on it? The weight looks very low which is good.

What about the HTC one m7. It looks really beautiful in black. Does it have double-tap-to-wake feature? Is it possible to download android's newest version on it?

Thank you for your great help, guys!

 

[belodion]

Only me again Darkk, to suggest that you may get a better response by posting your queries regarding those devices in the relevant individual device forums, rather than this general help-and-advice forum. If you don't care to write stuff out again the Moderators may be able to help by moving all or part of this thread.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Golfdriver97]

Thanks a lot for this useful advice, belodion.

The LG G3 looks great but maybe too heavy for me.

Could someone tell me about the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini? Is it running fast and smoothly? Is it possible to download android's newest version on it? The weight looks very low which is good.

What about the HTC one m7. It looks really beautiful in black. Does it have double-tap-to-wake feature? Is it possible to download android's newest version on it?

Thank you for your great help, guys!

Hello, welcome to the forums. For a physical home button, that is, at least to my knowledge, only available to the Samsung Galaxy S and Note line. The S4 and S5 are heavier probably due to battery weight.

From what I have seen, the Mini versions of the S4, and if there is an S5, is Samsung tends to not pay as close attention to them for updates. There is the Galaxy Alpha, which is aimed at attracting iPhone users, so that may be another option.

I don't know about the M7, but the M8 has a double tap to wake feature.

 

[DarkkPhenixx]

How to go back to a Samsung Galaxy S2?

Hi Everyone,

I am seeking some advice regarding our beloved Samsung Galaxy 2. I owed this phone in the past and after testing other devices, I am considering to purchase it again. Please kindly try to answer my questions:

1. I have Spinal Muscular Atrophy and I think the S2 is one of the lightest and thinnest smartphone on the market. Do you have any other devices in mind that could be suitable to my mobility issues?

2. I have purchased a few smartphones online (ebay and amazon) and always had difficulties to find one that is “truly” unlocked. Most of them were entitled as “unlocked” but would not work with my sim card. Do you have any advice on this issue?

2b. Do all S2s have the same processors/ram/features? Do you advise any S2 version in particular or all of them are fine?

3. I am interested in those new voice recognition features such as Ok Google/voice and my guess is that the most efficient and reliable versions of it are present on the latest Android versions such as Lollipop/is there any correlation between Android version and Voice recognition efficiency?

3c. Do you think it would be possible to install Lollipop on a S2 and how?

3d. Would it be a simple and “official” update or will it necessary imply a “jailbreak”? Knowing that I am definitely not familiar with this kind of process, are there accessible and straightforward tutorials for newbies showing how to proceed step-by-step?

3e. Would it slower the S2 to update it with Lollipop or create any other issue//conflict/flaw? If so, until what Android version can I update without slowing the S2?

Many thanks for your kind help!
Darkk.

 

[Aquila]

Re: How to go back to a Samsung Galaxy S2?

I would recommend the Samsung Galaxy S5, LG G3 or Moto X 2014. There are a lot of versions of the SII (24 of them not including the same hardware (essentially) with different names. Going with a modern device will provide better hardware, more ergonomically balanced and/or lighter & thinner and all three of those devices are expected to get fully supported Lollipop very quickly.

 

[DarkkPhenixx]

Re: How to go back to a Samsung Galaxy S2?

Hi Darth Spock. Thanks for your reply.

The problem is that all of the devices you just mentioned are way much heavier than the Galaxy S2 and weight is actually one of the most important specs for me due to my limited mobility.

 

[Aquila]

Re: How to go back to a Samsung Galaxy S2?

Hi Darth Spock. Thanks for your reply.

The problem is that all of the devices you just mentioned are way much heavier than the Galaxy S2 and weight is actually one of the most important specs for me due to my limited mobility.

Holy blazes, you're right! I forgot that the SII was closer to 4 oz while just about everything modern is 5 oz or slightly more.

 

[DarkkPhenixx]

Re: How to go back to a Samsung Galaxy S2?

Right. Do you have any answers for my other questions?