As I sit here with my trusty old phone, I'm reminded that sometimes the best way to get something new is to do without it. For better longevity, I never use wireless charging and I don't even use fast charging if I can avoid it. I don't care about any of that. 5 volt, 1 amp for life, baby. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't benefit from something a little more modern than this. I mean, I'm not the heaviest user. The 5-year-old battery pack in here is still comfortably getting me through the day, but the Fold 3, especially with how much I use that large inner screen, would sometimes fail to make it to bed time with the battery saver 85% maximum charge mode that I use. So something with a little bit more endurance would be nice. I don't typically watch movies on my phone, but I do often watch TV, and for that I do like to have stereo speakers that are loud enough to clearly make out dialogue. For music though, I almost exclusively use my in-ear wireless headphones, when they aren't at the bottom of the pool. So loudness and sound quality as a Bluetooth speaker replacement is not terribly important to me. I do find myself speaking of wireless headphones missing the three and a half millimeter jack sometimes, though. Having one of those might be nice. But funnily enough, I almost never missed the micro SD slot. The cards are just so prone to corruption and performance issues that even on phones that supported them, I actually like this one. I've basically never found myself using them in the long term. What else is there to say? For obvious reasons, waterproofness would be a plus. Apple's 3D scanning hoo-ha is kind of cool, though I've used it a grand total of twice. Once to scan my office for a VFX company to put an explosion in it for a reason that will remain undisclosed, and then once to get fitted for the big screen beyond VR headset. So at a rate of 0.75 uses per year then, I think it's the kind of thing that I can just borrow an iPhone from a friend or colleague for whenever it comes up.

I'm trying to think of some examples of phones that I really liked or really hated. I loved the iPhone 4 for its one-hand ability. I'd be pretty interested to try out a small phone again for a bit, though it's unlikely that I would switch to it permanently just because of work and needing a big screen. I loved the iPhone 6s. It was just so snappy at the time compared to everything else, and 3D touch was so cool. So cool, RIP. And then on the Android side, the Droid Turbo, HTC One, Note 9, and Fold 3 are all fond memories for me, actually. I can't really think of anything that I've hated. Like, that's a really strong word, but super heavy, clunky stuff like the Razer phone, that's never really floated my boat.

For those of you who have made it this far, I really appreciate your time. You are truly gentle folk to care so much about the recommendation that you're about to make. We're going to have a link to our unofficial subreddit thread where you can add or upvote your recommended devices. I also appreciate your optimism, your faith in the rest of the community to do the same as you're doing. It warms my heart, even if I know deep down that I'm going to end up with some phony McPhone face thing that factors in absolutely nothing of what I've just said.

Or maybe you beautiful, thoughtful souls will prove me wrong. Wrong, like how we use the wrong segue to our sponsor. Moose End, if you're tired of seeing the email marketing world in black and white, Moosend might be able to send your audience to greener pastures. They offer a suite of tools designed to improve customer relationship through personalized outreach. With Moosend, you can create visually appealing email campaigns using customizable templates and personalized dynamic elements. Their segmentation tools let you target specific subsets of your audience with the perfect message. If you're tired of manually typing out long, beefy responses, use their pre-made automation templates or create your own with their flexible drag and drop builder. And after you've launched your campaign, calculate how you're doing with their advanced analytical tools. Moosend also offers integrations with popular e-commerce platforms, allowing businesses to streamline all marketing efforts.

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"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enSome of you have noticed that I am back to my Galaxy Note 9.That's... not my choice.Roll the tape.Sebastian here showing impressive speed setting up for his pool party.That's some great hustle from the veteran.It sure is, Jakob, but here's where it falls apart.The AirPods come out of the pocket right here and...Oh, right into the drink.Sebastian knows that in seconds that pool water will kill them.He's forgotten his phone is right here and it ends up fully submerged.That small error is going to cost him big, Jakob.You hate to see it, Riley.A big mistake from a small, small man.He is very small.Okay, I maintain that that was a controlled entry into the pool,but in my rush to finish my preparations, I did forget about the phone,which sat in that soggy pocket for about the next half an hour and long story short,I need to buy a new one, which is a completely foreign experience for me.The thing is, growing up, I used whatever was given to me by my parents,which was whatever came free on contract, then whatever my work issued me,then I started this gig and I switched to using whatever I was reviewing at the moment.The problem is, I don't really review phones anymore.So for the first time in my life, I'm going to be buying a new phoneand in a giant roll reversal move, I'm going to let you guys pick it.I'm probably going to regret this, but I solemnly swear to immediately buy and daily drivewhatever gets the most votes from our community,give it the full review treatment for a month, and then report back to you on the experience.All I need from you is a bit of your time to talk about my requirements,and to talk about our sponsor.There is nothing sadder than when your brand new game doesn't run on your potato PC.Nothing is sadder than that.But it's a sadness that can be rectified by checking out Build Redux at the link below.I love memes as much as you guys do, but the thing is, I use my phone for work a lotand I can't be stuck on a Nokia 3310 or something.So let's lay out some ground rules.One, it needs to run a recent version of Android or iOS.Sorry, Windows phone lovers.Two, it's got to have a touchscreen.Three, it has to work on North American cellular bands.And four, finally, if it's an Android phone,I need Google Play Store support so that I'm not spending half of my time role-playing asthe APK hunter.With those hard rules out of the way, let's talk soft requirements and preferences,starting with the operating system.The benefits of iOS are many.It often gets the best versions of apps and better support for smart devices.My ecobee thermostats, for example, often fail to complete their Wi-Fi setup on Android,but they always work on an iPhone.And iOS devices also get excellent long-term software support,which can have real-world benefits even for frequent upgradeers.Since the mishap, I've fallen back to my old Note 9,and I would be having a much better time right now if I'd gone with an iPhone X at the time.This thing is leggy as heck.I'm also kind of curious to try out CarPlay.I like Android Auto well enough,but there are weird behaviors from time to time,like random failures to resume music playback,and this weird interface issue I've had recentlywhere it's really hard to just get to the app list.So maybe it's better on the dark side.Or maybe it isn't.Having spent the last five straight years on Android,at least it's the devil I know.Though with that said, I'm mostly familiar with the Samsung skin,so there could be a learning curve either way.I mean, I'm sure I could seamlessly switch to a Pixel or something,but if I ended up with our crusty China-only skinthat's cluttered with non-English language appsand doesn't even have proper Netflix support,that would kind of suck.Or Sony's skin that honestly seems great,other than the fact that for some obtuse reason,it doesn't allow you to move the back button over to the right-hand side.Other than that, I don't actually use much of a customization that Android offers,so I am mostly indifferent to my operating system.Except I do care about sideloading a fair bit.I recently imported a smart product that isn't technically available in Canadaand therefore doesn't have its companion appin the Canadian versions of the App Store or the Play Store,so sideloading was the only way to get it.Oh, and I guess the Android world offers a lot more variety on the hardware side,like if you want cool features like a foldable screen or a built-in thermal camera.Android is the only game in town.Also, I strongly prefer fingerprint ID to facial ID.It's not a privacy thing.I just find it faster because before I'm even looking at the phone,it's unlocked and ready to go.The last thing I'll say on the software side is digital assistance.Might be a major consideration for some people,but as far as I can tell, they pretty much both suck donkey tail these days.So, um, ow.Realistically, call quality is a way more important thing to me.I've found myself dropping more phone calls than computer parts lately with my Fold 3.K has the...I'm in Canada, meaning that anything with strong reception for callson the common bands up here would definitely be a plus.And, oh, this is a fun fact.By the time this challenge is over,we should be capable of empirically testing cellular reception in our EMC chamber,so we'll be able to let you guys know if you picked a good one or if you screwed me over.Um, another thing is speed.This is a funny one because for the longest time,I felt like phones are all kind of fast enough,but as it turns out, if you regress far enough, you do really feel it.Now, part of that is the stark contrast with the more modern device that I've been using lately,but a bigger part of it is that while your old phone stayed the same,the rest of the world moved on.Everything from your apps to the websites you visitto even the operating system it's running has gotten more complex and more demanding.I don't game on my phone, though.Like, the most demanding things I do are watch 4K videosand load large spreadsheets in Google Sheets.So, as long as navigation and loading times are snappy,I'm honestly not going to notice the differenceif you guys go for last year's modelor if you kit me out with a Snapdragon Gen 3.2 2x2 or whatever.As for durability, anyone around here can tell you that I live my lifein a perpetual state of semi-distracted multitasking.So, while it is rare for my phone to experience a full-screen-down concrete smackdown,you can see from my longest surviving device here that I do drop my phone once in a while,a problem that is exacerbated by the fact that I prefer to go caseless.That means that the iPhone's robust accessory market means very little to me,but if I could get something that similarly uses extra-strong modern glass from Corning,it might keep something like this from happening.Or, actually failing that, strong repairability would be super cool.Maybe something I could easily take apart with my trusty stubby screwdriver from lttstore.com.Easily replaceable or not, a high refresh rate screen is a plus for me,but going back to 60Hz also hasn't bothered me nearly as much as I expected,so I guess it's not a top priority.And while we're at it, I also don't really care about having the boostiest maximum brightness.I need to be able to read it outdoors, but having a neutral color profile available to meis way more important.I like to view content, whether it's a webpage or a TV show,as the creator intended, and I don't like having my colors mucked around with.A folding display is another plus for me.I've grown very accustomed to remoting into a PC and being able to actually see what I'm doing,but after three years, honestly I'm also kind of ready for a change, so...One thing I don't want to give up though isn't always on display.It is really nice.My phone's on the table to be able to like,discreetly check what time it is in the middle of a meeting without having to look at my wristor click on my phone.And speaking of clicking, I also really like having a quick way to access the camerawithout waking the device first.My preferred method is a double press on the power button,but I guess I could learn something else if I really needed to.On the subject of cameras, I feel like a bit of an anomaly here,but I don't really care much about fancy features or shooting modes,and I almost never use alternate lenses,because usually they have a lower quality sensor behind them,and to my eyes, the main shooter with a bit of CSI enhancement is usually a better bet anyway.With that said, I do know that some recent devices do use multiple high-quality sensors,so that's something that could be kind of fun to check out.I'm also not a big selfie guy.On the rare occasion that I do really care about the quality,I'll just turn the camera around and then no-scope it, which by the way,shout out to the Samsung S Pen for making this way easier to do,because you don't have to mash the volume button in order to take the shot,which especially at night helps you keep it much steadierand is way faster than just waiting for a countdown timerevery time you make a hand gestureand hoping that you've counted it right in your headbecause you can't see the screen.I also don't record a ton of video on my everyday phone.I do have an iPhone that I keep around for when quality matters,and I have a production crew for when quality really matters,but I do grab impromptu clips of my kids and pets sometimes,so it never hurts to have decent video quality.This is a bit of a tangent,but as someone who backs up my original quality photos manually to my server,USB speed does matter for me.Most iPhones and even some newer Android phones run at ancient USB 2 speeds,meaning that I would need to leave my phone hooked up to the computerfor a long period of time to complete a transfer.So USB 3 would be a big plus for me.On the subject of the charging port,for better longevity, I never use wireless charging,and I don't even use fast charging if I can avoid it.I don't care about any of that.5 volt, 1 amp for life, baby.But that doesn't mean I wouldn't benefit from something a little more modern than this.I mean, I'm not the heaviest user.The 5-year-old battery pack in here is still comfortably getting me through the day,but the Fold 3, especially with how much I use that large inner screen,would sometimes fail to make it to bedtimewith the battery saver 85% maximum charge mode that I use.So something with a little bit more endurance would be nice.I don't typically watch movies on my phone,but I do often watch TV,and for that I do like to have stereo speakersthat are loud enough to clearly make out dialogue.For music though, I almost exclusively use my in-ear wireless headphones,when they aren't at the bottom of the pool.So loudness and sound quality as a Bluetooth speaker replacementis not terribly important to me.I do find myself speaking of wireless headphonesmissing the three and a half millimeter jack sometimes, though.Having one of those might be nice.But funnily enough, I almost never missed the micro SD slot.The cards are just so prone to corruption and performance issuesthat even on phones that supported them,I actually like this one,I've basically never found myself using them in the long term.What else is there to say?For obvious reasons, waterproofness would be a plus.Apple's 3D scanning hoo-ha is kind of cool,though I've used it a grand total of twice.Once to scan my office for a VFX company to put an explosion in itfor a reason that will remain undisclosed.And then once to get fitted for the big screen beyond VR headset.So at a rate of 0.75 uses per year then,I think it's the kind of thing that I can justborrow an iPhone from a friend or colleaguefor whenever it comes up.I'm trying to think of some examples of phonesthat I really liked or really hated.I loved the iPhone 4 for its one-hand ability.I'd be pretty interested to try out a small phone again for a bit,though it's unlikely that I would switch to it permanentlyjust because of work and needing a big screen.I loved the iPhone 6s.It was just so snappy at the time compared to everything elseand 3D touch was so cool.So cool, RIP. And then on the Android side, the Droid Turbo, HTC One,Note 9, and Fold 3 are all fond memories for me, actually.I can't really think of anything that I've hated.Like, that's a really strong word,but super heavy, clunky stuff like the Razer phone,that's never really floated my boat.For those of you who have made it this far,I really appreciate your time.You are truly gentle folk to care so muchabout the recommendation that you're about to make.We're going to have a link to our unofficial subreddit threadwhere you can add or upvote your recommended devices.I also appreciate your optimism,your faith in the rest of the community to do the same as you're doing.It warms my heart, even if I know deep downthat I'm going to end up with some phony McPhone face thingthat factors in absolutely nothing of what I've just said.Or, I don't know, maybe you beautiful, thoughtful souls will prove me wrong.Wrong, like how we use the wrong segue to our sponsor.Moose End, if you're tired of seeing the email marketing world in black and white,Moosend might be able to send your audience to greener pastures.They offer a suite of tools designed to improve customer relationshipsthrough personalized outreach.With Moosend, you can create visually appealing email campaignsusing customizable templates and personalized dynamic elementswhile their segmentation tools let you target specific subsets of your audiencewith the perfect moos letter.If you're tired of manually typing out long, beefy responses,use their pre-made automation templatesor create your own with their flexible drag and drop builder.And after you've launched your campaign,cowculate how you're doing with their advanced analytical tools.Moosend also offers integrations with popular e-commerce platforms,allowing businesses to streamline all marketing efforts.Prepare to be utterly amazed with what Moosend can do.Try them out free for 30 days at the link below.If you don't, it'll be a big mis-steak.If you guys are looking for some of what not to suggest, please,why don't you check out this recent videowhere we showed 10 of the weirdest phones ever.I mean, how do you even dial with this one?\n"