Mobile Network Comparison

Smartphones, with a plethora of high-tech features, are seen by many as the ultimate tools for communication in a modern “connected” era. The truth is that we have become slaves to the devices which were meant to free us from static desk based communication.

Earlier this year, actor Eddie Redmaine, replaced his iPhone for an analogue handset so that he could, as he put it, live “in the moment”.

“I tried switching back to a simple, old-fashioned handset in place of a smartphone. It was a reaction against being glued permanently to my iPhone during waking hours. The deluge of emails was constant and I found myself trying to keep up in real time, at the expense of living in the moment.”

Research seems to confirm that the “always on” culture, which is largely based on our reliance on smartphones, is making us more anxious and unhappy.

In this article we look at the ten best dumbphones you could consider if you wish to ditch your smartphone and start living in the moment.

CAT B30

Only £74.00

The CAT B30 from construction industry giants CAT is a no-nonsense waterproof phone which will survive the toughest environments.

The specifications are very basic with 3G connectivity, a 2MP camera, MP3/MP4 playback and a safety flashlight. This is the phone for the outdoor adventurer or construction worker.

Nokia 515

Only £149.99

If battery life is what you want, then the Nokia 515 is the perfect choice.

It has an impressive 33-day battery life. It comes with a 5-megapixel camera, dual SIM and has a MicroSD slot that can take up to 32GB.

Doro Secure 580

Only £94.99

The Doro Secure 580 is designed for the older user who requires simplicity in design and functionality above all else.

It has four speed dial keys and an assistance button that links with the phone’s GPS to alert people where you are.

Nokia 216

Only £29.99

The budget beating Nokia 216 has a battery life of 24 days – the equivalent of 18 hours of talking or 47 hours of music. It has some basic internet features and, although the low resolution 320 x 240 display will limit what you can do online, it is hard to beat the £29.99 price tag.

Samsung E1270

Only £79.84

Samsung has always offered reliable and functional phones, and the Samsung E1270 flip-phone is an excellent choice if you are looking for basic text messaging, phone calls and the luxury of FM radio.

You will also have Sudoku for your leisure time and 11 hours of talk time.

NoPhone ZERO

Finally – and officially not part of our Top 5 – if you really feel a strong desire to live off the cell phone grid you might be interested in the $5 NoPhone ZERO. It’s not actually a phone – it’s a plastic rectangle brick.

The official description from the manufacturers is that the NoPhone ZERO features no buttons, no logos and most importantly no phone. Running costs are also zero.

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WhatsApp recently announced that it has added end-to-end encryption to all its messages. We previously looked at how governments spy on your mobile but what is the implication of this change for the over one billion people who use the application? And what does encryption actually mean?

Seen in the light of the recent battle between Apple and the FBI to give the security agency access to private messages and information, this is a significant move by the Facebook-owned company. It means that WhatsApp are physically unable to give third parties access to messages, images, and even voice recordings since the messages are encrypted and the company has no access to the content of these messages. The company is one of first communication platforms to offer full end-to-end encryption, which is on by default. It is likely that other companies will offer a similar service soon.

“The desire to protect people’s private communication is one of the core beliefs we have at WhatsApp, and for me, it’s personal”, said Jan Koum, one of the app’s founders who was raised in Ukraine under Soviet rule. “The fact that people couldn’t speak freely is one of the reasons my family moved to the United States,” he said on WhatsApp’s official blog page.

End-to-end encryption is the jumbling of information using a “key” to then decrypt it. What happens is that each party has a couple of keys, one which is public and one which is private. Only the sender and recipient of the message are able to see the contents of the message. True end-to-end encryption is known as “zero knowledge” which means the platform responsible for hosting the message (WhatsApp) has no knowledge whatsoever of the information contained within the message.

Users do not need to activate encryption. It happens automatically and also applies to WhatsApp calls. You can check if encryption is working by tapping on the message which comes up after you have sent your message. It should read as follows: “Messages that you send to this chat and calls are now secured with end-to-end encryption.” You can then view a QR code and a 60-digit number. You can also scan your QR code or compare the 60-digit number with the person you are chatting with. We’d also recommend updating your security settings so all security messages are displayed – this might help you avoid man in the middle attacks that could compromise your communications.

The decision to enable end-to-end encryption on all WhatsApp communication has not met universal approval. Many governments are unhappy that there is no way to access private messages and in the UK politicians have proposed banning the technology or forcing companies to install backdoors that would weaken the security so that messages can be read by spies.

Of course, this shows an alarming level of technical illiteracy and failure to think through consequences by politicians. Not only will intentionally weakening encryption technology have severe and troubling repercussions for the functioning of the internet as a whole, it is trivial for anyone with nefarious intentions to simply switch to other, mathematically-proven, encryption algorithms and it will only weaken the security of normal people.

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Tesco Mobile and Vodafone have both announced free-roaming options in the light of the EU anti-roaming plans which have resulted in all roaming charges being reduced to €0.05 per minute, €0.02 SMS and €0.05 per MB. Roaming charges will be completely removed in June 2017.

Customers of Tesco Mobile who travel to Europe have been offered zero roaming fees for the summer. This means that both Pay as You Go and contract customers will be able to use their existing mobile tariffs for calls, texting and data usage. The scheme called ‘Home From Home’ applies to subscribers visiting any EU countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The offer will be available between 23rd of May and the 3rd of September.

Vodafone is offering its customers on their RED plan free EU roaming in 40 countries. The plan is similar to Tesco Mobile’s offering, except Vodafone also offers a monthly data allowance of up to 4GB while roaming. Customers will not be able to use all the data in their bundles when abroad since the EU data is capped and there are restrictions depending on the data plan a customer has. An 8GB RED Value bundle will give 2GB of inclusive data while a 12GB Red Value plan will give you 4GB of data. The downside of Vodafone’s offering is that it will only apply to new and upgrading customers signed up from the 6th of May. Existing customers will be disappointed to know that they will be excluded from this offer.

The announcements of free roaming will be welcomed by UK mobile users planning a summer holiday in EU countries.

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