An iPhone for modest needs (upgrading from "dumb" phone)

[macstatic]

I'm looking to upgrade from having used various "dumb phones" (as opposed to "smart" phones) which have served me well except good clamshell phones (like those from Sony Ericsson) are impossible to find unless you want a 20 year old used one, as well as the screen becoming too small for my eyes and writing SMS messages on newer "dumb" phones is a pain.

So....... I'm considering getting an iPhone (being able to sync nicely with my Mac's Contacts etc.) but my needs are very modest (calls and messages), so I'm asking for advice on what to get:
a) good battery life
b) small/compact (I need to set the text size slightly larger than the default (as I do on my iPad) and expect to scroll more because of this, and I suppose none of the iPhones are "too small" for this becoming an issue).

I also don't want to spend unnecessarily much money on this, so a refurbished/gently used second-hand phone will do nicely. Would an iPhone 6 or 7 be a good choice? Any opinions and suggestions on the matter are welcomed.

 

[now i see it]

iPhone 6 is a horrible choice.
1GB RAM, slow, and can only run iOS 12. Don’t do it.

iPhone 7 is another bad choice.
Prone to Loop Disease and other non reparable problems. The iPhone 7 is arguable the worst iPhone Apple ever made though some people have not had any problems with theirs (yet).

iPhone 8 and 8 Plus is great but might as well buy a 2022 iPhone SE instead of the 4 year old 8.

Some people can not tolerate looking at the flickering OLED screens which are used on the iPhone X and newer (except the iPhone 11).

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I'd say an iPhone SE2(2020) or the newer SE3(2022) either would be perfect for your needs

 

[macstatic]

Thanks for those suggestions.
I found a nice comparison function between the various iPhone models at Apple's website and with the comments here in mind the 1st generation iPhone SE looks interesting. I like its small size, I don't need 5G and (obviously only available on the second-hand market) it shouldn't cost too much. Would that be a good choice?

 

[now i see it]

That would be an acceptable first iPhone. You’ll get it cheap and if you find it’s too slow to your liking, you can sell it again for no loss - and get a newer/faster model.

 

[jetsam]

Who is your current carrier? What is your current plan? What's your budget for a phone plan? In going from a flip phone to a smart phone, you're almost certainly going to have to change to a different - and more expensive - plan.

I agree with @BugeyeSTI that either the iPhone SE 2020 or the iPhone SE 2022 would be good choices.. The original iPhone SE 2016 has only a 4" screen. If you're planning to enlarge text size, I think you'll find a 4" screen is *too* small.

Also, I think the original SE - with the same six year old processor as the 6S - is just too old to risk buying today. The rumor is that Apple will not allow the original iPhone SE (or the similar iPhone 6S) to update to iOS 16 in September.

Depending on carrier and plan, both the SE 2020 and SE 2022 have discounts available.

 

[Motionblurrr]

I was originally going to say get the SE 2022 since you're coming from 'dumbphones' (ironically, having those kept people somewhat smart back then lol) but honestly... since you're going to have to learn a whole new language essentially -- I would look for a base iPhone 12 for a good price and start there. You'll learn the gestures and get a full screen experience (not to mention more real estate so you can crank up the font!) and you don't have to learn gestures later if Apple gets rid of the touch ID.

A used iPhone 12 would be great for you IMHO.

 

[macstatic]

Who is your current carrier? What is your current plan? What's your budget for a phone plan? In going from a flip phone to a smart phone, you're almost certainly going to have to change to a different - and more expensive - plan.

I don't use my phone much and currently use it prepaid. I'm hoping to continue doing that.
Anyway, that touches a question I forgot to ask: compared to my current "dumb" flip-phone, would there be added costs with an iPhone because of IOS doing stuff in the background? I know I can turn off location services, push services, background updating of news-apps etc. but let's say I only use the phone for calls and SMS messaging, would the usage costs be the same as with my flip-phone? In theory it should, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

Regarding the latest IOS -I really won't be taking advantage of the newer features anyway, so as long as I can make calls and send/receive text messages I'm happy with whatever version it can take. Unless Apple have changed their policies I probably shouldn't upgrade it to a more recent IOS version anyway if I don't want to risk "downgrading" its performance due to their "speed penalties" so as to encourage you to buy a newer phone.
Actually I still use an old iPad which runs IOS 9 (I didn't know about the speed penalties back then, but upgraded to the latest version possible). It's still a great iPad for what I use it for.
I also have a newer iPad which I use for more modern apps that don't work with older IOS versions, and I also have an Apple Pencil which is great for taking notes or sketching. It currently has IOS 14.8 and I haven't upgraded it past that in fear of getting downgraded performance when I don't really need any new features either.

I was originally going to say get the SE 2022 since you're coming from 'dumbphones' (ironically, having those kept people somewhat smart back then lol) but honestly... since you're going to have to learn a whole new language essentially -- I would look for a base iPhone 12 for a good price and start there. You'll learn the gestures and get a full screen experience (not to mention more real estate so you can crank up the font!) and you don't have to learn gestures later if Apple gets rid of the touch ID.

A used iPhone 12 would be great for you IMHO.

An iPhone 12 costs a lot more than I'm prepared to pay for this "upgrade".
My "dumb" phone (Nokia 2720 flip) still works fine, but it's frustrating to write text-messages isn't very user-friendly in general.
I'm already very familiar with IOS through iPads and an iPod Touch (which was very handy to use but broke a few years ago), so I see what you're saying about the screen size, but am not too worried about it since IOS allows for text resizing (and zooming, though I've never quite liked how that feature worked but that may just be some of those things you need to get used to for a while first).
For my use I don't see why I should invest a lot in something I'll barely take advantage of.

That would be an acceptable first iPhone. You’ll get it cheap and if you find it’s too slow to your liking, you can sell it again for no loss - and get a newer/faster model.

Cool! So no huge bugs or design mistakes in that one then?
I read in a review that the smaller screen size also makes the battery last longer than other iPhones (they all comes with bigger screens as far as I know).

 

[jetsam]

I don't use my phone much and currently use it prepaid. I'm hoping to continue doing that.
Anyway, that touches a question I forgot to ask: compared to my current "dumb" flip-phone, would there be added costs with an iPhone because of IOS doing stuff in the background? I know I can turn off location services, push services, background updating of news-apps etc. but let's say I only use the phone for calls and SMS messaging, would the usage costs be the same as with my flip-phone? In theory it should, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

Any iPhone is still going to use some amount of cellular data. There is no way to avoid it. And some prepaid carriers, such as Tracfone, distinguish between basic phone plans and smart phone plans, even if you don't plan to use any data.

Assuming you're in the US, I suspect Consumer Cellular would be a good match for you. For $20/month, you get unlimited talk and text, and 1GB of data. And their CS is supposed to be halfway decent if you need to contact them. Their underlying carriers are AT&T and T-Mobile.

You can go a little cheaper with a Tracfone plan. They do a $15 500 minutes, 500 texts, 500 MB of data plan.The underlying carrier should be Verizon, since Verizon owns them now. Personally, I'm not a big fan of Tracfone, but they may have improved since Verizon bought them.

 

[Motionblurrr]

For my use I don't see why I should invest a lot in something I'll barely take advantage of.

Just trying to get you to strike a good balance of having something that will easily last you 5+ years in terms of battery life with new iOS updates per year + quality of life

 

[Mr. Awesome]

I know I can turn off location services, push services, background updating of news-apps etc. but let's say I only use the phone for calls and SMS messaging, would the usage costs be the same as with my flip-phone?

You can turn off cellular data on the phone entirely if you don’t want to pay for it.

Unless Apple have changed their policies I probably shouldn't upgrade it to a more recent IOS version anyway if I don't want to risk "downgrading" its performance due to their "speed penalties" so as to encourage you to buy a newer phone.

You may be misunderstanding a bit. Every OS update will feel slower at first due to reindexing and such, but that should last more than a week or so. Though that reindexing may give an update the feeling of being slower, decreased performance over time is actually almost always a result of an aging battery.

 

[Reggaenald]

As said before, an iPhone 8 or the 2020 or 2022 SE would be good.
I gifted my mother an iPhone 8 for Christmas as a replacement for her old 5s and it severs her very well. Can recommend.

 

[mk313]

I just upgraded my second phone from an original SE to a 13 mini. The Original SE will be fine for your uses. If I hadn't have gotten a great deal on the mini, I would still be using the SE. It's a great little phone.

2 caveats though. 1. They did make 2 versions of the SE, one for Sprint & one for Verizon, T Mo & AT&T. You'll probably want to get one that matches the carrier that use use. 2. The SE is missing some of the newer bands (like 66,71) that some of the carriers have implemented more recently. I doubt that you'll notice it (mine still worked fine on T Mobile, despite not having those bands) but did want to mention it.

 

[JahBoolean]

Anything from the iPhone XS onward as far as refurbished goes, I would steer clear from the SE lineup.

 

[Reno Raines]

I would say SE 2020 or 2022.

 

[Bodhitree]

Everything from the iPhone 11 onwards has significantly better battery life, so that would make the decision easy. Get a refurbished iphone 11 or 12, just the standard, not the mini.

 

[1rottenapple]

If I were you get an iPhone 8. Either plus or regular size. Plus is kinda large but battery life is good and it should be fine. It’ll balance price, performance, and features. Hell we have a plus I might sell but point of the matter in 2022 it works really well lol.

I recently upgraded to an old 2016 se (from my 13 mini and honestly for messaging, smart home and smart car features (nest thermostats, roomba control, security control), maps, music, phone calls it’s works for a 7 year old phone so anyone on here saying you need a new phone like iPhone 11 doesn’t know the reality that older iPhones still work and meets 99% of what people need. The 2016 release of the iPhone se still works and I got it for 70 bucks unlocked. And honestly my se from 2016 unlocks my car 100% but my 13 has a higher failure rate of unlocking. Go figure.

Again I upgraded to an old model for specific reasons, cost wasn’t an issue since I upgrade yearly (But will stop doing so). But older iPhones are perfectly fine and if your upgrading from a basic phone anything 6s or se or older is fine. Use your wallet to guide your decision.

When I was researching for a cheap iPhone

SE from 2016 and iPhone 6s are around $70 to $100.

iPhone 8 is about 150 or so.

iPhone 8 plus is an extra 30 to 40.

Good condition is the basis for the prices I quoted but mint condition will fetch 40 more.

Message me if you have other questions. I’ve owned every single iPhone from 2007 onward except the X and iPhone 11 so I can say I know iPhones pretty well. I’ve seen the evolution and when battery life actually got good and when cameras became awesome. And anything from 6s the difference year over year have been minimal for day to day use, but there were jumps in battery life and camera performance.

 

[macstatic]

So I ended up getting a 1st. gen SE and I'm so far very happy with it
The size is great and having used iPads for several years it's mostly familiar in use except the phone part.

The previous owner had upgraded it to iOS 15.4.1 which is new to me (my iPad Mini (5th gen) is at 14.8 -I've held off upgrading it since "if it works don't fix it" plus I don't know enough about any possible new bugs and/or the deliberate "slowing down" of older iPhones).
There are some difference like having to slide from the bottom to get the control centre (on my iPad Mini I slide from the top to get at it, and sliding further upwards allows me to switch between (or quit) apps which I haven't figured out on the iPhone except for double-clicking the home button -something I'd like to avoid as to add extra tear & wear -any pointers? I can't find any option for configuring this.
On my 1st gen. iPad Mini (iOS 9.3.5) however it's the same as with the phone. Strange. Is this a change in iOS (as it's obviously not a screen size thing)? Is there a way to change it round to work in the same way as in iOS 14?

You can turn off cellular data on the phone entirely if you don’t want to pay for it.

Being on a prepaid plan I want to more or less continue the same phone use as before with my flip-phone, with the exception of occasionaly having one or two apps that need cellular data, so I read an article on how to reduce cellular data on iPhone.
I think this has helped although something is still draining the phone of money, but I can't figure it out as it's not obvious. I've had all the apps turned off for cellular data, but like I said I want to use one or two of them occasionally, so I haven't turned off the "Cellular data" switch entirely, but chosen to turn off just about all of the apps underneath the "Cellular data" section near the bottom of the "Cellular" settings.
UPDATE: I've also tried to turn off cellular data entirely, but somehow I'm still getting charged for something....

You may be misunderstanding a bit. Every OS update will feel slower at first due to reindexing and such, but that should last more than a week or so. Though that reindexing may give an update the feeling of being slower, decreased performance over time is actually almost always a result of an aging battery.

This is something else...
I believe Apple even got sued for deliberately slowing down older iPhones (and iPads? I can't remember) in order to make them less attractive for consumers in comparison to current new models (planned obsolescence).
The slowing down is apparently a fact, but the reason for it is (according to Apple) not to force people into buying newer models but something to do with performance (ironically). Doesn't sound good to me regardless.
Some links about this matter: Apple fined for slowing down old iPhones, Apple admits slowing older iPhones -here's why and Apple and Samsung fined for deliberately slowing down phones.

Does anyone know if this is still an issue with iOS 15.4.1 and older phones (such as my 1st. gen SE)?
Obviously I have no way of "downgrading" my phone to an older iOS version which doesn't contain this "feature/bug".

 

[Mr. Awesome]

This is something else...
I believe Apple even got sued for deliberately slowing down older iPhones (and iPads? I can't remember) in order to make them less attractive for consumers in comparison to current new models (planned obsolescence).
The slowing down is apparently a fact, but the reason for it is (according to Apple) not to force people into buying newer models but something to do with performance (ironically). Doesn't sound good to me regardless.
Some links about this matter: Apple fined for slowing down old iPhones, Apple admits slowing older iPhones -here's why and Apple and Samsung fined for deliberately slowing down phones.

Does anyone know if this is still an issue with iOS 15.4.1 and older phones (such as my 1st. gen SE)?
Obviously I have no way of "downgrading" my phone to an older iOS version which doesn't contain this "feature/bug".

Ultimately it’s a feature that protects the battery. As the battery ages, it can’t provide as much energy as much, so the system reduces the CPU clock speed. If it didn’t do that, the phone could randomly shut down during heavy loads.

It was a bit shady of Apple to do this without mentioning it, but they did have a genuine reason to include it, though the naysayers will repeat the “forced obsolescence” narrative.

 

[macstatic]

Ultimately it’s a feature that protects the battery. As the battery ages, it can’t provide as much energy as much, so the system reduces the CPU clock speed. If it didn’t do that, the phone could randomly shut down during heavy loads.

It was a bit shady of Apple to do this without mentioning it, but they did have a genuine reason to include it, though the naysayers will repeat the “forced obsolescence” narrative.

That said, would this be something I could more or less avoid by not running CPU intensive apps (such as games and video playback)? I assume making phone calls and sending/receiving text messages won't demand that much energy, but correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Mr. Awesome]

That said, would this be something I could more or less avoid by not running CPU intensive apps (such as games and video playback)? I assume making phone calls and sending/receiving text messages won't demand that much energy, but correct me if I'm wrong.

The SE should feel perfectly fine if you’re not doing anything too intensive. It’ll handle phone calling and text messages like a champ - way faster than any 2016 Android phone.

 

[1rottenapple]

So I ended up getting a 1st. gen SE and I'm so far very happy with it
The size is great and having used iPads for several years it's mostly familiar in use except the phone part.

The previous owner had upgraded it to iOS 15.4.1 which is new to me (my iPad Mini (5th gen) is at 14.8 -I've held off upgrading it since "if it works don't fix it" plus I don't know enough about any possible new bugs and/or the deliberate "slowing down" of older iPhones).
There are some difference like having to slide from the bottom to get the control centre (on my iPad Mini I slide from the top to get at it, and sliding further upwards allows me to switch between (or quit) apps which I haven't figured out on the iPhone except for double-clicking the home button -something I'd like to avoid as to add extra tear & wear -any pointers? I can't find any option for configuring this.
On my 1st gen. iPad Mini (iOS 9.3.5) however it's the same as with the phone. Strange. Is this a change in iOS (as it's obviously not a screen size thing)? Is there a way to change it round to work in the same way as in iOS 14?




Being on a prepaid plan I want to more or less continue the same phone use as before with my flip-phone, with the exception of occasionaly having one or two apps that need cellular data, so I read an article on how to reduce cellular data on iPhone.
I think this has helped although something is still draining the phone of money, but I can't figure it out as it's not obvious. I've had all the apps turned off for cellular data, but like I said I want to use one or two of them occasionally, so I haven't turned off the "Cellular data" switch entirely, but chosen to turn off just about all of the apps underneath the "Cellular data" section near the bottom of the "Cellular" settings.
UPDATE: I've also tried to turn off cellular data entirely, but somehow I'm still getting charged for something....



This is something else...
I believe Apple even got sued for deliberately slowing down older iPhones (and iPads? I can't remember) in order to make them less attractive for consumers in comparison to current new models (planned obsolescence).
The slowing down is apparently a fact, but the reason for it is (according to Apple) not to force people into buying newer models but something to do with performance (ironically). Doesn't sound good to me regardless.
Some links about this matter: Apple fined for slowing down old iPhones, Apple admits slowing older iPhones -here's why and Apple and Samsung fined for deliberately slowing down phones.

Does anyone know if this is still an issue with iOS 15.4.1 and older phones (such as my 1st. gen SE)?
Obviously I have no way of "downgrading" my phone to an older iOS version which doesn't contain this "feature/bug".

That’s awesome!! I’m so glad you went with the 2016 se. Using this se for the last 2 weeks had been eye opening. It syncs with Apple Watch and basically works for 90% of what I need it for compared to my iPhone 13 mini. Battery life when upgraded is pretty good! Best part is I changed the battery myself. It would be impossible for me to do it with the 13 mini with it’s glue and bonding agents to water proof it. $27 and my se is good as new.

 

[1rottenapple]

That said, would this be something I could more or less avoid by not running CPU intensive apps (such as games and video playback)? I assume making phone calls and sending/receiving text messages won't demand that much energy, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Exactly I wish people give more accurate advice here. People recommending 11 and 12 please. OP has been using a regular phone anything from 6s and above would have sufficed.

 

[macstatic]

Exactly I wish people give more accurate advice here. People recommending 11 and 12 please. OP has been using a regular phone anything from 6s and above would have sufficed.

That's me (the OP)
Yup -I've been perfectly happy with regular phones until now, and if it hadn't been for my eyesight not being quite as before (those screens are getting smaller each year passed ) -luckily I can zoom the SE's text and I haven't found any currently sold "dumb" phones with spelling that actually works. This SE works great except for the cellular-data drainage which I so far haven't figured out why.

That’s awesome!! I’m so glad you went with the 2016 se. Using this se for the last 2 weeks had been eye opening. It syncs with Apple Watch and basically works for 90% of what I need it for compared to my iPhone 13 mini. Battery life when upgraded is pretty good! Best part is I changed the battery myself. It would be impossible for me to do it with the 13 mini with it’s glue and bonding agents to water proof it. $27 and my se is good as new.

Thanks! Yeah, it's just the right size and I've even had people tell me they wish they had such a cute phone themselves ?
Cool that you replaced the battery yourself! I consider myself quite handy, and attempted to replace a home-button in an iPod Touch, but one thing after another fell apart (fragile cable, screen etc.) and in the end I just had to give it up and end it up as junk. Most electronics these days just isn't made for repairing, but throwing away once after a few years at most unfortunately.
It sounds like your repair wasn't like that (or you're more handy than me). Was it hard to avoid breaking something? I bet there are guides for this at iFixit or something.

 

[1rottenapple]

Yah just watch YouTube videos for all the details and get the right tools. The biggest thing I prying the screen and then disconnecting the screen. I did ruin my perfectly good 5s screen last year lol so I had practice. That Or pay someone. How’s the battery health on yours? Mine was grave and the drain was unbelievable.