Okay Aussie peeps, my stupid (swear swear swear) phone is about to kick the bucket, less than 3 years old, most inconvenient. Right before my holiday. Sigh.

Recommendations please for: not too expensive outright purchase phone, doesn't need to be flash.

My main jobs for it are using it as a phone (how quaint): text; podcasts, audiobooks, and my social media stuff. Photos are less important, I"m assuming pretty much anything is going to have a fairly decent
camera?

And are all brands are equally evil?
Thanks.

Okay Aussie peeps, my stupid (swear swear swear) phone is about to kick the bucket, less than 3 years old, most inconvenient. Right before my holiday. Sigh.

Recommendations please for: not too expensive outright purchase phone, doesn't need to be flash.

My main jobs for it are using it as a phone (how quaint): text; podcasts, audiobooks, and my social media stuff. Photos are less important, I"m assuming pretty much anything is going to have a fairly decent
camera?

And are all brands are equally evil?
Thanks.

Okay Aussie peeps, my stupid (swear swear swear) phone is about to kick the bucket, less than 3 years old, most inconvenient. Right before my holiday. Sigh.

Recommendations please for: not too expensive outright purchase phone, doesn't need to be flash.

My main jobs for it are using it as a phone (how quaint): text; podcasts, audiobooks, and my social media stuff. Photos are less important, I"m assuming pretty much anything is going to have a fairly decent
camera?

And are all brands are equally evil?
Thanks.

@caity dunno what system you prefer but the iPhone refurbished program at JBHIFI is really good. I use the SE which is the basic no frills version and they’re around the $300 mark through there.

@caity my Nokia has served me well, I'm almost due for a new one after 5 or 6 years

HMD global is linked to them as well so either or

Android phones starting at a couple of hundred. I think mine was $350 from memory

@caity I got my current phone from Green Gadgets ( https://shop.greengadgets.net.au/) Refurbished so it's cheaper and I'm not using all the resources needed to make a new phone

Okay Aussie peeps, my stupid (swear swear swear) phone is about to kick the bucket, less than 3 years old, most inconvenient. Right before my holiday. Sigh.

Recommendations please for: not too expensive outright purchase phone, doesn't need to be flash.

My main jobs for it are using it as a phone (how quaint): text; podcasts, audiobooks, and my social media stuff. Photos are less important, I"m assuming pretty much anything is going to have a fairly decent
camera?

And are all brands are equally evil?
Thanks.

Okay Aussie peeps, my stupid (swear swear swear) phone is about to kick the bucket, less than 3 years old, most inconvenient. Right before my holiday. Sigh.

Recommendations please for: not too expensive outright purchase phone, doesn't need to be flash.

My main jobs for it are using it as a phone (how quaint): text; podcasts, audiobooks, and my social media stuff. Photos are less important, I"m assuming pretty much anything is going to have a fairly decent
camera?

And are all brands are equally evil?
Thanks.

@caity although the camera is decent but not amazing, I really like my iPhone SE. It’s a nice compact size. Sometimes they come up at decent prices

Okay Aussie peeps, my stupid (swear swear swear) phone is about to kick the bucket, less than 3 years old, most inconvenient. Right before my holiday. Sigh.

Recommendations please for: not too expensive outright purchase phone, doesn't need to be flash.

My main jobs for it are using it as a phone (how quaint): text; podcasts, audiobooks, and my social media stuff. Photos are less important, I"m assuming pretty much anything is going to have a fairly decent
camera?

And are all brands are equally evil?
Thanks.

@caity although the camera is decent but not amazing, I really like my iPhone SE. It’s a nice compact size. Sometimes they come up at decent prices

Okay Aussie peeps, my stupid (swear swear swear) phone is about to kick the bucket, less than 3 years old, most inconvenient. Right before my holiday. Sigh.

Recommendations please for: not too expensive outright purchase phone, doesn't need to be flash.

My main jobs for it are using it as a phone (how quaint): text; podcasts, audiobooks, and my social media stuff. Photos are less important, I"m assuming pretty much anything is going to have a fairly decent
camera?

And are all brands are equally evil?
Thanks.

@caity I fear this will be no help, but I can't help myself. When my previous phone failed, one of my options was a used Pixel from cex, modified by me to run either CalyxOS or grapheneOS. These are non-evil operating systems allowing you to detach from google, but they require a bit of tech-fu to get set up. I love that stuff, but it's not for everyone.

In the end I opted for a dumb phone. It was cheaper and better for my technology addiction.

Since then, this intriguing device (Mudita Kompakt) has also emerged, somewhere halfway between a dumbphone and a degoogled custom OS, but with an e-ink screen. I think it counts as "flash". It looks great though. https://mudita.com/products/phones/mudita-kompakt/

@joannaholman @caity I'm an iPhone fan too, my iPhone 15 does everything needed and the camera is great.

@caity I love my cheap Motorola phones. Batteries last days, camera is crap, but who cares, does what you need

@sortius Well, I’m a very basic kinda person….

@timrichards @joannaholman Hmmmm. Might look into this, thanks.

@caity @timrichards @joannaholman also the Apple Store offers older phones not just the latest models for sale new

@joannaholman Thank you! Second vote for this, and it would integrate with my ipad (although that’s not a huge consideration.) Photos aren’t a huge priority.