As always, thanks to the volunteers and maintainers of the various projects to keep these things going.
I’m still relatively happy with /e/ OS (running 3.4-s official) on my S7. However, very recently my carrier (Bell sub-carrier) disabled their 3G network and while I did get the memos, I took it as granted VoLTE would work on my phone. I was wrong.
Text + Data works, but I first noticed on Monday that outbound and inbound calls don’t work.
I exhausted all the options I could find in both settings and the dialer and found no VoLTE options.
Is it there and I missed it? Is this one of those “unimplemented” things or firmware problems? Did I fail to RTFM and this is clearly a documented exception somewhere? Is configuration required?
If VoLTE simply isn’t in the cards for herolte/my device, I am open to suggestions on replacements! I like smaller screens (my old S3 was perfect in my opinion, S7 is a little unwieldy), and physical buttons. (I know, get with the times, gramps.)
Don’t expect voLTE on any Samsung running any alternative OS
I loved my Nokia with physical azerty
I loved my s4 and s4mini,
I like my FP3 for its repairability and robustess, but don’t love it in hands (heavy, far from thin, power button bad placed),
it can do voLTE, but don’t allow emergency calls in voLTE, so some carrier refuse to validate it…
Second hands Motorola can be cheap…
Pixel are Gogol…
I don’t like Xiaomi unlock policy…
I don’t know if OnePlus are robust…
Sony ?
@jamesaepp Read about the issue by searching for “samsung volte” in these forums.
I take it you’re located in Canada, since you wrote that Bell is your carrier. If you really don’t want to give up your Samsung, you might want to look at JMP.chat - a Canada-based service - that provides calls and SMS/MMS, all interoperable with regular carriers’ networks.
A connection to the internet is not included in the chat/call product, so to connect your calls and messages, you either have to use a separate (cheap?) SIM to connect to the internet, or go wifi only.
I ditched my regular U.S. carrier last year, ported my number to JMP, and now use JMP Chat with a data-only SIM as the replacement. No need to worry about VoLTE, as everything happens over the internet… although I actually do have a VoLTE-enabled phone. Given my low usage, this setup is extremely cheap for me.
My bad. Often I find my search skills fail. I did try to search the forum but was (A) kinda overwhelmed and (B) wasn’t sure if the issues I saw were for every model or model specific. I’ll read more.
More than anything, sounds like if I want to keep “conventional” services I need new hardware.
From my afternoon’s research, finding a 5-ish inch modern smartphone is … impossible.
Set the “Height” slider to preferred maximum (in millimeters), filter the OS for “Android,” then check the results. The oldest will not be VoLTE-capable; many will be VoLTE-capable, but not necessarily VoLTE-capable with your chosen carrier. They might not all match the LTE bands that your carrier uses, either. Verify the network specs for a particular phone by clicking the image.
Then cross-reference the ones that interest you with the /e/OS list of supported devices (including unofficial builds).
Thanks for that recommendation. I was using GSM Arena to pull up specs but forgot they had the filter tooling.
With my filters I’m not finding much that’s appealing. Google Pixel Fold looks like the top contender based on all the variables but the market conditions ($$$) don’t look great on that.
I think I’m going back to a feature phone…oh well. The environment really sucks for custom android ROM’ing these days. Hopefully we can get a revival in the future.
Those were released in 2017/2018 per GSM Arena. When I bought my S7 in 2020 it would’ve been about a 4 year old model (released 2016).
It’s 2026. If I were to buy a XZ1 or XZ2 per GSM Arena, I’m buying an 8-9 year old phone. It doesn’t make sense (to me). Compatibility is what is forcing me into this decision in the first place, so that’s kind of a requirement. I don’t want any surprises or transition pains.
I use my XZ1 Compact everyday. (I bought it new in 2020.) It runs iodéOS, and before that /e/OS, is currently at Android 14, gets VoLTE with T-mobile USA. (Although as I said before, I use JMP as my “carrier” exclusively now.)
I use Charge Control to limit charging to max 80%, and don’t let it fall below 40%. This helps extend the lifetime of the battery. If it eventually goes bad, I’ll take the phone to a shop to have a new battery installed for about US$80.
In theory, an “old” phone is not necessarily going to be imminently obsolete.
I get the point you’re making. Maybe what I’m just frustrated with is having to go through this analysis burden once every few years and I’ve reached the point of “don’t care, the benefit isn’t worth the cost”.
It was only very recently that I actually resumed monthly (post-paid) cellular services at all. I was content with a pre-paid plan for emergencies and no mobile data. The mobile data sure was convenient, but I got along fine before that.
Apart from the emergency aspects, everything else is luxury. My head is now starting to wander in the direction of standalone smartwatches. I’d love to run /e/ or lineageos or some other more “libre” rom but that doesn’t look like a “thing” yet.
A smartwatch, wireless earbuds, a mobile plan, a hotspot to wifi-link my existing phone. Honestly don’t know if I need much else. But I don’t know if that’s technically possible or economic.
(Not!)