Anonymous wrote:

Nikolaas Decker wrote:

First off I must say my opinion is that all technological gadgetry are all merely exorbitantly priced baubles.

Really? I have to say that I have found my mobile phone to be a very useful tool in both my personal and work life, and certainly no bauble. It provides a full suite of very useful Apps for all aspects of both my recreational boating and professional boating. It is the only camera I use both for still and video, and I am able to use my phone for managing my bank accounts and other business dealings, downloading and reading E books free form my local library service, and transporting my music library to wherever I may wish to listen to music. Even when travelling overseas I have full access to all this information at a very reasonable price through my mobile provider. Based on all the things my phone does for me and the amount of use I have gotten from the device it cannot be considered exorbitantly priced, especially considering that the very useful apps come either free of charge, or for a very minimal price.

In my opinion, yes. 

I follow the philosophy that a tool should be selected for its impact on an activity's bottom line and not simply because it offers any benefit. Tablet computers (whether big or small) offer many benefits, but, iff one's personal 'bottom line' can be determined one might find the cost to benefit ratio of a top of the range mobile phone to be quite absurd.

Just try explaining to your father (or grandfather depending on your age) that you walk around with a fragile device worth 1000usd in your pocket that you simply must replace every two years for a new one. What will you say to him? What metric will you use to show an improvement in your bottom line to justify its cost and risk? I have yet to meet more than a handful of people who were able to convince me that engagement in social media or the use of a smartphone has improved their work and or lives in any metric that resonates with them and their ideal goals for their professional and personal lives.

These things are merely toys we play with to pass the time.

That being said, I am quite Luddite ish in my interpretation of the world around me, so take it where it comes.  

Nicolaas Dekker wrote:

First off I must say my opinion is that all technological gadgetry are all merely exorbitantly priced baubles.

I have to agree there.

Right now if you are looking for a phone that is a solid contender which will still be relevant 5+ yrs down the line buy a second hand Iphone 6s 64gb slap a lifeproof cover on it and forget about it.

I have to question the idea that any phone will be relevant even 2 years down the road (especially an Apple). I would also question the idea that the battery will still have any life left in it at that point. For most phones (some iphone batteries were 6month ttr) replacing batteries is not a user job.

Do find a phone that allows wireless charging as the micro usb socket in most cell phones is the weakest point of the whole phone.

While for many people Apple has been the "gold standard" for the past number of years, I would suggest this will start to change (has already started to change) Apple has not really had any significant new things added for about 2 years now and the competition is keeping up and passing in this regard. Apple, for historical reasons, still has the best audio infrastructure. The Android can get the same lower latency if they bypass the audio API at the application level and go down a layer on good hardware.

Certainly using a phone for navigation rather than a purpose built chart plotter seems to be the best way to go for both price and staying up to date. There are a number of changes in the area of navigation (even besides GPS3) where the hardware will be cheaper and sooner in a phone than a marine chart plotter.

For those who care about freedom, it is easier to get an unlocked Android and if you care even more than that, most Androids can have the whole OS changed to a fully open stack with no tracking... not something that can be done with an iphone.

I tried going for a rugged, waterproof smartphone at half the cost of one of the well known brands. It was fine while it worked, and would act as a backup navigation device, but failed while still under guarantee - the USB charging socket got corroded, even though I kept the rubber plug in. I took it to a phone repair shop, and they said it was a common failing of those little USB sockets. I sent it off for repair - and that was the last I saw or heard of it. The makers had gone bust. The guarantee was worthless. Now I'm very happy with an iPad mini in a waterproof Temdan case (pre-tested by me, before the iPad got exposed to weather in it), for navigation and internet; and a £10 up-front, PAYG, extremely dumb phone for talking and texting on, the only things that the iPad won't do. For everything else, it's better than a smart phone.

My  iPhone 4 appears to have finally died, so time to get something better.

Should have:

Good standalone GPS,

Charts navigation apps.

Water resistance.

Not expensive.

Any recommendations.