Smartphone as replacement for other devices

[FlorC]

A lot of avid (or is it rabid) users of smartphones here on T.V. , so maybe some answers.
Here's my situation:
Garmin GPS12 , 20 years old , has lines in the LCD , barely readable or usable.
Fuji point and shoot camera , 12 years old , has spots on the sensor , still usable with a good battery , but those spots , and it seems less acurate .
Cowon music player , 11 years old , battery down to 1/3 , L channel gone . The IC can be replaced but has a 5 x 5 mm package with 32 leads , far beyond my soldering capabilities . I use it now as a mono player. It only has a small screen which is not fun to read off when you're getting older.

 

Simple , I could buy new ones ! But looking at Garmin ... it's like time stood still. Expensive , small screens , a bother with maps , don't like it.
Point and shoot camera's , yes they still make them , but yet again , small screens , like time stood still again.
Portable music players , sure but then there are these smartphones...beautiful big screens , 3 in one device.

 

I don't have a smartphone , actually I don't want one , but ....
Those things can have GPS , a good camera and a music player , even video .
So here's my question : which affordable smartphone can replace these 3 devices.
GPS with waypoints, maps , routes to coordinates , offroad ( roads too but not a must) , track plotting into fields or forests.  A beyond Garmin replacer. (with a big screen) .I don't even know if all smartphones have GPS.
A good camera at least as good as simple point a shoot. ( good video cam ok , but not absolutely necessary).
And a good music player that can handle up to 24bit 96khz audio with excellent DAC and HP amp , and of course enough storage , or at least SD card ready.
But all this without having to make a connection with the internet , and certainly no cellphone connection , so if you don't put in a SIM card , you can be 100 % sure it won't make connections . No apps that can spy on me or gather data to send when I make the occasional connection to the internet , or can just use app's downloaded to my computer and then transfered to the smartphone.
In short :
My 3 devices are passive , this means they only can receive , not send any data , so I'm looking for a 3 in one that can stay passive and private  and can last for years or decades....like my old stuff.
There are so many smartphones , I have never owned one , I don't know much about them , so that's why I 'm asking you. Oh ... and no Apple.

[tifino]

so okAY... you are after an Android... 

 

most commonly you'll be using Google Maps... which works great when set for Offline. All you are going really to miss out on is the 'crowdsourced' Traffic Conditions display  

Now... even though you might be travelling everywhere Offline; be aware that as soon as you are home, and connect to the wifi; your Travel History gets Synced, courtesy of the gmail account on the phone... and this happens even with No SIM installed...

 

Another general point to be aware of that;  the Google Driving Maps don't give you any indication of Posted Speed Limits for the road(s) you are on whilst travelling...  updated

(which a regularly updated proper GPS can do) 

 

 

 

 

 

[emptypockets]

Forget it completely. Highly unlikely you will find any phone that is not connected to the internet via SIM card that will give you a decent, or indeed any, GPS unless you want something like a stand alone Tom Tom or similar. Even without a SIM the phone will still be communicating to the network. You can still make emergency calls with no SIM, ergo, the phone is communicating.

Relax, Big Brother isn't really interested in what you do, unless you are a very, very bad person. Besides, depending on where you are, there are many other ways for the boogeyman to find you. CCTV and facial recognition comes to mind.

Highly unlikely you will find any device that will last years or decades as you desire. The developments in technology means most 'things' are outdated/not supported/buggered within three years of purchase.

[FlorC]

Is there no "integrated" software for using the GPS in the smartphone's OS ?

Do you have to have an app , that then relays your data to big tech ?

Garmin doesn't always use something like google maps , and it doesn't use my data , maybe that's why the price is so high , you pay for privacy. My GPS 12 didn't have maps .

 

Now... even though you might be travelling everywhere Offline; be aware that as soon as you are home, and connect to the wifi; your Travel History gets Synced, courtesy of the gmail account on the phone... and this happens even with No SIM installed...

 

Well I don't have a google account and don't want one but it is unsettling that even without a sim , they transmit . Isn't there a way to shut that down? Not just for spying , but I don't want to generate any cell phone signal/radiation, 2g , 3g or 4g .

Can't you DL maps to the computer and then transfer them to the phone , so using the computer as isolation buffer against uploading data from the phone ?

Traffic Conditions or Speed Limits don't interest me . A Garmin handheld doesn't do these things either.

 

Besides, depending on where you are, there are many other ways for the boogeyman to find you. CCTV and facial recognition comes to mind.

 

It's about privacy , not willing to share ANY data , like with my 3 old devices.

 

Highly unlikely you will find any device that will last years or decades as you desire. The developments in technology means most 'things' are outdated/not supported/buggered within three years of purchase.

 

If you look at how old my 3 are , 20, 12 and 11 , means I don't care much about  being outdated. I would still be using them if they weren't breaking down and forcing me to consider a 3 in one with a nice big screen.

 

It is kind of depressing that you can't escape big data collection just wanting a camera , music player and GPS in one.

 

 

[dddave]

The simple truth is that all "Free" services, Google Maps included are funded by the sale of the data, including yours, that they generate.  If you use the service, you pay.

BTW, Even your trusted Garmin has a very murky privacy policy.  While, like Apple they do not sell your personal data (Identity specific) they are less clear on usage data.

[topt]

5 hours ago, dddave said:

The simple truth is that all "Free" services, Google Maps included are funded by the sale of the data, including yours, that they generate.  If you use the service, you pay.

BTW, Even your trusted Garmin has a very murky privacy policy.  While, like Apple they do not sell your personal data (Identity specific) they are less clear on usage data.

Are there any other free mapping apps that are any good but have less "data mining" - eg. Open Street Map, MapsME or similar? 

[FlorC]

9 hours ago, dddave said:

The simple truth is that all "Free" services, Google Maps included are funded by the sale of the data, including yours, that they generate.  If you use the service, you pay.

BTW, Even your trusted Garmin has a very murky privacy policy.  While, like Apple they do not sell your personal data (Identity specific) they are less clear on usage data.

Maybe with some new types but most handheld GPS don't upload anything unless you put a USB cable in to transfer your waypoints and routes to your computer.  Even then Garmin knows nothing.

I used to transfer those routes/tracks to import into Google earth, but stopped doing so around 2011-12 when I came beware that google was an evil data thief. Needles to say that google earth is long gone from my computer.

Garmin does have bigger screens but resolution is laughable compared to smartphone , and very expensive :https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/c12521-p1.html

Of course my old GPS12 is more like eTrex 10 and not that expensive , well probably with a big premium bought here in Thailand.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/87768#specs

But that's just like being back in 1998.

 

 

 

I can't believe you can't stop smartphones from communicating via wifi/bluetooth or cell-phone wise.

 

What about small tablets , or phablets ?

 

Starting from what price do you get quality DAC for audio and a camera as good as point-and-shoot camera's ?

 

Just from glansing over at the mall , I see big screen phones less than 10k THB . What do you get for that price ?

I know nothing about smartphones , it never interested me.

 

 

[steve187]

with your list of rules and can not dos,  then a smart phone is not for you, get a sat nav, (garmin or tom tom),  maps built in, camera and a music player as 3 separate items, same as before but newer

[topt]

21 hours ago, FlorC said:

I can't believe you can't stop smartphones from communicating via wifi/bluetooth or cell-phone wise.

Yes you can or you certainly could. You would have to load a firewall that didn't allow most things to send out and probably add a hosts file etc. Not sure how easy to do on current Android and to do fully you may have to root the device and install custom firmware.

[guzzi850m2]

Many tablets are sim-less so they will only be connected to the i-net when you turn on the wi-fi and there is a signal (free wi-fi many places, some require a password).

I used to use a Garmin but to be honest, a on-line smart phone and using Goggle maps is just very convenient and very fast to search for some place you want to go and you are in business, was extremely frustrating on the Garmin.

Tablets have cameras too by the way, gives me a good laugh when somebody running around with a 10" tablet and snap photos   

[2008bangkok]

On 9/22/2019 at 4:55 PM, topt said:

Are there any other free mapping apps that are any good but have less "data mining" - eg. Open Street Map, MapsME or similar? 

Here maps (normally Nokia) and Sygic both allow you to download the whole country maps which is proper offline maps, however as somebody mentioned the gps isnt that good on phones unless its assisted by cell phone info which then needs a sim

[FlorC]

10 hours ago, 2008bangkok said:

the gps isnt that good on phones unless its assisted by cell phone info which then needs a sim

What do you mean ? The reception not as good , that it needs a what kind of cell phone assistance ?

[2008bangkok]

yeah 

13 hours ago, FlorC said:

What do you mean ? The reception not as good , that it needs a what kind of cell phone assistance ?

Just not as good as on a dedicated GPS system, try it, you cannot use google maps without internet anyway but test by downloading an offline maps like sygic or here and then turn off the sim and wifi and see how accurate it is, my bet is not great,

[goldmagpie]

OsmAnd uses OpenStreet maps that you download. You don't need data for using the GPS, but it would be slow locking on. I can't get the voice directions to work for some reason, so I'm going back to an old Garmin with OpenStreet maps for car use. OsmAnd is fabulous for baht bus use, though.

 

But even so, you'd be leaking data through a google or iTunes account. An older Nokia could do the maps stuff, but the maps are not super accurate, and I don't know if they're still updated. I needed wifi to input an address, but then it would work offline. Used one like that years ago abroad with a no data SIM.

[BritManToo]

43 minutes ago, goldmagpie said:

You don't need data for using the GPS, but it would be slow locking on.

You've got an old phone, a modern smartphone finds the sats in around 5 seconds or less.

[goldmagpie]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

You've got an old phone, a modern smartphone finds the sats in around 5 seconds or less.

It's less than a year old. And it locks on faster when data is enabled.

[Salerno]

On 9/25/2019 at 3:34 PM, 2008bangkok said:

you cannot use google maps without internet anyway

You can nowadays.

[FlorC]

14 hours ago, rymizasuwu said:

Today, almost any smartphone is able to meet your needs, take a cost of more than $ 200 and you will not be disappointed.

Somehow I doubt that a 200$ smartphone will give the same quality as the 3 discrete devices .

And I'm not getting spyied on or sharing data.

I should be able to block ANY transmission from the smartphone.

Only USB cable to my computer when needed.