How Many of You Have a Smartphone?

Hi - does anyone here dare to own a smartphone?  I'm just curious as to how common smartphone usage is among e.s.'ers.  

If you do own a smartphone - do you mind sharing what type of smartphone you own, and how old it is?

I keep getting this strong urge to upgrade my 6-year-old basic phone.  (I bet few people among the general population can say that they are still using a 6-year-old phone, lol.)  But I know how frustratingly-bothersome smartphones can be.  I mean, I used my mom's Motorolla XPRT yesterday to send a few texts, and seemed to feel the effects for hours afterward.

What phones may be the lesser of the evils?  Based on my experience, Samsung phones seem to be substantially less emf-intense than the iPhones - but due to a trying experience I'm currently having with a new Samsung TV, I don't trust the brand as much as I once did.  (I think my problems with that TV may not so much be related to electromagnetic radiation as it is related to the lower-quality materials Samsung used to manufacture the tv.  There seems to be some sort of outgassing going on.)

Btw, a couple of years ago, I got the impression that the HTC Evo might be better in terms of radiation than Samsung phones and certainly Apple's phones - but I'm not rock-solid in my conviction as far as that's concerned.  But it seems that I barely "felt" the HTC Evo compared to the Samsung Galaxys and the iPhones.  

On April 18, "Fog Top [via ES]" <[hidden email]> wrote:
> I can't even tolerate my old basic cell phone but for a couple of minutes and then I take the battery out and put it away.

I can tolerate some 2G phones, but haven't encountered a 3G or 4G phone that I can stand using
for more than a few minutes.  So I basically use landlines, and very rarely 2G cellphones.

I very recently went on a trip to Europe, and brought a 3G cellphone with me (because it supported
both European and USA GSM frequencies), but still, only used it in 2G mode.

Marc

I measured once a smartphone Blackberry. All right.
iPhone and Samsung II are horrible.

On April 18, "charles [via ES]" <[hidden email]> wrote:
> I measured once a smartphone Blackberry. All right.
> iPhone and Samsung II are horrible.

Charles, do you recall *which* Blackberry tested okay?
I briefly tried a Blackberry 9700 Bold once and rejected it as intolerable.

Marc

I use a land line speakerphone and have no intention of ever owning a cell phone unless the phone company tears down the land line system.

On April 24, "superdrove [via ES]" <[hidden email]> wrote:
> I use a land line speakerphone and have no intention of ever owning a cell
> phone unless the phone company tears down the land line system.

It seems unlikely that landline infrastructure will be taken down anytime soon, since
it is also being used for internet service (e.g. DSL).

And even it is taken down, you can still use a wired phone, because VOIP phones
operate via an internet (ethernet) connection.

Marc

Hello all,

 I have an iPhone 4S and am hoping what I am doing lowers the exposure enough to make it reasonably safe:  At home, I shield it with a 3-sided tin foil barrier so it is only exposed to the one side of my residence that is unshielded and can't radiate into the room (I keep it next to that outer wall).  That way, it can still receive calls and messages without exposing me.  Then when I am out with it, I  keep it in my purse with a tin foil barrier in my purse shielding me.  That way, it can still receive messages, but can't radiate towards me in my purse (at least very much).  I would like anyone's comments on whether I am doing enough, as I just haven't had the energy to do the various measurements with my RF meter to make sure this is working.  Thank you all for being there.  

Ellen

A couple of years ago, my brother had a Samsung Galaxy S II - and it indeed seemed pretty bad.  He had the one with the slide-out QWERTY dedicated keyboard (I guess this was one of the last phones in which Samsung bothered with the QWERTY hardware-style keyboards).  For some reason, the Samsung Galaxy S III's, and all of the subsequent Samsung Galaxys - don't seem (quite) as bad.  This impression isn't based off of any measurements - but just on how I "feel" while playing with one.  Perhaps I didn't get the opportunity to turn off some of my brother's settings, I'm not sure.  I keep saying that one thing I like about Samsung is that it includes several adjustable settings (i.e. "data" settings, power options, display settings) that often make a difference when you adjust those settings.  The iPhones don't seem to have nearly as many options to turn stuff off (or down).  

But I've wondered if phones with virtual keyboards may be a little better than some of the older smartphones with the dedicated keyboards - generally-speaking.  I've had experiences with two different smartphones with the QWERTY keyboards, and they somehow seem(ed) worse than several of the newer phones that have virtual keyboards.  Then again - this may only apply to the Samsung brand; based on a recent experience in the Sprint store, the newer Motorola Moto X (that has a virtual keyboard) may be just as bad as the older Motorola XPRT (that has a hardware keyboard).  

Hi Ellen - have you tried a Pong case for your iPhone 4S?  I've been intrigued with these cases ever since I found out they existed - but I've never had the opportunity to try one firsthand, since I nor my parents have ever owned an iPhone.  These cases supposedly use certain "strategic shielding" to reduce one's exposure to the radiation that the antenna (at least) emits.  Of course, the problems with smartphones may not only lie with their antennas...but these cases may provide some overall relief:

http://www.pongcase.com/products.html

ETA:  Yikes, it looks like Pong stopped manufacturing cases for the iPhone 4S (though you still may find one on eBay or Amazon.com or somewhere).  It looks like Pong has abandoned the iPhone 4S and has re-directed its resources to later models.