<html><head></head><body><div dir="auto">I'm currently using a Google pixel 8 with Graphene and works decent. I do have play services sandboxed. I was unable to get android auto to work but i didn't try very hard. Banking apps CBA and bankwest work pretty decent. <br><br>Also I have a preorder on the new Jolla phone. I'm in batch 3 and hopefully I'll be able to pick it up when I go for a holiday to Italy soon. </div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="auto">On 18 September 2026 12:00:01 pm AWST, plug-request@plug.org.au wrote:</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
<pre class="net-thunderbird-android__plain-text-message-pre"><div dir="auto">Send plug mailing list submissions to<br> plug@plug.org.au<br><br>To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit<br> <a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br>or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to<br> plug-request@plug.org.au<br><br>You can reach the person managing the list at<br> plug-owner@plug.org.au<br><br>When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific<br>than "Re: Contents of plug digest..."<br><br><br>Today's Topics:<br><br> 1. Phone recommendations (gavinwc)<br> 2. Re: Phone recommendations (James Henstridge)<br> 3. Re: Phone recommendations (William Kenworthy)<br> 4. Re: Phone recommendations (William Kenworthy)<br> 5. Re: Phone recommendations (Tony Tone)<br> 6. Re: Phone recommendations (Kevin Shackleton)<br> 7. Re: Phone recommendations (Gregory Orange)<br> 8. Re: Phone recommendations (Daniel Di Rado)<br> 9. Re: Phone recommendations (Daniel Di Rado)<br> 10. Re: Phone recommendations (Onno Benschop)<br> 11. Re: Phone recommendations (Tony Tone)<hr>Message: 1<br>Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:08:02 +0800<br>From: gavinwc <gavin.chester@gmail.com><br>To: plug <plug@plug.org.au><br>Subject: [plug] Phone recommendations<br>Message-ID:<br> <CAFMc0cXX0d0Bv3znpmf432oRMz0PkAKj6mOVm2K41P4X1zbH+w@mail.gmail.com><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br><br>I know this is opening a can of worms, but looking for recommendations for<br>a replacement phone. Why? Read on:<br><br>I choose NOT to use an android or iPhone smart phone and have had a variety<br>of 'feature' phones over the years because all I want to use it for is text<br>and calls, with occasional hotspot and definitely Bluetooth. My current one<br>is the Nokia 800 Tough. Gee, that's radical, I know, and being a high<br>school teacher it always gives the teenagers a good laugh!<br><br>Now, today I got a text and email from my carrier that had all the<br>hallmarks of a scam because it screamed "your phone is going to be<br>blocked!" But, it was legit. Because both major carriers have really<br>dropped the ball on emergency calls, from Oct they're now going to be<br>completely blocking any phone deemed not capable of meeting the new<br>emergency connection regs released in 2024<br><br>You people all probably know that, but thought I'd spell it out for the<br>archives and clarity :-)<br><br>Something like the Fairphone would be great, I guess, but last time I<br>looked it wasn't affordable for me. The Nokia runs the independent (?)<br>kaiOS, so I'm looking for something non-android and non-ios. Any handset<br>chosen has to voLTE compatible, which my handset says it is, but it's been<br>deemed 'unfit' anyway :-(<br><br>Ideas?<br><br>Thanks.<br>Gavin.<br>-------------- next part --------------<br>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<br>URL: <<a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/plug/attachments/20260917/76842b65/attachment-0001.htm">https://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/plug/attachments/20260917/76842b65/attachment-0001.htm</a>><hr>Message: 2<br>Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2026 15:30:39 +0800<br>From: James Henstridge <james@jamesh.id.au><br>To: gavinwc <gavin.chester@gmail.com><br>Cc: plug <plug@plug.org.au><br>Subject: Re: [plug] Phone recommendations<br>Message-ID:<br> <CALcaVO=yd-Qu4OM=3=SQK5dh8ecs8J23asMRou7S7Oy_L4XXew@mail.gmail.com><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"<br><br>On Thu, 17 Sept 2026 at 12:08, gavinwc via plug <plug@plug.org.au> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #729fcf;"><div dir="auto"><br> I know this is opening a can of worms, but looking for recommendations for a replacement phone. Why? Read on:<br><br> I choose NOT to use an android or iPhone smart phone and have had a variety of 'feature' phones over the years because all I want to use it for is text and calls, with occasional hotspot and definitely Bluetooth. My current one is the Nokia 800 Tough. Gee, that's radical, I know, and being a high school teacher it always gives the teenagers a good laugh!<br><br> Now, today I got a text and email from my carrier that had all the hallmarks of a scam because it screamed "your phone is going to be blocked!" But, it was legit. Because both major carriers have really dropped the ball on emergency calls, from Oct they're now going to be completely blocking any phone deemed not capable of meeting the new emergency connection regs released in 2024<br><br> You people all probably know that, but thought I'd spell it out for the archives and clarity :-)<br><br> Something like the Fairphone would be great, I guess, but last time I looked it wasn't affordable for me. The Nokia runs the independent (?) kaiOS, so I'm looking for something non-android and non-ios. Any handset chosen has to voLTE compatible, which my handset says it is, but it's been deemed 'unfit' anyway :-(<br><br> Ideas?<br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><br>I've got no specific suggestions, since feature phones don't really<br>appeal to me. But any phone sold locally today should be fine for the<br>emergency call regulations. And if that turns out not to be the case,<br>you've got the Australian Consumer Law on your side to get a full<br>refund.<br><br>It might also be worth checking if your current phone's manufacturer<br>has an updated firmware that fixes the defect. Your phone sends it's<br>firmware version when associating with a network, so the block list<br>can target phones with old firmware while allowing phones with fixed<br>firmware to connect. If that's the case for your phone, then you might<br>not need a replacement.<br><br>And this really is a case of your phone being defective rather than<br>the networks: many of the phones being blocked can do regular calls<br>over VoLTE just fine, but either try to do emergency calls over 3G or<br>won't correctly fail over to other LTE networks if their home network<br>is unreachable. This is the kind of thing you can't individually test<br>without calling 000, which you shouldn't be doing as a test. And if<br>there is a life threatening emergency, you really do want this stuff<br>to work.<br><br>James.<hr>Message: 3<br>Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2026 17:25:48 +0800<br>From: William Kenworthy <bill@kenworthy.id.au><br>To: plug@plug.org.au<br>Subject: Re: [plug] Phone recommendations<br>Message-ID: <5415c435-c89f-4139-9114-edd9f88520da@kenworthy.id.au><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed<br><br>Check out the Jolla Phone (<a href="https://jolla-devices.com/jolla-jolla/">https://jolla-devices.com/jolla-jolla/</a>) - <br>looks capable.? I was looking at a month ago thinking this could be my <br>next one. Currently not available in Australia so you have to order it <br>from overseas - there were some posts on their forum from Aussies at <br>least one of whom had bought one.? You would have to email them about <br>the 000 mess, but I assume because its modern that's not an issue.<br><br>BillK<br><br><br>On 17/9/26 15:30, James Henstridge via plug wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #729fcf;"><div dir="auto">On Thu, 17 Sept 2026 at 12:08, gavinwc via plug <plug@plug.org.au> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #ad7fa8;"><div dir="auto"> I know this is opening a can of worms, but looking for recommendations for a replacement phone. Why? Read on:<br><br> I choose NOT to use an android or iPhone smart phone and have had a variety of 'feature' phones over the years because all I want to use it for is text and calls, with occasional hotspot and definitely Bluetooth. My current one is the Nokia 800 Tough. Gee, that's radical, I know, and being a high school teacher it always gives the teenagers a good laugh!<br><br> Now, today I got a text and email from my carrier that had all the hallmarks of a scam because it screamed "your phone is going to be blocked!" But, it was legit. Because both major carriers have really dropped the ball on emergency calls, from Oct they're now going to be completely blocking any phone deemed not capable of meeting the new emergency connection regs released in 2024<br><br> You people all probably know that, but thought I'd spell it out for the archives and clarity :-)<br><br> Something like the Fairphone would be great, I guess, but last time I looked it wasn't affordable for me. The Nokia runs the independent (?) kaiOS, so I'm looking for something non-android and non-ios. Any handset chosen has to voLTE compatible, which my handset says it is, but it's been deemed 'unfit' anyway :-(<br><br> Ideas?<br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"> I've got no specific suggestions, since feature phones don't really<br> appeal to me. But any phone sold locally today should be fine for the<br> emergency call regulations. And if that turns out not to be the case,<br> you've got the Australian Consumer Law on your side to get a full<br> refund.<br><br> It might also be worth checking if your current phone's manufacturer<br> has an updated firmware that fixes the defect. Your phone sends it's<br> firmware version when associating with a network, so the block list<br> can target phones with old firmware while allowing phones with fixed<br> firmware to connect. If that's the case for your phone, then you might<br> not need a replacement.<br><br> And this really is a case of your phone being defective rather than<br> the networks: many of the phones being blocked can do regular calls<br> over VoLTE just fine, but either try to do emergency calls over 3G or<br> won't correctly fail over to other LTE networks if their home network<br> is unreachable. This is the kind of thing you can't individually test<br> without calling 000, which you shouldn't be doing as a test. And if<br> there is a life threatening emergency, you really do want this stuff<br> to work.<br><br> James.<hr> PLUG discussion list: plug@plug.org.au<br> <a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br> Committee e-mail: committee@plug.org.au<br> PLUG Membership: <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br><br><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><hr>Message: 4<br>Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2026 17:31:29 +0800<br>From: William Kenworthy <bill@kenworthy.id.au><br>To: plug@plug.org.au<br>Subject: Re: [plug] Phone recommendations<br>Message-ID: <3bc681eb-3fab-4c4f-b686-1a09e3919c1d@kenworthy.id.au><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed<br><br>Sorry, thats an old link - use <a href="https://commerce.jolla.com/">https://commerce.jolla.com/</a><br><br>BillK<br><br><br>On 17/9/26 17:25, William Kenworthy via plug wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #729fcf;"><div dir="auto"> Check out the Jolla Phone (<a href="https://jolla-devices.com/jolla-jolla/">https://jolla-devices.com/jolla-jolla/</a>) - <br> looks capable.? I was looking at a month ago thinking this could be my <br> next one. Currently not available in Australia so you have to order it <br> from overseas - there were some posts on their forum from Aussies at <br> least one of whom had bought one.? You would have to email them about <br> the 000 mess, but I assume because its modern that's not an issue.<br><br> BillK<br><br><br> On 17/9/26 15:30, James Henstridge via plug wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #ad7fa8;"><div dir="auto">On Thu, 17 Sept 2026 at 12:08, gavinwc via plug <plug@plug.org.au> <br>wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #8ae234;"><div dir="auto"> I know this is opening a can of worms, but looking for <br> recommendations for a replacement phone. Why? Read on:<br><br> I choose NOT to use an android or iPhone smart phone and have had a <br> variety of 'feature' phones over the years because all I want to use <br> it for is text and calls, with occasional hotspot and definitely <br> Bluetooth. My current one is the Nokia 800 Tough. Gee, that's <br> radical, I know, and being a high school teacher it always gives the <br> teenagers a good laugh!<br><br> Now, today I got a text and email from my carrier that had all the <br> hallmarks of a scam because it screamed "your phone is going to be <br> blocked!" But, it was legit. Because both major carriers have really <br> dropped the ball on emergency calls, from Oct they're now going to <br> be completely blocking any phone deemed not capable of meeting the <br> new emergency connection regs released in 2024<br><br> You people all probably know that, but thought I'd spell it out for <br> the archives and clarity :-)<br><br> Something like the Fairphone would be great, I guess, but last time <br> I looked it wasn't affordable for me. The Nokia runs the independent <br> (?) kaiOS, so I'm looking for something non-android and non-ios. Any <br> handset chosen has to voLTE compatible, which my handset says it is, <br> but it's been deemed 'unfit' anyway :-(<br><br> Ideas?<br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"> I've got no specific suggestions, since feature phones don't really<br> appeal to me. But any phone sold locally today should be fine for the<br> emergency call regulations. And if that turns out not to be the case,<br> you've got the Australian Consumer Law on your side to get a full<br> refund.<br><br> It might also be worth checking if your current phone's manufacturer<br> has an updated firmware that fixes the defect. Your phone sends it's<br> firmware version when associating with a network, so the block list<br> can target phones with old firmware while allowing phones with fixed<br> firmware to connect. If that's the case for your phone, then you might<br> not need a replacement.<br><br> And this really is a case of your phone being defective rather than<br> the networks: many of the phones being blocked can do regular calls<br> over VoLTE just fine, but either try to do emergency calls over 3G or<br> won't correctly fail over to other LTE networks if their home network<br> is unreachable. This is the kind of thing you can't individually test<br> without calling 000, which you shouldn't be doing as a test. And if<br> there is a life threatening emergency, you really do want this stuff<br> to work.<br><br> James.<hr> PLUG discussion list: plug@plug.org.au<br> <a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br> Committee e-mail: committee@plug.org.au<br> PLUG Membership: <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br><br><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><hr>PLUG discussion list: plug@plug.org.au<br><a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br>Committee e-mail: committee@plug.org.au<br>PLUG Membership: <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><hr>Message: 5<br>Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2026 16:38:45 +0700<br>From: Tony Tone <sastra.satyam@gmail.com><br>To: gavinwc <gavin.chester@gmail.com><br>Cc: plug <plug@plug.org.au><br>Subject: Re: [plug] Phone recommendations<br>Message-ID: <15782B71-25AA-4FC5-A510-6EDB9017F82E@gmail.com><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8<br><br>?I?m running an older Pixel with GrapheneOS and haven?t had any problems. <br><br>This operating system will work in conjunction with the major carriers and the best part is you can turn it off when you don?t need it <br><br>Hope this helps. <br>Tony <br><br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #729fcf;"><div dir="auto">On 17 Sep 2026, at 11:08?am, gavinwc via plug <plug@plug.org.au> wrote:<br>?<br>I know this is opening a can of worms, but looking for recommendations for a replacement phone. Why? Read on:<br><br>I choose NOT to use an android or iPhone smart phone and have had a variety of 'feature' phones over the years because all I want to use it for is text and calls, with occasional hotspot and definitely Bluetooth. My current one is the Nokia 800 Tough. Gee, that's radical, I know, and being a high school teacher it always gives the teenagers a good laugh!<br><br>Now, today I got a text and email from my carrier that had all the hallmarks of a scam because it screamed "your phone is going to be blocked!" But, it was legit. Because both major carriers have really dropped the ball on emergency calls, from Oct they're now going to be completely blocking any phone deemed not capable of meeting the new emergency connection regs released in 2024<br><br>You people all probably know that, but thought I'd spell it out for the archives and clarity :-)<br><br>Something like the Fairphone would be great, I guess, but last time I looked it wasn't affordable for me. The Nokia runs the independent (?) kaiOS, so I'm looking for something non-android and non-ios. Any handset chosen has to voLTE compatible, which my handset says it is, but it's been deemed 'unfit' anyway :-(<br><br>Ideas?<br><br>Thanks.<br>Gavin.<hr>PLUG discussion list: plug@plug.org.au<br><a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br>Committee e-mail: committee@plug.org.au<br>PLUG Membership: <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><hr>Message: 6<br>Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2026 19:43:34 +0800<br>From: Kevin Shackleton <krshackleton@gmail.com><br>To: bill@kenworthy.id.au<br>Cc: PLUG <plug@plug.org.au><br>Subject: Re: [plug] Phone recommendations<br>Message-ID:<br> <CADr1vmTG2dm=SxkrqAdTe0iuvP6hnuX5xFA--YVx2ef8g6+G8g@mail.gmail.com><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br><br>But they don't ship outside the EU<br><br>On Thu, 17 Sept 2026, 17:26 William Kenworthy via plug, <plug@plug.org.au><br>wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #729fcf;"><div dir="auto"> Check out the Jolla Phone (<a href="https://jolla-devices.com/jolla-jolla/">https://jolla-devices.com/jolla-jolla/</a>) -<br> looks capable. I was looking at a month ago thinking this could be my<br> next one. Currently not available in Australia so you have to order it<br> from overseas - there were some posts on their forum from Aussies at<br> least one of whom had bought one. You would have to email them about<br> the 000 mess, but I assume because its modern that's not an issue.<br><br> BillK<br><br><br> On 17/9/26 15:30, James Henstridge via plug wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #ad7fa8;"><div dir="auto">On Thu, 17 Sept 2026 at 12:08, gavinwc via plug <plug@plug.org.au><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto">wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #ad7fa8;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #8ae234;"><div dir="auto">I know this is opening a can of worms, but looking for recommendations<br></div></blockquote></blockquote><div dir="auto">for a replacement phone. Why? Read on:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #ad7fa8;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #8ae234;"><div dir="auto"><br> I choose NOT to use an android or iPhone smart phone and have had a<br></div></blockquote></blockquote><div dir="auto">variety of 'feature' phones over the years because all I want to use it for<br>is text and calls, with occasional hotspot and definitely Bluetooth. My<br>current one is the Nokia 800 Tough. Gee, that's radical, I know, and being<br>a high school teacher it always gives the teenagers a good laugh!<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #ad7fa8;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #8ae234;"><div dir="auto"><br> Now, today I got a text and email from my carrier that had all the<br></div></blockquote></blockquote><div dir="auto">hallmarks of a scam because it screamed "your phone is going to be<br>blocked!" But, it was legit. Because both major carriers have really<br>dropped the ball on emergency calls, from Oct they're now going to be<br>completely blocking any phone deemed not capable of meeting the new<br>emergency connection regs released in 2024<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #ad7fa8;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #8ae234;"><div dir="auto"><br> You people all probably know that, but thought I'd spell it out for the<br></div></blockquote></blockquote><div dir="auto">archives and clarity :-)<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #ad7fa8;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #8ae234;"><div dir="auto"><br> Something like the Fairphone would be great, I guess, but last time I<br></div></blockquote></blockquote><div dir="auto">looked it wasn't affordable for me. The Nokia runs the independent (?)<br>kaiOS, so I'm looking for something non-android and non-ios. Any handset<br>chosen has to voLTE compatible, which my handset says it is, but it's been<br>deemed 'unfit' anyway :-(<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #ad7fa8;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #8ae234;"><div dir="auto"><br> Ideas?<br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"> I've got no specific suggestions, since feature phones don't really<br> appeal to me. But any phone sold locally today should be fine for the<br> emergency call regulations. And if that turns out not to be the case,<br> you've got the Australian Consumer Law on your side to get a full<br> refund.<br><br> It might also be worth checking if your current phone's manufacturer<br> has an updated firmware that fixes the defect. Your phone sends it's<br> firmware version when associating with a network, so the block list<br> can target phones with old firmware while allowing phones with fixed<br> firmware to connect. If that's the case for your phone, then you might<br> not need a replacement.<br><br> And this really is a case of your phone being defective rather than<br> the networks: many of the phones being blocked can do regular calls<br> over VoLTE just fine, but either try to do emergency calls over 3G or<br> won't correctly fail over to other LTE networks if their home network<br> is unreachable. This is the kind of thing you can't individually test<br> without calling 000, which you shouldn't be doing as a test. And if<br> there is a life threatening emergency, you really do want this stuff<br> to work.<br><br> James.<hr> PLUG discussion list: plug@plug.org.au<br> <a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br> Committee e-mail: committee@plug.org.au<br> PLUG Membership: <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br><br><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><hr> PLUG discussion list: plug@plug.org.au<br> <a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br> Committee e-mail: committee@plug.org.au<br> PLUG Membership: <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto">-------------- next part --------------<br>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<br>URL: <<a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/plug/attachments/20260917/c5221936/attachment-0001.htm">https://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/plug/attachments/20260917/c5221936/attachment-0001.htm</a>><hr>Message: 7<br>Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:49:25 +0000<br>From: Gregory Orange <tech@14standards.com><br>To: Tony Tone <sastra.satyam@gmail.com><br>Cc: gavinwc <gavin.chester@gmail.com>, plug <plug@plug.org.au><br>Subject: Re: [plug] Phone recommendations<br>Message-ID:<br> <PPxDz19a9LWo-UgyG0B-xlUAZqhjmtKlNgerU18Jvhmex2q9dhPgwqQXJR7WL5ZJiTWocTkpOXjsokkTC2pv3mXkJXueweGtZ1ZAzMOgEpA=@14standards.com><br> <br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8<br><br>This seems to keep coming up as popular with the right crowd. A guy at work was saying today that they're about to switch to Amaysim to get a discount on a Pixel and experiment with Graphene on it.<br><br><br>--<br>Gregory Orange<br><br>On Thursday, 17 September 2026 at 5:39 PM, Tony Tone via plug <plug@plug.org.au> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #729fcf;"><div dir="auto">I?m running an older Pixel with GrapheneOS and haven?t had any problems.<br><br>This operating system will work in conjunction with the major carriers and the best part is you can turn it off when you don?t need it<br><br>Hope this helps.<br>Tony<br><br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #ad7fa8;"><div dir="auto"> On 17 Sep 2026, at 11:08?am, gavinwc via plug <plug@plug.org.au> wrote:<br> ?<br> I know this is opening a can of worms, but looking for recommendations for a replacement phone. Why? Read on:<br><br> I choose NOT to use an android or iPhone smart phone and have had a variety of 'feature' phones over the years because all I want to use it for is text and calls, with occasional hotspot and definitely Bluetooth. My current one is the Nokia 800 Tough. Gee, that's radical, I know, and being a high school teacher it always gives the teenagers a good laugh!<br><br> Now, today I got a text and email from my carrier that had all the hallmarks of a scam because it screamed "your phone is going to be blocked!" But, it was legit. Because both major carriers have really dropped the ball on emergency calls, from Oct they're now going to be completely blocking any phone deemed not capable of meeting the new emergency connection regs released in 2024<br><br> You people all probably know that, but thought I'd spell it out for the archives and clarity :-)<br><br> Something like the Fairphone would be great, I guess, but last time I looked it wasn't affordable for me. The Nokia runs the independent (?) kaiOS, so I'm looking for something non-android and non-ios. Any handset chosen has to voLTE compatible, which my handset says it is, but it's been deemed 'unfit' anyway :-(<br><br> Ideas?<br><br> Thanks.<br> Gavin.<hr> PLUG discussion list: plug@plug.org.au<br> <a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br> Committee e-mail: committee@plug.org.au<br> PLUG Membership: <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><hr>PLUG discussion list: plug@plug.org.au<br><a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br>Committee e-mail: committee@plug.org.au<br>PLUG Membership: <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><hr>Message: 8<br>Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2026 13:00:24 +0000<br>From: Daniel Di Rado <daniel.dirado@proton.me><br>To: Gregory Orange <tech@14standards.com>, Tony Tone<br> <sastra.satyam@gmail.com><br>Cc: plug <plug@plug.org.au><br>Subject: Re: [plug] Phone recommendations<br>Message-ID: <5667dccf-3c45-4c0a-8d91-497ecf669b7b@proton.me><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br><br>I'm also using Graphene. I have Google Play Services (sandboxed) on it and every app I have needed works. Anything that I can't get from fdroid I get from Aurora. Android Auto works as well. I can't attest to any banking apps because I use cash and physical cards. Don't tell me about the McDonalds app not working because I don't put spyware on my phone.<br><br>Regards<br>Daniel Di Rado<br><br>On 2026-09-17 8:49 PM, Gregory Orange via plug wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #729fcf;"><div dir="auto"> This seems to keep coming up as popular with the right crowd. A guy at work was saying today that they're about to switch to Amaysim to get a discount on a Pixel and experiment with Graphene on it.<br><br> --<br> Gregory Orange<br><br> On Thursday, 17 September 2026 at 5:39 PM, Tony Tone via plug<br> [<plug@plug.org.au>](<a href="mailto:plug@plug.org.au)">mailto:plug@plug.org.au)</a><br> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #ad7fa8;"><div dir="auto"> I?m running an older Pixel with GrapheneOS and haven?t had any problems.<br><br> This operating system will work in conjunction with the major carriers and the best part is you can turn it off when you don?t need it<br><br> Hope this helps.<br> Tony<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #8ae234;"><div dir="auto"> On 17 Sep 2026, at 11:08?am, gavinwc via plug<br> [<plug@plug.org.au>](<a href="mailto:plug@plug.org.au)">mailto:plug@plug.org.au)</a><br> wrote:<br> ?<br> I know this is opening a can of worms, but looking for recommendations for a replacement phone. Why? Read on:<br><br> I choose NOT to use an android or iPhone smart phone and have had a variety of 'feature' phones over the years because all I want to use it for is text and calls, with occasional hotspot and definitely Bluetooth. My current one is the Nokia 800 Tough. Gee, that's radical, I know, and being a high school teacher it always gives the teenagers a good laugh!<br><br> Now, today I got a text and email from my carrier that had all the hallmarks of a scam because it screamed "your phone is going to be blocked!" But, it was legit. Because both major carriers have really dropped the ball on emergency calls, from Oct they're now going to be completely blocking any phone deemed not capable of meeting the new emergency connection regs released in 2024<br><br> You people all probably know that, but thought I'd spell it out for the archives and clarity :-)<br><br> Something like the Fairphone would be great, I guess, but last time I looked it wasn't affordable for me. The Nokia runs the independent (?) kaiOS, so I'm looking for something non-android and non-ios. Any handset chosen has to voLTE compatible, which my handset says it is, but it's been deemed 'unfit' anyway :-(<br><br> Ideas?<br><br> Thanks.<br> Gavin.<hr> PLUG discussion list:<br> plug@plug.org.au<br><br> <a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br> Committee e-mail:<br> committee@plug.org.au<br> PLUG Membership:<br> <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><hr> PLUG discussion list:<br> plug@plug.org.au<br><br> <a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br> Committee e-mail:<br> committee@plug.org.au<br> PLUG Membership:<br> <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><hr> PLUG discussion list:<br> plug@plug.org.au<br><br> <a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br> Committee e-mail:<br> committee@plug.org.au<br> PLUG Membership:<br> <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto">-------------- next part --------------<br>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<br>URL: <<a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/plug/attachments/20260917/c70786d3/attachment-0001.htm">https://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/plug/attachments/20260917/c70786d3/attachment-0001.htm</a>><hr>Message: 9<br>Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2026 13:02:25 +0000<br>From: Daniel Di Rado <daniel.dirado@proton.me><br>To: Gregory Orange <tech@14standards.com>, Tony Tone<br> <sastra.satyam@gmail.com><br>Cc: plug <plug@plug.org.au><br>Subject: Re: [plug] Phone recommendations<br>Message-ID: <0efb24ed-7211-4024-bd3a-1dbc61782664@proton.me><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br><br>I should also add that this is on a Pixel 9; I got it from JBHifi when the Pixel 10 came out and they were selling old stock for around $700.<br><br>On 2026-09-17 9:00 PM, Daniel Di Rado wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #729fcf;"><div dir="auto"> I'm also using Graphene. I have Google Play Services (sandboxed) on it and every app I have needed works. Anything that I can't get from fdroid I get from Aurora. Android Auto works as well. I can't attest to any banking apps because I use cash and physical cards. Don't tell me about the McDonalds app not working because I don't put spyware on my phone.<br><br> Regards<br> Daniel Di Rado<br><br> On 2026-09-17 8:49 PM, Gregory Orange via plug wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #ad7fa8;"><div dir="auto"> This seems to keep coming up as popular with the right crowd. A guy at work was saying today that they're about to switch to Amaysim to get a discount on a Pixel and experiment with Graphene on it.<br><br> --<br> Gregory Orange<br><br> On Thursday, 17 September 2026 at 5:39 PM, Tony Tone via plug<br> [<plug@plug.org.au>](<a href="mailto:plug@plug.org.au)">mailto:plug@plug.org.au)</a><br> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #8ae234;"><div dir="auto"> I?m running an older Pixel with GrapheneOS and haven?t had any problems.<br><br> This operating system will work in conjunction with the major carriers and the best part is you can turn it off when you don?t need it<br><br> Hope this helps.<br> Tony<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #fcaf3e;"><div dir="auto"> On 17 Sep 2026, at 11:08?am, gavinwc via plug<br> [<plug@plug.org.au>](<a href="mailto:plug@plug.org.au)">mailto:plug@plug.org.au)</a><br> wrote:<br> ?<br> I know this is opening a can of worms, but looking for recommendations for a replacement phone. Why? Read on:<br><br> I choose NOT to use an android or iPhone smart phone and have had a variety of 'feature' phones over the years because all I want to use it for is text and calls, with occasional hotspot and definitely Bluetooth. My current one is the Nokia 800 Tough. Gee, that's radical, I know, and being a high school teacher it always gives the teenagers a good laugh!<br><br> Now, today I got a text and email from my carrier that had all the hallmarks of a scam because it screamed "your phone is going to be blocked!" But, it was legit. Because both major carriers have really dropped the ball on emergency calls, from Oct they're now going to be completely blocking any phone deemed not capable of meeting the new emergency connection regs released in 2024<br><br> You people all probably know that, but thought I'd spell it out for the archives and clarity :-)<br><br> Something like the Fairphone would be great, I guess, but last time I looked it wasn't affordable for me. The Nokia runs the independent (?) kaiOS, so I'm looking for something non-android and non-ios. Any handset chosen has to voLTE compatible, which my handset says it is, but it's been deemed 'unfit' anyway :-(<br><br> Ideas?<br><br> Thanks.<br> Gavin.<hr> PLUG discussion list:<br> plug@plug.org.au<br><br> <a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br> Committee e-mail:<br> committee@plug.org.au<br> PLUG Membership:<br> <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><hr> PLUG discussion list:<br> plug@plug.org.au<br><br> <a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br> Committee e-mail:<br> committee@plug.org.au<br> PLUG Membership:<br> <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><hr> PLUG discussion list:<br> plug@plug.org.au<br><br> <a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br> Committee e-mail:<br> committee@plug.org.au<br> PLUG Membership:<br> <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br></div></blockquote></blockquote><div dir="auto">-------------- next part --------------<br>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<br>URL: <<a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/plug/attachments/20260917/c6a3a69b/attachment-0001.htm">https://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/plug/attachments/20260917/c6a3a69b/attachment-0001.htm</a>><hr>Message: 10<br>Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2026 09:19:17 +0800<br>From: Onno Benschop <onno@itmaze.com.au><br>To: plug <plug@plug.org.au><br>Subject: Re: [plug] Phone recommendations<br>Message-ID:<br> <CACybYRX+VA2iwJWEcVEAqnP6EGZdvhDABZochwa=j1Eh_Zd1LA@mail.gmail.com><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br><br>$59, everything except WiFi.<br><br><a href="https://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/prepaid-mobiles/telstra-t-lite">https://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/prepaid-mobiles/telstra-t-lite</a><br><br>--<br>finger painting on glass is an inexact art - apologies for any errors in<br>this scra^Hibble<br><br>()/)/)() ..ASCII for Onno..<br><br>On Thu, 17 Sept 2026, 12:08 gavinwc via plug, <plug@plug.org.au> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-bottom: 1ex; --net-thunderbird-android__blockquote-default-border-color: #729fcf;"><div dir="auto"> I know this is opening a can of worms, but looking for recommendations for<br> a replacement phone. Why? Read on:<br><br> I choose NOT to use an android or iPhone smart phone and have had a<br> variety of 'feature' phones over the years because all I want to use it for<br> is text and calls, with occasional hotspot and definitely Bluetooth. My<br> current one is the Nokia 800 Tough. Gee, that's radical, I know, and being<br> a high school teacher it always gives the teenagers a good laugh!<br><br> Now, today I got a text and email from my carrier that had all the<br> hallmarks of a scam because it screamed "your phone is going to be<br> blocked!" But, it was legit. Because both major carriers have really<br> dropped the ball on emergency calls, from Oct they're now going to be<br> completely blocking any phone deemed not capable of meeting the new<br> emergency connection regs released in 2024<br><br> You people all probably know that, but thought I'd spell it out for the<br> archives and clarity :-)<br><br> Something like the Fairphone would be great, I guess, but last time I<br> looked it wasn't affordable for me. The Nokia runs the independent (?)<br> kaiOS, so I'm looking for something non-android and non-ios. Any handset<br> chosen has to voLTE compatible, which my handset says it is, but it's been<br> deemed 'unfit' anyway :-(<br><br> Ideas?<br><br> Thanks.<br> Gavin.<hr> PLUG discussion list: plug@plug.org.au<br> <a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br> Committee e-mail: committee@plug.org.au<br> PLUG Membership: <a href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a><br><br></div></blockquote><div dir="auto">-------------- next part --------------<br>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<br>URL: <<a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/plug/attachments/20260918/6f2ec2ea/attachment-0001.htm">https://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/plug/attachments/20260918/6f2ec2ea/attachment-0001.htm</a>><hr>Message: 11<br>Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:43:06 +0700<br>From: Tony Tone <sastra.satyam@gmail.com><br>To: Daniel Di Rado <daniel.dirado@proton.me><br>Cc: Gregory Orange <tech@14standards.com>, plug <plug@plug.org.au><br>Subject: Re: [plug] Phone recommendations<br>Message-ID: <E71C5AEE-83F2-422F-BF4E-E574D64DAAE6@gmail.com><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"<br><br>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<br>URL: <<a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/plug/attachments/20260918/4d691c45/attachment-0001.htm">https://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/plug/attachments/20260918/4d691c45/attachment-0001.htm</a>><hr>Subject: Digest Footer<hr>PLUG discussion list: plug@plug.org.au<br><a href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a><br>Committee e-mail: committee@plug.linux.org.au<hr>End of plug Digest, Vol 263, Issue 11<br>*************************************<br></div></pre></blockquote></div></body></html>