I recently moved out on my own to start college, and I'm told that there are many reasons that I should get a cell phone. The thing is, I've never had one. When I lived with my parents, I had access to an old computer, a tablet that barely functioned, and that was it. That was the extent of my access to technology. I know nothing about cell phones. I've never even sent a text message, if you can believe that. So, what do I look for in a cell phone? I'm not looking for the newest and shiniest phone, since they're all new to me. I just need to be able to get messages from my school in case of school announcements, be able to call for help if something is going on, and maybe poke around on the internet between classes. I just want a basic cell phone that can handle that kind of stuff. Does anybody have any ideas? I'm on quite a strict budget, so cheap is good here.
I would go for a cheap touch screen as IMO they are much easier to navigate. The phone icon is usually quite easy to pin point and messages/text is usually something like a envelope. Also text input will be easy as it will be like a PC keyboard. Would ask in a phone shop see what they got maybe as for a demo of it in use
If you want to use the internet and text comfortably yea I'd suggest a cheap android touch screen phone. I like iPhones personally - but they are definitely not the cheapest option. If you just need to call people and send a basic one sentence texts, you get could a super cheap flip phone for like $30 that can do that perfectly fine.
iPhones are expensive upfront but last longer. I'm still rocking a 2015-vintage iPhone 6S Plus. I literally work with the thing (as in I couldn't survive with a phone without decent performance; I am a community manager) and it still works perfectly for all of my use cases; I don't plan on replacing it until 2019 at the very least. It runs the latest version of its software, iOS version 11, and it will surely support at least another major update (it came with iOS version 9) On the Android side of things, things are cheaper but they need to be replaced more often, particularly, midrange devices usually are good for a year or so. Top of the line devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S9 last for about two years before being end-of-life'd by the manufacturer.
