@emmy wait you actually need 5G standalone?
I'd say get a Pixel, but I'm not sure if they have SA everywhere, I'm pretty sure my 4a 5G can't with my current provider (Vodafone.de)
@noiob Yeah my last phone was a pixel (5A), unless someone has an idea.
The last pre-5g phones I used, all had so little reception (especially since 5g became "standard") that I don't feel safe with them, and it was getting worse.
And I mostly consider phones a safety device.
So I consider 5G a safety requirement.
@emmy hm, 5G NSA actually uses an LTE carrier (5G just to improve throughput) but if you're saying LTE didn't get you enough coverage I guess it was actually SA?
@emmy maybe I'm just too used to the awful coverage here in Germany and elsewhere there's actually proper 5G support
@noiob Yeah. Here in USA, it's kinda the other way around - the latest standard is very well supported, and with anything older you're lucky to get a signal.
@emmy Yeah, over here I think they're going to discontinue 3G first so older phone keep working (or can fall back on that), I think that's very sensible
@noiob Yeah.
Like, carriers here are discontinuing 2G outright in places.
I've used 2g before (all my phones seem to support it, and sometimes it's the only - or fastest - signal they can get). It's adequate.
I appreciate that speed isn't the only advantage, but it'd be nice if you could keep a phone for more than a decade-or-two product life cycle.