Trade in our phones or carry a separate FM Radio?

mr_l84 wrote:

itdefbechill wrote:

Why not just buy a fm radio, they are dirt cheap. I just bought a lg boom for 100 bucks. You could buy a even cheaper one.  Amazon had one for 20 dollars. Why would you want a old garbage phone that is slow, has security leaks, will never be updated, no oled, for a 20 dollar radio. 

Because I don't want to carry around two devices that could be one. I already have enough stuff in my pockets as it is. Wallet, phone, keys, and now a radio… That's more pocket bulge and another device to keep track of.

What will almost certainly happen is that I’d end up going through all the trouble of carrying this device around for in case of emergency and the day I forget to grab it or I lose it or I just get plane sick of carrying it around will be the day I need it.

Sure, having a smartphone with all it's nice modern features is, well, nice. But the main reason for having a phone IMO is for safety. I want to be able to call someone if I have a flat tire, if my kid gets injured and needs an ambulance, or to find out what the weather's like or the road conditions or how's the pandemic going or if there's a terrorist attack going on or if the forest is on fire or if the dam broke or if I was supposed to buy apples or bananas or both. And having an FM radio is a safety feature. Any list of common items to have for emergencies will always include a radio.

Imagine if they took away the flashlight ability on smartphones. Would you then carry around a flash light just in case you might need it?

So  yes, I may carry around an FM radio for now since we got our Pixels not that long ago. But it's kind of a pain.

They do take away the flash light on some cheaper phones. If you are traveling doesnt your car already have a radio? It sounds like you are saying you are away from your house, and your car for long periods of time. Most new phones wont even work with a radio because of no head phone jack. 

I honestly cant find a phone with fm support even the librem 5 a open source phone, with linux and removeable parts doesnt have one. I cant even find some one who made a usb c fm radio adapter.  

If you are that worried though fm radio isnt very helpful in emerngy anything. You want to get a satilite modem for your car, and house. No ones gonna give you helpful information over fm. In your emergency senerios the person running the station would most likely flee.

You also cant communicate with it, you would be better off with a police scanner, and a antenna on your car, that would pick up all local chatter for miles, and give you a better idea of what is going on around you. They also make ones handheld, amd can be switched. 

I feel your pain though, i hate it when some one takes away a feature on something just because not every one and thier grandmother uses it. Its like the stupid front camera on a phone i dont want it, but since every one loves thier stupid selfies and camera calls i gotta have it. It just is in the way of the screen, and yep thats the oppisite, but if the front camera came unpopular, they would remove it. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.slashgear.com/does-my-phone-have-fm-radio-inside-09471304/amp/

Thats the list of phones that can use fm radio, and they are all old. Which if you arent using your phone for like high end gaming, none of that matters at all. The Lg 5 is a nice phone. You can get that for 50 bucks. The note 3 is a nice one 2. 50 bucks for that one 2. Might want to stock up on a few since its clear fm radio is gone out of new phones.