Forum Discussion
Trade in our phones or carry a separate FM Radio?
Finally my wife and I both made the jump into buying our first brand new smartphones (before we always had used ones). In 2019 we got a Pixel 3a XL for the wife and then in 2020 I got a Pixel 4a. The plan was to take care of these for at least 3 years and then change them out for something else after they're worn out or something else becomes a must-have.
But we've come to the realization that there's one feature that these phones don't have and now we see as important… FM Radio. The valley where we live is fed by a single data cable that feeds all internet, all cellular towers and even all home phones across all service providers, not just T-Mobile. And during the past year this data line has been cut twice rendering our town out of communication for several days. Depending on where you're at in the valley, it's 60 to 100 miles over treacherous mountain passes (especially in the winter) to the next place where there's a connection.
When that has happened the only way to get any information of what's going on is by radio since all local radio stations broadcast up-to-date information from the local authorities on the matter. As a result, when this happened I found myself rummaging through the drawer where I have some old electronics to see if I could find any old device that has an FM radio to carry around and ended up finding an old tape player that uses AA batteries. I also distinctly remember our old Lumias and non-smart phones always had an FM radio app.
So, maybe we'll just use the Pixels like they are for now and keep the tape player handy for an emergency. But I still keep thinking it would be more convenient to just have phones that have a built in FM radio and carry around pair of ear buds, which is what we do anyway. At times I even think it might be better to just get an old Lumia or other old phone with an FM radio app and pay off and sell the new ones.
I would suggest the LG V60, if that fits with what you need. The last LG I had was a V30, but FM worked perfectly fine on it. The V series from LG have always focused on audio and video. If LG had stuck with the same styling as the V30, I would have picked up a V60. Hopefully someone with a V60 can chime in to confirm if FM works on it. A call to LG Support or a visit to LG's forum might also net you some good info as to if the V60 has what is needed to pick up FM.
The bluetooth headset is a pain in the butt, even if it has FM radio. I really hate my Pixel.
The other day someone showed me their Motorola. I'm not sure exactly what model it was, but it could play FM radio without headphones plugged in! I'm jealous!
I’ve found a solution to phones not having FM radio anymore:
Bluetooth headphones that have FM (or maybe even AM) radio built in.
I decided to go back to the Pixel 4a as I'd like to have smarphone capabilities again. But I wasn't going to without FM radio. So I decided to get a Bluetooth headset that has FM radio built in. It works, that's all I can say.
Actualización:
The past few weeks I've been using a ZTE Cymbal Z-320 which thankfully has FM radio. This is so much handier in my case. I'm not sure what I'll do with the Pixel 4a I'm still paying for, but maybe I'll sell it and pay off the debt with the earnings.
Valid, I surmise my defintion of present day doesnt equivalent yours. In the event that it doesnt have a 120hz oled, 1440 or more resoultion, snap winged serpent 865 or more, and 6gbs of smash it isnt present day to me. I mean short the lg one every one of those different telephones your discussing would be beat by más seasoned telephones. My razer telephone 2 with a 120hz drove screen would beat each one of those telephones less the lg. So I dont call low end telephones with gsrbage computer processors more awful than snap mythical beast 835 which is 4 years of age a cutting edge telephone.
The snapdragon 845 in the s9, note 9, and others would crush each one of those low end telephones. So one current telephone the lg 60 has a fm radio.
The Samsung S8 actually has an FM radio. But there are Issues. First, there is this app, NextRadio, that, on a radio-enabled phone, could let one tune the radio, select favorites, and so on. Problem: the developers couldn't make money on it, so the streaming and an ability to search for a radio station by name or type evaporated. It's abandonware these days, but one can still get it on the Play Store.
Second: FM is real, live radio, with a wavelength in 3 meter range. There's a reason that even cheapie FM radios come With a whip or, like in the S8 case, use the headphone cables as an antenna. A modern cell phone like an iPhone with no audio jack, well, it's not going to cut it.
Contrary to popular rumor, many current phones don't have the FM chip. That rumor about chips being generally disabled got started when particular carriers, with Verizon as the poster child for this behavior, would disable the FM chip in their firmware loads so they could force their customers to use more streaming data, before the advent of common unlimited plans. Thing is, T-Mobile was, and probably still is, one of the good guys in this regard, and has always generally enabled the FM chip if a phone has one.
syaoran wrote:
I would suggest the LG V60, if that fits with what you need. The last LG I had was a V30, but FM worked perfectly fine on it. The V series from LG have always focused on audio and video. If LG had stuck with the same styling as the V30, I would have picked up a V60. Hopefully someone with a V60 can chime in to confirm if FM works on it. A call to LG Support or a visit to LG's forum might also net you some good info as to if the V60 has what is needed to pick up FM.
the V60 has the FM radio app in there..i have yet to mess with it though. might be able to scrounge up a headset here at work to try it out if needed.
syaoran wrote:
I would suggest the LG V60, if that fits with what you need. The last LG I had was a V30, but FM worked perfectly fine on it. The V series from LG have always focused on audio and video. If LG had stuck with the same styling as the V30, I would have picked up a V60. Hopefully someone with a V60 can chime in to confirm if FM works on it. A call to LG Support or a visit to LG’s forum might also net you some good info as to if the V60 has what is needed to pick up FM.
the LG V60 has the FM radio app set up in there..personally havent used it but took a quick look and its in there.
@mr_l84 and the other good folks- thanks for asking those questions and others for providing some decent answers. for some strange reason, the telcos and a lot of people do not seem like they are living in the real world. we could use some sensible devices which would provide basic features designed for just some of the situations you described so well…...there are a lot of things which could be better designed, but the big companies seem more like Dilbert cartoons...
I would suggest the LG V60, if that fits with what you need. The last LG I had was a V30, but FM worked perfectly fine on it. The V series from LG have always focused on audio and video. If LG had stuck with the same styling as the V30, I would have picked up a V60. Hopefully someone with a V60 can chime in to confirm if FM works on it. A call to LG Support or a visit to LG's forum might also net you some good info as to if the V60 has what is needed to pick up FM.
@syaoran Ya, I tried those FM apps. Apparently Google has FM completely disabled on their Pixel phones including the 3a XL and 4a. Or at least on the 4a, the phone I use. It looks like some Samsung, Motorola, Nokia and others still have the FM capability with the right app.
@itdefbechill Do you use your phone for gaming? I don't game on my phone and also don't see the point in having such specs on a phone for me personally. To me that's like having a Ferrari that can do 180mph (or whatever Ferrari's do) when all I need is a daily driver to get me to and from work over 25-35mph streets.
Speaking of cars, I don't spend much time in my car. My line of work requires lots of walking. No time to run all the way back out to the car and listen to the radio. At times I also bike to work and haven't quite gotten around to fitting an alternator onto my bike to run an FM car radio. 😅
I also NEED a headphone jack, not just for FM capability, but because I don't trust myself with a pair of earbuds that cost over $10. The last time I got a pair of earbuds that were over $50 I lost them after just a week of use (actually I think someone stole them but can't prove it) and I went without buying another pair for 3 months. I have enough time keeping my phone, wallet and keys safe and undamaged. Adding more fragile electronics to my list of responsibilities just isn't practical for me.
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 beg your pardon, but when the valley did lose all other communication for several days the radio towers were broadcasting what was going on, what was being done about it, and what people could do to help. In one instance there was a terrible snow storm with downed trees and power lines and lots of car accidents. The radio had broadcast where these things were happening and the areas where people needed to stay away from and were it was safe to be. I only found this information out (and kind of late) from a couple people who did have FM radios on hand. Also note that one of the messages was to stay OUT of our parked cars since lots of cars were being crushed by falling trees. Going out to the car to listen to the radio or police scanner would have been the very risk the authorities were wanting people not to do.
Also, even if there were a major disaster that made all the radio broadcasters flee I'm sure they'd either leave an emergency message playing or there'd be silence. Not being able to tune into a single station would be a good signal that something very wrong is happening. Again, an FM radio is a common emergency kit item recommended by experts. I've never seen an emergency kit list that recommends not taking an FM radio, nor one that recommends having a satellite phone or police scanner.
Although I have thought about getting a satellite phone. But then again who would I call if all the normal lines are down? I guess I could call someone in another county or state to google it for me. But that's a lot of extra money for something I'm sure they'd be broadcasting on the FM radio towers anyway.
