decent budget phone

J_B

Just going slightly off topic if I may ...

My Moto G31 is running Android 11 - latest "security update" was 1/11/22

I use it for email (K9) general browsing (chrome and/or brave) and banking.

All my apps are 'up to date' so is there a 'security concern' and if so ... what?

TMSG

Grumpy_chap said:

What is the average time that a phone is kept?  
There does seem to be a tendency that these devices are treated as disposable and traded in after a couple of years.

I can only talk for myself but I have five phones directly or indirectly under my "control". Two are relatively new 5G Oppos (though both were bought refurbished and already had around 18 months of service). The two banking apps we use (and similar stuff) are on one of the Oppos.

The other three are a 2016 Moto G4 play, still going strong, and two Sonys from 2017. The Moto was the last phone I bought new, the two Sonys, like the Oppos, were refurbs.

All three still work perfectly well and will get use for at least another year or two (hardware failures excepted).

And I am certainly not the only one with phones more than four years old.

And to re-iterate, I certainly do not expect security updates for any of the three older phones; using them w/o updates is my own responsibility and choice. But I very much hope to get updates for the Oppos for at least another two years or so.

PHK

J_B said:

Just going slightly off topic if I may ...

My Moto G31 is running Android 11 - latest "security update" was 1/11/22

I use it for email (K9) general browsing (chrome and/or brave) and banking.

All my apps are 'up to date' so is there a 'security concern' and if so ... what?

Have a look here at the bottom of the page:

https://source.android.com/docs/security/bulletin/asb-overview

Then click through for each month .  Eg in January 2023 there were eleven vulnerabilities patched that were marked as high risk. (Clicking on Motorola at the top of the page will show Motorola specific fixes)

flaneurs_lobster

If anyone is interested in what can be done when it comes to future software support on phones, the new Fairphone 5 promises Android support for 8 years, possibly even 10. And easy repairs too.

https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/fairphone-5-software-promise-leaves-apple-samsung-in-dust-4363352

Downside (of course) is that it's over £600 and the spec isn't the hottest. 

mongoose2009

flaneurs_lobster said:

If anyone is interested in what can be done when it comes to future software support on phones, the new Fairphone 5 promises Android support for 8 years, possibly even 10. And easy repairs too.

https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/fairphone-5-software-promise-leaves-apple-samsung-in-dust-4363352

Downside (of course) is that it's over £600 and the spec isn't the hottest. 

if they're still in business in 8 yrs time

its like double glazing with a 20 yr guarantee

flaneurs_lobster

mongoose2009 said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

If anyone is interested in what can be done when it comes to future software support on phones, the new Fairphone 5 promises Android support for 8 years, possibly even 10. And easy repairs too.

https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/fairphone-5-software-promise-leaves-apple-samsung-in-dust-4363352

Downside (of course) is that it's over £600 and the spec isn't the hottest. 

if they're still in business in 8 yrs time

its like double glazing with a 20 yr guarantee

Fair (!) point, although they've managed 10 years so far. Their corporate schtick is admirable.

I'd almost forgotten my WileyFox mobile, they didn't last long. Shame, it was a decent phone.

Grumpy_chap

I have been thinking about the security patches, which it turns out my phone has not received any for a couple of years, and whether this is a concern to me.
I am struggling to think what anyone could hack my phone and get that would actually be a problem in any way.
I understand this may be different for others, maybe people do banking on the phone or similar, but I don't do any of that or indeed anything that is just simpler on a PC with full HMI devices attached.
Would people do the more challenging tasks on a budget phone?  (I note the comments that some of the more expensive phones also have security patches for only a short while.)

tiger135

im guessing nfc is like using a contactless card?

TMSG

Grumpy_chap said:

I have been thinking about the security patches, which it turns out my phone has not received any for a couple of years, and whether this is a concern to me.
I am struggling to think what anyone could hack my phone and get that would actually be a problem in any way.
I understand this may be different for others, maybe people do banking on the phone or similar, but I don't do any of that or indeed anything that is just simpler on a PC with full HMI devices attached.
Would people do the more challenging tasks on a budget phone?  (I note the comments that some of the more expensive phones also have security patches for only a short while.)

Well, as you've perhaps read above we have three phones in use between 6 and 7 years old. We do not use any banking or similar apps on these phones but otherwise they get normal use and like you, I have no worries re security. (But I am conservative in my app installing and use.)

One thing (though this is getting off-topic) I would very much recommend for every user of an Android smartphone is to install a simple firewall. These apps used to need a rooted phone but the one I'm using for many years now, NetGuard, works perfectly well on noon-rooted phones. If you're interested check https://www.netguard.me/ for details.

PHK

One thing to remember is that security is not only about what information they can get but things they can do with a phone once they get in. 

Remember they are probably not targeting your particular phone but rather exploiting a vulnerability when you visit a web site. For example, you might be out and about and do a search for a phone number or website. But if you don’t pay attention you might accidentally end up on a malicious site that uses one of vulnerabilities to run code on your phone. 

Banking apps are generally secure because they need a code or biometrics and check the phone before running. But they could get your contact list which will give them names and numbers. 

More likely they’ll install malicious code that does things like sign you up for premium messages that they receive the money from. Or a recent one is a hidden app that displays adverts off screen (or in a space a couple of pixels square) . They get the revenue for showing the ad. You might well not notice this extra data being used but you will notice the effect on your battery. There are other things that could be done if your phone is specifically targeted (which is unlikely) such as intercepting texts with 2FA codes. 

So for peace of mind, if your phone doesn’t get security updates then don’t visit websites unless you are very sure they are genuine and don’t connect to public WiFi (which is another route that can be vulnerahow)