"Sarasota Slim's" Smartphone-related info


How to "factory-reset' your old phone (before disposing of it)

[ NOTE: This webpage is still under construction! ]

Need to replace the battery of your existing Smartphone?

A case-study of upgrading to a newer mobile phone

[ Hints on buying a new Smartphone! ]


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Recently, I finally decided to get rid of my 5-year-old 'flip-phone' and buy a more modern smartphone...one with an actual 'touch-screen' and a 'thumb-able' on-screen keyboard. So, the first question became "What should I get...maybe a Google "Android-OS" based model? Or, maybe spend a bit more and go for an Apple iPhone? (The choice between those two brands was quite easy for me, since I already owned an Android-based tablet and was quite familiar with Google's "Android-OS".)

It immediately became clear to me that I had to learn some additional technical skills. For starters, my existing phone contains lots of data that is personal to me. So, once I've finally transferred my existing mobile-phone number over to the new phone and ready to 'dispose' of that old flip-phone, I'll want to erase all my personal data that's stored on it! The technical term for doing this is referred to as doing a "FACTORY-RESET". (Plan-B would be to just go get my sledge-hammer, smash the flip-phone into oblivion and toss it in the trash. But there are reasons why, in the general-case, doing that might not be the best idea.) What if my existing phone wan't just some old flip-phone, but was a newer Smartphone that still had some significant present-day value!. In today's world, people frequently buy a new mobile-phone on Amazon, load all their personal data onto it, decide they aren't happy with it, and want to return it or do a "trade-in" or resell it or 'gift' it to a friend or neighbor? (To get a glimpse of how prevalent this is, just go onto Amazon and look at all the 'renewed' and 'refurbished' for sale!) For all those situations, we'll want to learn how to do a "factory-reset".

So, back to my specifics: all I knew of my present phone, was that it had the BRAND name "TCL" inscribed on it. And, when I powered it up, on it's miniture 2-inch screen, it always reminds me that it runs some operating-system named "KaiOS". So, the (obvious?) first thing I did was to use my trusted "Windows" laptop, and did a 'google-search' of the simple queston: "How do you do a factory-reset of a TCL flip-phone?" Great...sounds easy: The response was:

    To factory reset a TCL flip phone, you can do the following:
  1. Ensure the phone is powered off
  2. Press and hold the Volume/Down and Power/End-Call buttons on the right side of the phone until it vibrates and the TCL screen appears
  3. From the KaiOS Recovery screen, select Wipe data/factory reset
  4. Select Factory data reset
  5. Select Reboot system now

Initially, that sounded easy. The 'volume-down' button, I was familiar with. It took me a couple of minutes before I understood which button is the "Power/End Call" button. Once I was sure of the two buttons, I gave it a try. Long story short, it never did get to any "KaiOS Recovery" screen as mentioned in step 3.

Luckily, I thought to try re-phrasing the quesion slightly. Wow...I got a quite different answer...it suggested a very different set of buttons to hold down. What I changed in my searches was specifying the phone's MODEL name instead of the "OS" name. So, now it gave this 'recipe':

With the device powered off, press and hold the Power/Back/Hang Up and Volume up buttons simultaneously for approximately 5 seconds until the KaiOS Recovery screen appears. 2. Press the Volume down button until Wipe data/factory reset is highlighted, then press the Power/Back/Hang Up button to select.

Long story short, these queries still failed miserably! I was noticing that there are multiple models of "TCL" flip-phones out there in the world. Hmm...how do I determine my exact model? Oh, I know... just remove the back-cover and look for a specific model# inside. (Took me another google-search to learn how to remove the 'back of the shell' to expose the battery compartment.) Ah, we're gaining on the problen...now we know we're dealing with TCL model "4056-S"! And when we 'google-search' how to factory-reset that model of TCL, we again get a VERY DIFFERENT set of steps to accomplish that. But, in this case, this last recipe of steps SOLVED IT!

And there is even MORE good news: Having had to go digging inside, at least we have learned something extra...we know how to REPLACE the battery AND we know where to look to find a tag showing the FULL model number of the cellphone!!!


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Ah...BUYING a Smartphone...we've saved this subject til last! Turns out, here are conceptually two items we need to acquire: #1: "The Service Plan" and #2 the Smartphone itself.

A so-called "service plan" is the monthly fee that you pay each month that allows you to send and receive text and data on the cellular network. You would get this from one of the handful of so-called "cellphone carriers", such as Verizon or T-Mobile, or AT&T, or Boost Mobile, or U.S. Cellular. [ For a more complete and detailed list: Google's name for their "Internet Service Plan" come under their market-branding name "Google Fi".

Typically, most vendors (like Verizon and T-Mobile, etc) operate from a physical store-front, located in a shopping mall. These days, tho, you can also buy plans and phones from a mail-order company such as Amazon. For example: Notice that in the left-panel, the "Google Fi' product itself is described. In the center-panel, is described a physical product (selling for about $6 or $7 dollars), that is called "Google Fi Wireless SIM Kit". In actual fact, there are two CONCEPTUAL pieces...a 'data-only' SIM component...and a "?" component.

[ NOTE: This webpage is still under construction! ]

(Let's cut to the chase...) Tentatively, here's my current choice of the phone I'm most interested in: And note, as of today (Dec 11th, 2024), this phone is flagged as "An Amazon's Choice" and listed for the price of $143.00 (But now some TECHNICAL questions/concerns arise. It's description says it is "DUAL SIM". Presumably, that means one slot for a DATA-SIM and the other slot for a (???)-SIM. Does that mean, if I was planning to buy from a real physical 'store' such as a T-Mobile, I can walk in and find a sales-clerk and just ask my questions. But with Amazon as my (prospective) vendor, what do they want me to do...go to the online "Google Store" (the place we download apps from) and somehow get answers?

TBD: explain "Locked vs Unlocked" phones

Two or three more items to 'recommend'...#1 rubber edge-ring (to prevent damage from dropping the phone onto hard surfaces), #2 a cloth/leather case (with a belt-attachment or over-the-shoulder carrier, etc), #3 a "hands-free" phone-holder (fits on the dashboard or in the cup-holderfor use in your vehicle, if you plan to use 'navigation' apps such as "Waze" (etc, etc).