Cell Phone

[RussellPresley]

My 8 year old if not older flip phone is on its last breath. I'm thinking of up grading to a IPhone 6 or 5s on Straight Talk when I get a few dollars saved up. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience? Plus which protected case should I invest in?

[Cowper]

My wife has an iPhone 6+ and is very happy with it. Everyone knows the screen is bigger than the 6, but you may not have heard the battery life is also considerably better than the 6. Between the 5s and 6 - ??? I don't know. I'm just suggesting see if the battery life is different since that matters more to outdoor people.

The last time I checked, Otter Box had changed their advertising - models that previously claimed "waterproof" no longer made that claim, leaving the Lifeproof case as pretty much the only choice. I"ve damaged two phones due to leaks in "waterproof" cases, one lifeproof, one Otterbox, so I no longer trust any of them to do much more than protect from spray and minor drops. I keep my phone in a lifeproof case, but than put that in a pelican box if I'm taking it on the river as a camera.

[RussellPresley]

Thanks for the info! I did find some info about Yosh dry bags for the IPhone night have to try them out. I'm leaning towards the 6se but just waiting for September to see what's new and improve with the fall line up.

[jdryden78]

I'm not a fan of the iPhone myself. I've been using the Samsung active series both s5 and s6 and have been very pleased. They are touted as being waterproof and in my experience this has proven true. I still generally keep my phones in dry bags/cases just for peace of mind (flotation).

[Andrew C]

I just thought that I would throw in my 2 cents. I'm using a samsung galaxy express because it was one of the cheapest smartphones available two years ago. I love it! The iPhoney is cool if you are looking for a status symbol, but status symbols cost money. Money you could spend on paddling gear instead! I think that you will find that even the low end phones are light years ahead of the old flip phone. Personally I can't think how spending more on my phone could have made me any happier.

[RussellPresley]

One of the reasons I'm leaning towards the IPhone is because I have an Apple computer. Plus my sister and her kids all have the IPhone and just loves them. Plus Apple apps are less prone to maleware I'm told. But will think about the Samsung and do some research on them.