As of Nov 2021, I've been using an old Samsung N910C Note 4 for almost 6 years now. Sure its had its battery replaced 4x already. But otherwise its a good unit and i hardly have problems with it aside from some software no longer able to run on it, and storage problems due to its now small 32GB storage.

I am actually the kind of person who would rather not replace my mobile phone until it conks out on me for good. Prior to this Samsung (which i got from a network plan) I was using an Asus Zenfone6 (2014 model), which is also still working but is far too slow owing to its old Atom procesor. Looking back further i used a Lenovo but i forgot the model number, it was my first smartphone after reluctance in switching over (i really had no choice as theives got hold of my older Sony Ericsson K530 that was also with me for pretty much 6 years.

Now I can feel the age of my Note4 unit, and unlike in the past where i had no issues in losing the phone contents (since the photos are in the card) I am more concerned now since this phone hold a lot of authenticators, crypto wallets, and other security-related applications that i definitely need to access other services beyond the mobile phone itself. In such a case i could not wait until the phone actually dies on me and have to switch over to a new one before that happens or else im in trouble. Case in point a friend of mine recently had problmes accessing her accounts after the phone which had her authenticators got its screen wrecked. She had access restored only after a week after it was repaired.

Reviewing a lot of brands, i came across the offerings of Xiaomi on their 11T Pro, and aslo their Pad5. Both have great specs and pack a punch for their price point. However each has a feature that i both would like to have but cant have together. I want a shooter phone that i can take out immediately and take a quick snap, and at the same time want a tablet sized offering as i love to read ebooks and draw as well.

Xiaomi 11T Pro review

This has put me in a dilemna as i can only buy 1 unit at this point. Yes, you are probably thinking, why? Its not because i dont have the dough for it (with hefty profits thanks to $Catecoin), but its more of a rule of thumb for myself. Breaching that would cause me to fall into the slippery slope of consumeralism that tends to buy one gadget after the other, eventually making me another one of those who switch units every year or even less.


 I am not ranting nor am i asking for help, i just wanted to put this into writing as i thought its a struggle i had to contend with.

Stay safe and i hope you dont have the same problem as i have.