Looking for Cheapest Unlocked 4G Mobile Phone with Tap-to-Wake

Russ on 19/01/2023 - 12:56
Last edited 19/01/2023 - 13:04

I seem to be really hard on mobile phone buttons, as three of my last six phones had to be "retired" due to button failure.

Two of the three that failed were within the 1-year warranty period, and I got my money back.

So I'm looking for an inexpensive (less than $300, preferably less that $200) mobile phone with tap-to-wake (or double-tap-to-wake), so I don't have to use the physical buttons, other than to turn power on or off. It's really hard to search for such phones, tap-to-wake doesn't ever seem to be listed in the feature list on webpages selling phones.

Just to head off other ideas, I've tried a few apps that claimed to enable tapping, or used the proximity sensor to wake, and they don't work. It appears Android "go edition" either puts all such apps to sleep when the screen turns off, or powers down the sensors.

I'm hoping that other OzBargainers have recently bought such a phone, and can tell me the make and model.

Two limitations - I don't want a phone that folds in any way, and it must be Android with minimum 4-inch screen size.

I don't need a phone with lots of memory, 1GB or 2GB RAM is fine. I've never had a phone with more memory than that!

Thanks!

Find Me A Bargain

Comments

  • silenthillrocks on 19/01/2023 - 13:31

    Doesn't every android have tap to wake ( I know Samsungs do at least)

    • Russ on 19/01/2023 - 13:58

      Doesn't every android have tap to wake

      Definitely not.

      I know Samsungs do at least

      Not even all Samsungs have it. I was considering the Samsung Core A01 as a replacement, and the manual says "press the power button to wake up the phone". I searched for a tap-to-wake option, it doesn't exist on that phone.

      • silenthillrocks on 19/01/2023 - 14:17

        You may have to look at newer Samsungs like the Galaxy A12 linked below

        • silenthillrocks on 19/01/2023 - 17:22
          +1

          Actually, A12 might only have it on the fingerprint reader but A13 or greater (current gen) should have tap to wake

  • scrimshaw on 19/01/2023 - 14:09
    +1

    On many modern devices you can use the fingerprint scanner to unlock the phone.

    For example on Motorola E32
    https://motorola-global-en-aus.custhelp.com/app/answers/deta…

    On the Galaxy A12
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTd_n-loBPk&t=41s

    I've found the biometrics on lower-end smartphones to take longer than flagship devices. My Galaxy S21 Ultra unlocks in less than half a second, but the Galaxy A30 takes roughly twice the time to unlock when you engage the fingerprint scanner.

    • Russ on 20/01/2023 - 08:57

      you can use the fingerprint scanner to unlock the phone.

      That's not quite what I'm looking for - "wake" and "unlock" are separate things.

      "Wake" makes the screen turn on, ready for the phone to be unlocked.
      "Unlock" verifies that you are the owner - typically via fingerprint, facial recognition, pin code or swipe pattern.

      Do you have one of these phones? Because I'm not entirely sure what is making the screen turn on.

      The reason I have doubts is because in both of these phones, the fingerprint sensor is embedded in the power switch. In the video you linked, it appears the power switch requires almost no force to operate it, when the phone is being turned off. So it could be that the switch is waking up the phone, and then the fingerprint sensor is unlocking it. I can see that apparently more force is applied when turning off the phone than turning on, but it could still be a very sensitive switch, or perhaps even a force-sensing switch like in Apple phones.

      Even more confusingly, it also appears that the "click click" sound when turning off the A12 is a haptic sound, not a sound made by the mechanism of the switch.

      I do like both of those phones though, I was afraid I'd have to get a phone that doesn't take micro-SD cards, and both of the ones you linked DO take micro-SD cards.

      Edit: Reading through the A12's manual (Android 11 version), I see it supports "Double tap to turn on screen" and "Lift to wake", so irrespective of how the fingerprint sensor works, I don't have to use the power button. Thanks!

      • silenthillrocks on 20/01/2023 - 09:28
        +1

        According to Samsung themselves, its a feature of all Samsung phones that have received Android 11 "This setting is exclusively available on Galaxy devices operating on Android OS Version 11.0 (R).":
        https://www.samsung.com/au/support/mobile-devices/enable-dou…

      • scrimshaw on 20/01/2023 - 11:07
        +1

        The fingerprint sensor does double duty of waking the device and getting past the unlock screen. This is the case for both the A series and the S series.

  • sane on 19/01/2023 - 14:17

    Its a feature of all the LGs IIRC.

    • Russ on 20/01/2023 - 09:24

      Thanks, that hugely reduces the price I'll have to pay. I just did a quick search for low-cost LGs, and found the LG K42. I see why I didn't find this information previously, the manual for this phone has zero occurrences of the word "wake" that I had been searching for. LG call their tap-to-wake feature "KnockOn", at least for this model of phone. "KnockON You can turn the screen on or off by double-tapping the screen."

  • 7ekn00 on 19/01/2023 - 15:23
    +1

    Pixel 2XL or Pixel 4a

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