Smartphone and Accessories

Phone apps:

Voice and text communications (standard Android apps, Google Voice, Viber, Telegram).
Alarm clock, timer (standard Android app).
Calendar (aCalendar).
Calculator (Panecal Plus).
Web browsers (Google Chrome, Opera).
Photography apps, mainly landscape photos in daylight conditions (Moto Camera, Google Photos, Simple Gallery, etc).
Mapping (Locus and OruxMaps for topo maps, as discussed on GPS page, MAPS.me, 2GIS and Google maps for street maps)
File management, including unpacking encrypted ZIP files (TotalCommander)
Reading ebooks and PDF files (Moon+, built-in PDF reader, Kindle).
Playing music and language study audio files in MP3 format (GoneMad Classic). Streaming audio not usable without internet connection, as is common when camping.
Text editor for taking notes and making website updates (QuickEdit+).
English and foreign language dictionaries (Lingvo Online, Google Translate with offline data, Desprez Russian-English).
Foreign language study tools (AnkiDroid).
Secure storage of passwords (Keepass2Android).
Various apps which provide cleaner interface than via web browser (Accuweather Pro, XE Currency, banks, Wise, Paypal, Kayak, AirBnb, Booking.com, Uklon, Uber, Bolt, Mint).
VPN for access to banks while in Ukraine (ProtonVPN).
Miscellaneous utilities (Find Device, Simple Sound recorder, Shazam, Meteor SpeedTest).
SFTP manager to update website (AndFTP).
Simple flashlight app (more cumbersome to use than builtin Android flashlight in notification panel, which I disabled, however less likely to accidentally turn on flashlight during daytime and run down battery with separate app).
Better keyboard (Microsoft Swiftkey).

Carry primary and backup phones, possibly different models. Topo maps should be downloaded to both phones, to allow transition to backup when no internet connection available.

Phones must be unlocked and support both US and European frequency bands.

Phones should be protected by sturdy case, however case will not protect against slamming screen against rock. While hiking, both phones normally carried in neckpurse. Carrying backup phone in backpack risks crushing screen when cramming gear into backpack. Primary phone screen faces stuff sack containing wallet and other soft objects. Backup phone inside backup hanging wallet, with piece of cardboard against screen. When not carrying neckpurse (such as at night in cities), primary phone carried in front pants pocket or in hanging wallet inside pants leg, in both cases with screen facing body.

Primary and backup phones identical: Moto G Power 2022, 200g, inside Otterbox Commuter case 60g, for total of 260g. Purchased Nov 2022. Android 12.

MediaTek Helio G37; 4GB RAM; 128GB storage; up to 512GB removable microSD; 5000 mAh battery; 6.5" 1600x720, 269ppi IPS TFT LCD 20:9 aspect ratio; unlocked; Nano-SIM; 4G: 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/14/17/25/26/29/30/38/41/66/71 3G: 1/2/4/5/8; wifi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4+5GHz); Bluetooth 5.0; GPS, A-GPS, LTEPP, SUPL, GLONASS; 8MP front camera, 50MP rear camera with LED flash; water-repellent coating; fingerprint reader; 3.5mm headphone and USB-C ports.
Strong points: low power consumption due to lower resolution screen.
Weak points: no NFC, no eSIM, removable SIM/microSD tray is fragile.

!!! IMPORTANT!!! Be very careful about security with smartphones/tablets. If smartphone/tablet NOT password protected, and financial and other critical websites set up to send password resets to email account that is readily accessible from unprotected smartphone/tablet without password entry (email app that automatically logs onto email accounts, browser that remains logged on to web-based email accounts), then anyone who steals smartphone/tablet will have ready access to those financial and other critical accounts.

Accessories

2 x United States to continental Europe socket adaptors, plus 2 x elastic bands to secure adaptor to wall charger, since otherwise won't hold securely in wall socket, 25g total.
2 x Anker Powerport mini 12W (5W x 2.4A max) dual-port AC->USB wall charger with folding plug, 75g total. Generic USB chargers are notorious for shoddy design and manufacture, so worthwhile getting quality charger, even though it weighs more. Dual-port big advantage in Europe, where there is often shortage of wall outlets.
USB-A to USB-C cables: 2 x 150cm at 52g each plus 2 x 15cm at 12g each, total of 130g.
2 x Anker 10000mAh PowerCore Slim USB power packs, 245g each including mesh sack, which offers some protection against shock. Charges in about 5 hours using standard 5W x 2.4A charger. Input port USB-C, output port USB-A. Only about 70% of nominal capacity actually usable, due to heat losses. Power pack must be activated to charge other devices, and then automatically shuts off when current draw low, indicating device charged. Rechargeable lithium batteries will be destroyed if allowed to go to 0% charge state. Devices with lithium batteries inside normally have circuitry to prevent battery from being drained to 0% charge, by shutting down at 5% charge. However, small amount of power required to check battery status. So if device shuts down at 5% charge and then you repeatedly activate device to check status, eventually 5% reserve will be exhausted, at which point battery will be destroyed. So once device indicates zero charge, don't check status again until recharged. Chemicals within rechargeable lithium batteries will deteriorate if battery not discharged and recharged at least yearly. Avoid power packs with builtin flashlight "feature", because accidental activation of flashlight can drain power completely.
4 x 128GB microSD cards containing backup of media files (music, photos, language recordings, ebooks), 4 x microSD-SD adapters, 2 tools to open smartphone SIM/microSD port, 2 x plastic cases. 20g.
2 x uni brand USB-C microSD adapter, 20g.
2 x 3.5mm corded earphones, for listening to music and language recordings during flights, bus trips and other situations where loudspeaker not allowed, plus shockcord bands to keep neatly stored, or 25g total.
JBL GO3 bluetooth speaker, with USB-C charging port. For listening to music, since speakers on smartphone low-quality. 210g.

Miscellaneous Smartphone Comments

To avoid damaging smartphone screen while camping, keep it face down against foam pad next to head when in use but not held in hands, such as when listening to music. Before going to sleep, and whenever entering or exiting bugbivy, put smartphone just outside bugbivy, on top of neck purse at side of head of tarp.
To record video inconspicuously, use front camera while facing away from scene being recorded.
Use heavy-duty gear tie (bendable wire inside plastic), to hold smartphone in place while taking selfies.
Use Calibre program on computer to convert kindle format books to epub format, to allow use with Moon+ ereader, which is much better than Amazon Kindle app.
Cloud backup okay for document files, but media files too large for cloud backup using slow wifi connections common in hotels as of 2023. So phone should have either removable microSD tray or support for USB-C microSD adapter. Support for 128GB microSD adequate, since media files total under 80GB currently and I am only slowly adding new media files.
All files should be copied from microSD to internal storage, so internal storage should also be 128GB. If media files under 70GB, this leaves 58GB for operating system, apps, other uses.
Carry several microSDs for backup/recovery purposes. Backup regularly from primary phone to backup smartphone and to microSDs. Store backup smartphone and backup microSDs independent of primary phone, in case primary phone lost or damaged and needs to be replaced.
Eventually, removable SIM/microSD tray will be replaced by eSIM and internal memory only, so relying on removable microSD not advisable. Following tests performed in 2023 with 70GB transfer to/from Moto G Power 2022. In practice, most of 70GB is unchanging audio/image files, so only necessary to transfer 70GB during initial setup of new smartphone and never necessary to transfer 70GB from smartphone. Backup from smartphone to microSD or computer of new and modified files would typically be under 5GB, so under 15 minutes.
- to smartphone internal memory, from microSD in USB-C adapter: 1:23 hours
- to smartphone internal memory, from computer via USB-C cable: 2:25 hours
- to smartphone internal memory, from microSD in microSD tray: under 30 minutes
- to microSD in USB-C adapter, from smartphone internal memory: 3:25 hours
- to computer via USB-C cable, from smartphone internal memory: about 3:30 hours
- to microSD in microSD tray, from smartphone internal memory: about 2:00 hours
As of 2018, Android 7 "Nougat" had some flakiness with removable microSD cards. In particular, when I used Google Photos to delete photo, it wiped out all user folders on microSD card! Apps must be given permission to write to removable microSD cards, separate from permission to write to internal storage, so possible to avoid problems by never giving such write permission, other than to file manager used to copy from internal storage to microSD card as backup.
Motorola app sometimes messes with font display. Use Personalize option to restore to Android fonts, large fonts, default display size.