I tried about three and I thought all of them were rubbish, including the Apple one.

The main reason, I just couldn't be harsed to view a small screen when back home there is a 21 inch desktop PC monitor.

Another major factor is the battery life. Barely lasted an hour before needing to be charged. I don't play games. I'm not on Facebook, and if I want to check Twitter or come on here I use my laptop or desktop.

I have a mobile phone yes, but it's just a simple ring in, ring out. Suits me.,

By the way, I could have posted this thread of DS's Mobile phone section, but I figured the answer to my question, 'who doesn't haver a smartphone?' would be nobody.

Seriously, if you gave me the latest one free of charge, I couldn't be bothered with it.

I have a gramophone and some 78s if you're interested.

I avoided having one for ages too.But the one
I eventually got,the battery lasts around ten days
with the phone turned on between 7.30 in the
morning to around 8.30 in the evening.
I am then home and can use my landline!
Quite happy with mine although, I did get it
primarily for phone calls, I also find emails quite
handy on it too!

I have a Nokia Lumia 635 and although it's not exactly top of the range, it does me. I wouldn't want to go without a smartphone now as I spend a fair amount of time waiting for people in the car, in hospitals, in doctors etc and it keeps me amused. If I'm in the house I do prefer messaging through my laptop just because it's easier to type but outside of the house I'd be lost without my phone. I agree battery life can be an issue and when I had an Iphone I was always having to stick it on charge but I can get a couple of days out of my current phone and replace the battery for a couple of quid when it starts to wear out.

How's the reception? Where does the dog go, does it fold up or something? And how on earth do you manage without anything to equalise the graphics?

DS Luddites, assemble.

It's better than this rubbish you get these days.

Anyway, I'm just off now to put my laundry through the mangle.

I haven't got a smart phone. I've got a Samsung Solo and the battery lasts all week.

There are more people in the world who don't have a smartphone compared to those who do so you are in the majority. The majority decision is always the winner, so I am told.

I think a smartphone is just our shared social communication device. So, for example, if none of your friends use whatsapp then there is no reason for you to have it. And as you get older, fewer of your friends tend to update their technology.

Agreed but there's more to a smartphone than web browsing or watching TV. I have one because it provides the following functionality (in roughly this order of importance).

* A pretty good camera that I can keep in my pocket to capture things on the spur of the moment. It's surprising how many images you can record just when out on a lunch time break from work around the outskirts of town. Things I'd never capture if I had to remember to lug a 'proper' camera around with me.

* A music player that's always with me.

* A sat nav that's always with me (occasional use, but nice to know it's there).

* An email client. Mainly for reading rather than composing.

* Apps to manage my finances.

* Apps to pay for parking (though I wish they'd consolidate so I only needed one).

* A couple of book apps on it. Useful when you're waiting at the dentist's, doctors car servicing etc.

* A telephone. Rarely used but nice to know I've got one.

* Web browsing. As you say the screen is too small and fiddly (gets worse as you age) and as you didn't say the connection is usually crap but still - there's times when accessing the web when out and about is useful.

So for me it's a combination of things that, on their own are no big deal, but put them in one small package and you have a winner.

Something very wrong with the phone or battery there. Even when used for gaming it should last a few hours. Mine is an S3 Neo. It's idle most of the day but checks for email every 15 minutes, is used to play music over Bluetooth for an hour every day and might be fully active for perhaps 10 minutes every day while I check bank or credit card accounts. It has an extended battery installed and needs charging once a week.

Admittedly that is an unusually long time between charges but even with the stock battery it would last two or three days.

I have one.
£8.50 per month for all the call, texts and data I need.

I use my 10.5" tablet at home, I don't use facebook, twitter or play games

I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 which has great battery life and charges up quickly too.

The phone has invaluable, satnav, maps, internet, quality camera, torch etc which have all been extremely useful when I've been out and about.

My work phone is a Smartphone. It's not something I'd pay for myself.

I've never even tried one. I have a very basic mobile phone for making calls (emergencies only, I have a landline) & texting, I have a desktop pc for accessing the internet, I have a camera for taking photos.

Similar here - actually a clamshell one, chosen for practicality, battery lasts 3-4 weeks (though sometimes as little as 2 if very heavily used).

I'm always amused by the arguments about who has the fanciest leash

I couldn't be without mine, it's synced with my fitbit and I use that app a lot. The satnav is great, I don't drive but I do get lost a lot. I was away recently and lost my bearings, typed in the the name of my B&B and the street and it told me I was 11mins walk away, popped it in my pocket and it told me the way I was away with my mum who has bad legs and it was a godsend, a few taps and it gives me the nearest taxi firm, bus routes and times, quickest walk to where we want to be etc etc
Sometimes I regret installing the Amazon app because I have been known to impulse buy when I have a few minutes to kill.

I've got a smartphone Sony Z3, can plug it into my car giving me hands free and play my music into the car through it and use it as sat nav replacing three things in one. Add the camera and email/msging etc it replaces 4 things all in one 5inch screen. Ive got a laptop a tablet and a kindle fire but the kindle was brought as a present after I'd already brought the tablet. I take the tablet to work for personal stuff I don't want on the company comp, I use the kindle in the bath/bed for reading and everything else my phone does.

I don't have to carry a camera ,install a sat nav, or carry a mp3player and I think it's great.

And that's all anyone needs.

Thanks for the other replies.

I'm more or less the same as the OP. I have a Nokia Lumia 520 (I think) and I absolutely hate it. The touch screen never responds when I get a phone call and if I get through to one of those answerphone lines that require me to input a number, there's no way of bringing up the keyboard.

It's too heavy and bulky to carry around in my pocket and the screen's far to small to bother with web browsing – not that I hardly ever can anyway, because Vodaphone never seems to be able to connect to the internet.

Instead, if I need to carry a phone with me I always take my old Nokia C1 01 – a marvellous little phone that serves its prime purpose superbly and slips almost unnoticeably, even into the pocket of my jeans. I can send and receive text messages on it if I want, although I rarely bother, even though it's actually quicker to compose them on the physical keypad than the horrible touch-screen one on the 520.

As someone else said, if you have a desktop PC, why would you ever want to connect to the internet via a tiny phone screen. It's very easy just to wait until I get home. I really don't want to know what somebody's just posted on Facebook when I'm walking around in the town or countryside.

And I have it all in ONE place on ONE item which makes me winner winner chicken dinner

When they invent the 'foldable pocket' Smart phone that folds out to a 21 inch screen and extend the battery life to at least a month, then I might use one.

You'll need a very large pocket in your pants for that

Well said.

Plus a full-sized hologram keyboard which you can beam onto a tree stump or table top.