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Phone with best wifi reception and wifi calling?

You’d need to put your phone on airplane mode when at home, and then switch on wifi only using the toggle in the drop down menu, and it’ll only use wifi then as no access to the mobile network.
I am aware you can do that, but its means having to manually switch it. Not very convenient when you take a call outside the house and then walk into the house. It's a shame that things are not implemented a bit better as far as automatic switching goes.
 
I'm not really bothered about custom ROM's, but basic functionality. I should be able to plug a phone into a windows or linux computer and transfer what I want, without additional software / hardware. I also hate the whole emphasis of going through the cloud. For personal data, I'm not comfortable with this.

If I'm honest, I'm not really familiar with the whole limiations of the iPhone, or whether things have improved or got worse over years? I know when I looked into it years ago, I could not even plug an iPhone into a windows or linux computer and copy audio files (mp3, flac) into folders of my choosing. It seems people were forced to go through crapware like itunes (which did not even have an official linux release). Not sure if any of these restrictions still apply?
TBH i can't remember the last time i plugged my iphone into any PC in order to transfer stuff - like you I hate using iTunes. On my iphone I simply upload files to Google cloud using the Google drive app and then use any PC (connected to internet of course) to download the required data elsewhere, either through a web browser or a file manager. But if you're not comfortable with using commercial cloud portals (Google Drive, OneDrive etc) then there's nothing stopping you setting up your own personal cloud space - use a NAS storage device or connect a hard disk to your router if it allows.
 
I am aware you can do that, but its means having to manually switch it. Not very convenient when you take a call outside the house and then walk into the house. It's a shame that things are not implemented a bit better as far as automatic switching goes.
Am I right you have a Samsung? Try the ‘Samsung band selector’ app as you can set it to force to use wifi calling when available over mobile data, and it’ll switch when you move off it.

You can select bands and also there’s another settings menu you can reach. It is chipset dependant though I recall.

O2 is the only network I believe that allows you to choose wifi or mobile network, the rest depend on network availability ie if coverage is strong enough
 
Am I right you have a Samsung? Try the ‘Samsung band selector’ app as you can set it to force to use wifi calling when available over mobile data, and it’ll switch when you move off it.

You can select bands and also there’s another settings menu you can reach. It is chipset dependant though I recall.

O2 is the only network I believe that allows you to choose wifi or mobile network, the rest depend on network availability ie if coverage is strong enough
BiB: sorry if I've misunderstood you, but I thought wifi calling only worked over a stable wifi connection? (hence the name wifi calling) Unless you meant forcing the Samsung to use wifi calling irrespective of cellular signal strength? I clearly remember when wifi callling was first launched on EE in 2015, it ALWAYS kicked in as soon as you were on a wifi network but a then some years later EE changed it to only kick in when signal strength was greatly reduced or zero.
 
On my iphone I simply upload files to Google cloud using the Google drive app and then use any PC (connected to internet of course) to download the required data elsewhere, either through a web browser or a file manager.
There is the privacy issue, but you are also using your precious data. I can't see any advantage to this. If people want to do that fair enough, but I think it should be about giving consumers choice of how they want to interact with their devices. My view is that a USB C direct cable connection to the PC would be faster and would not use any data.

Yes you can use a home NAS, but that requires investing in more hardware and its still inconvenient when you travel. If I am working on a train and want to transfer files, I just want a simple way to plug my phone into my laptop with a fast secure connection like USB C. I don't want to be forced to go through any crapware or jump through hoops. Sorry but it's basic functionality and for these reasons I see the iPhone as a crippled device. It seems like its decent hardware, but I can't live with the silly restrictions.
 
There is the privacy issue, but you are also using your precious data. I can't see any advantage to this. If people want to do that fair enough, but I think it should be about giving consumers choice of how they want to interact with their devices. My view is that a USB C direct cable connection to the PC would be faster and would not use any data.

Yes you can use a home NAS, but that requires investing in more hardware and its still inconvenient when you travel. If I am working on a train and want to transfer files, I just want a simple way to plug my phone into my laptop with a fast secure connection like USB C. I don't want to be forced to go through any crapware or jump through hoops. Sorry but it's basic functionality and for these reasons I see the iPhone as a crippled device. It seems like its decent hardware, but I can't live with the silly restrictions.
Not really disagreeing with any of the above - because everyone has different needs. Personally I hate using cables to connect stuff (other than to charge devices) hence i find it very convenient to backup/upload data wirelessly to Google Drive by just a few taps on my phone - mobile data usage isn't an issue for me since I have loads.

But anyway it sounds like sticking to an Android handset is your best bet. Maybe consider a high end handset such as the Samsung S22 (sim-free) which has the best chance of working with all operators wrt wifi calling and is likely to have decent (high end) wifi chipsets installed. If you buy from somewhere like Amazon then you have peace of mind with hassle free returns should the phone not meet your expectations.
 
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BiB: sorry if I've misunderstood you, but I thought wifi calling only worked over a stable wifi connection? (hence the name wifi calling) Unless you meant forcing the Samsung to use wifi calling irrespective of cellular signal strength? I clearly remember when wifi callling was first launched on EE in 2015, it ALWAYS kicked in as soon as you were on a wifi network but a then some years later EE changed it to only kick in when signal strength was greatly reduced or zero.
Yeah I meant it would use wifi regardless of signal strength.
 
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