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I'd like replaceable batteries to come back.
Every single phone upgrade since 2012 was because the battery would get so bad, it lasts less than an hour.
And before someone goes, "Ah try ifixit", the cost of the replacement parts was as much or more than just getting another used phone from like swappa. I've done the financial math countless times.
I miss buying batteries for like $20 and watching the phone become new again.
I as well. At the very least, we need some fucking differences in the market. Every phone doesn't have to be the same. Imagine the car market if all we could buy were Chrysler 300s. It looks sleek and nice but will crap out on you in a couple years and doesn't really fit in well with your career as a general contractor. When it dies, you have to go buy another one and start the cycle over.
That's why I'm eyeing to get a Fairphone as soon as my current phone breaks
My Fairphone does, and I have already purchased a batter for 35 euros, which I keep in my drawer. The phone is now just over 3 years old, probably in a year or so I will replace it. I am aiming for at least 6-7 years lifespan.
It seems like each new version of Android locks down the file system in some new way that breaks a core part of something I do, so I actively don't want to upgrade.
I can't root my phone because I need my banking apps readily avaliable right now.
I'm still bitter about USB mass storage being removed for only MTP. MTP sucks, any time I use it for more than a few small files it always ends up dying partway through.
Yea, don't waste time with MTP. It's a hack to enable some access. It's always been unstable.
Use some kind of network sync tool instead. Syncthing, Resilio Sync, Foldersync, etc.
That's why I stick with Android 12, all my banking apps work just fine with magisk's DenyList. Heard that's getting tricky on 13 or 14.
And I absolutely need root to add system-wide adblocking and security features like Ice Box and Storage Isolation.
Yo, write better titles. I thought this was a video about how they didn't want to upgrade to Android 15 or something. But it's not. It's just about not buying a new phone every two years 😆 In my opinion buying a new replacement isn't 'upgrading'.
Buying a new replacement totally is upgrading though.
That's why it's so rare to find phones with easily changeable batteries as most phones are like new if you just replace that.
Personally, although the terms have become increasingly blurred over the years, I refer to changing to a new version of software (including an OS, and both ideally with some improvements) as updating it rather than upgrading.
I reserve upgrade more for changes of hardware with some form of improvement over its predecessor. I'd suspect I may not be alone in this, but I dunno how common it may be. When switching to a mix of both, I simply say I'm getting a new [insert specific device depending on which].
Although I'd hesitate to call many new phones an all-around upgrade when they're either removing features (headphone jack/expandable storage) or getting more cumbersome to hold (can you even call some modern phones a handset anymore?).
Why I don't watch YouTube videos -
It's 8 minutes long and contains less than a minute's worth of information, and is a complete waste of time
All new phones are too fucking big.
Counterpoint: my eyes are not what they used to be 20 years ago and 6,5...7" screens hit the sweet spot for useability. Especially since bezels are super thin these days so a 6,7" phone today is barely larger in total dimensions than a 5,5" phone 6 or 7 years ago.
This. Had to replace my trusted s10e. Picked the smallest I could get, which was an s23. It's too big.
I upgrade less than I used to, and I only do mid-range devices now, like the Pixel A series or Motorola G series. That kind of bracket. I'm just going to install Lineage OS on it anyway and it works fine so why pay more when I don't need that.
You can just buy a used phone too. An older pro is going to be better than the new A. Same price too.
But worse battery life.
I finally upgraded my phone after 7 years. I had trouble picking out a phone that didn't remove everything... no headphone jack, no sd card slot and we're supposed to call that an upgrade? (What I got still has those thankfully)
But it's got lidar so you can jack off hands-free by gesturing a jerking motion!
I run GrapheneOS.
I told myself that my Pixel 8 pro will be enough for a bunch of years. That is, until I went on a trip with it. Now I feel like my Pixel 7 was better than the P8P is, with just as good of a camera with better battery life.
I'm glad I kept the p7 as a burner, because I may just make it my prime phone. I only upgraded on the prospect of a long lasting phone and received the p7 for free..
I went from an OPPO find 5, to oneplus 1, then OnePlus 5, and now pixel7a. The OnePlus 1 was probably the only one I was impressed by and the others were just replacements. I don't plan on changing until Linux phones are less of a pain in the anoos or if the 7a gets totalled. I'm the family tech guy for a lot of people that always upgrade to the latest phone and nothing worthwhile ever happens in a decade of phones any more. If anything they get worse with more planned obsolescence and proprietary bullshit.
Just wait till you break it to buy a new one, if you're lucky you'll be able to hold on to your phone long enough that it will feel like an actual upgrade instead just being new.
I did that but lost my headphones jack with connected built in quad DAC, a reliable fingerprint reader mounted on the back of the phone, and front facing camera that wasn't crammed under my screen causing an annoying dead spot...
A reliable, fast fingerprint reader that you can feel, where your index finger is naturally placed already when removing your phone from a pocket, so that you can effortlessly unlock the phone before you've even got it out.
Not having to wake the screen to see whether the reader is, either reach awkwardly with the thumb of the hand holding the phone, or use a finger from the other hand, then press hard maybe three times until it works (with the added side effect of a bright flash of light at night).
Why did they think this was better? Could we maybe have one on the edge, or the power button?
Having my fingerprint sensor located on the power button of my phone has been an absolute life changer. I have zero clue why companies keep insisting on putting the fingerprint sensor in some nebulous place under the screen or on the back. It's beyond me.
For me, it’s just the fact that phones… are phones. They all look the same, function the same, there’s just nothing new happening with them.
Sure, chips get better and faster, they’ll add another camera to it and fiddle with the dimensions a bit, but that’s not innovation. All phones look like boring rectangular slabs.
Back in the late 90’s, phones had way more variety and personality. Candybar, flip, even the sidetalkin’ taco that was the Nokia N-Gage. A Motorola Razr looked nothing like say, a Nokia or Sony Ericsson. And those were distinctly different from your Samsung or Mitsubishi phones (Yes, Mitsubishi made phones!).
I’d love it if we went back to more phone variety, but I fear the smartphone has effectively killed every other style. Most people wouldn’t ditch their big screen smartphone to go back to a small flip phone.
Do you really need a YouTube video for that?
I upgrade when I kill my phone. There's just no other reason to do it otherwise
Upgrade when you feel it's time to upgrade, not because the latest and greatest just released again.
I feel it's time to upgrade when the latest and greatest just released again.
/s
I only upgraded for the nicer camera. I have so many pictures that are blurry that I think springing for a little nicer camera is worth it. But yeah, the tech is pretty stagnant.
I’m using an almost four year old iPhone 12 mini, with absolutely no desire to upgrade. I plan to use this phone until it’s a brick.
iPhone XS Max, 2018. The only reason I might update is for the better camera. But this is marginal. I tend to buy one of the top line iPhone once in about 5 years, with enough memory. And they last long time. I might consider changing battery instead and get another 2 years… Apple is also super good with software updates on old hardware.
Apple is also super good with software updates on old hardware.
Except for that time they deliberately slowed down older phones with software updates so people would buy new phones.
Let me give you a simpler answer than watching an 8 minute video - Money
Since 2010, I've only gone through 4 phones. New phones seem to focus on better cameras which I don't use much.