Everything is quite boring

Ricochet J

Ricochet J

Ricochet J

Soldato
Joined
29 Jun 2004
Posts
12,957
The mobile phone world has become quite boring. Nothing significant has really come out in the last 4 years (bar finger print recognition tech).

Everything seems stagnant.

What's going on?
 
Yep. I hardly visit this forum nowadays.

I think the only really interesting devices in the last couple of years have been the YotaPhone and Sharp Aquos Crystal, the former still being too expensive and latter didn't come to the UK!

All these big screen devices don't interest me.
 
Would be nice for battery technology to catch up. These days we are over the moon that a phone can last a whole day:(
 
Microsoft have Continuum due out, to help merge phones and PCs.

 
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Ricochet J said:
The mobile phone world has become quite boring. Nothing significant has really come out in the last 4 years (bar finger print recognition tech).

Everything seems stagnant.

What's going on?
Click to expand...

I like to think of it as the calm before the storm (2016) but I've been largely the same this year too. Nothing announced up to today has made me go "I MUST have that" whereas 2 years ago it seemed every other flagship was a want.

So ideally what do I want from whatever I upgrade the Z3 to?

- Minimum 64GB internal storage. 128GB if no SD card slot.
- NFC (for contactless payments coming soon).
- Waterproofing.
- OIS on the camera.
- USB Type-C.
- Stereo speakers.
- 3500mAh or greater battery.

I don't care if there's no 2K/4K display, 1080P on a <5.5" phone is perfect, and conserves battery life. I just want a great user experience with great battery life in a thin and sleek device. For now, the Z3 fits that criteria. But I like gadgets, there's only so long I can hold off not getting a new toy.
 
loltim said:
Would be nice for battery technology to catch up. These days we are over the moon that a phone can last a whole day:(
Click to expand...

Still have a soft spot for my Nokia 3310 from 14 years a go and it's week plus battery life, but we've decided to turn phones into PCs'...

Personally I think it might be worth someone making slightly thicker phones again with much better battery life, if the tech isn't around the corner. Quite why we all need these ultra thin things is beyond me to be honest, you can't even grip them properly without having to buy an additional case for them.
 
mrk said:
- NFC (for contactless payments coming soon).
Click to expand...

Is that actually going to ever happen?

I remember when I first got my Galaxy Nexus I naively thought 'Yay! Soon I can be rid of my wallet and my phone will replace all these bulky debit/store cards.'

3.5 years later... :/
 
Yeah back then it was a shadow feature we dreamed about getting over here, but the recent Google IO revealed a hard push for Android Pay to complete against Apple and Samsung Pay which are also launching later in the year.

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone...hones/google-android-pay-vs-apple-pay-1295416

If this goes well then Android Pay will overtake Apple Pay as it's supported on more devices than either of the competition and could prove to be more rewarding.

I just hope we get it sooner, rather than later. We've only just recently got Apple Pay in the UK, so I imagine Google won't hang about after Android M is officially out in September~
 
The annoying thing is Google had a chance to get ahead with Google Wallet. They were pretty much ready and just had to implement it better with more support. Honestly though mobile payments still will not make new flagships more exciting. Smart watches even though young, I'm not sure there's much to add to them either :p. Oddly I feel smart glasses may be the next best thing... If properly done right.
 
Haha smart watches are flying off the shelves aren't they :p

I think aside from recreational or niche uses for specific apps (nav, sports tracking etc), they're a bit of a gimmick in everyday use. Step counting and the like is done by phone gyros anyway so there's not even that. And you need the phone on you for the pairing to work and data to transmit anyway.

Glasses will be the way forward, but will bring about new H&S strongholds around the workplace for sure and government rules and regs on the road.
 
My last few phones have all developed a ropey micro-usb connection after daily use as a satnav. I'm hoping either USB-C or wireless charging will solve it in future.

IMO - 2013 flagships (say Snapdragon 600, 2GB RAM) had enough grunt to do what most smartphones currently do. Higher resolution displays are needed to justify better specs, which in turn leads to the drive to bigger phones. Anything much over 300ppi is fine for a phone screen. Tablets exist - ergo I have no interest in big phones. A 720p 4-4.7" phone is fine as far as I'm concerned.

Because phones are in constant use, they get a battering. I typically find my smartphones suffer from wear and tear that compromises usage within 2 years. That will keep a demand for handsets but not necessarily upgrades. I seriously considered a side-grade this time.

Asking myself what I wanted a phone to do better, I came up with battery life, durability, more available storage for apps, speaker quality. It's nothing revolutionary. Really all my smartphones have just done better and faster what my HTC desire was doing in 2010.
 
I'm content with boring. It just seems no one is putting a phone together with the all the right specs we have now. There's always an omission or two and it plain sucks.
 
Smartphones have matured. It happened with basic mobile phones and feature phones. You can tell when a mobile phone market matures when manufacturers start competing on size rather than features.
 
Tin foil hat time a bit here but I honestly think the phone manufacturers have some sort of cartel thing going on where they have all agreed to never release a phone which ticks all the boxes.

Samsung make incredible hardware yet generally bad software & questionable aesthetics
Sony make great looking phones in both hardware and software areas yet cripple them with either insufficient storage and seriously under performing cameras
HTC - great looking phones, good software but terrible cameras and less than great battery life
Motorola have just released 2 phones with the specs round the wrong way (with bad choice of display)

Seriously - it MUST be intentional!! And now qualcom have come up trumps with a chip which could double as a radiator which causes hands to burn and cameras to switch off...
 
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Does seem odd
The perfect phone exists.. Just not as one phone..

I would absolutely give up thin phone fit me battery
It is my absolute biggest problem.
And with the unending charge cycles, and non replace, it's just not funny

1080p screens help
 
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