Are phones becoming a bore?

Kreeeee · 25 Jan 2019 at 18:28

4K8KW10 said:
500 is too low. Depending on the user, can be only 6 months, with average users around 2 years, and someone who touches the phone rarely, 3-4 years.

I agree, which is why I would happily have a 1mm thicker phone to be able to have changeable batteries. Unfortunately we live in a world where chucking away perfectly useable devices for the next shiny thing is the norm so no one fights for features like that.

4K8KW10 · 25 Jan 2019 at 18:28

silvagti said:
It's very noticeable prices have increased to the point wherea flagship model now costs over a grand (when the equivalent used to retail at half that a couple of years ago) whilst delivering very little advantage over a similar model costing a quarter of the price.

Only the ones who pay the charged prices and change their phone every season are to be blamed. You know you can use the latest model every year with a not-very-large monthly charge?!

mrochester · 25 Jan 2019 at 18:42

Kreeeee said:
I agree, which is why I would happily have a 1mm thicker phone to be able to have changeable batteries. Unfortunately we live in a world where chucking away perfectly useable devices for the next shiny thing is the norm so no one fights for features like that.

None of my phones with non-removable batteries get thrown away. They either get sold or handed down.

4K8KW10 · 25 Jan 2019 at 18:43

mrochester said:
None of my phones with non-removable batteries get thrown away. They either get sold or handed down.

You can recycle any phone, too. There are firms who extract the precious metals and will give you a discount for your new purchase.

Topmetom · 25 Jan 2019 at 20:06

Monkeynut · 25 Jan 2019 at 21:26

I bought a Xiaomi Redmi 6A for £82.59 off eBay(it was actually less as this is was when eBay had the 15% off voucher), and it does everything needed a phone should do. Cameras are fine, touchscreen responsive, CPU is a 2GHz Cortex A53 which is good enough in a phone these days, 2GB ram and 16GB storage with micro SD slot which I seem to have had since forever. A 720p display and higher I can hardly tell the difference. And I look at the mother in law's latest top end Samsung and I see better but not enough to justify the price tag.

Mark1989 · 26 Jan 2019 at 17:55

I don't get the issue with non removable batteries either never had an issue then again I haven't kept a phone longer than 18months for years

So unless the theory of over time they become weaker is true I wouldn't know

Minstadave · 26 Jan 2019 at 18:07

Mark1989 said:
I don't get the issue with non removable batteries either never had an issue then again I haven't kept a phone longer than 18months for years

So unless the theory of over time they become weaker is true I wouldn't know

Even at 18 months you'd see some effect on battery capacity, although it won't be severe. It's not a theory that batteries become weaker over time, it's well documented.

Mark1989 · 26 Jan 2019 at 18:30

Minstadave said:
Even at 18 months you'd see some effect on battery capacity, although it won't be severe. It's not a theory that batteries become weaker over time, it's well documented.

But isn't that only the case if you constantly drip charge it? So by that I mean let it get to 67% it goes down to 15% you charge it again but not to full and use again.

Minstadave · 26 Jan 2019 at 18:54

Mark1989 said:
But isn't that only the case if you constantly drip charge it? So by that I mean let it get to 67% it goes down to 15% you charge it again but not to full and use again.

No, all lithium ion batteries wear over time.

Shocky-FM · 28 Jan 2019 at 16:26

They've been boring for a while now, the hardware keeps improving but the quality of the apps/games is still garbage.

Other than a marginally better camera, display and battery the increased performance doesn't matter anymore.

Snapdragon 820 was released back in 2015, is there anything it can't handle on the play store today? Nope, nothing.

mrochester · 28 Jan 2019 at 16:36

Shocky-FM said:
They've been boring for a while now, the hardware keeps improving but the quality of the apps/games is still garbage.

Other than a marginally better camera, display and battery the increased performance doesn't matter anymore.

Snapdragon 820 was released back in 2015, is there anything it can't handle on the play store today? Nope, nothing.

It always amused me that people thought mobile gaming was going to be a thing like we were ever going to get PC calibre games on a smartphone.

Shocky-FM · 28 Jan 2019 at 16:53

mrochester said:
It always amused me that people thought mobile gaming was going to be a thing like we were ever going to get PC calibre games on a smartphone.

It could have taken off but sadly the Freemium rubbish arrived at the same time and ruined everything.

They should be banned, the App Store and Play Store would instantly be 10x better as a result.

AndyCr15 · 28 Jan 2019 at 17:00

Mark1989 said:
But isn't that only the case if you constantly drip charge it? So by that I mean let it get to 67% it goes down to 15% you charge it again but not to full and use again.

That's almost exactly how you're supposed to treat them. Don't fast charger them, don't let them below 40% and don't charge them higher than 80% to get the best life from them.

chroniclard · 28 Jan 2019 at 17:07

Got my son one of the new iPhone SE's, 20 quid a month for 12 month contract, 5 gig data, loads of minutes. Total bargain that, great little phone and reasonable specs.

413x · 28 Jan 2019 at 22:46

Shocky-FM said:
It could have taken off but sadly the Freemium rubbish arrived at the same time and ruined everything.

They should be banned, the App Store and Play Store would instantly be 10x better as a result.

Yeah, given up with mobile gaming as its hard to tell what is pay-to-win

mark43 · 29 Jan 2019 at 09:30

I don't think the issue is purely down to freemium games, also that many types of games just don't work well on a phone. I can't be the only one who struggles to control a game using an on screen joystick on a phone can I?

mrochester · 29 Jan 2019 at 10:00

mark43 said:
I don't think the issue is purely down to freemium games, also that many types of games just don't work well on a phone. I can't be the only one who struggles to control a game using an on screen joystick on a phone can I?

I just don’t play games on my phone because they are either too simplistic (candy crush etc), too fiddly to control without proper buttons/mouse or are pay to win.

MissChief · 29 Jan 2019 at 10:38

Have to say no new phone has really interested me recently. I have an S7 that is still working fine and has a full cover case on it so is still absolutely pristine. I don't really see any phone that's a massive improvement over it so I think I'm going to keep it for a while longer.

Shocky-FM · 29 Jan 2019 at 13:22

mark43 said:
I don't think the issue is purely down to freemium games, also that many types of games just don't work well on a phone. I can't be the only one who struggles to control a game using an on-screen joystick on a phone can I?

Most games work just fine, Gameloft was producing some great mobile games around the Galaxy S2/3 period, first-person shooters, racing games, 3rd person, if they could get away with coping something they would and most worked really well, and this was back in 2011-2012.

Freemium, pay to win as well as cosmetic add-ons have done a lot of damage to gaming as a whole, including to PC and Consoles.