Tell me about it. An over 3 year old chip and still flogging it as if it’s new. Which means all the phones in that segment will still be only as powerful as 3 year old budget phones.
The article says “manufacturers” but then only mentions Samsung in the article…
Not exactly a surprise tbh because they have to compete with iPhone. And I bet it’s only for flagship devices. I can’t see the budget devices getting this.
I agree, from a user point of view, however from Google’s point of view guys only job is to make money for the company, which he seems to be doing.
Android has been left to languish and especially the mid range and budget segment. Google had let OEM’s use the largest sales market to keep selling junk low spec phones year after year with the same specs and no meaningful improvements. If you wanna really great cameras or wireless charging, your only choice is to buy a premium device. That locks out billions of people from having a great Android experience.
Even the premium segment hasn’t seen that much improvement from Google. It’s basically only Samsung who are pushing things forward through OneUI and through hardware Innovations like folding phones and zoom cameras to make the experience better.
I for one am tired of it and have decided that my next phone is an iPhone. For the same price as an A55 I can get a brand new iPhone 12 or for less I can get a refurbished model and have far superior cameras than any Android below €750 as well as years of OS updates and enjoy all the great user features Apple has added to iOS recently.
The last iPhone I had was the 7 and it was ok but my S7 Edge was better. I’ve been on Android since then but now iPhone has finally made some great improvements in both hardware and software which I think should offer me a better experience than budget Android.
I bought a Sony Xperia 10iii back in December 2022 for the headphone jack, SD card slot and IP rating. Plus it’s Sony and one of my all time best phones was my Xperia Z2.
When it comes time to replace it I will first look to see which phone offers a jack. I use it several times a week.
However the downside is that the only premium phones with it are Sony but very expensive. I can’t afford a 5v when though I’d love it.
If you get a midrange phone you always lose out on a great camera. Which is crappy. So you have to choose between headphone jack with poor cameras Vs no headphone jack with good cameras.
Or somehow get enough money together to buy an Xperia 5v.
Ps don’t bother with ZenFone. Asus is known for poor quality and very, very bad support
Sony will be a niche phone no matter what. Dropping 4k and 21:9 won’t increase the customer base.
Price drops, better OS support and selling in more markets might help.
I have the Xperia 10iii and love the 21:9 and design. It’s also very fast and with Nova Launcher 8 it’s very fluid.
The cameras are good but not as great as I’d hoped considering they typically position themselves as photographers phones. That seems to be reserved for the expensive phones.
Given that they make the lenses they have a chance to position themselves as phones with great cameras when at the budget and mid level and that might generate sales.
The big problem with the budget and mid range is poor cameras. The 2a is trying to change that but e what’s needed is Samsung s series level photography but at budget and mid market prices.
People really want that but keep being disappointed. Only Samsung A34/A55 kind of gives a decent experience but better is needed.
I feel like Sony could do well there if it manages to get S series/iPhone quality photos on those prices.
I don’t think it will be a loss leader because phones at this price are specced the same or better. Plus they are making them in India, which is super cheap. I think this is aimed at filling up the bank account with much needed cash as well as massively expanding the customer base.
This is what I said they should have done last year when the 2 came out. Many times I commented and complained on socials and YouTube, even directly to Carl, that the 2 was way too expensive and not many will buy it. What they needed was a cheaper, mass appeal phone to build the brand and customer base.
Well I was right. They sold 60 000 in the first hour and revealed that phone 1 AND phone 2 sales COMBINED never reached 100 000 units…
That phone 2 barely sold. Exactly as I said. He had to lick his wounds and learn his lesson. He thought he could just come out and compete with Apple, Samsung and the rest just because his phone looks like an iPhone… Think again.
They subsequently went on to sell 100 000+ of the 2a on that first day, which is a very strong start and injected massive cash into the business.
Let’s see if the sales continue but at that price they are least will be looked at by consumers as an option, which wasn’t the case with 1 or 2 due to their high pricing.
Must have been very uncomfortable explaining himself to investors after the phone 1 and 2 failures…
Yes the 2a definitely stands out with it’s design and cameras in this segment.
Ok some reviews I’ve seen and the camera was really bad. Others said it was ok. Another said it was inconsistent - sometimes they got great shots and other times terrible shots.
They definitely have work to do in the camera department but tbh all OEM’s struggle with this. It took Apple and Samsung years to make their cameras good so Nothing will need time with that.
The A35 is basically the current A54 but with the new frame.
I was thinking about getting the A54 later in the year for my wife and I but by then I probably won’t be able to find any if the A55 comes out in march.
And I’m not a fan of the new frame on the A55 plus the price will be higher than the current A54. I would buy the A54 now but have to save up for it…
I don’t mind the Exynos because with Samsung you get other benefits like OS updates, accessories and service/repairs.
Plus their warranty is normally good and the resale value is good.
Not to mention their Bluetooth earbuds work well with their phones and their watches and tablets.
Another big plus is OneUI which has tons of features and customisation and is updated at least once a year. So you get new android features every year and new UI features.
Plus because of walk in service you can easily replace your battery once a year, making it work like new.
With other devices you don’t get any of this and end up replacing them every 2 years, which is more expensive.
I just used once a year as an example. I’ve noticed after 1 year I no longer get 2 day battery life on my Xperia whereas for the first year I only charged it every second day. Now I charge every night.
If I had a Samsung I’d just go have it swapped out in 1 hour and be back to 2 day battery life.
If you ask most average people why they are getting a new phone it’s normally because the battery no longer lasts all day and they have to change up mid day. If they had a way to easily and quickly, and cheaply, have the battery replaced with waterproofing still in tact, many would do that and not have to get a whole new phone.
I can’t imagine using the battery for 5 years. After 2 years my V30 only gave me 2-3 hours of screen on time max. I AVOIDED using it just so I could make it through a work day in case I got a call. And no 3rd party repairer had Lg batteries…
A mobile phone without a dependable battery is a paperweight. What’s the point of having it if it always has to be plugged in to a charger???
Yes maybe. But honestly I don’t think one tiny company selling 500 phones year will make any difference to the environment. What’s needed is legislation to make all phone makers be eco friendly and allow easy parts replacement.
Definitely. It’s good that they exist and are an example to others for sure. They just shouldn’t expect lots of sales. Hopefully enough to keep them funded and pay wages.
The problem with Xiaomi is that you don’t get OS updates and there is a lack of accessories and service/support locally.
To be fair that is the case with most phones that are not Samsung or Apple.
Nothing does have mail-in service at least, which is better than no service, but also a pain.
In the last 4 years I’ve had the Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite, the Lg V30 and the Sony Xperia 10iii. I basically got them cheap because I couldn’t afford anything about €350.
And while they were good devices, like the X6 Pro will be, I’m always frustrated at being stuck on an older android version, not being able to find phone cases (except on AliExpress but there are junk and you wait months to get it) and no repair services at all. No battery replacements, no screen or back cover replacements, etc. Even the 3rd party repair shops often don’t carry parts for these makes.
They’ll happily give you a 3rd party generic part which looks way worse than the original, but who wants that?
Hence I’ve made a decision that from now on I’m only buying Samsung because they have a 1 hour walk in service centre with genuine parts and the waterproofing is still there afterwards. Plus you get 4 years OS updates and 5 years security updates. And there are TONS of Samsung accessories wherever you go locally as well as online.
With such service I could have the battery replaced once a year, meaning top battery endurance and full waterproofing. Plus the latest OS update and cool accessories like magsafe cases for use in the car with a magnetic holder, diff colour cases for a different look on different days, large availability of chargers, cables etc. Plus if I eventually buy their BT buds then work seamlessly with them.
And they make great tablets, which will do the whole sync thing if you want.
I’d really encourage anyone to think about doing the same and not wasting time and money on these brands with no support.
You just end up buying a new phone every 2 years which is more expensive in the long run.
It’s a great phone to be honest. Firstly it’s a beautiful design and the materials are high quality. The narrowness of it is great because it slips easily into a pocket and it’s very light. The tall display means you scroll less but it’s narrow enough to make typing easier.
Haptics are very good. The screen quality is very good and the cameras I’d say are equal to most €$ 500 phones. They do a little post processing but in good light the main camera gives excellent results. The wide angle camera is decent in good light but has slightly less detail than the main camera, but it’s good for landscapes.
The zoom lense is 2x and the quality is ok. Only use it in good light.
Night photography or shooting with the sun at you, eg sunset, is a disaster. Crap low light photos with lots of noise.
The software is actually good. It’s very fast and slick. I run Nova Launcher 8 beta and the animations are lovely and fluid, apps open fast and scrolling is very fast and smooth. I never get lag or anything like that.
Video on 1080p is very nice. I’m pleased with the quality, steadiness and sound capture. In general the cameras are great in good lighting. Easily as good as, if not better than the Nothing 2a for example, which has 50mp cameras.
I also like the placement of the buttons on the right. I can unlock the phone while drawing it from my pocket and I use the Assistant button quite a bit for timers and reminders. I find the button very, very convenient.
Battery life has been great. For the first year I would only recharge every 2nd night with quite a bit of usage. Now after 1 year I do need to charge it once a day, by 11pm I have about 20-30% left. If I barely use the phone, then it will still last 2 days.
I paid €350 and for that price I’d say it’s very good. Would I want to pay €500? Not really.
To me €500 is what the S24, OnePlus 12, Asus ZenFone, iPhone etc should cost and the Ultra’s/pro’s should be €750.
If you can get it for €350 or less I’d say it’s good deal. It’s also IP68 which is rare at this price and I use the headphone jack alot.
The only downside is service/repairs, OS updates and accessories. In the UK this might not be a problem but here in Cyprus there are no repairs that I know of and definitely no accessories. I had to buy my cases off AliExpress and wait weeks for them to come. And after about 2 months they started yellowing because they are transparent.
Accessories like phone cases of different types, features and colours, as well as prices. You even get cases with magsafe magnets to use with wireless chargers and phone holders. Also chargers, cables etc
And most tech shops will stock these type of accessories in bulk. But they won’t have Realme cases, or Xiaomi cases, or OnePlus cases, or Vivo cases, or Oppo cases etc. You need to import those from AliExpress…
From what I’ve read, they are considerably cheaper than Snapdragon. So entry level phones tend to use them more to keep the price of the phone down. Much like Nothing did with the 2a.
Glad to hear. It needs it. But it needs more than that. The functionality is quite basic.
I use 1Password now that it’s on Linux and it’s fantastic. Way, way more categories to choose from and beautiful design as well as fast sync make it a pleasure to use. I wouldn’t use anything else
Having categories masks everything tidier and easier to find. If I’m looking for a Software licence key I saved, I search that category or Kik in there instead of looking through the entire database.
I don’t like the Bitwarden model of dumping it all together and then having to search everything.
I’m old fashioned.
I don’t think 1Password can be self hosted.
Do you mean find duplicate passwords or duplicate items? Doing a search will bring up all items so you will see duplicate entries and can delete them.
If I’m not mistaken there is the Watchtower functionality which shows you reused passwords - websites where you’ve used the same password each time (duplicates) and then you can use 1Password to generate new ones.
Google Messages is a mess. It NEVER falls back to SMS if you lose data connection, making it very unreliable.
As a result I’ve had several messages fail, with no notice unless I open the app and see the “failed” message.
As a result I disabled RCS and the app and installed QKSMS and only use SMS. It’s 100% reliable. For chats I use WhatsApp.
Add to that they are now blocking rooted users WITHOUT TELLING THEM, and it’s really a pile of steaming sh!t.
Suchai needs to go. Google as a whole is getting worse under his leadership.
Even Android has stagnated under him. It should be way better than it is but he doesn’t inspire creativity and excitement in the staff. They are all playing it safe, with zero innovation.
What a joke! It’s literally the LAST phone I’d ever consider buying. With that Tensor junk inside and a very basic UI, plus the actual design of the phone is quite ugly with that horrible camera bar.
I’m someone with relatively small hands, plus I want my phone to be on the smaller side since I prefer to use my tablet/computer/tv to watch content. But this trend where many manufacturers tend to keep futures away from smaller phones to drive people to bigger phones is driving me crazy and really makes it hard for me to buy...
I agree. That’s one of the reasons I have a Sony Xperia 10. It’s has a 6" screen and is narrower than other phones making it very easy to hold and pocket.
Sadly the OEM’s will tell you that when given the choice, customers always go for the bigger screen because they think they are getting more. Which is why we have this situation.
Asus have the ZenFone which is smaller but even they are making a bigger 6.7" version next.
I hope so but I suspect it will only be the bigger one. I think they took a chance on the 6" but it didn’t sell as well as hoped so I think they are changing strategy.
My reasoning is that the ZenFone 10 did not upgrade much compared to ZenFone 9 which means they didn’t sell enough to justify spending a lot on the 10. If it sold well they would have added more features.
9 out of 10 teens use iPhone. Because of status and iMessage.
Looks like Android is becoming the OS for the rest of the world. Which is ok since I live in the rest of the world.
Not really surprising. Apple had a great name in the US since the iMac and iPod and has been sure to build on it. If I were American I might also be proud to use an “American product”
Thankfully outside the US we have the choice of android. Having said that, the rich and people who love status, do use iPhones
Qualcomm admits: the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 is just an "enhanced version" of the Snapdragon 695 - GSMArena.com news (m.gsmarena.com)
Prominent Android manufacturers commit to supporting phone software for 7 years (www.cnet.com)
cross-posted from: slrpnk.net/post/9647496...
[General question to the Android community] Have you given up on the audio jack, or do you still only buy devices that have it?
(Posting this here rather than !askandroid as it’s a quite general question)...
OnePlus Ace 3V touted to land as new mid-range AI, gaming and battery UFS 4.0 powerhouse (www.notebookcheck.net)
Sony Xperia 1 VI might give up on the 4K display and tall aspect ratio - GSMArena (www.gsmarena.com)
cross-posted from: lemdro.id/post/7048989...
Nothing Phone (2a) review (m.gsmarena.com)
Nothing Phone 2a Debut in the Below-$500 Smartphone Market, Featuring Limited-Time AI Offer (www.reviewspace.info)
Basically you get 1 years Pro subscription of perplexity AI (worth $200). If you order until March 19 2024. Directly from the nothing website....
Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 go on sale early, here are their prices (www.gsmarena.com)
Seems they dropped the mediatek soc for their own exynos in the a3x series.
Xiaomi Poco X6 Pro review - One of the best smartphones for less than 400 Euros (www.notebookcheck.net)
MediaTek named as most popular smartphone SoC vendor at end of 2023 (www.notebookcheck.net)
Source: twitter.com/Canalys/status/1764887135533011122
Pixel 8a gets more expensive: Colors, prices, memory of the new Google phone (winfuture.de)
Bitwarden's app is about to get a lot prettier (www.androidpolice.com)
Google is blocking RCS on rooted devices (www.theverge.com)
Wtf is the reasoning here, just checked and it’s broken for me also.
MWC 2024 Awards announced: Google Pixel 8 series wins Best Smartphone (m.gsmarena.com)
Best Smartphone: Google Pixel 8 series...
I'm tired with all this Big-Phone-Elitism
I’m someone with relatively small hands, plus I want my phone to be on the smaller side since I prefer to use my tablet/computer/tv to watch content. But this trend where many manufacturers tend to keep futures away from smaller phones to drive people to bigger phones is driving me crazy and really makes it hard for me to buy...
Android users switched less frequently to iPhones in 2023, report shows (www.androidpolice.com)