Disappointing Phones

2 hours ago (cadence.moe)

I have to complain about some side effects of shutting down the 3G network. Similar to New Zealand, Australia is also shutting down the 3G network. It is quite reasonable since most people have upgraded to a newer phone on paper.

However, it also means that a quite range of phones will not support emergency calling via VoLTE, since it not only requires a 4G/5G capability, but also requires a separate protocol needed to make the emergency calling available without a SIM card, I suppose?

So, the final result is, the telecommunications department of Australia forces customers to switch phones, and I just don’t want to switch. I am currently using two phones, one is an iPhone which is fine, another one is a Xiaomi phone purchased from China, which will be banned and I am very satisfied with it.

The final result is, I purchased a budget 5G phone as a hotspot device and use it with my Xiaomi phone. With that said, I still feel frustrated. I contacted two carriers and both of them said “oh we can do nothing”, although the shutdown notice email said “we will find you a solution”. According to my friend, it is “we kindly ask patients to avoid passing away in the hallways.”

> I'd have to fill up my backpack with the heavy camera equipment and carry it around everywhere, which would make photography more labourious and less spontaneous.

I'd recommend looking into a camera such as a Ricoh GR series. Yes, it is an additional cost, so it doesn't solve the 'expense' part of the equation, but you'd get significantly better photos from it than any phone camera, plus it's very compact so wouldn't need to lug around much at all in terms of equipment.

Or something like a Fujifilm XM5 with a pancake lens - this will give you a compact setup, with the flexibility of using different lenses if you wished.

I was in the small phone camp. I’m in a fortunate position where due to my work I have a work phone that has regularly refreshed hardware that I have some input on, so I made the conscious decision to switch to a max-sized handset (iPhone 15 pro max). I gave up being able to ‘one-hand’ the phone, but let’s be honest - all modern mainstream phones can’t really be used with one hand easily, that ship has sailed.

I really liked it. The larger screen is more productive, and the improved cameras on the larger phones are worth it for me. I take more and better photos of my kids.

Sometimes it’s worth trying the thing you don’t think you want - you might be surprised.

Looks like Pixel 9a is supported by LieneageOS. No phone jack but otherwise a very competent modern device.

Instead of trying to shop locally from such a small pool of devices I'd advise the OP to pick a protective case and a screen protector since they seem to hang on to their devices for a long time. A device like the Pixel 9a or the upcoming 10a with their oversized battery for the specs is likely to deliver many years of service before degrading to the point of being unusable.

  • I’d recommend Pixel but they have terrible battery life and they heat up pretty easily. On the other hand, they have support for Graphene OS, long software support and very nice cameras. Samsung and Xiaomi are absolutely worst choices when it comes to software; they are filled to brim with bloatware and worse, blatant spyware. The only way to use them is to immediately install a clean alternative OS, such as LineageOS.

    • I have had no issues with any of my Pixel phones overheating and I've had many. Maybe you have an issue with a specific app that misbehaved in the background?

      I don't think there is any inherent flaw in the design of the pixels that causes them to overheat or drain battery. And the OP is likely to replace the Android OS with Lineage anyway.

Librem 5, my daily driver fulfills three out of five requirements. Camera is too weak and size is too big. Software is GNU/Linux, so no bloatware. Can be repaired easily. Has the headphone jack.

  • This is fantastic. How long have you used it? Can you tell us more? I'll probably buy one of these in the near future once I can research a bit more and I have to decide where to buy it (if in USA on travel, or ship from wherever they might sell it in Europe).

    Proper GNU/Linux in my phone and full control is exactly what I want, even if exploratory.