Off Topic Discussions

[johnnyenglish]

I believe we never had a topic like this, at least recently.

So let me break it to you, and break it I will. Because I ran over my old phone with the car. 😅


What do you have as a phone and why? Pictures is a Plus.

After my good old faithful Xperia XZ2 got hit, well... it still works! Barely. I decided its time to get a newer phone for myself rejecting the company appointed S23. (I don't like Samsung much)

The decision was simple, I like Sony so it was obvious. Ordered a Xperia 1 V and it was DOA 😓 The choices was: Return or repair it. Yeah, I could return and get another one but instead I got this one.

Amazon had a promo deal for 600€ on a lovely RoG Phone 6 12Gb ram & 256 of storage.

Loving it so far.

How does it feel?

BIG! Overbuilt, heavy, hard to handle, 6,8inch blasting RGB everywhere. Lovely unboxing. Quality. FAST! Hot!

Versus Xperia 1 V. A slim, sober and tall phone.

Should you get one? Only if you're after a niche product. Don't get me wrong, both are a lovely piece of tech in its way but the Xperia is a much more capable daily driver, I ran a XZ2 with no screen protection during 5 years and endured a lot.

Good and Bad
Screen quality, the Xperia is amazingly sharp and has much more quality thanks to a 4K screen but the RoG feels more smooth with the 165hz refresh rate, BUTTERY SMOOTH!

More IO, RoG rocks 2 USB-C from which you can connect a keyboards, mouse, external drive like the Strix Arion or charge another device from its generous 6000mAh battery. Both have 3.5 jack which lets me keep using some of my older headphones. In this regard the S23 fails and only provides you with a single USB-C port.

Camera is a bit of a let down, even my old Xperia XZ2 had more options. The Xperia 1 V is a photography monster, pretty much unbeatable if you fine tune your pictures, the dedicated two stage shutter button is something I'll miss for sure.

Air triggers, 2 extra top very customizable buttons. These are amazing, not just for gaming, but mostly for gaming.

Armoury Crate, yeah... that. At least I can configure things easily like I do in my computer. It even syncs with my computer. Now that's awesome! You can even assign profiles, audio, rgb and overclocks. (You can overclock it - X Mode)

Sound. Don't buy an external speaker, use the phone instead. Loud and Punchy, very little to no distortion with quality to spare.

Battery life is good, handled 2 days of intense use or 4 days of little use. If you game though, the battery will drain very VERY fast while overclocked and at 165hz.

No wireless charging.........

Stunning visual effects between profiles or inside apps can frustrate lots of people during daily use but they can be disabled.

Dual wifi in X-Mode, It can connect to 2 wifi at the same time for some reason I've not yet researched.

Brings along accessories while other phones are skipping them. A 65Watt enormous brick that will also charge laptops, a quality paracord USB-C cable, a hard cover for extra protection plus RoG goodies.

Conclusion
The perfect phone FOR THOSE WHO DARE

[Key-J]

I have the Google Pixel 7

I have to say I've been super happy with it!

The camera quality is superb, and google's integrated AI to "enhance" your pictures a bit really makes them pop before any additional editing.

Battery life is great, and it just does what I need it to do.

[Wally_AMD]

Seconding the Pixel 7! I had a Pixel 3A before that, so it was a nice jump for me. I heard the Pixel 8 is around the corner...

[foppemike]

Just got a Samsung Galaxy A54 5G from Spectrum with a free year of service, as a add on a line with my wife. I had a Samsung Galaxy A21S for a couple of years and just wanted something a bit more updated. I don't use my phone for a lot of things as I will use a camera for photos, a handheld for gaming on the go, etc... I like having a capable phone, but I just use it for general things but it's nice to have something I can waste time playing a simple game on it. I think the A series of Samsung phones offer decent value and do most (all I need) of what most people need in a phone.

[johnnyenglish]

I had a chance to review the A53 but the A54 is like a brand new world. Finally a solid midranger with quality for everyone.

[rtbh99]

ive got an iphone 12 pro max. my husband convinced me to switch from my LG V20, which was really showing its age after 4 years. 3 years later and the iphone feels just as fast as the day i got it, and it still has great battery. camera has a bit to be desired though, my next upgrade will have a nicer camera with more features

[BigAl01]

I'm happy with my iPhone 13 Pro.  It's not too big and it takes great pictures.  Every picture I post is from my phone camera.  For example - see below.....

This is Reina, a girl up for adoption that I fed this morning.

[lowteck]

Always have the latest Samsung Galaxy.

Been a fanboy ever since the Galaxy3 and never looked back.

When I was a young man, my 1st baller cell phone was the Motorola StarTac (1st flip phone)

People would literally stop, stare, and point. They thought I was a Dealer or a Doctor.

[RockBottomBasement]

I have a POCO F1, and I have already replaced it's battery once. I hope it lasts for 5 more years lol.

[NewAtlantis]

Iam still using my old Moto G7 Power. It's getting time for a new one too.

The RoG is nice and makes good frontal captures during the call. You can even hear the person you are talking to when they are standing inside a crowd. That is my experience with it.

[yurikokolev]

I used a Samsung galaxy note 3 until december last year but now i am using a Xiaomi Mi Max 3

not the best phone in the world but for the price it has been awsome, nice screen , huge battery ( 5500m lasts 3 to 4 days), cameras are a bit crap but for photos i use my good old Nikon D90 anyway  

 

[Ilyesagg]

I have the Samsung S10 5G, I'm using it for 2 years and it still good

[Axxemann]

My S9+ is still alive.

I do need a replacement. But I NEED something with a 3.5mm jack. No one is making a phone with a 3.5mm jack anymore, and I'm mad as ^#$% about it.

Bluetooth in my car never worked properly, and I'll be darned if I'm going to drop $1200CAD and another $2000 on labor to fix it. I've yet to find a bluetooth adapter that doesn't completely suck. So... I want my 3.5mm jack so I can play my tunes on the stereo, or plug in an old school headset.

[johnnyenglish]

The Xperia line has 3.5mm Jack plus USB-C and the RoG have 2xUSB-C plus 3.5mm Jack 

[Axxemann]

Neither of which are available through my cell phone provider. And after the AM5 MoBo debacle, Asus lost me.

[BigAl01]

You can get an adapter for the 3.5mm audio jack to either USB-C or Lighting plug on Amazon.

[Axxemann]

Adapters are just more points of failure to snag on things and get ripped out. Or get wet. Or...

But now I have no choice. When the power button started going sour on the S9+, and I noticed the battery starting to bulge, I had to finally bite the bullet and upgrade. I went with a Samsung A54.

[BAinCO]

Why not just upgrade the head unit in your car and join us in the present? 😄

[Axxemann]

Because it's the factory audio in a 10 year old Dodge Journey I never wanted, but needed a vehicle and subsequently don't care about so long as it gets me to work every day. I'll buy the pickup truck I want after I buy my house. That's what happens when you don't have a credit history for 10 years and can't find a used pickup truck for 300 miles that isn't a beat to snot Ford lease return or a Dodge. I'd rather drive a Nissan Titan over those, and the Titan is junk. Even upgrading the head unit ain't worth the electircal hassle to me.

It's the first and last Dodge I will ever own. Uconnect is hot garbage. Two of my work trucks had it and it never worked properly in them, and they had great fleet maintenance.

[BAinCO]

Whatever greases your bearings, my man. I've been there.

[BigAl01]

Reminds me of when I greased wheel bearings (roller bearings) with my hands in the old auto shop days of high school.

[Axxemann]

I used to do that with my old Magna. Load up some grease into a nitrile glove, drop the bearing in and massage it.

[BAinCO]

Couple weeks ago I upgraded from the Galaxy S21 Ultra to the S23 Ultra. This camera is crazy.

[Awol]

Been using Huawei phones for the last few years. Had my current P30 for nearly 4 years and it hasnt missed a beat

[jaandoh]

Same as...  Had my P40 Pro for about 3 n half years now... 

Yeah it's made by China but it's fine for me and a half decent spec too, 8gb ram 250 for space, dual sim and takes sd cards too... 

[petosiris]

I'm the opposite of you when it comes to choosing phone brands, @johnnyenglish.  I like Samsung and not Sony.  😅  In fact, it's not only Sony phones I don't like, I don't like Sony at all as a company.  Period.  IMO Sony goes into the same box as other companies that want to rule the world with their proprietary technologies (Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, and more ...)

I have a 4 year old Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, which replaced my Galaxy Note 2.  So you understand I don't switch phones very often and the only reason I bought a new one in 2019 was because I needed a few new technologies, like Near Field Communication (NFC), wireless charging, security support for Bank ID certificates, a better camera and other new tech.

Why did I buy this particular phone?  Well, as I said, I like Samsung and wanted the top model so the choice was easy.  The picture above isn't of my phone but it looks the same as mine.

I don't need a new phone anytime soon but I will buy one if there are new techs I need.  About that, I'm not impressed by the innovativity of Samsung and other phone manyfacturers.  There are so many things they could add to a smart phone but they don't seem to have much creativity nowadays.  Instead they mostly just copy each other.  So I'm in no hurry to upgrade yet.

[plaidygami]

I have a Google Pixel 7 Pro and frankly I regret it. Like, yeah, Pixels arguably have the best camera quality, but this phone's battery life is absolutely subpar. I'm thinking of eventually moving on to Motorola (since they're finally improving their software update support) or maybe Samsung (yeah, they've got some bloatware, but overall, I was happy with my previous Galaxy S9+).

[Dragokar]

That's my recent history after the old style BBs:

• Blackberry Bold 9700
• Huawei Ascend P1 (yeah the first one)
• Neffos (TP-Link) X1
• Nokia 5.3
• and my actual phone the Pixel 6a

I did use to work for Vodafone and Vobis (a now tiny german retailer for PC and stuff) and tried many many maaaaaaaaany phone over the decades but mostly stay at the lower price end for my personal phone. I just switched to Google because of the updates and the minimal OS that I can change how I feel with no bloatware like on Samsung.

[ThreeDee]

Google Pixel 6a "OhCool" edition with custom headers and a fabricated story to go with it

[petosiris]

One thing about cell hones I want to mention, in case anyone is interested in more easy serviceability, is that the European Union (EU) has passed a new law saying that batteries in consumer products, like phones and laptops, must be replacable by the consumer.  As you probably know, many new phones are not easy to change the battery on and in all practicality one must send it in to a company which can replace it for you.  This will also void the water leak guarantee, in most cases.

Now, the consumer laws in the EU have a tendency to be adopted by manufacturers world wide.  Like the green ROHS standard and the Micro-SD charging plug.  Those which don't want to follow these laws cannot sell their products in most of Europe, which has more than 800 million people, so the choice is not difficult.  Except for some manufacturers, which only sell products for their home market (like in China) and therefore won't be affected by these laws.

It also benefits consumers in the U.S., which, how should I put it ... has a somewhat relaxed view on consumer rights.  😛

[quentincrews]

Currently still have my iPhone SE 2020.  Battery life is getting rather poor, and I’m increasingly jealous of Face ID and the better cameras on the fancier/newer phones, so I’m eyeing an upgrade. Would love to have better macro photo capabilities too as I take a lot of bug pictures for iNaturalist.

[Vynski]

My first cell phone was a Motorola flip phone.  Like @johnnyenglish it first fell into a water hole in the parking lot then hit by one or more cars.  Most recently, I have a Samsung SM-J337V, the cheapest thing i could get since I don't do internet on my phone, just talk and text and on occasions a mobile hotspot.  If I'm going to use the internet I want to be able to see what I'm doing on a 27" monitor as opposed to a 2"x4" screen.

I have so much trouble with the size of everything on a cell phone that I am constantly punching wrong buttons or whatever else.  I sometimes think it has a mind of it's own.  So I have named mine "Dumb A$$", get it smart phone? 

[petosiris]

---

@Vynski wrote:

[...] I don't do internet on my phone, just talk and text and on occasions a mobile hotspot.  If I'm going to use the internet I want to be able to see what I'm doing on a 27" monitor as opposed to a 2"x4" screen.

I have so much trouble with the size of everything on a cell phone that I am constantly punching wrong buttons or whatever else.

---

👆 this! 

I've never understood why cell phones are so popular to use for Internet, except for the availability when you bring it with you wherever you go.  But with the small screen and small keyboard, the disadvantages outweighs the advantages.  At least for me, who aren't using my cell phone for much else than for calls and sometimes texting.  Ok, occationally I admit I also take some photos and listen to music.  🙂  But I hate to browse Internet on it.

[johnnyenglish]

I think its a false practicality nowadays. I see my colleagues using outlook, excel, sharepoint, teams and all the Microsoft gang at work when I can't and won't do it unless its an ULTRA EMERGENCY! I much rather carry the 13inch laptop around. The phone is too small for actual work. Even the biggest screen feels handicaped to me. Its just atrocious.

Flix movies and games with the AMD link, SURE!! The big screen, 165hz display and the top triggers on the RoG phone make it worth your while. But thats it. Even writing this message right now makes me feel a bit nauseous, the small square rectangle where you write is just awful.

And I'm not even mentioning ergonomics.

[Axxemann]

I'll agree with all of the above. Yes, I have a bunch of apps on it, but they're mainly for funzies, and only one game. I'll watch youtube or read an e-book from my phone, or mindlessly surf the web, but doing work on it? NOPE. Only reason I have Teams on my phone is because I work alone, and the phone needs to be answered while I'm on watch. So if I want to step away from my desk and heat up some food, have a smoke or restock the printer in the Driver's Room... I gotta have it in my pocket. Thankfully, most of the drivers are pretty good about me saying: "I'm not at my desk right now. Can you give me 5 or 10 minutes to hobble back and call you from there?" The ones that aren't good with it get to suffer.

[petosiris]

We're 100% aligned about this subject, @johnnyenglish.  😂

About streaming movies and stuff from the phone to the TV, I know about the possibility but have never felt any use to try it out.  I have Netflix and other streaming channels directly on my TV.  The only use case I can see for casting something from my phone to a TV would be if I was a guest somewhere and wanted to show the host something on their TV.  But since I have few friends I don't get many invitations (5+ years since the last invitation, I think) so I seldom leave my house anyway.  Haha.

[johnnyenglish]

I do cast on the TV from youtube, its faster to search for videos but you got me wrong about Netflix, I watch on the phone while on the go, like in vacations or something.

[petosiris]

When I think more about it, there's maybe also an age explanation for why many people today use their cell phones for everything.  I saw my first "mobile phone" in 1983-84 in my boss' office.  It was a dragable thing the size of a standard desktop sewing machine and weighed as much too.  Probably more, because of the heavy batteries.  I didn't try to lift "the boss machine".

    

I was about 24 yo at the time and wasn't tempted at all to get one of those beasts.  It was also too expensive for me to even think about buying one.  So my first cell phone was a Nokia about a decade later.  It was small enough to bring around with me, if I wore trousers with large enough pockets.

However, young people today have grown up with smart cell phones, so it's a different story for them.  They're used to carry one around and use it all the time, especially for social media I hear.  I'm not using social media much either.  I have a Facebook account, but only because my brother nagged me for years about creating it "You're the only one I know who aren't on FB" ...

So I check in every now and then (on my desktop PC with a 32" screen) but not every day.  I don't envy those youngsters who spend hours on social media every day and even lose sleep because of it, to try and avoid being kicked out of the friends circle because they're not available 24/7.

[mengelag]

S22 Ultra, love the Dual SIM and the stylus