Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack • Hacker News Board

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#321

Post by davchana » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:22 AM UTC

hakfoo wrote: post #316

davchana wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well I used $200 Honor 7 for 3 years, most of the regular non vacation days I didn't carry my Canon Canera, but used Honor phone camera only. Then because of battery degradation, I bought $200 RealMe Pro 2, again using its camera & phone for a year now. Saw an ad for UMIDIGI S3 Pro for $249 with NFC on Amazon, but camera is literally shit, with photos having water drop patches, so returned it.

Gotta say, that's been Umidigi's one weak point. I've got a F1 Play which hits most of my buttons-- cavernous battery, Micro-SD and 3.5mm sockets, and USB-C, but the camera has a distinct "We set the focus at one specific point about 2 metres away and nothing else is ever going to be sharp" compromise. I've tried Open Camera to no avail; perhaps it needs some sort of manual aperture control.

Yes, true that. I also used Open Camera too, focus was fine only if I breath in before pressing the shutter. Even then, there were marks on photo like wet water drops on a piece of paper.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#322

Post by mantap » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:32 AM UTC

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #293

CDSlice wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Apple really not listening to it's customers, or just not listening to a small, vocal subset? I've really only heard complaints about the touchbar from software devs, which are not Apple's main customers. Apple's main customers are creatives and people that want to spend a lot of money for what amounts to a well made (MacBook pro keyboard issues notwithstanding), functional status symbols. Making a smaller, cheape…

There are 26 million software developers in the world, virtually all of them own a work or personal laptop (many both), and they have a much higher percentage of owning Macs vs the normal distribution. Apple "only" sells 18M laptops a year. Software developers likely account for 1/4th (or more) of their MacBook sales.

Many of those software developers are in developing or middle income countries and can't afford a Mac. Just because software developers have a higher rate of buying Macs it does not follow that 1/4 of Macs are bought by software developers.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#323

Post by discordance » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:34 AM UTC

lostgame wrote: post #216

Apple’s lack of follow-up to the iPhone SE means the SE is still the best iPhone with a headphone jack. I honestly can’t believe Apple did an iPhone event without introducing a new model in that size. I know at least a dozen people (especially women) who had been saying for at least a year that until the SE had a replacement, they’d be using one, or swapping to Android. With the weakest offerings for iPhones yet, in…

The SE is also durable. I don't use cases and have dropped it many many times over the last few years. Many scratches but no smashes.

Maybe it's been luck, but every other iPhone I've had before this has needed at least one screen replacement.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#324

Post by toomanybeersies » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:35 AM UTC

lostgame wrote: post #216

Apple’s lack of follow-up to the iPhone SE means the SE is still the best iPhone with a headphone jack. I honestly can’t believe Apple did an iPhone event without introducing a new model in that size. I know at least a dozen people (especially women) who had been saying for at least a year that until the SE had a replacement, they’d be using one, or swapping to Android. With the weakest offerings for iPhones yet, in…

To be fair, lack of cable connectivity between Macbooks and iPhones isn't a particularly big issue, everything can be done wirelessly for most users, they never need to plug their phone into their laptop.

I use Android phones, rather than iPhones, but regardless I can't remember the last time I actually plugged a phone into a computer. If I need to get files between my phone and my computer, I usually just put them on my Google Drive.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#325

Post by cgrealy » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:37 AM UTC

lostgame wrote: post #231

CDSlice wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Apple really not listening to it's customers, or just not listening to a small, vocal subset? I've really only heard complaints about the touchbar from software devs, which are not Apple's main customers. Apple's main customers are creatives and people that want to spend a lot of money for what amounts to a well made (MacBook pro keyboard issues notwithstanding), functional status symbols. Making a smaller, cheape…

>> I really don't think you are Apple's target audience. I am a creative professional - which, historically, was a very important part of Apple’s user base; and the reason I still use their products. The ecosystem and workflow of using an iPhone or iPad to write a simple musical idea in GarageBand on the subway, and then finding it already on my iCloud on my MacBook Pro at home, so I can open it up in Logic and refin…

>> I am a creative professional - which, historically, was a very important part of Apple’s user base; and the reason I still use their products.

The keyword there is historically. It's pretty clear that Apple has shifted its market focus away from the creative space. It's made some efforts to win them back with the latest Mac Pro, but they are a minority.

This isn't even a criticism of Apple (clearly that decision is making money for them), it's just the reality of the situation.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#326

Post by robocat » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:37 AM UTC

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #297

robocat wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. New Android phones are different: Android 9 was redesigned to make security updates by Google a lot easier. I have been buying Nokia which are getting good security upgrades/updates (and cost a few hundred USD). 2. Browsing on Android remains secure e.g. Android 4.4 is still getting Chrome updates (I think Chrome is generally more secure than Safari anyway). iPhones become insecure to use when they stop getting up…

The problem with HMD-Nokia is that most have a perma-locked bootloader. Otherwise, very nice phones.

Yeah - I used to only buy phones with an unlockable bootloader. But I found that I didn't actually ever install open source firmware (I have, but I don't trust the security).

Aside: the Android 9 security update feature is Project Treble. However apparently it doesn't make that much difference for many brands/networks because Google doesn't control the updates directly: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3306443/what-is-projec...

However, my Nokia has been getting security updates quickly enough for me. And I love dual SIM when travelling.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#327

Post by jessewmc » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:40 AM UTC

CDSlice wrote: post #224

lostgame wrote: post #216

Apple’s lack of follow-up to the iPhone SE means the SE is still the best iPhone with a headphone jack. I honestly can’t believe Apple did an iPhone event without introducing a new model in that size. I know at least a dozen people (especially women) who had been saying for at least a year that until the SE had a replacement, they’d be using one, or swapping to Android. With the weakest offerings for iPhones yet, in…

Is Apple really not listening to it's customers, or just not listening to a small, vocal subset? I've really only heard complaints about the touchbar from software devs, which are not Apple's main customers. Apple's main customers are creatives and people that want to spend a lot of money for what amounts to a well made (MacBook pro keyboard issues notwithstanding), functional status symbols. Making a smaller, cheape…

I think this is general a pretty good argument, and in good faith, but I can't help but think that at some point power users and developers become a leading indicator.

Poor longevity and rising prices and useless or missing features wont result in a slow decline in sales -- the momentum will keep carrying things until some tipping point when complete disconnection from the market makes things get ugly.

Developers and creatives were never the major customers of Apple gear, but in the mid-to late 2000s when things started to pick up they were great evangelists. I don't think it's a good look when those people are vocally saying they're going to switch.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#328

Post by gjash » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:41 AM UTC

davchana wrote: post #222

wilsonnb3 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest difference between budget and flagship is the camera, which is very important to a lot of people. There are a lot of people on hacker news (myself included) who hardly ever use their phone cameras and tend to forget that this is such a critical feature to so many people. My personal reason for using flagship devices is simply because I use my phone an absurd amount. If you're using something for hours eve…

Well I used $200 Honor 7 for 3 years, most of the regular non vacation days I didn't carry my Canon Canera, but used Honor phone camera only. Then because of battery degradation, I bought $200 RealMe Pro 2, again using its camera & phone for a year now. Saw an ad for UMIDIGI S3 Pro for $249 with NFC on Amazon, but camera is literally shit, with photos having water drop patches, so returned it.

I have this Umidigi S3 Pro and it takes great pictures.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#329

Post by lazyguy2 » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:41 AM UTC

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #278

lostgame wrote: post #216

Apple’s lack of follow-up to the iPhone SE means the SE is still the best iPhone with a headphone jack. I honestly can’t believe Apple did an iPhone event without introducing a new model in that size. I know at least a dozen people (especially women) who had been saying for at least a year that until the SE had a replacement, they’d be using one, or swapping to Android. With the weakest offerings for iPhones yet, in…

I've been looking into Linux, but it's a nightmare to get running on a (2018) Macbook Pro. (Older years have better support through community effort). With the introduction of new chipsets, it's made it even more challenging for the OSS community to keep up. My next laptop will likely be not a MacBook, so long as I can get a high-res display.

Get rid of the Macbook if you want to run Linux. Without OS X there isn't any real point to it.

Dell and friends do much better job at reliability.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#330

Post by lazyguy2 » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:42 AM UTC

AmericanChopper wrote: post #246

lostgame wrote: post #216

Apple’s lack of follow-up to the iPhone SE means the SE is still the best iPhone with a headphone jack. I honestly can’t believe Apple did an iPhone event without introducing a new model in that size. I know at least a dozen people (especially women) who had been saying for at least a year that until the SE had a replacement, they’d be using one, or swapping to Android. With the weakest offerings for iPhones yet, in…

> They’ve killed the non Touch Bar MacBook Pro, while the industry laments the Touch Bar’s existence. ‘The industry’ is not Apple’s customer. Apple knows who they want their customers to be, and it makes the products that it knows they want. I’m mostly expecting them to release a smaller iPhone. But for most of your complaints and the same old complaints that get posted in every Apple thread on HN, Apple doesn’t care…

Apple isn't gods.

A lot of time companies make shitty products and then refuse to back down on it. Apple has done it in the past and this is just another example of it.