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LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

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Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#471

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

ohazi wrote: post #66

I never understood why Samsung phones were constantly receiving praise by tech reviewers while LG got crapped on. Samsung always wanted to do things their way -- different (shitty) UI, Samsung versions of all the core Google apps (but worse), reorganizing preferences for no reason, the stupid bottom button placement, non-remappable Bixby button, aggressively killing apps for power management and breaking widgets, etc…

I had an S4 then a G4 and then a S8 and never looked back. I'm now on the S20+. The jump from the S4/G4 to the S8 was such a massive one it felt like it was a whole new experience. The only thing that would convince me to switch from Samsung is if Google got its act together and built a real flagship complete with all the bells and whistles.

Samsung, for me, just works. It's a bit obnoxious to have doubles of apps, but otherwise I don't have a lot of problems. It's funny you mention Bixby key because none of those phones you listed have one - I supposed you could argue the S20 does, but the first thing I did was remap (using Samsung's built in controls) it back to the power button and I was on my way. I'm only reminded that Bixby is a thing when people complain about it.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#472

Post by jfd98njkdgnh »

norswap wrote: post #439
ohazi wrote: post #66

I never understood why Samsung phones were constantly receiving praise by tech reviewers while LG got crapped on. Samsung always wanted to do things their way -- different (shitty) UI, Samsung versions of all the core Google apps (but worse), reorganizing preferences for no reason, the stupid bottom button placement, non-remappable Bixby button, aggressively killing apps for power management and breaking widgets, etc…

Counterpoint: I have a rather good experience with Samsung. I bought flagships devices some time after their releases (I had S2, S4, S8 and now a S10e from work) and they lasted me a long time (S2 and S4 both lasted for four years). The big advantage is that they were powerful devices with a removable battery and a SD-card slot. Downside was a tendency to overheat a bit (this was particularly bad on the S2 at some po…

I genuinely enjoyed my S2 ( I9100 ) and I only given it away to my sister since she kinda annexed it during my trip to the old country. It was a solid device for the time. Since then I also used asus zenfone ( interesting features there ) and now LG v20 ( prolly last android phone with changable battery ).

I honestly don't get why people are so addicted to a brand. I used to drive Acura when 2004 models were still good. I wouldn't buy one today.

Still, LG failing does seem like a marketing loss. My experience with their hardware was not bad.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#473

Post by vinay427 »

reader_mode wrote: post #407
vinay427 wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, the Samsung OneUI on phones has little, if nothing, to do with Tizen. Have you tried a newer Samsung Galaxy phone? As someone who now has a Pixel, newer Samsung devices come across as far more full-featured (I think this might be objectively true?) with a more consistent and pleasant UI (IMO) than stock Android. I don't use it because of bootloader/ROM support, but if that didn't exist I'd probably prefer t…

Yep - I'm using an S10 right now and have been for the last 2 years. Some problems I have with it : Bixby is garbage and I don't know why they haven't killed it yet - there is 0 chance they will ever develop anything usable let alone competitive. It comes preloaded with bloatware I cannot uninstall, custom app store it uses to update it's own system apps, it's own apps are spamming me with notifications constantly. S…

Thanks for the reply. That's definitely very fair criticism that I generally agree with.

I suppose I personally don't mind the inconsistent and lackluster device ecosystem support because I currently prefer an outdoor watch over a "true" smartwatch. The OneUI additions were therefore what stuck out to me the most, especially from the perspective of a Pixel user. While I would appreciate the privacy and consistency aspects of iOS, I really don't like the often confusingly obscured UI elements, and the limited feature-set is the deal-killer for me as I at least occasionally depend on having decent file management, FTP/SSH, etc.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#474

Post by oftenwrong »

mhitza wrote: post #201
nullify88 wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Years ago I used to use the MS Launcher, however I noticed strange behaviour when in low 2g signal areas...Apps would take longer starting up. I'd tap on an icon, nothing would happen and the launcher would appear frozen, few seconds later the app would open. I noticed the launcher was sending traffic whenever I started an app and it was affecting app start times when in low and slow signal areas. I didn't dig in to…

Recently I wanted to try out a new launcher on my phone. I've installed 3-4 different launchers and they all had a huge privacy policy page about the large amount of data they would exfiltrate from the phone. So your experience definitely doesn't come as a surprise.

If you want a lightweight launcher with few features and an atypical UI, try https://kisslauncher.com/ (available in the Play Store and in F-Droid). It shows your apps in a "frecency"-ordered, scrollable and searchable list.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#475

Post by jfd98njkdgnh »

onli wrote: post #366
ohazi wrote: post #66

I never understood why Samsung phones were constantly receiving praise by tech reviewers while LG got crapped on. Samsung always wanted to do things their way -- different (shitty) UI, Samsung versions of all the core Google apps (but worse), reorganizing preferences for no reason, the stupid bottom button placement, non-remappable Bixby button, aggressively killing apps for power management and breaking widgets, etc…

I saw a video about that by one of those tech youtubers, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW3wNsTLCEw . Many good points imho: 1. LG did not have one thing they stood for. At a time it was repairability (the LG G5 and LG V20 is one of the best older Android phones with an exchangeable battery), sound quality, supporting modules to extend the phone (but almost never releasing any), one release had a great camera, last…

This is part that is aggravating to me. I know you are right, but why does it have to one thing. A discerning consumer should be able to determine if a given product works for its use case.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#476

Post by vbezhenar »

offtop5 wrote: post #421
vbezhenar wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You definitely can repair your phone. There are repair masters who can replace chips on the board. This is common in Kazakhstan and Russia at least.

>Kazakhstan What's the typical income in this country, in America if you're talking about a $700 phone, and you make $70,000 a year it's not completely unreasonable to replace it every year. But if you're making $15,000 a year, spending $30 to repair your $700 phone makes much more sense.

Average salary is $6,000 a year. But those numbers are according to the official statistics and I don't think those are true because of huge gray economy sector. I think that it's more like $3,000-$4,000 a year for most people (but those numbers are after all taxes, we usually don't pay taxes from our salaries, our employer takes care of that).

I agree that's one of the reasons that repair is more common. Very few people would darn torn socks, because those are cheap enough just to buy them.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#477

Post by _ea1k »

zibzab wrote: post #316
jayp1418 wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read somewhere "Good product with great marketing beats amazing product with no marketing."

Galaxy S2 was a pretty bgreat phone and Samsung capitalised on that success by releasing slightly improved versions every year . LG on the other hand was up and down. I think LG was the one that needed marketing since they always lost their fans and had to bring in new people

This is so underrated as a comment, but so true. Samsung just kept at it with incremental updates to a single series and an occasional separate model if they wanted to try something new.

LG was constantly shifting markets. I had a G2 and really liked it. I would have bought other devices from them, but the things that appealed to me about the G2 disappeared in most future products.

Constant shifts in focus gained share but also lost share at the same time. They really needed a cohesive line.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#478

Post by minusf »

throwaway86310 wrote: post #370
zibzab wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Galaxy S2 was a pretty bgreat phone and Samsung capitalised on that success by releasing slightly improved versions every year . LG on the other hand was up and down. I think LG was the one that needed marketing since they always lost their fans and had to bring in new people

I can't agree with this enough. LG failed to create a marketing worthy "series" like Samsung did with "galaxy" series.

the lg g2 was the best android phone i ever had. unfortunately the series ended there for me. lg was just making it huger and huger.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#479

Post by twirlip »

herbst wrote: post #448
klondike_ wrote: post #5

What happened to the Android phone ecosystem? Android phones used to offer unique and useful features like removable batteries, headphone jacks, IR blasters, SD cards, etc. Now it seems that Samsung and Google are obsessed with copying whatever Apple does, even their controversial decisions like removing the headphone jack, even after making fun of Apple for doing it. No thanks, why would I buy a shittier iPhone with…

I have all those features and my next android phone will have them too. Are you comparing samsung with the android ecosystem?

What current phone out there has a high-impedance 3.5mm headphone jack, user-replaceable battery, and IR blaster? Asking as a V20 owner.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#480

Post by flyinghamster »

Ugh, no followup to the Stylo 5, then. Got mine in 2019 shortly after it was released, and it's been rock-solid. Aside from the inevitable non-removable battery, I've had no complaints, and to be fair to the battery, I still get outstanding life from it.

I really don't want a phone that's all-glass. I know it's trendy, but, hard pass for me. The aluminum frame and plastic back are things LG got very right with the Stylo 5. Please put enough of a bezel on it that I can actually grab it without triggering something inadvertently.

And, yes, that 3.5 mm jack is important. Music-making apps are basically impossible to work with when your audio path includes Bluetooth delay.

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