LG is getting out of the mobile phone business • Hacker News Board

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#561

Post by CameronNemo » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 4:07 PM UTC

blackoil wrote: post #120

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…

With fast charging, removable batteries aren't that important now. IR blaster is too niche. SD card, headphone jack are still available in lot of phones, but again aren't deciding factor for most people. IPhone is an aspirational brand with awesome marketing, so things like notch which don't make much sense are copied by everyone.

Fast charging degrades the battery faster, so I have no idea what you are talking about.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#562

Post by grawprog » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 4:15 PM UTC

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 personally can't stand most Samsung phones. I've had a few, going back as far as an old white Samsung flip phone. They come with so much built in crap, they've by and large lasted less time than any other brand of phone I've bought and the price is always higher than equivalent phones from other brand.

>LG always seemed a lot closer to stock Android, and was good at staying out of your way.

Motorola was always my go to for that, but I picked up an LG for the first time since my very first cell phone back in 2005 and so far, I've been pretty damn impressed.

It did come with a bit of extra prebuiltin crap, but it was actually possible to uninstall it, not just disable it like on Samsung phones. The unreprogrammable hardware button that does nothing but open Google assistant is kind of annoying, but I don't think that's an lg specific thing? Or maybe it is? I couldn't really tell when I was looking up if it could be changed to do something different.

Fun fact just because:

Samsung and LG also both make engineered stone for countertops, by and large the LG stone outsold the Samsung stone at the shop I worked at by a large margin.

LG Cirrus was like the third most popular engineered stone we sold after caesarstone and silestone.

We occasionally had some Samsung stone jobs, but they were pretty rare.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#563

Post by creamynebula » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 4:18 PM UTC

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 a Samsung smartphone a few years ago and it was a terrible experience! After that I had phones by ASUS and Motorola, both good experiences.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#564

Post by azinman2 » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 4:22 PM UTC

asah wrote: post #447

mdiesel wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 for OnePlus. I started years back on the 2, upgraded more recently to the 6T. Will take a lot of convincing for me to even think about anyone else. Same experience though, people have either heard of it and rave about it, or ask who makes it.

serious q: OnePlus looks *great* but I'm concerned about the Chinese government and the de facto cyberwar with the US. Example: I have security sensitive US clients, and I'd be concerned that (in the future, let alone present) I'd be labeled a security risk for carrying a "chinese cellphone." How do you mitigate this concern? (serious replies only please)

If this is a real concern then why not pay attention to it? I believe Apple has the best track record in security and not embedding Chinese gov spyware.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#565

Post by onli » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 4:22 PM UTC

dsego wrote: post #263

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…

My LG G3 was a decent phone but I never once received any Android update.

The G3 did receive multiple Android updates. See here: https://www.gsmarena.com/lg_g3-6294.php - they updated it from 4.4.2 to 6.0. If that did not arrive for your phone it might have been your carrier blocking it.

The G3 can also run Android 10 via LineageOS 17.1, it is an officially supported device, see https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/#lg. I don't know whether it will get 18.1/Android 11 though. LineageOS 17.1 worked well with the G3, I did test that recently.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#566

Post by Drew_ » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 4:24 PM UTC

CameronNemo wrote: post #561

blackoil wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With fast charging, removable batteries aren't that important now. IR blaster is too niche. SD card, headphone jack are still available in lot of phones, but again aren't deciding factor for most people. IPhone is an aspirational brand with awesome marketing, so things like notch which don't make much sense are copied by everyone.

Fast charging degrades the battery faster, so I have no idea what you are talking about.

Fast charging has been around for quite some time now and battery degradation hasn't become more of a problem than it already was 10 years ago. Apple just had its battery degradation and throttling controversy only and that was for a set of phones that didn't even have fast charging.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#567

Post by syshum » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 4:27 PM UTC

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 wonder the same thing about Apple....

Does believing you're the last sane man on the planet make you crazy? 'Cause if that's the case, maybe I am.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#568

Post by rchaud » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 4:28 PM UTC

blackoil wrote: post #137

axaxs wrote: post #21

Can't say I blame them. Phones are really close to being commodities. Samsung and Apple have the top end on lockdown. Xiaomi will obliterate you on the low and mid range. So your only real option is to dump huge amounts of cash into top photo and app folks and try to fight with the big two.

Samsung has a decent mid range A/M series and you can replace Xiaomi with 'Chinese companies' but comment otherwise stands true.

I read somewhere that the Galaxy A51 was the biggest selling mid-range phone globally. It's about 30% of the price of a flagship, but there aren't huge compromises on performance and camera quality like there is on the A20, A10 series.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#569

Post by jmcnulty » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 4:29 PM UTC

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 switched from Samsung to Pixel for the same reasons. Samsung's additional bloatware and their penchant for installing new things I didn't ask for drove me nuts.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#570

Post by rchaud » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 4:30 PM UTC

411111111111111 wrote: post #362

manojlds wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, what? Are you trying to say Xiaomi is rebranded subset of Huawei?

I'm not the parent author but they're both state sponsored enterprise. I can't speak about wherever they're rebrands though, you'd have to take all their phones apart to figure that out.

Shouldn't the government own the majority of the shares for it to be a state sponsored enterprise? Or does it just have to offer tax breaks and subsidies?