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Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

theguardian.com

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Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#541

Post by kaetemi »

lolinder wrote: post #445
cubefox wrote: post #439

Does anyone notice the irony of it being partly repairable, while offering just three years of security updates, after which you basically have to throw the thing away? The repairability sounds nice, but it is very irrelevant compared to the limited software updates. Imagine buying a Windows laptop and only receiving three years of security updates. (I know, most other phones aren't better.) It would have been better…

Yes, I came here to say this. Swapping out the battery is a great improvement only if the device's lifetime is longer than the battery's, and my batteries tend to last more than three years. (Writing this on my 5 year old phone that still has the original battery.)

The only thing that's dead in all my old phones is the battery, and the outdated OS.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#542

Post by jimnotgym »

lolinder wrote: post #445
cubefox wrote: post #439

Does anyone notice the irony of it being partly repairable, while offering just three years of security updates, after which you basically have to throw the thing away? The repairability sounds nice, but it is very irrelevant compared to the limited software updates. Imagine buying a Windows laptop and only receiving three years of security updates. (I know, most other phones aren't better.) It would have been better…

Yes, I came here to say this. Swapping out the battery is a great improvement only if the device's lifetime is longer than the battery's, and my batteries tend to last more than three years. (Writing this on my 5 year old phone that still has the original battery.)

I think this varies a lot, especially for heavy commercial users who talk on their phone a lot. Only last week my sister was complaining that iphones need charging twice a day after 2 years. It doesn't affect me with my current phone, but I am a light user.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#543

Post by user3939382 »

I once put my own root cert on Android and over 2 weeks intercepting, analyzing, and cutting off every phone home background process, until it could only send traffic arising directly from my UI activity.

The amount of privacy abusive traffic was astonishing. Stopping it made the phone basically unusable. I hope some day a real open source, user rights focused OS can accompany something like this.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#544

Post by adverbly »

kaetemi wrote: post #541
lolinder wrote: post #445

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I came here to say this. Swapping out the battery is a great improvement only if the device's lifetime is longer than the battery's, and my batteries tend to last more than three years. (Writing this on my 5 year old phone that still has the original battery.)

The only thing that's dead in all my old phones is the battery, and the outdated OS.

I've lost multiple phones to dead charging ports.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#545

Post by jimnotgym »

mikepurvis wrote: post #514
kristopolous wrote: post #508

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In practice I've been cycling phones about every two years. I just checked and all resources I've seen puts the typical lifespan around this. I don't know what the distribution looks like though. I bet the distribution curves change if you bucket the pricing points. 3 years is ok. After you buy it, they've made 100% of the money they're going to make in the transaction. They need money to come in to support such an e…

I'm still rocking an iPhone 8, and it's just fine for me— came out in Sept 2017. At this point I consider Apple's commitment to long term support to be a key element of my loyalty to them.

It wasn't that long ago that Apple were being accused of deliberating slowing down older phones. If that has improved then I am glad.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#546

Post by capableweb »

cubefox wrote: post #439

Does anyone notice the irony of it being partly repairable, while offering just three years of security updates, after which you basically have to throw the thing away? The repairability sounds nice, but it is very irrelevant compared to the limited software updates. Imagine buying a Windows laptop and only receiving three years of security updates. (I know, most other phones aren't better.) It would have been better…

Seems this new phone costs about 150 EUR, which for three years, would be 50 EUR per year, if you keep for as long as it gets security updates.

A iPhone 14 costs ~1000 EUR where I am. If you expect to get 7 years of security updates out of it (I think that's what Apple says? Not sure, someone please correct me), then it'll be 142 EUR per year.

Three times the price, if you calculate it per year.

After three years of having this Nokia phone, you can buy the new model, have it for three years again, and repeat this in a total of 6 times (900 EURs, for security updates during 18 years), and you still didn't pay as much as you paid for the iPhone.

So with all of this in mind, seems to be a pretty OK guarantee, timeline and price, at least compared to the "flagship" smartphone that Apple makes.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#547

Post by HybridCurve »

BirAdam wrote: post #37

As other have noted, the lack of updates and locked boot loader make this a no go, but the state of fully open-source, non-Android phones OSs is likewise abysmal. As such, leaving the iPhone isn’t going to happen for me. I’m still using my iPhone 11, and it’s still nice and speedy, the battery is fine, it gets updates quickly, and generally doesn’t annoy me too much. If the PinePhone or PinePhone Pro had a solid, ful…

Not just that, but the pinephone camera is complete garbage. It's basically a deal killer for many since we've grown to rely on our phone producing quality digital images and video. If they fix that and battery life you will draw enough developers to help make a reasonably decent mobile experience. But as it is now, there are few devices which have both adequate capabilities and driver support for it to work.

Reducing cost and making it more repairable is a step in the right direction, but there is no reason why shouldn't get 5-6+ years of life out of a mobile phone.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#548

Post by angry_octet »

userbinator wrote: post #491
angry_octet wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remotely exploitable does not require it can be hacked without user action (although there have been many exploits which have achieved that too, e.g. Pegasus) but typically involves visiting a web page, opening an attachment, or installing an app with a vulnerability. Chrome updates and app scanning will protect against some problems, but advances are often tied to platform security features. So really, you've made a…

Otherwise there will be a pool of devices which are still in use and easily targetted. There already are, and the world hasn't ended yet... It's your paranoia that's absurd (and what these companies are relying on to keep the masses under their control, so keep drinking the kool-aid...) The fact that so many here are going on about updates and support, when in fact there's plenty of people who don't give a shit and t…

You've obviously never dealt with people who've been hacked and had their life's savings extracted or the business made unviable.

Just goes to show, you can lead a horse to security patches (or vaccination, or the effects of climate change) but you can't make him apply them.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#549

Post by netsharc »

firecall wrote: post #539
cubefox wrote: post #439

Does anyone notice the irony of it being partly repairable, while offering just three years of security updates, after which you basically have to throw the thing away? The repairability sounds nice, but it is very irrelevant compared to the limited software updates. Imagine buying a Windows laptop and only receiving three years of security updates. (I know, most other phones aren't better.) It would have been better…

Can you install your own Android versions? How does it work Android in this regard? I guess it’s not like Windows where if my hardware is supported I can install the latest supported version? I suppose it’s somewhat interesting in the industry difference between supporting hardware with updates as if it’s firmware, and supporting software with updates like an OS. (Not advocating for windows for anything at all BTW)

Homebrew ROMs often don't have Google's holywater blessing of being certified, so some things like banking apps might not run on them.

So, say your phone has old Android version x. You're fine until a security hole shows up, or your banking app says "Our app needs Android version x+1. Please update your phone.". Oops, not offered by phone. Install a custom ROM. Banking app says "This device is not certified and for your own security, we refuse to run on this phone."...

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#550

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

cubefox wrote: post #439

Does anyone notice the irony of it being partly repairable, while offering just three years of security updates, after which you basically have to throw the thing away? The repairability sounds nice, but it is very irrelevant compared to the limited software updates. Imagine buying a Windows laptop and only receiving three years of security updates. (I know, most other phones aren't better.) It would have been better…

Hot take: security updates are overrated. People with fully updated iPhones and Pixels still get pwned.

It seems like people's wants and needs change with whatever the hell Apple decides to do.

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