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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

#591

Post by capableweb »

sdf4j wrote: post #552
capableweb wrote: post #546

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

A budget phone that is just less than three times cheaper than the most expensive flagship one?

The most expensive flagship from Apple costs around 2000 EUR (more than 10 times cheaper), I meant "flagship" of smartphones in general, but one of the cheaper ones recently released from Apple.

You still get the same amount of years of security updates though, if you buy the cheapest model from Apple or not.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#592

Post by schemescape »

psydvl wrote: post #343
riku_iki wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The real next innovation for an Android device maker will be providing at least 5 years of updates pixels starting with pixel 6 have 5 years of updates.

Oneplus 11 ships with same support (5 years android updates + 4 years security updates)

Wait, OnePlus provides 9 years of security updates? That is huge!

Apple’s update policy (and history) is one of the two reasons I own an iPhone (SE). The other reason being all the unremovable junkware I’ve had on Android phones in the past.

Next time I need to upgrade (hopefully 6+ years in the future), I will take another look at OnePlus.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#593

Post by ryandrake »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #566
devy wrote: post #516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see a 3-year security update as an irony. In fact, I see that as a great gesture for the budget price point android phone has a 3-year software warranty. Nokia probably have done research on this pricing segment to know that the averaging budget android device lifecycle is about 2.x years and guarantee a 3 year security update to make the device more worthy, comparing to other brands at this price point. By t…

> Apple iPhone as the gold standard only provide security updates up to 6-7 years Laughs in Microsoft How about 20 years?! I have a laptop built in 2006, it runs Windows 10 and will be supported untill 2025. It can also run software compiled in 1999! What platform can beat it, an IBM mainframe? Microsoft is the gold standard! Its a shame they never get credit for the one thing they do well.

You are absolutely right and it is shameful what consumers simply accept for software support periods! I try to buy things that I hope/expect to work for 10, maybe 20 years. Appliances, cars, tvs, and electronics including phones. Yet software support for all these things lasts a mere 3-5 years if that. I have an iPad1 original that still works great! But software support ended a year after I bought it—over a decade ago. Totally unacceptable. I hate how the hardware industry forces obsolescence by cutting off software support for devices in the field. Nobody should be grateful for a mere 3 years of software support.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#594

Post by glenstein »

poisonborz wrote: post #50

Why is it so hard to add a removeable back cover to have swappable battery? Seemingly battery replacement can still be done "in 5 minutes" but this still makes pop-out/on the road battery swapping unpractical. https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/nokia-g22

>Why is it so hard to add a removeable back cover to have swappable battery?

This is one of the delights of the Moto z series phones because they have magnetic batteries that can be swapped on and off with your bare hands without even having to open up a battery cover or power off the phone.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#595

Post by BLKNSLVR »

not_your_vase wrote: post #24
johnny22 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

are you sure it doesn't? My low end "nokia" from HMD Global has an option to unlock the bootloader. Maybe this one does as well.

It's a hit or miss with them... my old Nokia 6.1 (ditto HMD) came with no option to unlock the bootloader. Based on some superficial Googling, this phone's predecessor, G21 also comes without an unlockable bootloader.

I just unlocked a 6.1 for free using a method described on a website techmesto.com. Not affiliated, just can vouch for the process.

Cool thing about 6.1 is that it's officially supported by LineageOS

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#597

Post by lolinder »

atleta wrote: post #573
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…

That's a fair point, but indeed a lot of people will kill their phone in less than 3 years. Either breaking the screen (which, IIUC, will be also replaceable/self servicable) or killing the battery. Most sources say that the battery will keep an acceptable capacity for around 500 cycles, i.e. 1.5 years if fully charged daily. (Now I don't know, because I'm very cautious not to fully charge and to discharge below 25-3…

> Most sources say that the battery will keep an acceptable capacity for around 500 cycles, i.e. 1.5 years if fully charged daily.

This is what I see online, but this hasn't been my experience for any of my devices. My current phone is on year 5 with the same battery, and it's still very decent. I charge it every day to 100% and often plug it back in while it's still at 50%, so it's not like I'm being more careful than usual.

There's a cynical part of me that thinks that these kinds of numbers are put forward by the industry to feed the narrative that these gadgets need to be replaced regularly.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#598

Post by atleta »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #566
devy wrote: post #516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see a 3-year security update as an irony. In fact, I see that as a great gesture for the budget price point android phone has a 3-year software warranty. Nokia probably have done research on this pricing segment to know that the averaging budget android device lifecycle is about 2.x years and guarantee a 3 year security update to make the device more worthy, comparing to other brands at this price point. By t…

> Apple iPhone as the gold standard only provide security updates up to 6-7 years Laughs in Microsoft How about 20 years?! I have a laptop built in 2006, it runs Windows 10 and will be supported untill 2025. It can also run software compiled in 1999! What platform can beat it, an IBM mainframe? Microsoft is the gold standard! Its a shame they never get credit for the one thing they do well.

Yeah, and Linux will probably have an even longer support period. But MS is in a totally different business. HW manufacturers build and sell new devices to customers who then buy software from a different company (MS). One of the selling point of Windows is that it runs on basically all HW. But they can only afford this because they have monopolized the market.

The mobile phone business is very different. (But you may argue that that's the problem.) The HW manufacturers sell the SW bundled with the HW. As soon as they have sold the HW, the software is just a liability (while for MS it's a recurrent revenue!). Not only that, but the longer and the better the SW works, the less likely you are to buy new HW from them. (And since that's the only thing they are selling, it means the less likely they will see a revenue from you.) Now this may imply that the business model is flawed and maybe it will change as the market matures and people will stop buying newer and newer phones every year. Just like it happened to desktops and then laptops. (I'm typing this on a 7+ year old Thinkpad and the only thing I miss is +16GB RAM.)

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#599

Post by anderspitman »

Kinda sad that a removable battery is considered a repairability feature. It used to be the standard, and without removing any screws. And the phones weren't that much bigger. Still good to see though.

What I've always wanted is a phone with swappable batteries and a tiny lipo that keeps the phone on for the few seconds it takes you to exchange batteries. Unlimited battery life without rebooting as long as you have charged batteries lying around.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#600

Post by crispinb »

matheusmoreira wrote: post #554
crispinb wrote: post #529

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I expect lifetime updates. Do you? Or do you just say/write/comment that you expect that? Actual expecting would be refusing to buy a phone that didn't provide said updates. Otherwise it's just an HN comment, with no (real, physical, 'economic') role to play, certainly not that of an expectation.

I absolutely do. I always buy top of the line flagship phones and use them until they literally break down. Well, I used to do that: my next phone will be an iPhone because of stupid problems like this. Truth is Android's situation used to be tolerable for me because I would always trash the official OS and run something like LineageOS instead. Unfortunately, that will become impossible due to hardware remote attesta…

Good for you. Ugly though the phrase is, 'putting your money where your mouth is' is an at least partially effective lever on reality.
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