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An Ode to My 5-Year-Old Samsung Galaxy S10e

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Re: An Ode to My 5-Year-Old Samsung Galaxy S10e

#11

Post by Gualdrapo »

Not a Samsung but I rocked a Sony Xperia Z1 for 7 years, from september 2013 to november 2020. Granted, Sony being Sony cut short its updates after a couple years, but Cyanogenmod/LineageOS let it keep working great. And around that time I fell stupidly from my bike while having it on a pocket in my pants and its screen did not broke, but the whole phone bent (like some iphones did for that era, too). Somehow it kept going as if it never happened.

But after all those years its battery wasn't going good and it ell of my hands, this time with no mercy for the poor thing, so it came the time to replace it. Spent a lot to get another Sony - people don't like them because this and that but I found they're that sturdy and the hardware quality is great. Now I'm realizing it's almost 4 years I've been with this "new" phone.

Re: An Ode to My 5-Year-Old Samsung Galaxy S10e

#12

Post by RajT88 »

I too have an S10e.

The initial reason was I had a real leather case for my S7 for when it finally got too janky to use, and I was able to 3d print a new shell to put in the case for the S10e.

I drop my phone enough, after a few years I had 2 problems: 1. The phone had a cracked screen and moisture found its way inside causing wireless (cell and WiFi) to sometimes not work and 2. Security updates (or lack thereof) meant I could not access work stuff anymore due to their policies.

After shopping around I realized paying another $200 for a replacement phone which still did the job, fit in my pocket and my nice leather case, and which could be upgraded to LineageOS and get back up to date on security patches was the best option for me. So I am on my second S10e as of a few months ago.

At 200 USD, I would be happy replacing the phone every 2 years, but I suspect if I am careful, I will not have to. Smart phones have become big, expensive and ever more filled with crapware. LineageOS helps with crapware too (which is probably why everyone locks their bootloader these days).

Re: An Ode to My 5-Year-Old Samsung Galaxy S10e

#14

Post by xethos »

Author notes some of the shortcomings of Linux-as-a-smartphone-OS, but to say a year-old Reddit post is out of date is an understatement.

The biggest advantage of a relatively young ecosystem (6" touchscreen Linux) is just how rapidly things can progress - especially given how quickly older hadware can be brought up.

So while TFA isn't wrong (Mobile Linux is not for everyone), it's also not entirely fair to call it "completely unusable".

Re: An Ode to My 5-Year-Old Samsung Galaxy S10e

#15

Post by nicolas_ »

ipunchghosts wrote: post #2

Reading this on an s9! Also great phine6.

Reading this on my s8+ that's still working perfectly. The battery doesn't last a full day but is still fine to keep the phone as a daily driver. I don't have Android updates anymore (which I now consider a plus, there's nothing exciting about new Android updates) and the only apps that I would use and can't install are Workday and Slack - not a huge loss. I don't have 5G but 4G+ is fine - on WiFi most of the time. It's really day and night versus my past experience with the Nexus 4/Nexus 6P where almost every day you had to debug something or fight bootloops. I'll probably get the next iPhone in a few weeks but I'm glad I was able to keep this phone for that long. The worst things were Bixby and the curved display. The best thing was definity the camera.

Re: An Ode to My 5-Year-Old Samsung Galaxy S10e

#16

Post by albertopv »

I too still have and use a S10e, 4 years now. Battery is still the factory one, down to 79% real capacity (in Italy official replacement costs about 65€, probably I'll get one). For me, it's still the best phone. Company gave me a Motorola Edge 50 Fusion that's good, probably a bit snappier, but much bigger, so for my stuff I'm sticking with the S10e. For the first time I have no reason to upgrade but software updates, which is pity given the still good overall performance. I know I shouldn't for security reasons, but for now I'm keeping it until it's completely wore out.

Re: An Ode to My 5-Year-Old Samsung Galaxy S10e

#17

Post by seba_dos1 »

xethos wrote: post #14

Author notes some of the shortcomings of Linux-as-a-smartphone-OS, but to say a year-old Reddit post is out of date is an understatement. The biggest advantage of a relatively young ecosystem (6" touchscreen Linux) is just how rapidly things can progress - especially given how quickly older hadware can be brought up. So while TFA isn't wrong (Mobile Linux is not for everyone), it's also not entirely fair to call it "…

Yeah, it's always stunning to read that things you've been successfully daily driving for many years to much greater satisfaction than if you were using the alternatives are "completely unusable".
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