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The Best iPhone

notes.ghed.in

111–120 of 484 posts

Re: The Best iPhone

#111

I have had my iPhone 6S for six years now, and it’s still going strong. I’ve replaced the battery a couple of times and the screen more than a couple. I can do everything I need with it, and it’s the perfect size. So I have no desire to upgrade until I must.

Original SE for me, also six years old. One screen replacement, original battery.

Only things I'd change about it if I could would be more space and a better camera.

I suppose the OS upgrade treadmill will move on sometime in the next year and I'll have no choice but to replace something that's otherwise perfectly serviceable, and it's too bad there will be nothing with a headphone jack.

Re: The Best iPhone

#113
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also a huge fan of the iPhone SE and will keep buying them until they stop making them. Don’t take my thumb print away from me!!! I write a lot and it’s slightly faster to unlock via thumb (when it works) than face. Also it works in the dark, eg, when you think of something in the middle of the night or when your face is covered. The only way to beat thumbprint is authentication via nfc, for example using a biometric…

FaceID also works in the dark and works with masks. Also works when you have gloves on :)

Well, some iPhones work with masks — my girlfriend's iPhone 11 doesn't.

Gloves aren't necessary here :) I live in the (allegedly) Brazil's coldest state capital, Curitiba, and you can get through winter here without them.

Re: The Best iPhone

#114
post #100

Am I cheap, poor, frugal or outdated to find it mildly funny US$400-450+tx are considered cheap phones nowadays? Not that I mind as I'm able to find good value (in my opinion and for my needs) in second-hand markets for electronics (couldn't be more satisfied with my $100 Pixel 3a and aging T430s laptop), I just find it impressive how much price references have shifted over time as flagship phones ran from $400-500 w…

I don’t know about everyone else, but as a professional in the film/video world having a new-ish (I upgrade every 3 years or so) iPhone actually helps me do my job.

Re: The Best iPhone

#115
post #100

Am I cheap, poor, frugal or outdated to find it mildly funny US$400-450+tx are considered cheap phones nowadays? Not that I mind as I'm able to find good value (in my opinion and for my needs) in second-hand markets for electronics (couldn't be more satisfied with my $100 Pixel 3a and aging T430s laptop), I just find it impressive how much price references have shifted over time as flagship phones ran from $400-500 w…

The real draw is the camera. The ease of taking videos, especially of your kids, is worth the price tag for many. And the camera is a differentiating factor between the lower and higher tier models. Is the state-of-the-art camera needed? Debatable, but once family and memories are involved all economic rationality goes out the window.

Re: The Best iPhone

#116

> retained the same design of the 2014’s iPhone 6 Too bad they didn't retain the design of the 2013 iPhone SE, which was better.

1st SE was 2016.

But it is in fact a fantastic design. Still am using mine. :)

Re: The Best iPhone

#117
As someone who held onto the iPhone 5S for years after its EOL and then held onto the iPhone SE first gen for as long as possible (until a cracked screen and second shot battery forced an upgrade) I can confidently say this guy is missing out.

I held on to the old phone because of my thinking of the "stability and perfection" of its old design.

I avoided the iPhone 6/7/8/SEv2 era like the plague because of just how unfinished it felt. It was slippery, it felt uncomfortable in the hand, and I hear it was not the best at repairability. It also just does not look good in my opinion.

At the time THAT phone felt like the one was was unfinished. Now this guy is saying its the one that is "like a well-finished product". Its the same design that I felt was unfinished. I conclude that this talk of finished vs unfinished design is just a matter of taste and perception. There is nothing that fundamentally changed from iPhone 8 vs iPhone SEv2/3. It still inherits my complaints from above.

In reality he just hasn't put in the time to give the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini designs an honest chance. They are the current "unfinished" designs. A few years down the line he will be saying the same thing about that design once it comes out in iPhone SE v4(or 5/6/7 whatever).

Now to be fair there is something great about small cheap phones that pack a lot of value. It is just what it is. Last gen design that some prefer while others do not. Its not anything special nor "perfected".

Re: The Best iPhone

#118
post #23

I knew I wasn't the only one fond of small, cheap-but-great phones! :) Btw, this is my first post in English. I cover tech here in Brazil for +10 years and run a +9 years old independent, self-sustainable publication written in Portuguese. Now, I decided to give it a shot in another language, despite still feeling uncomfortable with my English. (I hope I haven't misspelled anything!) If you enjoyed this brief iPhone…

I had no idea. Your English is better than a lot of Web posts from Americans, who can't even spell "too." While I agree that the SE is Apple's best offering for the money, the new one fails hard in one main way: ergonomics. While the original SE (which I still use) has flat sides, the current SE went back to the dumb rounded slippery edges. This is a vestige of Jony Ive stupidity: make the phone ever-thinner, then ro…

Thanks!

Yeah, I also prefer the flat sides (miss my old iPhone 5), but SE's rounded one isn't much a problem for me. Maybe I'm too zealous, but in seven years using this type of phone, I've never dropped one. (They dropped for another reasons, such as sliding from a uneven table thanks to the glass back. It survived without any scratch, anyway.)

Re: The Best iPhone

#119
post #100

Am I cheap, poor, frugal or outdated to find it mildly funny US$400-450+tx are considered cheap phones nowadays? Not that I mind as I'm able to find good value (in my opinion and for my needs) in second-hand markets for electronics (couldn't be more satisfied with my $100 Pixel 3a and aging T430s laptop), I just find it impressive how much price references have shifted over time as flagship phones ran from $400-500 w…

but... your pixel was more than $100 new. the phone you use does not normally fit into the category you describe. the only part that makes it work is the "second hand," bit.

cheap/expensive is relative, and $400 is cheap for a phone (for north american audiences).

fwiw, i find even pixel phones to be sort of slow after a couple years into software updates, mostly between multitasking/app switching. so I think that the compute actually doesn't really scale well into the future as you imply, which is a separate unfortunate fact.

Re: The Best iPhone

#120
post #62

The article mentions the ability to take pictures with blurry backgrounds (aka bokeh).. fwiw, that feature exists on the SE 2nd generation. To join in the old-man-fist-shaking, the SE 1st generation was a far better size. You can use the SE 2nd generation with one hand, yes, but in practice it involves frequently double-light-tapping the omni-button to slide the screen down halfway. (Or, maybe, I just have small hand…

Text recognition in the camera also works on the 2020 iPhone SE, along with blurred backgrounds in portrait mode.
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