Earlier quoted context omitted.
iPhone has good support for peripherals, hubs and external displays, but lacks a desktop mode.
Great, can I plug a USB drive in, and use it?
Yes, if it's USB-C. You won't like the experience though.
Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance
311–320 of 430 posts
Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance
#312Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance
#313Until recently, the availability of software updates was a limiting factor, especially for midrange phones. (Before that, phones were so slow and had so little RAM that software updates made them unusable eventually). The mid-range Samsung A52 5G now comes with 7 years of security updates and you can get it with 8GB of RAM for less than 300€. That's a pretty good deal! You just need to replace the battery every three…
There are phones with 24gb of ram already available!
Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance
#314Earlier quoted context omitted.
How secure is it? Will Samsung or others be able to look over your shoulders?
Boy do I have some bad news for you: Automated Content Recognition [0, 1, 2]. If your Smart TV is connected to the Internet, it can also track what you're watching or doing, even if you're using it as an external monitor [3] (in Dutch). [0]: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41658828 [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41669765 [3]: https:/…
Why would it be connected to internet if used as external monitor? Just don't tell it the wi fi password.
Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance
#315Earlier quoted context omitted.
All high end Samsung phones can do this as well (DEX).
Can confirm, S22 ultra when plugged into Dell docking box (or whatever its called, not a typical docking station, it just connects with laptop via thick USB-C cable) works out of box, with mouse and keyboard. Firefox with ublock origin works very well for example. The only thing is it doesn't adjust automatically to native screen resolution (1600p in my case). But its still just an Android, even with full filesystem…
I am thinking of using it as a remote desktop to connect to my home or server PC. Shouldn't be very CPU consuming.
Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance
#316As phones look today and as how they are used, I think we have reached peak usability at around iPhone X. Afterwards - the additional computing, camera, network, form factor that have come with iPhone up to 16 - have provided very little additional end-user value. So unless phone makers want to be in the situation where end-users are less and less willing to pay for and upgrade to a new phone, they have to figure out…
I would pay good money for a phone that isn't a literal tablet in terms of size, and yet there is literally zero options for this. I'm sticking with my Pixel 4a until it dies, and even that is already huge for me.
As I started reading this, I nodded in agreement and was going to suggest picking up a used Pixel 4a (my phone) until I read the rest of your comment :-) I also agree that it's already a little big. I remember the memes when the iPhone 5 came out, about how big it was compared to the iPhone 4. Those are considered incredibly tiny right now. There used to be one scenario where I loved the larger size of my 4a, which was when using it as a GPS in my car, but I recently bought a car that has Android Auto, so a tiny phone would be perfect now.
Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance
#317Absolutely warranted, but there is no reason to worry, apps will keep up with the performance development and in a blink of an eye you will be forced (security, security security!!) to upgrade to the new versions of phone app or photo app dragging in 'free' and top notch AI assisted VR capabilities or whatnot that require power beyond current levels. Do you need that feature? Absolutely not. Nevertheless, you will ha…
> apps will keep up with the performance development and in a blink of an eye
I don't know about the rest of you folks, but I rarely install an app unless I have to or there is no other option.
The few apps that do get installed aren't all that taxing.
Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance
#318Earlier quoted context omitted.
What temperature does your phone reach when you do this for an hour?
Phones perform thermal throttling before getting too hot. The question thus becomes: how does it perform after one hour?
Not great) Tried replacing my laptop with a Samsung phone+monitor combination on a trip, didn't really work out. Phones are not built for continuous load.
Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
How secure is it? Will Samsung or others be able to look over your shoulders?
Boy do I have some bad news for you: Automated Content Recognition [0, 1, 2]. If your Smart TV is connected to the Internet, it can also track what you're watching or doing, even if you're using it as an external monitor [3] (in Dutch). [0]: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41658828 [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41669765 [3]: https:/…
We're talking about phones here, not TVs.
Or are you saying this is built into phones too?
Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance
#320Until recently, the availability of software updates was a limiting factor, especially for midrange phones. (Before that, phones were so slow and had so little RAM that software updates made them unusable eventually). The mid-range Samsung A52 5G now comes with 7 years of security updates and you can get it with 8GB of RAM for less than 300€. That's a pretty good deal! You just need to replace the battery every three…
How is Samsung? I had 1 bad experience with their phones, 1 bad experience with their tvs, a few bad experiences with their appliances, and a bad experience with their SSD. I just assumed they are the Apple of Android, big marketing budget, expensive, but mid-tier.
I went from S20 to S21 to S24. Before that every Android phone I had was good but qc issues would pop up or some new phone would come out with much better features (eg camera quality is really important to me). Since I switched to Samsung have had 0 qc issues and every camera has been amazing. The only reason I upgrade is because it's free with my carrier so why not? Staying with Samsung if/until it changes.