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Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

androidauthority.com

41–50 of 430 posts

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#41

> When was the last time you felt your smartphone really couldn’t cope? Every day since a couple years now. > I struggle to recall the last time an app jerked and juddered into life. I don’t. But here’s the thing: it wasn’t that way at first. It’s just that over time my phone just slowed down. Purging it of its data and unused software did nothing, I just had less and less available memory over time, and maps grew sl…

This has not been my experience, and I suspect an unusual situation on your part.

You are just thinking iPhone. There are many Android phones on the market that are woefully underpowered for anything beyond store demo mode.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#43
How doesn't this article mention the Atrix?

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/motorola-atrix-4g-att

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/03/motorola-atrix-the-u...

This was precisely the target of the Motorola Atrix. They sold a netbook-like "shell" with a monitor and keyboard, and when you plugged the Atrix smartphone in it became an Ubuntu webtop device.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#44
post #2

This and also I don't want a tumor on the back of my phone. Can we go back to flat bodies at the expense of camera quality? For some of us phone cameras are really not _that_ important.

Alternatively, I'll take a thick lens, flush in a thick case, which might then make space for a thicker battery

The Redmagic gaming phones fit that description. You can kinda see it here: https://gsmarena.com/nubia_red_magic_10_pro-review-2771p2.ph...

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#45
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't remember what the project was called, but many years ago I remember seeing a concept for a Linux phone that also doubled as your desktop when plugged into a hub.

All Samsung Galaxy phones have a built in desktop OS called Dex. I remember plugging my monitor usb-c cable to charge my phone and being blown away when a desktop UI appeared on the monitor

Works on my S21U. I use it a lot because I have some weird thing where I'll get really tense typing on a touchscreen keyboard, so if I have to type long messages in android-only apps its going on the docking station.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#46
post #2

This and also I don't want a tumor on the back of my phone. Can we go back to flat bodies at the expense of camera quality? For some of us phone cameras are really not _that_ important.

Nope. Strong no from me - camera is the reason I upgrade (beyond dead battery).

I agree the lens bulges are a pain in the arse, but I want a good camera.

You can buy low-end phones with minimal bump from the likes of Motorola and Nokia if cameras are not important to you. But I want my higher-end (not necessarily premium, but in that direction) phones to keep coming with better and better cameras please, and if that means a bit of a bulge then fine.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#47
post #23

Better performance can also improve battery life.

Unless that better performance was at the cost of overclocking older designs, making it run hotter and less efficient. I think Intel got into this groove with a lot of their models for a few years doing this. I get what you're saying, and if its clocked lower than its designed for, power savings are incredible (I've gotten 10 hours on an older laptop that did this from the factory)

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A better camera is the only reason to buy a new phone. If you don't want that, you can just buy a 5 year old or more phone and be just as happier.

What about security updates?

As long as apps are kept up to date, I'm not sure that OS-level security updates make much of a difference. Most breaches happen due to malicious apps. I haven't heard of any cases where somebody cracked the OS security and accessed user data.

Most of the world is not using the latest version of Android, and you don't really hear about viruses/malware like we used to with Windows machines in the '90s and '00s.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#49
post #7
post #5

With USB-C, surely we are at the point where we can plug our phones into a hub with a couple of monitors attached and get a proper desktop environment?

I can't remember what the project was called, but many years ago I remember seeing a concept for a Linux phone that also doubled as your desktop when plugged into a hub.

Ubuntu had a kickstarter but it didn’t succeed.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#50
post #5

With USB-C, surely we are at the point where we can plug our phones into a hub with a couple of monitors attached and get a proper desktop environment?

But we are, for ~6 years now? If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone - the most sold phone models in the world (trades place with Apple sometimes) with 60m+ devices/year sold, just plug it in and there you have it. Full peripherial support, you have a perfect multitasking desktop environment and access the same files - called DeX mode.

And yet, this question is here - somehow no one really uses it or even knows about it.

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