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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

#551

Post by kristopolous »

strohwueste wrote: post #540
kristopolous wrote: post #508

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In practice I've been cycling phones about every two years. I just checked and all resources I've seen puts the typical lifespan around this. I don't know what the distribution looks like though. I bet the distribution curves change if you bucket the pricing points. 3 years is ok. After you buy it, they've made 100% of the money they're going to make in the transaction. They need money to come in to support such an e…

There is great research being done by Marina Proske on why and when smartphone are being replaced. Recommend this talk (unfortunately in German) https://youtu.be/Hen7by8oo7g

Thanks unfortunately I am an English only person.

The two or whatever year cycle certainly shouldn't be forced by design.

I'm personally comfortable with it because I'm sold on newer and better features and my current phone is starting to get dog eared by then.

Probably the "right" thing to do would be to have a new "durable" tier for those who value lifespan and do not feel tempted by increases in hardware capabilities.

I also buy mid range. I can imagine being sour if I'm buying the high end over $1000 devices and see the same cycle

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#552

Post by sdf4j »

capableweb wrote: post #546
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…

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?

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#553

Post by 97s »

jimnotgym wrote: post #528
97s wrote: post #467

Supported for 3 years. LOL. Just don't get this one bit.

The previous option for a budget repairable phone was 0 years support.

Yea I mean I get that, but I had my pixel 2 for over 5 years. Without repairing it at all. I assume my samsung S22U will also last 5+ years. So I just don't see the point of repair-ability if the support cycle is only 3 years. What is going to break in 3 years of a cell phone unless its very poorly made?

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#554

Post by matheusmoreira »

crispinb wrote: post #529
matheusmoreira wrote: post #444

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I expect lifetime updates. I get that on my real computers: my Linux distribution doesn't suddenly stop updating just because my computer is 3+ years old. Why should phones be any different? You're telling me these trillion dollar corporations can't match the quality of service of Linux distribution maintainers?

> 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 attestation. Therefore, I no longer care about Android phones unless they run postmarketOS.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#555

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

crazygringo wrote: post #131
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

Waterproofing is the main reason. But then thickness and aesthetic "cheapness" is a secondary one. A removeable cover and battery is always going to introduce a little bit of thickness, which on a thin phone is noticeable even if not major. And then whether you have screws or the ridges for removing the cover, it just always feels a little "cheap". You can't get the same kind of rounded smooth glass or aluminum backi…

Wrong. There are plenty of waterproof devices with removable batteries. That's the excuse given to take away your freedom.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#556

Post by pentagrama »

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…

Is that risky have an unsupported Android version?

My Nexus 5 still working ok, some problems started when apps started to drop support of the Android version, and that happens several years before it stopped receiving OS updates.

Don't want to downplay that will be great that OS updates should be longer that the current standard, but sometimes tech minded people here in HN thinks that a day after stopped receiving updates the phone is a useless brick ais not the case.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#557

Post by matheusmoreira »

nordsieck wrote: post #519
matheusmoreira wrote: post #444

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I expect lifetime updates. I get that on my real computers: my Linux distribution doesn't suddenly stop updating just because my computer is 3+ years old. Why should phones be any different? You're telling me these trillion dollar corporations can't match the quality of service of Linux distribution maintainers?

> I expect lifetime updates. I get that on my real computers: my Linux distribution doesn't suddenly stop updating just because my computer is 3+ years old. Why should phones be any different? No other desktop OS works like that. Both Windows and MacOS sunset support for devices. Admittedly - after much, much more time than phone OSes, though. > You're telling me these trillion dollar corporations can't match the qua…

> Both Windows and MacOS sunset support for devices

Yeah, and they suck too because of it.

Truth is there should be no need for them to "support" anything. All they have to do was get their device driver code into the Linux kernel where it belongs. Then everything would work out of the box and the Linux community would support their device for them. If things change, the community will fix their driver for them. If no one does, it's because nobody's using it.

But no, they just need to keep making shitty proprietary software instead. As a result I get insanity like "manufacturer applications" that only work in a single version of Windows to control stuff like laptop fans, power profiles and keyboard LEDs. Software so shoddy it takes over a minute to display a window on the screen. I had to reverse engineer that crap and write a Linux version to make my system usable again. I went as far as my skills allowed me to go and the result was free software that will work forever. That's what quality means to me.

> "quality" means different things.

"Quality" here means shipping software continuously to a diverse set of users and having things not break down just because they'd really enjoy it if we bought their latest flagship phone. I get that on my Linux laptop, why not on a phone?

> But yes - volunteers do things that corporations won't.

Yes, and these corporations should be profoundly ashamed of themselves that they can't match what a bunch of "volunteers" provide even though they're worth billions.

Some professionals. It certainly seems to be the rule rather than the exception with these corporations. The copyright industry literally can't match the quality of the output of a bunch of "pirates" either: while they're streaming to their paying customers some shitty compressed video with artifacts in 95% black frames, "pirates" get blu-ray remuxes in convenient DRM-free formats.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#558

Post by pmontra »

stephc_int13 wrote: post #326

I'd love seeing a market for DIY smartphones, in the same vein of the good old PC but also DIY drones or mechanical keyboards. That would be an opportunity for specialized boutique suppliers and probably for some innovation, even as a relatively niche market. I have not seen much evolution in this space during the last 5-7 years, and I think the form factor is pretty much settled. Longevity and repairability are thin…

This phone is already almost 200 g, way too much for me. It's also too large but probably just normal sized for most people. I wish sub 5" phones would still be a thing.

Re: Nokia launches DIY repairable budget Android phone

#560

Post by int_19h »

rglullis wrote: post #246
happymellon wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't the US decide to use different frequencies to everyone else?

Plenty of models that can work with all frequencies, so I am not sure if that's enough of a justification. Anyway, your point reminds me that the my "dream smartphone" would be one with no cellular connectivity at all. I'm still waiting for some company to start producing a keychain-sized 4G (or 5G) hotspot with an eSIM, which (I hope) would lead to more people asking for the return of the iPod Touch and for somethin…

A keychain-sized hotspot would have dismal battery life, though.
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