Hacker News Reader

Comment by optforfon | Hacker News Reader

If it came out tomorrow it'd be 10 years too late. Cellphones seem to have hit a plateau. All the parts are now good enough in a cheap phone that no one really needs this.

I got a $150 aluminum phone with a huge battery, nice enough camera, fingerprint scanner, 3GBs of RAM, expandable storage, etc. etc. ... I don't feel like I need expansion options. What can the higher-specs really offer now a days?

Samsung has the right idea, maybe we'll need better phones for VR. Or maybe built in picoprojectors will be a game changer. But for that you'll need a whole new phone - not just a module snaps on.

View on HN

I bought a waterproof phone, and it has been a surprisingly useful feature to me. Not because of all the times I've dropped it in the toilet, or decided to do scuba photography, but rather the peace of mind I get from knowing I could fall in a pool at any moment and get out without a $600 fine from the phone company. Or that I can go for a jog and use it as an ipod even if it looks like it might rain. Prop it up in a corner of the shower and listen to news podcasts while I get clean.

Or, basically, I just don't have to think or worry about water or moisture at all. Never expected to appreciate that feature so much.

I just long for the day when pushing someone into the pool is a funny gag again, not a several thousand dollar lawsuit.

Unfortunately they're so overpriced that it's cheaper to buy two non-waterproof phones

Actually, I got it for free! There was a shipping mixup, so I got a refund, then a week later UPS found it in a back room and finished delivering it.

But even if I hadn't, it was super cheap. Look up the Sony xperia M4 Aqua, it's only $150 unlocked on amazon.

We need phones that are basically indestructible and last 3 full days on one charge.

Do you really think so? I have an impression that the market is kinda OK with short battery life. Otherwise there would be a trend in this way. Maybe after other specs reach their practical limits?

Has anyone released a decent phone with a long battery life? You can't tell if the market wants something if it's not on offer.

I just bought the Xiaomi Redmi 3 [1] with 4100mAh. The battery life is excellent. 2 to 3 days of battery is a comfort I missed from the "dumbphone era".

1: http://www.kimovil.com/en/where-to-buy-xiaomi-redmi-3s-3gb-3...

For me it was 2 to 3 weeks of battery. Smartphone batteries are just miserable, and I'd happily take a heavier & thicker phone to get better battery life.

There are plenty of well-designed battery/protective enclosures for smartphones. Thus those who want the extra battery life and are prepared to deal with the extra thickness and weight can do so.

Now if you want 2 weeks of battery life on a pocket supercomputer, well, good luck with that.

Yep, that's the one I have. I honestly rarely get to 50%, but you stop feeling guilty about leaving the screen on for too long and it's just more pleasant to use never having to worry about the battery. + it's incredibly cheap and still super thin

The LG phones have replaceable batteries. Seems to cover the same demographic

They're available from "catphones.com". Yes, Caterpillar has a phone brand.

I have one of their phones. It lives up to the ruggedness advertising.

Why do I want to carry around 2 extra days of battery life?

Also, more mass in the phone means more force on impact.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com