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Comment by drops | Hacker News Reader

Is there even a reason to buy a new smartphone nowadays? They get a bit flatter, get bigger screens, but overall we reached the point where their progress kinda flatlined. They have everything an average user could want since early 10s.

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I bought iPhone 4S few years ago, and now with new iOS it's very slow, so I'm going to buy new smartphone soon. It has some hardware problems, but new software really killed it. Same story with iPad 3.

I hope that current smartphone generation will be able to sustain longer, I don't like buying new things every 2-3 years.

Same. The SE is a solid 4S replacement, though; I haven't regretted the change.

(Not a bad idea to put a bumper on it, though, because the aluminum is wimpy as hell compared to the proper steel on the 4S - I've already had to take a file to my SE after a drop from waist height onto bathroom tile. Look out for the screen, too; mine chipped in a few places from a foot or two drop onto asphalt. Better hardware and it can run iOS 10 without flinching, but physically less robust, so don't expect you can get away with slinging it around the way you can with a 4S.)

Every 2-3 years? Your 4s is almost 6 years old.

The 4s will be 6 years old this year, and iOS 10 dropped support for it in 2016. The iPhone 5 will likely not be compatible with iOS 11 when it arrives in September.

I think 5 years is a pretty good run, and it seems like the standard now.

If you bought your 4s 2 years ago, that's on you. If you're buying your phones used, then it's in your best interest to not buy a phone that's already 3 years old.

4S became less usable with iOS 7 and that's 2 years. It started to lag. With iOS 9 it's almost unusable and that's 4 years. I bought my phone new, just after iPhone 5 was released.

That's not unintentional, though. It's just a form of planned obsolescence, which can be avoided by getting an Android phone that can have CyanogenMod installed on it. Alternatively, you can get a Nexus phone, which recieves OS updates directly from Google instead of a third party.

Progress != planned obsolescence. The iPhone 7 has more than an order of magnitude more compute power compared to the 4s, and app developers are targeting that device as it's actually selling today.

That's true, developers can focus on the new platforms, but that doesn't mean new iOS versions should make older phones become much slower.

That alternative effectively means dropping support entirely (or allowing the whole ecosystem to stagnate based upon the lowest common denominator), something most android OEMs do after a year or two. You can't have it both ways. We're lucky that competition in this space means consumers have choice as to which style best suits their needs.

You can have it both ways. They can support the old version by providing security and stability patches without adding the new, computationally expensive features to the old phone.

They can at least allow downgrading to old iOS. I don't really understand their reasoning. I can decline upgrade request for years, but if I hit "OK" once, it's game over. Either upgrade automatically and don't ask me, if you're so security-consicous, or allow downgrading.

There are some nice things that could get standardized or available as an option for every mould:

- physical buttons for shooting

- physical buttons for volume

- back cover should be e-ink for light notification or reading books in the train without killing autonomy

- and of course the windows/ubuntu convergence that could - or could not - come one day

That e-ink back is a nice idea.

There is the https://yotaphone.com/us-en/ but I feel it's not updated fast enough to be considered by consumers when looking to replace their current middle or high-end smartphones.

edit:

I see http://www.inkcase.com/en.html refactors the idea of an e-ink smartphone into a case with an e-ink panel.

And http://www.onyx-international.com.cn/index.php/en/boox-produ... tried the whole e-ink only screen.

If there was any demand for such things, vendors would ship it.

Sometimes you have to tell the user what they they want (iPhone) and sometimes the user will say: "NOPE" (Google Glass)

If current design is in reasonable demand by uninformed consumers and has an high margin / low period for recurrence of purchase; then even if new design is in demand by a similar amount of informed consumers it won't be produced unless the ROI is similar too.

Yeah, its the only way to get Android security updates.

There is a reason! Most smartphones are not really designed to last many years; as such, many will start seeing issues after 2 years or so. On the software side, carriers are awful at updating Android security beyond a couple of years, for example. On the hardware side, for example, batteries lose capacity pretty over time and it ends up not being worth it to get a new battery. (other parts, too, don't last long enough)

Not really. They are spec'd well enough for some years now to perform most common tasks well and conceptually they are all basically a big touch screen, nothing new here. You may get small improvements, bigger numbers on the spec sheet and flatter models because "look we can". You may buy a new one for whatever specific reason but it's not you miss out sth. substantial with a bit older model.

The batteries become crappy after a few years. And since they cannot be replaced..

"Not user serviceable" != "non-replaceable." Apple is happy to replace your iPhone battery for around $80.

What do you mean after a few years? Name one smartphone that doesn't have crappy battery life out of the goddamn box!

Seriously smartphone manufacturers, stop trying to shave 3 yoctometers off the thickness every 6 months and give me a phone that is thicker but has a battery that lasts a reasonable amount of time and cycles less deeply so it has a longer life.

The Moto Z Play, with its combination of 3510 mAh battery, Snapdragon 625 processor and 1080p screen has great battery life. Add in a power pack Moto Mod if you need even more. It's a mid-range phone for a mid-range price (and so comes with tradeoffs), but it's a solid phone and for battery life it's excellent. Mine just got the Android 7 upgrade too.

iPhone battery capacity:

4 - 1420 mAh

4s - 1432 mAh

5 - 1440 mAh

5s - 1570 mAh

6 - 1810 mAh

6s - 1715 mAh

7 - 1960 mAh

It dipped a bit from 6 to 6s but other than that they have been consistently increasing battery capacity.

(Btw, plus models have more; the iPhone 7+ for example has 2900 mAh. On the other hand, they drain more for the screen.)

I don't see how this refutes my claim that, in my opinion, there isn't a smartphone that has reasonable mileage on a single charge.

Battery capacity increases alone are meaningless when the hardware connected to it drains it just the same.

Also interesting is the SE, that has the same form factor as the 5s:

SE - 1624 mAh

You're talking about an increase of 54 mAh. I can't see that saving the day.

Get a battery case. The world has spoken bad rejected thicker heavier longer battery life phones. Thinner, lighter is easier to carry and use.

When you find yourself agreeing with everyone in the room it's time to leave.

What were these thicker heavier longer life phones of which you speak? I don't recall there being any of those to have rejected.

Maybe you mean ye olde feature phones or their predecessors. I don't think that's a fair comparison.

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