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Comment by 51Cards | Hacker News Reader

Give me a headphone jack, give me a "small phone" (6a is my absolute size limit... I carry a Pixel 5 now purposely because of its size... I'd gladly go smaller), give me raw Android, decent photo abilities, and an all day battery (actually using the phone). I've even given up on caring about SD cards because of 128gb phones being available but it would be nice... as would a replacable battery. I don't care about rounded corners, super thin, super light, top/bottom bezels, hidden fingerprint sensors, etc etc etc.

To the headphone jack argument... started flying for work again this year and had my BT headphones go dead halfway through a flight. Options..? Stare out the window. I will continue to be a strong advocate for that missing item.

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I think the new Zenfone 9 might be what you're after. One handed size (5.9"), almost stock Android, flagship specs, decent cameras, headphone jack.

I'd be buying one if my phone died today.

https://www.asus.com/uk/Mobile/Phones/ZenFone/Zenfone-9/

Thanks!

How many years of security updates? the whole reason I need to replace my pixel 3a is because they stopped giving security updates. If I buy another phone and its only good for 2 more years I'm sort of shooting myself in the foot. I do like the overall ideas behind it, and 3.5mm I definitely want.

That's a good point. Asus usually say two major Android versions but as 13 is on the brink of release, it might be a shorter window than usual.

Why do you need security updates so often and so bad? I dont know what websites or apps you install, but normally there shouldn't be any problems with normal use even without security updates. And even then, you can always install a custom rom instead of having to buy another one.

>Why do you need security updates so often and so bad?

not sure if serious or i just dont understsnd your brand of sarcasm.

i dont want a custom rom i want security patches for the life of the phone, whixh is longer than the 3 years i got.

It's a commonly defended-to-the-death trope in certain internet crowds that if you just "browse carefully and don't install bad stuff" your device is unlikely to be compromised.

Probably not true now, if it ever was.

These days people’s entire financial life is on the phone with all the banking apps, emails, password managers, MFA etc. We cannot afford to be lax on security in any way whatsoever.

No security update will ever compensate for the average person's lack of digital hygiene. It's mostly smokescreen and fear management.

Send your _old_ Pixels my way. I'll put LineageOS on and enjoy them a few more years.

The custom ROM is only going to have (at best) the security patches that have come from upstream manufacturer.

Security is more important than you're framing it here.

>Options..?

Carry a battery pack. Have a backup set of cheap old-style tethered Bluetooth earbuds, if you don't have any others. And most importantly, charge your headphones in your pre-flight routine.

I'm a curmudgeonly type who has clung to all of those fading amenities: headphones jack, removable battery, micro SD. And I can say that the headphone jack has mattered the least by far.

Or carry a dongle, or carry... that's the problem. So now your "we made it thinner" phone makes you carry and keep track of several more items to solve a problem that shouldn't exist. Instead of having to carry an entire tech portfolio everywhere, how about the ability to plug in a set of headphones most airlines / gas stations charge $5 for?

You don't really want a headphone jack, just carry a (comparatively huge) battery was a funny take to read for sure. The removal of the headphone jack was obviously not motivated by technological superiority of BT or any sort of necessity. It was for the vanity factor that Apple started on, and others joined, of slightly sleeker looks; and the cynic in me strongly suspects the airpod / other peripheral market was not far behind as a driver of that decision. I don't care so much if technology changes, but when it regresses for what appears to be largely (if not only) vanity and greed, it's fair to call a spade a spade.

had my BT headphones go dead halfway through a flight. Options..? Stare out the window

My bluetooth headphones give around 3 hours of use from 15 minutes of charging. Apple iPods supposedly give 1 hour of use after 5 minutes of charge. Annoying to have it happen in the middle of a flight, but it doesn't mean I have to forgo music for the rest of the flight.

Switched from the Pixel 2 to Pixel 5, the length of the screen is ~20% bigger, so I reduced the resolution height to the size of the Pixel 2 (1080x2340 -> 1080x1920). feels great to me. only drawback is the notch https://i.imgur.com/2eHFfjg.jpg ..

As a developer I absolutely despise bezels/safe-inset-area. It's asinine to support and just screams "solution looking for a problem".

I bought a Pixel 4a a few weeks ago and it ended up collecting dust, even that I find too big to be usable. I'm sticking with a G7 Play for now. It's got pathetic specs, firmware support is long over and parts of the screen are missing. But hey, at least I can kinda sorta still use it with one hand.

I really liked the USB C headphones that came with the Pixel 3. I bought several more. They cost more than the cheap headphone jack ones I usually use ($30 vs $10), but they don't run out of power. And they are pretty tangle resistant.

Though I am happy now with my 5a and its brief return to headphone jack.

I may hunt down a pair of these, thanks!

>Started flying for work again this year and had my BT headphones go dead halfway through a flight

Some phones have reverse charging, so if you have a earbuds case that supports it, you can charge them.

Read a book...

You want a Pixel 3, or 3a.

those phones are end of life for updates already, including security updates. you don't want those if you want to be secure.

Didn't realize that'd come already =[

Thanks.

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