Comment by chvid | Hacker News Reader

Comment by chvid | Hacker News Reader

As phones look today and as how they are used, I think we have reached peak usability at around iPhone X. Afterwards - the additional computing, camera, network, form factor that have come with iPhone up to 16 - have provided very little additional end-user value.

So unless phone makers want to be in the situation where end-users are less and less willing to pay for and upgrade to a new phone, they have to figure out something new.

Either turning the phone into a massive local personal AI device with lots of local compute. Or as suggested here opening the phone up and turning it into a general computing device.

Personally I would prefer the latter and I am kinda skeptical of the former eventhough it seems the path major manufacturers (Apple, Qualcomm) are taking.

There are some pursing a more general form of computing - in particular Samsung and Huawei:

https://www.samsung.com/us/apps/dex/

https://www.harmonyos.com/en/

(Though still a very closed model of computing where the device provisioned with software through an app store rather being completely under the end-user's control. Perhaps business model plays a role here.)

I would pay good money for a phone that isn't a literal tablet in terms of size, and yet there is literally zero options for this. I'm sticking with my Pixel 4a until it dies, and even that is already huge for me.

They actually are starting to come back, e.g. the Xiamo QIN 3 Ultra. The QIN phones also have unlocked bootloaders and you can flash Lineage with Google Play if you need it.

As I started reading this, I nodded in agreement and was going to suggest picking up a used Pixel 4a (my phone) until I read the rest of your comment :-) I also agree that it's already a little big. I remember the memes when the iPhone 5 came out, about how big it was compared to the iPhone 4. Those are considered incredibly tiny right now. There used to be one scenario where I loved the larger size of my 4a, which was when using it as a GPS in my car, but I recently bought a car that has Android Auto, so a tiny phone would be perfect now.

iPhone SE 3 is significantly smaller than a Pixel 4a and newer.

Sadly, rumors are the SE4 is going to be yet another 6” phone.

That’s why I’m sticking with the excellent iPhone 13 Mini

I keep my 4a around as a backup, but the Pixel 8 has actually been really nice. A mm or two less width and 1cm less height would be better though.

Poverty/Minimalism bragging coming up...

I am currently using a Moto G Play 2024 I bought new for $120. I have zero complaints.

People pay too much for phones mostly out of novelty and image.

When my laptop (2017 Dell XPS 13, Fedora 41, $200 at a pawn shop) dies I will buy a Samsung and use Dex, because that as well is more than most people need.

Also, the reason Apple is not doing this is that it will obviously eat into Laptop sales. They will just end up selling the phone for $4000. :)

The Moto G Play is massive (6"5, 185g) while low resolution (720 pix wide), coming with 4Gb or RAM while the camera is 50M.

I held on to a Pixel 4a for way too long, and it was struggling to deal with the its 12M camera with 6Mb or RAM on android 13, getting 3s of shutter lag pretty often.

Multi-tasking was also a drag, having two windows would freeze often enough I stopped doing it, which was a pain for paperwork. I can't imagine how it goes with even less.

I'd assume the best strategy would be to first root it to move to a lighter OS ?

I'm glad it works for you, but the Moto G sounds like a seriously compromised package in this day and age. The TFA going with a Pixel 8 sounds a lot more sensible to me.

> I'm glad it works for you, but the Moto G sounds like a seriously compromised package in this day and age.

Well, my bank account is compromised as well. :)

But seriously, I use maps, podcasts, music, browsing, light social media. What I am saying is I use my phone like most people do,not like most people here on HN. ANd it costs 10% of what the base model iPhone 16 costs, which I tried and that new gimmicky camera button is the worst.

The one issue I have is no HDMI out, which is lame, but I do not need it much. Oh, and root is a pain adn there are no ROMS out for it either. Yes, it would be great with teh pure Pixel ROM but Moto's ROM is not that far off.

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