I agree 100%. And when people inevitably claim that the reason for eliminating the headphone jack is so you could have a phone that could withstand being dropped in water, I think back to the Samsung Galaxy S5 that I bought 10 years ago. It has a headphone jack, a microSD slot, and a user-removable battery, plus an IP67 rating.
I'll also add that the S5 was a much more convenient size than the enormous phones they make these days, some of probably wouldn't even fit in my pocket.
> The Galaxy S5 is very good about reminding you close your charger door snugly and make sure your battery cover is snapped on COMPLETELY before continuing. This is a message you shouldn’t dismiss (although it allows you to) because the reminder is a good one. I can say with confidence that during both water tests my phone back cover and battery port were completely secured.
> Somehow, though, water snuck its way into my battery.
To offer an alternative data point, I don't really want any of the above. Just make it cheaper, smaller, and with guaranteed security updates for as long as possible.
The only wired headphones I own are high-impedance """audiophile""" headphones, that a phone couldn't really drive in the first place.
As for storage, I don't do a whole lot on my phone except for messaging and looking things up on-the-go, none of which needs much in terms of storage space. I've had my current phone (iPhone SE3, 128GB) for over 2 years, and I've never even had to delete anything (and when the day comes, I'll transfer the contents of the photo gallery over to external storage).
I've got a Sony Xperia phone from last year. It's got a headphone jack and sdcard slot, waterproof, latest chipset etc. Plus a very close to vanilla Android. Yet they sold so few that Sony are pulling out of the US phone market. It seems to me that folks who say they want those things don't actually want them that much.
Sony hasn't been relevant in the phone industry since the transition to smartphones. Samsung, Huawei, Lenovo and others sell millions of phones with these features, but the flagship models still exclude them.
The early Sony Android phones were available in stores. I remember the first smartphone I got was a Sony, and, compared to a friend's Samsung, it was really lovely, great screen, better feeling build quality. Maybe they never competed on price? I didn't even think about the brand back then, just chose the nicest one in the store.
I definitely do, I have never bought a phone without a headphone jack. I feel like that will end soon though, as the line of phones I'm using seems to be dying, and it's the last of its kind.
Nobody wants a high-end android cameraphone where the camera firmware self-destructs when you unlock the bootloader.
For better or for worse, the android world is reliant on custom roms if you want long-term software support. Wiping the camera firmware is unacceptable given that reality.
Again, the whole custom rom thing is a bandaid patch on a shitty, user-hostile OS model that makes it nearly impossible to perform a vital function of the computing system (updates). The inability to deliver updates effectively is itself a symptom of a product defect here. It would be better if we could require all companies to provide useful first-party support lifecycles for the products they release.
But sony is deliberately gutting the device’s functionality to prevent you from unlocking it and that’s unacceptable even among android devices. If you’re going to do this shitty custom rom model, vendors that decide to kill even the ability to try and use that bandaid are going to suffer poor sales.
I would love a high-end cameraphone, the Xperia lineup was a serious consideration when I bought my last phone. But I could never get over the hump of buying a device that would have less than 2 years of updates by the time I got it, and that would deliberately self-destruct if I attempted to extend it beyond that.
I got an iPhone instead. Much less user-hostile. Forcing me to use a custom rom is already user-hostile, but to then punish me for doing it is unconscionable.
Oddly enough, there’s not nearly as much emphasis on banging the EU’s door down to stop that kind of waste and really honestly intentional/malicious damage, as there is about whatever apple thing people are whining about this week. Oh no the pelican case full of oem phone repair tooling that apple lets you rent (or buy) is too big/heavy… or Sony phones deliberately self-destruct themselves when you unlock the bootloader… somehow the “we can do both!” reply-guys never get around to doing both. Curious.
> I got an iPhone instead. Much less user-hostile.
Umm, that’s backwards. You can’t install your own software or unlock the boot loader. As soon as Apple decides the phone is e-waste, you can’t do anything about it unless there is a jailbreak. It just so happens that Apple offers software updates slightly longer than competitors, but this could easily change, as we have seen on macOS where 6 year old Intel macs no longer receive OS support. That is the pinnacle of user hostile.
Ok. I paid more than that. What you're saying is I want x y and z, and also to be this cheap. But they're obviously catering for a niche market so you have to compromise and can't then just comment with "why can't they..." They would bring those features to cheaper phones if people were buying expensive phones for those features. You don't think it's worth the extra, so they don't think it's worth the effort.
I'm happy to pay a bit more, I use my phone all the time. I would like a folding phone but I don't consider those ready yet, but I'm not posting that all phones should be folding for $200 because they can do it in that model for 1800
3.5mm jack, microSD and removable batteries is the holy grail.
The only reason these aren't included anymore on flagship phones is because companies think they can upsell you on BT headphones, cloud storage plans and extended warranties. They're building for shareholder value, not the customer.
Plenty of midrange and low end phones still come with the jack and microSD, but removable batteries seem to be extinct.
Sony is making high end phones that have all these features, like the xperia line. The UI is a little wonky, and you have to degoogle the phone, but after that its pretty solid.
How about the option to totally remove google without installing a custom rom.
you start your brand new phone and a pop up appears:
Would you like to remove google and all the other bloatware to start with a blank phone and choose to install exactly what you need and want.
Please click here.
I would then seriously consider buying a new phone instead of slightly older phones I can install custom roms on.
now that would be a thing.
In a perfect world
I have an old Samsung S4 2013 (android 11) and an old Motorola G3 (android 11). I keep the G3 to listen to FM radio as modern phones dont have the FMradio.
My main phone is a onplus 5T with android 14. A superb phone, 8 years old and still runs better than any modern phone my friends own. Cost me £75
Protip: You can use GSMarena's Phone Finder to find phones with specific features. For example here are phones from 2024 with a headphone jack, SD card slot, FM radio, infrared port and 5G:
My Librem 5 has a 3.5mm jack, microSD slot, removable battery, even removable modem and smartcard, and an OS I fully control. Couldn't be happier. The only thing that bothers me is that it's soon going to be 5 years old and there's still nothing better on the market, and even though it's still usable it's at a point where I expect it to start showing its age rather sooner than later.
My librem 5 has about 3.5mm of dust on it because the phone is unusable. I appreciate that they made a linux phone, but they didn't make a phone people would actually want to use. Abysmal battery life where "carry a 2nd battery" is actual advice for every-day use. Very slow user interface. So large and heavy that I could murder someone with it. Questionable cellular support where the modem randomly disconnecting in the middle of a phone call can happen.
The battery lasts up to a single day, which is short but enough for me. I recognize that it's not a phone for everyone and it has its quirks, but "unusable" is not how I'd describe it after daily driving it for years. Overall I see more advantages than disadvantages when compared to mainstream devices, which is why I continue to use it.
> where the modem randomly disconnecting in the middle of a phone call can happen
Readit News
> The Galaxy S5 is very good about reminding you close your charger door snugly and make sure your battery cover is snapped on COMPLETELY before continuing. This is a message you shouldn’t dismiss (although it allows you to) because the reminder is a good one. I can say with confidence that during both water tests my phone back cover and battery port were completely secured.
> Somehow, though, water snuck its way into my battery.
The only wired headphones I own are high-impedance """audiophile""" headphones, that a phone couldn't really drive in the first place.
As for storage, I don't do a whole lot on my phone except for messaging and looking things up on-the-go, none of which needs much in terms of storage space. I've had my current phone (iPhone SE3, 128GB) for over 2 years, and I've never even had to delete anything (and when the day comes, I'll transfer the contents of the photo gallery over to external storage).
On the contrary, we do. There's just not enough of us.
For better or for worse, the android world is reliant on custom roms if you want long-term software support. Wiping the camera firmware is unacceptable given that reality.
Again, the whole custom rom thing is a bandaid patch on a shitty, user-hostile OS model that makes it nearly impossible to perform a vital function of the computing system (updates). The inability to deliver updates effectively is itself a symptom of a product defect here. It would be better if we could require all companies to provide useful first-party support lifecycles for the products they release.
But sony is deliberately gutting the device’s functionality to prevent you from unlocking it and that’s unacceptable even among android devices. If you’re going to do this shitty custom rom model, vendors that decide to kill even the ability to try and use that bandaid are going to suffer poor sales.
I would love a high-end cameraphone, the Xperia lineup was a serious consideration when I bought my last phone. But I could never get over the hump of buying a device that would have less than 2 years of updates by the time I got it, and that would deliberately self-destruct if I attempted to extend it beyond that.
I got an iPhone instead. Much less user-hostile. Forcing me to use a custom rom is already user-hostile, but to then punish me for doing it is unconscionable.
Oddly enough, there’s not nearly as much emphasis on banging the EU’s door down to stop that kind of waste and really honestly intentional/malicious damage, as there is about whatever apple thing people are whining about this week. Oh no the pelican case full of oem phone repair tooling that apple lets you rent (or buy) is too big/heavy… or Sony phones deliberately self-destruct themselves when you unlock the bootloader… somehow the “we can do both!” reply-guys never get around to doing both. Curious.
Umm, that’s backwards. You can’t install your own software or unlock the boot loader. As soon as Apple decides the phone is e-waste, you can’t do anything about it unless there is a jailbreak. It just so happens that Apple offers software updates slightly longer than competitors, but this could easily change, as we have seen on macOS where 6 year old Intel macs no longer receive OS support. That is the pinnacle of user hostile.
I absolutely do not have that kind of money
I'm happy to pay a bit more, I use my phone all the time. I would like a folding phone but I don't consider those ready yet, but I'm not posting that all phones should be folding for $200 because they can do it in that model for 1800
The only reason these aren't included anymore on flagship phones is because companies think they can upsell you on BT headphones, cloud storage plans and extended warranties. They're building for shareholder value, not the customer.
Plenty of midrange and low end phones still come with the jack and microSD, but removable batteries seem to be extinct.
you start your brand new phone and a pop up appears:
Would you like to remove google and all the other bloatware to start with a blank phone and choose to install exactly what you need and want.
Please click here.
I would then seriously consider buying a new phone instead of slightly older phones I can install custom roms on.
now that would be a thing.
In a perfect world
I have an old Samsung S4 2013 (android 11) and an old Motorola G3 (android 11). I keep the G3 to listen to FM radio as modern phones dont have the FMradio.
My main phone is a onplus 5T with android 14. A superb phone, 8 years old and still runs better than any modern phone my friends own. Cost me £75
I carry a media player, like an iPod. 500GB sd card, balanced and unbalanced headphone outs, and actual physical buttons and knobs for control.
Phones can do everything, but there are too many compromises. Ebook readers, and media players do one thing very well.
You also get a lot of peace when you disconnect from apps, scrolling and notifications and just enjoy your music out in the world.
https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2024&chk35mm=...
(you can click REFINE to change the options)
:(
> where the modem randomly disconnecting in the middle of a phone call can happen
Fixed 1.5 years ago. It's a fun story BTW: https://fosdem.org/2024/schedule/event/fosdem-2024-3200-univ...