Smartphones... bah! (24 Oct, 2017)

[aardvark_admin]

This column is archived at: http://aardvark.co.nz/daily/2017/1024.shtml

Are manufacturers simply pushing current technology too hard in their attempts to be a step ahead of their competitors?

The Samsung battery BBQ?

The Pixels' short-lived OLED display?

And how good a value was my $29.99 smartphone with its quad-core processor and 802.11/a/b/g/n WiFi support?

Sometimes it doesn't hurt to stay at least a little bit away from the cutting edge of technology? Right?

[Malcolm]

You might want to switch off the WiFi if it is running 5.1
Only issue with the cheap Androids is the fact they run an old version of Android which won't have the latest security updates. Might get lucky and the maker will ship a new Firmware for it if the issue is big enough.

[Wetherman]

I have never really warmed to LG either. I have a monitor which actually produces a good picture but is rendered useless for home use by the absurdly bright flashing blue light when on standby. I have a TV which again has an acceptable picture but the sound quality is awful - and I can't re-route the sound and use something else because I lose lip-sync: the picture is delayed (and so is the TV sound evidently). Horrible products both of them. Glad I didn't pay RRP for either.
I'm not a fan of Vodafone either: good on you Bruce for getting good value from one of their products. Well done

[Stevesub]

Between my wife and I we have 4 x Samsung phones (One NZ and one OZ phone each as we live in both countries) plus 3 x Samsung Tablets (I have an old TAB2 as new for sale) and Samsung smart TV. There have been the odd minor issue but I still keep buying Samsung because they work and keep on working plus I have had excellent support when I have had a issue including a tablet fixed for free when it was out of warranty.

You just have to get your head around no updates once the device is older than 6 months.

As for the iPhone 8, nope, just not into Apple anymore and I don't spend more than $500 on a phone or tablet and try to get the last stock of the latest top end model from a year or two ago. eg my latest Samsung S5 I purchased in March for $A320 new in OZ from a major retailer.. Not bad for what was a high end phone that does everything and more for me. Likewise me latest compact Canon camera run out model cost me nearly half the price of the latest model which has the same photographic specs but a few less extras such as NFC and Bluetooth.

[goosemoose]

Samsung, utter junk, if LG are worse than them then it must be real bad. The way Samsung is designed to be used is arse about face. As example it takes 3 pushes to turn my Samsung phone off when 1 maybe 2 would do. A work phone, I would never pay money for them. I've owned 3 or 4 Samsung pieces of junk and all of them were under performing, confusing to use rubbish. Never again. I do have an old Nokia as my personal phone. Its not a smart one but its serves its purpose brilliantly. If I want to buy a smart phone it'll be bottom of the barrel, el-cheapo. It'll still be 10 times better than Samsung.

[hagfish]

I'm not lining up to drop two grand on an iPhone X, but I to enjoy using a device that's been made with care and attention to detail. If money were no object, I'd grab an iPhone SE for about $550. I'd rather have a 2-year-old Hilux, than a brand new Great Wall.

According to some reports, last year's iPhone 7 is currently outselling this year's iPhone 8. It looks like lots of people are happy to have last year's model, with its lower price tag, and its (for all intents and purposes) identical performance.

There's a mind-set that a decent phone is worth a few of hundred, but a decent PC is worth a few of thousand. I think increasingly, young-uns will be unwilling to spend $heaps on a laptop they barely use - why not put that cash toward the smartphone that they live on? If they actually have to type something, any Chromebook will do.

[phill]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news ... d=11937390

just had to put this one in

the mind just boggles
well mine does anyway as a strict adherant to the i will get no name with the same or better specs for less than 1/4 of the price
or in this particular case around 10% of the cost