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I've recently switched back to an old Nokia feature phone and holy shit, it's incredible when I hold it up to my ear...I can actually grab the entire thing in t

I've recently switched back to an old Nokia feature phone and holy shit, it's incredible when I hold it up to my ear...I can actually grab the entire thing in the palm of my hand.

jpkeisala 11y ago
Another amazing thing about old Nokia phones is the sound when you hear another person talking. I wish they could bring "good telephone" back to these smartphones.
- glhaynes 11y ago
  Voice calls over VoLTE or Wi-Fi sound great. It's just a matter of carriers rolling it out (and building interoperability amongst themselves).
  - matthewmcg 11y ago
    Facetime Voice also sounds great. (Though it only works when you're calling another iDevice.)
    - roflchoppa 11y ago
      if i know the other person has an iPhone, i make them facetime me, using voice over my service sucks. fuck it i don't want calling minutes anymore, just gimme data.
- sorenjan 11y ago
  Older phones (the ones designed by phone manufacturers, not computer companies) had sidetone [0], making it a lot easier to talk on the phone when it's windy. They where better phones than today's portable computers with a phone app. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidetone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidetone
  - jonknee 11y ago
    HTC is actually bringing back Sidetone as an option: http://blog.htc.com/2015/09/re-instating-the-sidetone-option/ http://blog.htc.com/2015/09/re-instating-the-sidetone-option...
ttkeil 11y ago
I've been hanging on to my iPhone 4S for this very reason. The battery is nearly shot after 4 years, but I would call that a pretty good run by today's standards (Take that, planned obsolescence!).
- masklinn 11y ago
  You can replace the battery. The removal is a bit frightening (there's a shit-ton of glue so you're tearing the battery apart to get it out), but aside from that it's a 10mn~15mn job (first time, being careful), did that on my own 4S. Biggest annoyance (aside from fear of piercing the battery while you're tearing it out) is some sort of pressure/spring-loaded contact inside which is a pain to get back in place. ifixit sells complete replacement kits (battery + plastic forcing tool + pentalobe driver + replacement philips screws) for $25, or just the battery for $20, you can probably find even cheaper parts elsewhere. Phone resurrected, money well spent.
  - duskwuff 11y ago
    I believe they're using removable adhesive strips these days, similar (if not identical) to 3M's Command line. Long story short, if you're "tearing" anything, you're doing it wrong. Pull on the exposed end of the strip and the adhesive will detach cleanly, leaving no residue.
    - masklinn 11y ago
      Good luck with that, the pulltab was a useless piece of junk and it most definitely did not detach anything (let alone cleanly). I very much would have liked it to work, it would have been significantly less stressful than having to leverage the plastic tool on the metal sides of the phone to tear out the battery.
      - mattkevan 11y ago
        Yeah, the pulltab is less than useful. It took a worryingly large amount of force to get the battery unstuck and pulling the tab folded it into a neat U shape. Having seen plenty of exploding battery videos I was expecting the thing to go up at any second.
WildUtah 11y ago
"it's incredible when I hold it up to my ear" Why would you hold a phone up to your ear? Trying to take a photo of your ear canal or something?
- dror 11y ago
  Probably misplaced his ear-buds.
  - WildUtah 11y ago
    That could be it. I just turn mine up to listen to music without earbuds when I'm alone, but that would probably upset neighbors in a crowded place.

I've recently switched back to an old Nokia feature phone and holy shit, it's incredible when I hold it up to my ear...I can actually grab the entire thing in the palm of my hand.

jpkeisala 11y ago

Another amazing thing about old Nokia phones is the sound when you hear another person talking. I wish they could bring "good telephone" back to these smartphones.

glhaynes 11y ago
Voice calls over VoLTE or Wi-Fi sound great. It's just a matter of carriers rolling it out (and building interoperability amongst themselves).
- matthewmcg 11y ago
  Facetime Voice also sounds great. (Though it only works when you're calling another iDevice.)
  - roflchoppa 11y ago
    if i know the other person has an iPhone, i make them facetime me, using voice over my service sucks. fuck it i don't want calling minutes anymore, just gimme data.
sorenjan 11y ago
Older phones (the ones designed by phone manufacturers, not computer companies) had sidetone [0], making it a lot easier to talk on the phone when it's windy. They where better phones than today's portable computers with a phone app. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidetone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidetone
- jonknee 11y ago
  HTC is actually bringing back Sidetone as an option: http://blog.htc.com/2015/09/re-instating-the-sidetone-option/ http://blog.htc.com/2015/09/re-instating-the-sidetone-option...

ttkeil 11y ago

I've been hanging on to my iPhone 4S for this very reason. The battery is nearly shot after 4 years, but I would call that a pretty good run by today's standards (Take that, planned obsolescence!).

masklinn 11y ago
You can replace the battery. The removal is a bit frightening (there's a shit-ton of glue so you're tearing the battery apart to get it out), but aside from that it's a 10mn~15mn job (first time, being careful), did that on my own 4S. Biggest annoyance (aside from fear of piercing the battery while you're tearing it out) is some sort of pressure/spring-loaded contact inside which is a pain to get back in place. ifixit sells complete replacement kits (battery + plastic forcing tool + pentalobe driver + replacement philips screws) for $25, or just the battery for $20, you can probably find even cheaper parts elsewhere. Phone resurrected, money well spent.
- duskwuff 11y ago
  I believe they're using removable adhesive strips these days, similar (if not identical) to 3M's Command line. Long story short, if you're "tearing" anything, you're doing it wrong. Pull on the exposed end of the strip and the adhesive will detach cleanly, leaving no residue.
  - masklinn 11y ago
    Good luck with that, the pulltab was a useless piece of junk and it most definitely did not detach anything (let alone cleanly). I very much would have liked it to work, it would have been significantly less stressful than having to leverage the plastic tool on the metal sides of the phone to tear out the battery.
    - mattkevan 11y ago
      Yeah, the pulltab is less than useful. It took a worryingly large amount of force to get the battery unstuck and pulling the tab folded it into a neat U shape. Having seen plenty of exploding battery videos I was expecting the thing to go up at any second.

WildUtah 11y ago

"it's incredible when I hold it up to my ear" Why would you hold a phone up to your ear? Trying to take a photo of your ear canal or something?

dror 11y ago
Probably misplaced his ear-buds.
- WildUtah 11y ago
  That could be it. I just turn mine up to listen to music without earbuds when I'm alone, but that would probably upset neighbors in a crowded place.