5 ms·
Opinion: I'd rather have a headphone jack and a microSD slot than AI in my phone
Curious how others feel about this.
- cirrus3 2y agoHuh? I don't think one was traded for the other.
- PaulHoule 2y agoI have so many tablets and cheap phones that don't have the storage to play high-end mobile games, it would make a difference to me if I could expand my memory easily. (Edit: some folks got excited because I said "memory" when I meant "storage")
- dotancohen 2y agoSD cards are storage, not memory.
- nezza-_- 2y agoSD cards are flash memory.
- dotancohen 2y agoSD cards do not increase the memory available to user applications. They are storage devices, even if the technology behind them has the word memory in the name.
- PaulHoule 2y agoIt's not the memory that's the problem, it's that games like FGO require 10GB or more of flash storage which is most of a 16GB device particularly when you consider overhead for software updates. It's not like the game has high memory requirements but it sure has a lot of levels, textures and stuff. It's amusing the the IBM Mainframe world still uses the word "storage" to describe RAM.
- natch 2y agoDo any old Android phones have this combination?
- tomwheeler 2y agoI 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.
- tomwheeler 2y agoI'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.
- thebruce87m 2y agohttp://phandroid.com/2014/04/19/galaxy-s5-water-damage/amp/ http://phandroid.com/2014/04/19/galaxy-s5-water-damage/amp/ > 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.
- throwitaway1123 2y agoIt also had an IR blaster that let you control your television without worrying about misplacing a remote.
- dzogchen 2y agoWhy would they give up on three sources of extra revenue?
- tomwheeler 2y agoThis is the real answer why manufacturers don't serve this part of the market
- dotancohen 2y agoI recently bought a NOS Samsung Note 10 Lite. A quarter the price of the S24, has the wonderful S-Pen and a headphone jack. And even though the battery is ostensibly not user replaceable, it is an easy job that can be done in five minutes without risking breaking anything else.
- tomwheeler 2y agoSimilarly, I now have a Samsung Galaxy A52, which has a headphone jack and a microSD slot (but no user-replaceable battery). I'm not particularly price conscious, so I feel like Samsung lost out on an opportunity to sell me a flagship phone because those no longer have these features I care about. Luckily, this much cheaper phone still has the two that are most important to me. When they stop offering them at all, I'll be done with Samsung.
- dotancohen 2y agoYou just explained something that I've been noticing more and more lately. A decade ago, the early adopters and nerds would have the flagship phones, and everybody else would have the cheap phone. Today the power users are using the absolute cheapest phones and the general public has the flagships.
- rhomv 2y agoI can understand the upgrade required for extra storage and AI subscriptions, but what revenue is earned from the elimination of the headphone jack? I can only see the marginal costs of adding one in, but for consumers who want it, it'd be a sales tactic.
- complaintdept 2y agoYeah but how does Google/Apple make money off of cloud storage when you don't need it? In some ways it's better to just get a usb-c fob for this functionality...have a problem with your headphone jack or microSD slot? Throw it out and replace it. I'd rather see TB+ storage on my phone.
- lormayna 2y agoAlso FM radio
- ethagnawl 2y agoThis was the defining feature of the best MP3 player I ever owned. (I believe it was a Sanyo Sansa.) I wound up using it way more than the MP3 functionality. I was spoiled, living in NYC at the time, but there was/still is so much good content out there, if you spend the time to look (college, community, pirate, etc.). It's depressing that such functionality is missing from modern devices. Entertainment value aside, it can be a lifeline in times of crisis/emergencies.
- lormayna 2y agoI had a Sansa e140 and it was perfect, it has everything that I needed while commuting and no need to recharge frequently.
- heisenbit 2y agoNext you are telling me you want to go back to the time when mobiles needed a whole week to go through a charge. How outdated!
- bags43 2y agoWhere to move from Samsung A52? There is no alternative below 1000 EUR.
- janice1999 2y agoCheck out this search tool: https://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3 https://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3 It's a great resource to find a new phone by feature set.
- bags43 2y agohttps://geizhals.at/?cat=umtsover https://geizhals.at/?cat=umtsover Even more filters...
- JadeNB 2y agoFor me, the microSD slot is the important part, and the Galaxy A54 still has one. No headphone jack, though.
- bags43 2y agoSamsung Exynos 1380 is huge downgrade and cam offers no improvement.
- JadeNB 2y agoHuh, the reviews I read seemed to say that the camera was a huge step up. (But maybe they were mostly comparing to the A53, which seemed uniformly to be regarded as a regression.) If not, then I feel quite stupid for paying the extra to "upgrade" to an A54, instead of an A52, from my A50. (Also, though it's easy for me to believe this random search result is dodgy, and with the understanding that benchmarks don't mean much, Googling around for a chip comparison turned up https://gadgetversus.com/processor/qualcomm-sm7125-snapdragon-720g-vs-samsung-exynos-1380/ https://gadgetversus.com/processor/qualcomm-sm7125-snapdrago... , which seems to suggest that the Exynos 1380 in the A54 wins over the Snapdragon 720G in the A52 in many benchmarks.)
- CalChris 2y agoI'm going to side with Apple on this one. Transistors are basically free and ports are expensive and unreliable. I'm happy they've been moving to eSIMs. I'd be fine if my next iPhone only supported wireless charging. No ports is better.
- ActorNightly 2y agoDevelopment of SOCs for AI is not free though.
- Retr0id 2y agoIf they weren't burning cash on AI, they'd be burning it on something equally useless. Smartphones have been more or less feature-complete for years now.
- ActorNightly 2y agoThen why is it only Samsung that has Dex, a feature they don't even advertise, that lets you use a phone as a computer? Pixel is just getting HDMI out with 8. Every android rom can easily be bundled with code for a chromebook style desktop. What about and IR camera as one of the 3 cameras? I don't need a telephoto camera with 5x zoom on my smartphone. IR camera is super useful to see things like pets in the dark, see hot or cold spots in the house, e.t.c What about integrated sub ghz 2 way radios? In busy areas like concerts or areas without cell reception, the phone is next to useless. What about better lights? I don't want to burn battery with the flash led. Simple lower power led option means I can actually use the light for extended period of time. What about laser distance measurment? Often times I find myself measuring distance. Can't do it accurately with camera to as high resolution as you can with a laser. What about low power wifi hotspot mode? Just run the phone in hotspot mode, without taking up battery for screen or background processes. There are also things they can do in software. For example, old phones are next to useless. There should be no reason why I can't install a linux distro on it, have it boot directly to that, without having to jump through hoops or deal with android, and have a mini server at home. Plenty of features left to be implemented.
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- newsclues 2y agoHeadphone jack I’ve not really needed. But I want a smartphone with a removable battery. Same with laptops. Let me kill the power. Let me replace the batteries easily. Give me thicker devices!
- jauntywundrkind 2y agoI don't know if we need 8k video, but if it's going to be a feature it sure feels like we should have sd cards. This write-up is talking about 33GB/hr. Given the dinky ass 128GB that seems to be common, and given that the base install is often 30GB+, like, yeah, we need more storage. https://www.androidauthority.com/pixel-9-8k-more-storage-3462002/ https://www.androidauthority.com/pixel-9-8k-more-storage-346... MicroSD cards are fantastic & I'd want them anywhere. But man it's just so preposterous that they have so drastically outpaced phone's builtin storage. 0.5 or 1TB are basically unheard of on phones, but there's plenty of whole SSDs with far more components and cost selling for $50 or less. It's wild. What a supply side economics setup, so many companies all keeping the whole mobile market back, deliberately.
- raydev 2y agoI think Apple's aware of the storage limitations with 8k recording and so they won't bother to ship it in software for another couple years. The utility gap between 4k and 8k video is tiny. I was eager to move from a giant 1080p TV to a giant 4k TV, but I have no desire to buy 8k. Neither 8k TVs nor 8k monitors have occupied a meaningful amount of the market, and there appears to be not much demand for them. On the gaming side, the latest graphics cards still can't max out settings on most AAA games at 4k/60fps.
- ethagnawl 2y agoWhile we're dreaming, how about a physical keyboard?
- 93po 2y agoand a 28 inch 4k screen, and external mouse
- Retr0id 2y agoTo 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).
- ActorNightly 2y agoMultiple USBC ports. Any one can be used as headphone jack, or fit a tiny usb drive that wouldnt stick out much.
- 627467 2y agoWhere is the recurring revenue in a 3.5mm jack or a SD card slot?
- fabiofzero 2y agoYes, absolutely. The AI hype can't die soon enough.
- the4anoni 2y agoI agree, that's why I am daily driving Samsung Galaxy S10 (exynos version) on LineageOS. I miss 2010-2015 smartphone market, it was much more innovative than it's now :(
- reify 2y agoHow 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
- jemmyw 2y agoI'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.
- rchaud 2y agoSony 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.
- jemmyw 2y agoThe 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.
- toastercat 2y ago> It seems to me that folks who say they want those things don't actually want them that much. On the contrary, we do. There's just not enough of us.
- a3n 2y agoAh, Firefly fans.
- mouse_ 2y agoyeah but it's $900, used, on Ebay I absolutely do not have that kind of money
- jemmyw 2y agoOk. 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
- josefritzishere 2y ago100% agree. I am using my phones headphone jack right now.
- 93po 2y agoi would much rather have AI to do routine tasks on my phone for me and change settings without me having to dig through menus
- nozzlegear 2y ago> Curious how others feel about this. I would rather have none of these things, but if I had to choose, AI sounds more useful.
- rchaud 2y ago"sounds" being the operative word. I don't consider being able to erase something on a photo, or add something to be a compelling enough use case. The AI demos I've seen have been pretty pathetic relative to the hype they're trying to build.
- nozzlegear 2y agoI agree for the most part. I'm pretty bearish on most AI stuff, I was not interested in the Apple Intelligence stuff announced at WWDC beyond having a Siri that might be able to answer a question directly instead of sending me to a Wikipedia article.
- rchaud 2y ago3.5mm 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.
- Euphorbium 2y agoGood thing that EU is bringing the removable batteries back.
- kingbiz 2y agoSony 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.
- 7e 2y agoYou’re a boomer; shall I get off your lawn now?
- seba_dos1 2y agoMy 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.
- craftkiller 2y agoMy 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.
- seba_dos1 2y agoThe 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 Fixed 1.5 years ago. It's a fun story BTW: https://fosdem.org/2024/schedule/event/fosdem-2024-3200-universal-serial-bug-a-tale-of-spontaneous-modem-resets/ https://fosdem.org/2024/schedule/event/fosdem-2024-3200-univ...
- xethos 2y agoWell, that bug has been squashed. The one I run into more often [0] has not. I own a L5, I daily drive a Pinephone Pro. I agree with you, though - I only switch back to my previous phone because I miss the keyboard every other year or so, in a "grass is always greener" kind of way. [0] https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/OS-issues/-/issues/328 https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/OS-issues/-/issues/328
- elseleigh 2y ago100%. And I only buy phones with these features.
- err4nt 2y agoI love bluetooth headphones for listening to video or even talking, but it has too much latency for realtime music performance (e.g. music making apps, or using your phone as a MIDI instrument with a controller). Having the wired headphone jack without the latency that (any) wireless protocol necessarily introduces is a huge deadlbreaking feature and I never see people defending bluetooth headsets mention it.
- slotrans 2y agoMy Zenfone 9 has a headphone jack. No SD card slot though, which I don't need. So yeah, I voted for this position with my dollars, and will continue to do so. Any phone with mandatory AI crap is Hard Pass.
- gepardi 2y agoAmen
- WithinReason 2y agoProtip: 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: https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2024&chk35mm=selected&chkInfrared=selected&chkFMradio=selected&s5Gs=0&idCardslot=1 https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2024&chk35mm=... (you can click REFINE to change the options)
- mouse_ 2y agoMy choices are Xiaomi, Tecno, and Ulefone :(
- thewileyone 2y agoBut the Xiaomi has infrared port!
- iowemoretohim 2y agoMy device has a headphone jack and a microSD slot and I've never used either of them. In regards of AI I find transcription, summarization, translation and predictive text to be very useful.
- 1vuio0pswjnm7 2y ago"Some people say give the customers what they want, but that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, 'If I'd ask customers what they wanted, they would've told me a faster horse.' People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page."
- anenefan 2y agoNot that I use android smart phones that much any more in the capacity to replace what a laptop might do, since google's ugly head all too often places too much hindrance on the apps I prefer to use, however I do still use unencrypted microSD for times when bluetooth isn't doing what it's supposed to do to transfer photos or it's just faster to put the card into a reader and look at the contents on a laptop. AI might seem useful - but sadly on a phone and prepackaged, I only see it becoming a minder in a short time - no thanks.
- mingus88 2y agoMaybe we should carry our phones around less often. 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.
- MyFedora 2y agoThis thread is the definition of people who want features that most people don't care about. Headphone jack? Bluetooth. Audiophile? DAC. microSD slot? Cloud storage. User-removable battery? Power bank. FM radio? Internet. Degoogled phone? Really?
- webjac 2y agoNope, that is completely unnecessary to me nowadays. No need for extra storage, m headphones are wireless and the possibility of AI will make me so much more productive. You need to update yourself sir.
- yftsui 2y agoNope, I’d rather my phone has no connector ports at all, get rid of USB-C will be the dream.
- snapplebobapple 2y ago#metoo