4 ms·

It's amusing how much space is devoted to the location of buttons and ports. I don't recall ever thinking, "I want a phone with the power button on the right si

It's amusing how much space is devoted to the location of buttons and ports. I don't recall ever thinking, "I want a phone with the power button on the right side and the charge port on the bottom. Those are my primary requirements." Phone hardware just isn't interesting, anymore. We've reached the point that personal computers reached a couple decades ago: They're all pretty good and not much different from the model released two years ago (though they are faster and have more storage and RAM).

MichaelApproved 12y ago
Further, the buttons are designed poorly. I use a pinching motion to click the power button. My thumb and index finger grip the phone and I put pressure on my thumb to click the power button. Unfortunately, that means the volume button also gets pressed with my index finger. The phone won't lock when both those buttons are pressed at the same time. It's frustrating. I have to grip the phone unnaturally so that I don't click both buttons at the same time.
- coob 12y ago
  I tried to replicate your problem but I can only seem to do it when holding the 6 with just the forefinger and thumb (right handed). What are you other three fingers doing? I tend to grip with thumb on the right edge, index finger resting on the back and last 3 fingers holding the right edge. Are you an amputee?
  - MichaelApproved 12y ago
    > What are you other three fingers doing? I tend to grip with thumb on the right edge, index finger resting on the back and last 3 fingers holding the right edge. Do you mean "last 3 fingers holding the left edge? That style seems to be a minority, based on a quick Google image search. If fingers are wrapped around a phone, the index is with the rest of the 3 fingers. This is how I hold my phone http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/isolated-woman-hand-holding-phone-screen-30928518.jpg http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/isolated-woman-hand-holding-p... Check out the image search for examples. Most hold it the way I'm describing: https://www.google.com/search?q=holding+phone https://www.google.com/search?q=holding+phone > Are you an amputee? no
drzaiusapelord 12y ago
This is classic bikeshedding. A lot of mobile device reviews are pretty unsophisticated, so there's a lot of spilled ink about button location, how the metal/plastic feels, etc. Its a strange regression. Like we just can't judge or weigh the complexity of a modern mobile OS and all its services and apps and just take on this simplified, "Uh, it looks nice" point of view. Strange that even a hard-nosed tech site like anandtech can't resist the typical fetishiztion of buttons and whispered sighs of "So intuitive" and "designey!" Meanwhile, valid competitors like the Nexus or Samsung line-ups either get strict apathy or get criticized in a way that Apple is immune to (for example the Note's size being unacceptable yet the 6+ size being perfect). Or the Jobsian logic that the press repeats (size of iphone is perfect because of human thumb size) and then ignores when even Apple itself doesn't buy that argument anymore. I think the world of tech reviewing proves how well marketing works, especially against those who often see themselves as resistant to it and self-declared rational/skeptical/intellectual thinkers. If anything, these types seem more susceptible to it for some reason. I don't even really read reviews in a serious fashion at this point, except maybe at Ars. Reviews seem to be marketing vehicles, either consciously or sub-consciously on the part of the reviewer. Ars seems to be more even-handed than most and they try not to fall too deeply into the trap of bikeshedding or pandering for ad impressions. I can't be the only one unhappy with how these things are reviewed nowadays. It seems like the narrative of the "nerds have won" in regardless to tech is pretty disingenious. If anyone has won, its the marketers. The more you spend to promote your talking points, the more often those talking points will be believed or, at least, repeated. It doesn't seem anymore complex than that. I'm also willing to concede that there's a subjective element here that makes reviewing of commodity tech almost like reviewing the arts. At a certain point performance, durability, etc are all fine for the top competitors and reviews just address things that are more subjective than objective for the lack of things to talk about. Mobile has certainly reached that space and the only rational move for these companies is to just invest more in marketing to make your 'SoC tied to a touchscreen tied to a mobile OS tied to an app store' look better than the other guy's 'SoC tied to a touchscreen tied to a mobile OS tied to an app store.' Now the role of the reviewer is to communicate these marketing messages effectively.
- arrrg 12y ago
  What’s wrong with caring about tight tolerances and good material choices? What’s wrong about caring about good feeling buttons? (This is besides the point, but I actually disagree with AnandTech there, the buttons on the 6 feel markedly worse then the 5s ones, they jiggle ever so slightly.) I really don’t get why you think it’s not rational to care about these things. I really don’t get that. It is literally incomprehensible to me. Can you explain that to me?
baddox 12y ago
I completely disagree that all phones have pretty good hardware (referring to the handset itself, not the electronics). Flagship Android phones like the Nexus 5, Galaxy S5, and Moto X have, in my opinion, far worse hardware than all iPhones back to the iPhone 4. The HTC One comes close, and the Lumia phones have an interesting unique design, and of course there are a few top end phones I haven't seen in person.
bonif 12y ago
This! just search youtube for "iphone 6" and the vast majority of videos will be "unboxing"... Who cares ! I know what will be in the box. A cable, earphone, and paper manual. Let's move on ! The only reason I'm on youtube it's to see how the plus feels since I din't have the opportunity yet. Who cares about the box. I'm just curious if the new size will be a good fit for me or not.

MichaelApproved 12y ago

Further, the buttons are designed poorly. I use a pinching motion to click the power button. My thumb and index finger grip the phone and I put pressure on my thumb to click the power button. Unfortunately, that means the volume button also gets pressed with my index finger. The phone won't lock when both those buttons are pressed at the same time. It's frustrating. I have to grip the phone unnaturally so that I don't click both buttons at the same time.

coob 12y ago
I tried to replicate your problem but I can only seem to do it when holding the 6 with just the forefinger and thumb (right handed). What are you other three fingers doing? I tend to grip with thumb on the right edge, index finger resting on the back and last 3 fingers holding the right edge. Are you an amputee?
- MichaelApproved 12y ago
  > What are you other three fingers doing? I tend to grip with thumb on the right edge, index finger resting on the back and last 3 fingers holding the right edge. Do you mean "last 3 fingers holding the left edge? That style seems to be a minority, based on a quick Google image search. If fingers are wrapped around a phone, the index is with the rest of the 3 fingers. This is how I hold my phone http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/isolated-woman-hand-holding-phone-screen-30928518.jpg http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/isolated-woman-hand-holding-p... Check out the image search for examples. Most hold it the way I'm describing: https://www.google.com/search?q=holding+phone https://www.google.com/search?q=holding+phone > Are you an amputee? no

drzaiusapelord 12y ago

This is classic bikeshedding. A lot of mobile device reviews are pretty unsophisticated, so there's a lot of spilled ink about button location, how the metal/plastic feels, etc. Its a strange regression. Like we just can't judge or weigh the complexity of a modern mobile OS and all its services and apps and just take on this simplified, "Uh, it looks nice" point of view. Strange that even a hard-nosed tech site like anandtech can't resist the typical fetishiztion of buttons and whispered sighs of "So intuitive" and "designey!" Meanwhile, valid competitors like the Nexus or Samsung line-ups either get strict apathy or get criticized in a way that Apple is immune to (for example the Note's size being unacceptable yet the 6+ size being perfect). Or the Jobsian logic that the press repeats (size of iphone is perfect because of human thumb size) and then ignores when even Apple itself doesn't buy that argument anymore. I think the world of tech reviewing proves how well marketing works, especially against those who often see themselves as resistant to it and self-declared rational/skeptical/intellectual thinkers. If anything, these types seem more susceptible to it for some reason. I don't even really read reviews in a serious fashion at this point, except maybe at Ars. Reviews seem to be marketing vehicles, either consciously or sub-consciously on the part of the reviewer. Ars seems to be more even-handed than most and they try not to fall too deeply into the trap of bikeshedding or pandering for ad impressions. I can't be the only one unhappy with how these things are reviewed nowadays. It seems like the narrative of the "nerds have won" in regardless to tech is pretty disingenious. If anyone has won, its the marketers. The more you spend to promote your talking points, the more often those talking points will be believed or, at least, repeated. It doesn't seem anymore complex than that. I'm also willing to concede that there's a subjective element here that makes reviewing of commodity tech almost like reviewing the arts. At a certain point performance, durability, etc are all fine for the top competitors and reviews just address things that are more subjective than objective for the lack of things to talk about. Mobile has certainly reached that space and the only rational move for these companies is to just invest more in marketing to make your 'SoC tied to a touchscreen tied to a mobile OS tied to an app store' look better than the other guy's 'SoC tied to a touchscreen tied to a mobile OS tied to an app store.' Now the role of the reviewer is to communicate these marketing messages effectively.

arrrg 12y ago
What’s wrong with caring about tight tolerances and good material choices? What’s wrong about caring about good feeling buttons? (This is besides the point, but I actually disagree with AnandTech there, the buttons on the 6 feel markedly worse then the 5s ones, they jiggle ever so slightly.) I really don’t get why you think it’s not rational to care about these things. I really don’t get that. It is literally incomprehensible to me. Can you explain that to me?

baddox 12y ago

I completely disagree that all phones have pretty good hardware (referring to the handset itself, not the electronics). Flagship Android phones like the Nexus 5, Galaxy S5, and Moto X have, in my opinion, far worse hardware than all iPhones back to the iPhone 4. The HTC One comes close, and the Lumia phones have an interesting unique design, and of course there are a few top end phones I haven't seen in person.

bonif 12y ago

This! just search youtube for "iphone 6" and the vast majority of videos will be "unboxing"... Who cares ! I know what will be in the box. A cable, earphone, and paper manual. Let's move on ! The only reason I'm on youtube it's to see how the plus feels since I din't have the opportunity yet. Who cares about the box. I'm just curious if the new size will be a good fit for me or not.