Debate: Are smartphones today boring? Why?

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pimpin83z
pimpin83z
Arena Legend
• 1y ago

Are you talking smartphones or feature phones? There's only so much you can do with the design of a smartphone if you want it to be a high performing smartphone. Smartphones need to be a slab design design until foldables can be proven durable enough for the mainstream consumer.

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yalokiy
yalokiy
Arena Master
• 1y ago
↵MariyanSlavov said:

I guess you're right, but brands can play with materials, e.g., carbon fiber, kevlar, even wood. And you can also carve the back differently, add patterns and different colors, or make it transparent. There are ways to make phones fun and cool.

Just get a case of whatever material you want. Changing the design of the back is not what I would call innovation anyway.

After something reaches perfection, there is no more way to make it better, you'll only make it worse.

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yalokiy
yalokiy
Arena Master
• 1y ago
↵MariyanSlavov said:

Everyone will buy this Uber smartphone and it will be the end for hundreds of thousands of people in the industry, from designers and PRs to factory workers all the way up to high management stuff (I won't feel sorry about the latter). :)) But yeah, the same reason applies to the question, "Why don't we have cars that last 100 years?" We could have unbreakable stuff but the economy will fail miserably :))

The environment would be much better of though.

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TBomb
TBomb
Arena Master
• 1y ago

I'd argue that the apps are what make a phone worth using. Phones as phones are actually really boring. And since apps are pretty much comparable on both iOS and Android, I don't see the point in people arguing about who is better.

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TBomb
TBomb
Arena Master
• 1y ago
↵Chuck007 said:

Got to admit I normally don't agree with PA articles, but I've got to say you're on to something here.


While it's true there's only a limited amount of things people can do with a rectangular phone gadget, it only takes looking back 20-30 years to know how innovation have moved in a slug-like pace. I don't know if capitalism or the lack of competition that's causing this, but as with everything else (like Hollywood for example), leading companies are much too complacent to try anything ground-breaking with pre-existing IPs and tech. Remember when the USA and Japan provided us gadgets that wowed us year after year? General consumers are so obsessed with brand loyalty these days it's like nobody cares how boring tech have become.

Remember when the USA and Japan provided us gadgets that wowed us year after year? 


I think it's all relative. Back then, having music in your pocket was like "wait.. WHAT?!" Then the improvements were smaller and more reliable (elimination of bulky CD's to mp3 files, then "unlimited storage" via streaming).


With the phones these days, they can give us an extra camera but it's not anything new. Better cameras each year are expected at this point, so even a camera improvement is like "ok... we expected something to improve here... what else you got?"


I gotta imagine the cavemen felt something similar with the invention of the wheel and first set of tools. After the first set, every improvement is pretty much just a minor improvement and not an amazing new piece of technology.

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StanleyKubrick
StanleyKubrick
Arena Apprentice
• 1y ago

I would readily take a phone designed like they were several years ago. Sony is the closest with the Xperia line. No punch holes or notches or teardrops. Reasonable bezels to house all the necessary sensors including the selfie AND the notification LED (that even Sony has now removed!!!). Replaceable batteries when they start getting old. (Don't tell me about waterproofing because Samsung did it with a replaceable battery AND, AND, AND the headphone jack which also needs to come back!

I suppose there are some other things that I wish would make a solid return...OH Yeah how about a truly FLAT screen? Not these so-called flat screens that still have little curved edges...UGH!

The removal of all of these features was purely a money grab...PERIOD! If you can't easilt replace a worn out battery - you buy a new phone! Can't plug in your el-cheapo wired headphones then BUY A DONGLE or worse yet...BUY EXPENSIVE EARBUDS OR WIRELESS HEADPHONES!

And to top it all off you no longer get a charger or even a cheap cable in the box. If they want to save some money why not remove 15000 pages of useless crap that NOBODY reads????

Rant over!

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StanleyKubrick
StanleyKubrick
Arena Apprentice
• 1y ago
↵yalokiy said:

Just get a case of whatever material you want. Changing the design of the back is not what I would call innovation anyway.

After something reaches perfection, there is no more way to make it better, you'll only make it worse.

"After something reaches perfection"

You can't be serious. How about NO MORE glass backs? This only lines the pockets of the glass makers as well as the case makers! What about the modern updated under glass fingerprint sensors that NEVER work nearly as good as the "perfectly placed" ones on the BACK OF THE PHONE where they belong and always worked without issue 10 years ago?

I guess my rant wasn't quite over...hmmmm.

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StanleyKubrick
StanleyKubrick
Arena Apprentice
• 1y ago
↵MariyanSlavov said:

Couldn't agree more! I've never been a supporter of the whole no-bezel movement. That and curved screens are the worst features to come to smartphones since the glass back. Sony still makes front-facing stereo systems AND symmetrical bezels, which I love. But Xperia phones are unpredictable and very very expensive...

Been looking real hard at the Xperia 1 V. I've had a few Sony phones and they were OK. Not great but not terrible either. I think Sony did a good job with this latest 1-V BUT I also read where the FP scanner is finicky (I really do not like side mounted scanners on the power button. And while I do necessarily think it is overpriced (because they all are) and it does have more hardware features than most...two years of updates is NOT enough! Sony needs to get their poop-in-a-group if they ever expect people to shell out major $$$$$$ for half or less of what other OEM's offer with updates.

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poptart
poptart
Arena Master
• 1y ago
↵MariyanSlavov said:

Couldn't agree more! I've never been a supporter of the whole no-bezel movement. That and curved screens are the worst features to come to smartphones since the glass back. Sony still makes front-facing stereo systems AND symmetrical bezels, which I love. But Xperia phones are unpredictable and very very expensive...

The vivo nex 3 was the loveliest phone that I have ever used. So my point is that we are on completely different sides of the spectrum.

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poptart
poptart
Arena Master
• 1y ago

I own a few foldables so I don't have this problem. Muahahah

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