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What would you like in a smartphone?

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,285
I could just say the Samsung Galaxy S5 with better specs and call it a day for me, but to be more specific:

Removable battery
Headphone jack
Capacitive navigation buttons
Large (yes, large) bezels
Impact durability
SD card slot
Easily "rootable"

While I'm dreaming though, I'd also like physical keys for emulation gaming.
 

Houseman

Zealot
Sanctuary legend
Messages
1,068
Battery life is my #1 concern.

Nothing else really matters to me. As long as it makes and receives calls and texts, and has GPS capabilities, I'm good. I only switched to the phone I have now because the battery on my old one would die at 30% and last all of 2 hours on a full charge.
 

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,285
Battery life is my #1 concern.

Nothing else really matters to me. As long as it makes and receives calls and texts, and has GPS capabilities, I'm good. I only switched to the phone I have now because the battery on my old one would die at 30% and last all of 2 hours on a full charge.
If you look at the rugged phone types, you can find some with crazy powerful batteries.
 

gaijinkaiju

Lord Inquisitor
Sanctuary legend
Sanctuary contributor
Messages
612
An oldschool flip phone but with smartphone capabilities. Ditch the touch screen, but give me apps and a decent camera. And make it durable

Battery life is my #1 concern.

Nothing else really matters to me. As long as it makes and receives calls and texts, and has GPS capabilities, I'm good. I only switched to the phone I have now because the battery on my old one would die at 30% and last all of 2 hours on a full charge.
That's how I look at it too. Aside from youtube and news in the morning/evening, all I use my phone for is the occasional text/call and when I need to take photos of stuff
 

Vendor-Lazarus

Arch Disciple
Sanctuary legend
Messages
936
Displays time when in non-use mode.
Call/SMS
Long battery Life
Non-trackable
Coverable Camera
Durable
Modular
Flip open for (large) touch-screen
 

Gauche

Arch Disciple
Messages
663
Headphone jack and charging port must be at the top. IPS display. Needs a good weight to it. Unlocked.
As long as the battery doesn't hit 0 by the end of the day of extreme use it be fine.
While SD slots are nice I've never have stored much on my phone so I could live with integrated memory of 32gb.
Android doesn't even support NTFS format yet.

While I would like a physical keypad - aside from texting no apps would actually utilize it fully so it would be quite the waste.

A clean android install. None of that jam packed junkware they start you off with. Uniformed icon pack for the basic apps.
Let me pick the color of plastic via hexcode
 

Gauche

Arch Disciple
Messages
663
Headphone jack and charging port must be at the top

My carrier finally sent a text indicating my phone isn't going to be compatible soon.

Shopping for a phone now and all I've come by is either both ports on the bottom or the abomination mix of one up top and the other on the bottom. Tried using a site to narrow down phones by specification requirements but of course they don't have a field for port placements so I've got to look them up manually. The majority of the product photos just display the phone flat and rarely angled to display the ports which results in relying on user photo uploads or videos for confirmation.
Shopping sucks.

Phone manufacturers/vendors hate them both on top and I hate them for it.
 

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,285

My carrier finally sent a text indicating my phone isn't going to be compatible soon.

Shopping for a phone now and all I've come by is either both ports on the bottom or the abomination mix of one up top and the other on the bottom. Tried using a site to narrow down phones by specification requirements but of course they don't have a field for port placements so I've got to look them up manually. The majority of the product photos just display the phone flat and rarely angled to display the ports which results in relying on user photo uploads or videos for confirmation.
Shopping sucks.

Phone manufacturers/vendors hate them both on top and I hate them for it.
Have you thought about switching carriers?
 

Houseman

Zealot
Sanctuary legend
Messages
1,068
Why do you want your ports at the top?
I like mine at the bottom.

I could understand if you wanted to plug in an aux headset and then hold the phone upright where the bottom is firmly against a desk, or in some kind of cradle,

But I like it at the bottom because it's more useful for having stuff plugged in while the phone is mounted on your dash. That way, the cable isn't draped over your screen. Also, there's less stress on the cable, and you get a few more inches of usable length, because whatever you have it plugged into is invariably going to below your phone.

What's the benefit of having the ports at the top?
 

Gauche

Arch Disciple
Messages
663
Ok. Why exactly then do you need both the charging port and mic port on the top of the phone?
Why do you want your ports at the top?
I like mine at the bottom.

I could understand if you wanted to plug in an aux headset and then hold the phone upright where the bottom is firmly against a desk, or in some kind of cradle,

But I like it at the bottom because it's more useful for having stuff plugged in while the phone is mounted on your dash. That way, the cable isn't draped over your screen. Also, there's less stress on the cable, and you get a few more inches of usable length, because whatever you have it plugged into is invariably going to below your phone.

What's the benefit of having the ports at the top?
This is normally the position I'm in when browsing on my phone.
Add a cable poking out beneath and you've now forever ruined a comfortable position whenever needing to charge it or want to use wired earphones when it could of been out of the way on top instead.

I can see how the charging port on the bottom is useful when mounted on the car dash as cable draping/stress would then be a concern but I don't charge my phone in the car. Audio/calls are wireless.
 

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,285
This is normally the position I'm in when browsing on my phone.
Add a cable poking out beneath and you've now forever ruined a comfortable position whenever needing to charge it or want to use wired earphones when it could of been out of the way on top instead.

I can see how the charging port on the bottom is useful when mounted on the car dash as cable draping/stress would then be a concern but I don't charge my phone in the car. Audio/calls are wireless.
Well, sadly, assuming you checked gsmarena thoroughly, I don't think you're going to find any phone that has the charge port and headphone jack on the top, so what I would recommend in its place is to get a phone with a nice battery so you can safely use all it all day without charging it and then charge it when you finally go to bed.

EDIT: Also, it looks like most phone manufacturers put it on the bottom so you can slot it into any cradle and still use it effectively.

EDIT2: Also, that laying position is really bad for your back. lol
 

Gauche

Arch Disciple
Messages
663
Well, sadly, assuming you checked gsmarena thoroughly, I don't think you're going to find any phone that has the charge port and headphone jack on the top, so what I would recommend in its place is to get a phone with a nice battery so you can safely use all it all day without charging it and then charge it when you finally go to bed.

EDIT: Also, it looks like most phone manufacturers put it on the bottom so you can slot it into any cradle and still use it effectively.

EDIT2: Also, that laying position is really bad for your back. lol
After suffering through unboxing videos in which the ports are shown for less than a second I've found some but they are budget phones and the specs reflect the price. The reviews paint awful experiences to boot. Don't want to cave on something I don't want so I'll keep looking

Back is forever ruined
 

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,285
After suffering through unboxing videos in which the ports are shown for less than a second I've found some but they are budget phones and the specs reflect the price. The reviews paint awful experiences to boot. Don't want to cave on something I don't want so I'll keep looking

Back is forever ruined
If you're willing to break tradition, I would HIGHLY recommend a Sony Xperia 1 II. Or maybe the 1 III if you want the latest but also more expensive model.
 

Houseman

Zealot
Sanctuary legend
Messages
1,068
This is normally the position I'm in when browsing on my phone.
Add a cable poking out beneath and you've now forever ruined a comfortable position whenever needing to charge it or want to use wired earphones when it could of been out of the way on top instead.

I can see how the charging port on the bottom is useful when mounted on the car dash as cable draping/stress would then be a concern but I don't charge my phone in the car. Audio/calls are wireless.
Have you considered charging your phone when you're NOT using it, and also bluetooth headphones?
 

Vendor-Lazarus

Arch Disciple
Sanctuary legend
Messages
936
My phones have the charging port on the upper left side. I usually charge them once a week. Is that not feasible?
 

Gauche

Arch Disciple
Messages
663
If you're willing to break tradition, I would HIGHLY recommend a Sony Xperia 1 II. Or maybe the 1 III if you want the latest but also more expensive model.
Thot phone is winning over my heart

Have you considered charging your phone when you're NOT using it, and also bluetooth headphones?
Of course. It isn't like I only charge the thing while using it.
Don't got wireless headphones. All wires here. Will probably have to pick one out now or suffer.

My phones have the charging port on the upper left side. I usually charge them once a week. Is that not feasible?
I've seen a gamer phone have the charging port in the middle of the long side. Looks so bizarre but it makes sense considering you'll have it horizontal while gaming.

Once a week charge can be done with a smart phone but it depends on usage.
 

Drathnoxis

Devotee
Messages
231
This is normally the position I'm in when browsing on my phone.
Add a cable poking out beneath and you've now forever ruined a comfortable position whenever needing to charge it or want to use wired earphones when it could of been out of the way on top instead.

I can see how the charging port on the bottom is useful when mounted on the car dash as cable draping/stress would then be a concern but I don't charge my phone in the car. Audio/calls are wireless.
Maybe there's a way to flip the screen vertically so top is bottom? It's gotta be possible.
 

Houseman

Zealot
Sanctuary legend
Messages
1,068
Maybe there's a way to flip the screen vertically so top is bottom? It's gotta be possible.
I think that used to be possible, but they've stopped doing that because of the hardware elements (notch, power/volume control, back button etc) mess up the UI and are generally unmovable.
 
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