Blog rant: "I Hate Todays Smartphones."

[dguy6789]

The Moto X has very good battery life, better than the S4 and last year's HTC One. On the cameras I do agree though, it's just not very good on the Moto X.

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph7903/62585.png

 

[Red Storm]

Nobody uses their phone the way it's tested in that graph. As someone who owned and used the HTC One, the S4, and the Moto X I can tell you it lasts longer in actual, real world usage.

 

[s44]

I disagree with him entirely. I am happy that phones have gotten larger. Bigger screens, bigger batteries, all good stuff to me. My Moto X feels too small, I miss the Note 3.

This is illogical. There are, after all, plenty of flagship-level phablets you could switch to since you value their advantages. Why wish for the next size category down to turn into phablets themselves?

 

[ponyo]

I agree this year's flagships are too big. I can use my S4 one-handed and I can't use a S5 one-handed for example.

With that said, the 4 inch iPhone is WAY too small. Heck a Moto X is too small for me.

So it comes down to your body size, which makes it hard to target for a mainstream device.

I think the real victory in 2014 for those that want a smaller phone is now the midrange specs are good enough.

This. Which is why I'm not too bothered.

 

[Anubis]

i agree with him. the S4 is already boarderline too large, the S5 truly is

IMO the Galaxy Nexus was the perfect size

 

[Red Storm]

This is illogical. There are, after all, plenty of flagship-level phablets you could switch to since you value their advantages. Why wish for the next size category down to turn into phablets themselves?

No no, I don't want the Moto X to get bigger. I'm just saying that I miss the Note 3 as I am currently using the Moto X.

 

[gorcorps]

I think his argument is moot because the Moto X exists, and there are other smaller phones out there (Sony's compact versions use the same specs AFAIK). What I get from it is that he wants the popular flagships to be smaller, and that's just not going to happen.

It's not that he wants them all to shrink (though he wouldn't mind it) the point is that there are ZERO options right now for a <5" flagship. Every time they make a downsized version, they cut so many other corners than just screen size. The Galaxy S4 mini isn't even a 720p screen, it has half the built in memory, a terrible camera, Snapdragon 400, and a 1900 mAh battery.

Would it be so terrible to have an option that's closer to the size of the GS3, but has Snapdragon 801 and a top tier screen? It doesn't have to replace the large phones, but it's just odd how everything has grown and now there's nothing left at that size with modern hardware.

 

[mnewsham]

Nobody uses their phone the way it's tested in that graph. As someone who owned and used the HTC One, the S4, and the Moto X I can tell you it lasts longer in actual, real world usage.

everyone knows anecdotes > actual data collected and present

 

[Red Storm]

Would it be so terrible to have an option that's closer to the size of the GS3, but has Snapdragon 801 and a top tier screen? It doesn't have to replace the large phones, but it's just odd how everything has grown and now there's nothing left at that size with modern hardware.

If it were up to me I would make larger and smaller phones with nearly identical specs, but I'm sure these companies have done their research and have a better idea of what makes them the most money.

everyone knows anecdotes > actual data collected and present

What good is that data when it does not reflect how you would actually use the device?

 

[WelshBloke]

Flagship phones have waaaaaaaaay better cameras and battery life than phones like the Moto X

Well bigger phones have more room for bigger batteries, not sure how you'd get around that one.

 

[WelshBloke]

It's not that he wants them all to shrink (though he wouldn't mind it) the point is that there are ZERO options right now for a <5" flagship. Every time they make a downsized version, they cut so many other corners than just screen size. The Galaxy S4 mini isn't even a 720p screen, it has half the built in memory, a terrible camera, Snapdragon 400, and a 1900 mAh battery.

Would it be so terrible to have an option that's closer to the size of the GS3, but has Snapdragon 801 and a top tier screen? It doesn't have to replace the large phones, but it's just odd how everything has grown and now there's nothing left at that size with modern hardware.

Its because they have to price them significantly below the larger screened flagships.

They aren't going to stuff a bunch of highend hardware in there along with the greater difficulty of getting it all to work in a smaller package and then sell it at a lower price. And if they try to sell it at the same or greater price than the bigger phones hardly anyone would buy them.

 

[boomhower]

While I really like my smaller iPhone 5 and have used the Moto X a bit and think it's a great size I'd like to get my hands on a bigger phone for a longer period of time. I was at the store and they have a big screen LG that had almost no bezels and a larger ~5.2" screen that felt perfect, but was a nonfunctioning demo. I was really excited to hear about a 5.5" iPhone but that's looking less and less likely. I didn't vote at all, haven't used bigger phones enough to have an educated opinion.

 

[WelshBloke]

While I really like my smaller iPhone 5 and have used the Moto X a bit and think it's a great size I'd like to get my hands on a bigger phone for a longer period of time. I was at the store and they have a big screen LG that had almost no bezels and a larger ~5.2" screen that felt perfect, but was a nonfunctioning demo. I was really excited to hear about a 5.5" iPhone but that's looking less and less likely. I didn't vote at all, haven't used bigger phones enough to have an educated opinion.

LG G2?

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/LG-G2_id7969

Tis a very good phone, great battery life.

 

[boomhower]

LG G2?

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/LG-G2_id7969

Tis a very good phone, great battery life.

I believe that was it, felt great in the hand.

 

[WelshBloke]

I believe that was it, felt great in the hand.

Its a good phone, the buttons on the back take a bit of getting used to though.

 

[mnewsham]

Its a good phone, the buttons on the back take a bit of getting used to though.

two to three days is what it took me, the back buttons aren't an issue with knock on tho, two taps to the screen to turn it on/off. I keep finding myself trying to do it with other peoples phones now though. Not sure if I would want a phone without this feature....

 

[WelshBloke]

two to three days is what it took me, the back buttons aren't an issue with knock on tho, two taps to the screen to turn it on/off. I keep finding myself trying to do it with other peoples phones now though. Not sure if I would want a phone without this feature....

I wasnt making a criticism of it, it always takes a few days to get used to different button layouts. I just wanted to make sure he was aware of them.

It would be a bit of a shock coming from an iPhone to the G2 layout otherwise.

 

[Yuriman]

two to three days is what it took me, the back buttons aren't an issue with knock on tho, two taps to the screen to turn it on/off. I keep finding myself trying to do it with other peoples phones now though. Not sure if I would want a phone without this feature....

Ditto active notifications on Moto X. Somehow it gives me the impression of the phone being more... I dunno, "alive".

 

[blairharrington]

I think he's angry that Samsung/HTC/Sony 2014 flagships are so damn big and heavy. And I totally agree.

I see the M8 and S5 as a step backwards with respect to footprint and weight. I really value and enjoy the size and weight of my Nexus 5. If anything I want my next phone to have a smaller footprint and weigh less. I think the iPhone 6 will really look appealing compared to other flagships released this year simple due to the fact that it should be easy to use with one hand.

 

[biostud]

Get a windows phone

 

[s44]

Get a windows phone

He said "smartphone".

 

[bearxor]

I'm really not looking forward to the iPhone 6 release...

The strong rumor is that we're getting a 4.7" screen. I just thing that's too big. I used to think 4.7" was doable, but am changing my mind since getting the Lumia 925.

Had a Lumia 920 and thought it was a little awkward, but figured it was because of the weird body shape. Now that I have the 925 and am running WP8.1 on it, I still feel the same way. And it's only a 4.5" screen. It's just as tall as the iPhone 5S and only a bit wider, but just feels wrong while using it.

Unfortunately, size comes after specs for me. So if Apple releases a iPhone 6 with a 4.7" display with a faster processor, better camera, etc, I'll pick it over a smaller device that would be easier to use but have inferior hardware.

And that's basically where Android is at right now. The MotoX is a great phone, but it's no HTC One, LG G2 or SGS4, power-wise. You could argue that we don't really need that level of horsepower for the vast majority of things, but there is a definite vacuum of high-end < 4.5" Android devices.

EDIT: Anyone else remember that the trend before the iPhone was smaller? Before 2005, 3.5" screens were kind of normal. Then, HTC decided that 2.8" and 2.2" screens made for more attractive devices. It's funny reading original reviews of the iPhone and hearing things like "enormous 3.5" display" with today's context.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Samsung confuses me... They have the Galaxy Note 3 for huge screen buyers. They have the Galaxy Active for people that want an extra durable phone with water proofing (I assume there will be an S5 Active).

So why did Samsung make the S5 with a slightly larger screen and some water resistance. They already have other product lines to cover those two needs.

I look at the S4 and S5 and the S4 looks like the newer model with the slimmer bezels.

I agree, it's a shame smaller phones now means smaller specs. But I think it does probably cost them more to make smaller phones with high end specs, than bigger phones with high end specs. So I think the phone manufactures are plenty happy to build over sized phones that probably cost a little less to design, if people want that.

 

[s44]

I'm really not looking forward to the iPhone 6 release...

The strong rumor is that we're getting a 4.7" screen. I just thing that's too big. I used to think 4.7" was doable, but am changing my mind since getting the Lumia 925.

Had a Lumia 920 and thought it was a little awkward, but figured it was because of the weird body shape. Now that I have the 925 and am running WP8.1 on it, I still feel the same way. And it's only a 4.5" screen.

Lumias are huge bezel-laden bricks.

The 925 is actually wider, thicker, and heavier than the Galaxy S4. Apple wastes a lot of bezel space, but on the top and bottom.

 

[BoberFett]

I used to think the same thing about large phones, always had smaller ones. Then I got my LG G2. It's not as convenient with one hand, but damn is it nice to have that big screen.