which phone?

[Aspman]

I always find it funny that Apple make a beautiful slim phone and then everyone installs it in a giant rubber brick to make it twice the size of any other comparable phone. My 6 Edge in it's full clam cover case is half the depth of most 'protected' apples of a similar age that I see. 

 

I've mine in a Harris Tweed cover

 

[Mort]

I get that, it just seems a shame when such a beautifully made phone is hidden from view. I'm no Apple lover, but their phones are a lovely thing to behold

I've had the leather case on mine since I bought it, which makes it (quite a bit) chunkier. But I recently helped my Mother buy a 6s and holding the bare phone is like trying to keep hold of a wet kipper! It feels so much smaller and the metal finish is like it's greased up.

 

Pretty sure if I ditched my case I'd break the phone in a week, just because my hands wouldn't work properly.

[kilted]

I've had the leather case on mine since I bought it, which makes it (quite a bit) chunkier. But I recently helped my Mother buy a 6s and holding the bare phone is like trying to keep hold of a wet kipper! It feels so much smaller and the metal finish is like it's greased up.

 

Pretty sure if I ditched my case I'd break the phone in a week, just because my hands wouldn't work properly.

I find that with almost all smartphones (even going back a few years) - the shiny bodies are slippery as hell. Sooner I can get it into a cover the better. Saying that I have gone for a cover that is clear so you can see the original body but it is a damn sight easier to keep my hands on it.

[Lady Elanore]

The hard clam case covers on the last few top end Sammys (OE) are quite nice. Tough, slim and are capacitive too, meaning you can answer the phone with a swipe and without opening the clam shell cover. Also they are translucent so things like the clock can be displayed though them 

[cheezemonkhai]

I downsized my phone. Got an Apple SE with the 4" screen.

 

Can't say I miss the big screen really and it's far more convenient for pockets etc.

Same guts as a 6 so it's all nippy enough and the without the big screen the battery life is much better.

 

I'm not a great fan of Google or droid tbh. I actually prefer the Windows phone OS but that was a dead end.

I got offered a 6S at work and declined it for an SE, for the reason that I can actually carry it around.

One thing Jobs certainly got right was the 4" format being a good size and all these huge phones from everyone are just too hard to carry in your jeans.

I'd love to see a good droid 4" dual sim phone. I'd probably buy one straight out.

Also a bit more good news for you, the guts of the SE are the guts of the 6S as opposed to just the 6.

You lose a few little bits like 3d touch (Oh noes!!!!!!1) but the important bits are all there.

That plus the battery life is great for a smartphone.

[swedishskoda]

I've just bought a Motorola moto g4 from Amazon. £150 sim free and does all the stuff the expensive smart phones do at a fraction of the price. Has expandable memory up to 128gb with a micro SD card which is awesome

 

Seconded - SWMBO bought a G4+ when her old Galaxy SIII broke down this summer. Very decent specs for the price, great camera - but I agree with slicendice, it's a bit on the big side.

[gadgetman]

I got the Mrs a G4 Play because she wanted NFC.

It's a cracking phone for the £89 it cost from carphone warehouse

[gadgetman]

Balls, My Umi Zero was 6.4mm thick aluminium - thinner than any contemporary plastic, sd'less Sammy or iJob, yet had dual SIm and microsd. The ex head of Samsung phone development is on record as despising sd cards in phones, and the date of his leaving for Xiaomi are public records, as are the specs of the phones before, during and after his time at BOTH companies.

Only the galaxy S models dropped the sd slot as a direct response to Apple & Google adopting SD less devices. Samsung continued to include SD slots in their budget and Note ranges and still do.

I'm sure your well aware of the covert android and Apple reporting of user habits regarding storage?

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/storage-wars-do-we-really-need-microsd-cards-in-our-phones-1228775

Just because he has opinions against SD cards doesn't mean that is the reason. Plenty of CEOs have opinions which go against company lines/policies

[GentleGiant]

I've mine in a Harris Tweed cover

 

 

I have something very similar myself; I've dropped my phone loads of times, and it has never suffered any damage, thanks to the wallet case. This one have a sleeve for bank notes as well??

 

My wife managed to find one for her phone that is a full-on purse/phone holder, for her Samsung Note4. Similar to this, but with several "pages" for cards and paper/plastic money, as well as a small zipped section for coins.

[GentleGiant]

Only the galaxy S models dropped the sd slot as a direct response to Apple & Google adopting SD less devices. Samsung continued to include SD slots in their budget and Note ranges and still do.

I'm sure your well aware of the covert android and Apple reporting of user habits regarding storage?

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/storage-wars-do-we-really-need-microsd-cards-in-our-phones-1228775

Just because he has opinions against SD cards doesn't mean that is the reason. Plenty of CEOs have opinions which go against company lines/policies

 

 

Really?

 

Yes.

 

Go look at the dates and interviews, he specifically mentions refusing to include SD support on the phones being developed by his team during his time at Samsung*, and as mentioned, it also disappeared from new releases at Xiaomi during his time there.

 

* I may have got his title wrong, not CEO but "Head of Development" of the phones division.

 

(Sorry for the lateness of my reply, we've been stuck in London with no internet in/around our hotel for several days; and when it was finally restored, gmail was being blocked, by Google, so no notifications).

[Fab Estate]

I've just bought a Motorola moto g4 from Amazon. £150 sim free and does all the stuff the expensive smart phones do at a fraction of the price. Has expandable memory up to 128gb with a micro SD card which is awesome

Useless with Waze or Maps as it doesn't have a compass.

[andsoutham]

Useless with Waze or Maps as it doesn't have a compass.

My Google maps works great. Not a Waze user though

[gadgetman]

Really?

Yes.

Go look at the dates and interviews, he specifically mentions refusing to include SD support on the phones being developed by his team during his time at Samsung*, and as mentioned, it also disappeared from new releases at Xiaomi during his time there.

* I may have got his title wrong, not CEO but "Head of Development" of the phones division.

(Sorry for the lateness of my reply, we've been stuck in London with no internet in/around our hotel for several days; and when it was finally restored, gmail was being blocked, by Google, so no notifications).

They (Google and Apple separately did similar reporting) from every connected device of theirs to plan future storage offerings for new devices.

The stats showed something like less than 5% were at or over 80% of capacity. Most were under 50% on a range of total device capacity. Back then most devices were 16gb or 8gb, few users went for 32gb or higher.

As I say, this person's comments are irrelevant unless you have links to internal memos or meetings proving your thoughts. But it does tally with Google's own device surveys.

The project name escapes me, but I'll try to dig it up. Remember how influential Samsung is in Android due to unit numbers

[GentleGiant]

They (Google and Apple separately did similar reporting) from every connected device of theirs to plan future storage offerings for new devices.

The stats showed something like less than 5% were at or over 80% of capacity. Most were under 50% on a range of total device capacity. Back then most devices were 16gb or 8gb, few users went for 32gb or higher.

As I say, this person's comments are irrelevant unless you have links to internal memos or meetings proving your thoughts. But it does tally with Google's own device surveys.

The project name escapes me, but I'll try to dig it up. Remember how influential Samsung is in Android due to unit numbers

 

The interview was at one of the phone tech shows, and was embedded on one of the gsm tech forums. If I can remember which one, and find the link, I will post it. But it might be next week, as I have a lot to do after being delayed in London for an extra 3 days - a consulate service that costs £2 and 1/2 hour of time has cost us about £400 in expenses and taken 2 years to get done!!

[Aspman]

I have something very similar myself; I've dropped my phone loads of times, and it has never suffered any damage, thanks to the wallet case. This one have a sleeve for bank notes as well??

 

My wife managed to find one for her phone that is a full-on purse/phone holder, for her Samsung Note4. Similar to this, but with several "pages" for cards and paper/plastic money, as well as a small zipped section for coins.

 

It's got a little pocket you could put notes in. It's a good wee case, certainly makes a slippery little phone easier to hold and protects against most knocks.

[JohnMcL7]

Only the galaxy S models dropped the sd slot as a direct response to Apple & Google adopting SD less devices. Samsung continued to include SD slots in their budget and Note ranges and still do.

 

 

No, Google dropped SD support on the Notes the same time as they did the S range and regained them at the same time - the S5 and Note 4 both had micro SD slots, the S6 and Note 5 both lost their micro SD slots as well as replaceable batteries then both the S7 and Note 7 regained the micro SD car slots but kept the fixed batteries.

 

I can absolutely see why manufacturers want to drop their SD slots as it encourages use of streaming services and cloud storage(particularly the likes of Google who make their money in services not hardware) and also great because it gives people an incentive to upgrade if they want more storage which amongst friends seems to be one of the main reasons they change phone particularly if a new storage tier is out.  They can also charge vastly more flash prices even allowing for the use of high performance flash.  It does surprise me to see consumers defending a lack of sd slots and non-replaceable batteries though, I have an older Note 4 which comes with 32GB onboard and initially used my previous phone's 64GB card (just pop it out and slide the new one, no need to transfer the content).  It then got a 128GB card for £35 (giving it more storage than any current phone) and now has a 200GB card for £60 the combined cost of both cards is less than the upgrade to a Note 4 64GB.  Also I can use the storage in other devices if I need it for any reason (tablet, camera etc.) so it's not money tied to the phone as it would be for a 200GB phone.  As I can keep upgrading the storage (and replace the battery) it means the phone keeps on going, it still has a fast processor, great screen and decent form factor so battery/storage would be the only reason to upgrade.  

 

John

[Mort]

It does surprise me to see consumers defending a lack of sd slots and non-replaceable batteries though,

It doesn't surprise me. The move to less physical ingress points in my phone means I'm closer to an IP67 (or even 68/69K) rated phone. I've had iPhones since the 3Gs and I've never run out of space, nor needed a battery replacement. But I've often come across times when having a totally waterproof phone would be useful, and times when I've had to pick out pocket lint from the headphone and charging ports with a cocktail stick or toothpick before they could be used. Horses for courses I guess.

 

No one complains that you can't upgrade a phone's processor or RAM like you can with a PC, so I'm not sure why we're all so hung up about storage space becoming fixed? Just because flash is cheap.

 

People want smaller, thinner, lighter phones - SD slots and other physical limitations (like headphone jacks) hinder that goal. At some point the desire for the former will overtake the desire for the latter and physical expandable storage will be a footnote in the history of mobile phones. Sure, cheaper or free cloud storage/infrastructure would help speed that up, but no one can say it's not the direction we're already headed (like it or not).

[mbames]

I downsized my phone. Got an Apple SE with the 4" screen.

 

Can't say I miss the big screen really and it's far more convenient for pockets etc.

Same guts as a 6 so it's all nippy enough and the without the big screen the battery life is much better.

 

I'm not a great fan of Google or droid tbh. I actually prefer the Windows phone OS but that was a dead end.

 

Exactly what I have just done.  Concluded that as much as I like the Windows Phone world it simply was getting left behind.  Shame really.