Trying to decide whether to get a new phone…

[jayeless_archive]

Since June 2014, I’ve had this: a Samsung Galaxy S4. It’s served me well. It’s already lasted me almost twice as long as my previously longest-lived phone (that’d be a Samsung Galaxy S3 that lasted 20 months). The camera hasn’t broken, which it did on my S3 – the glass on the lens shattered. It still works.

But it just feels old. The battery runs out after about 90 minutes of solid use. Last year when I was on placement, there were times I left it on silent in my bag all day, and found it at about 5% battery by the end (even though it had been at 90%+ in the morning). I’m guessing that was a bug that’s been fixed because I haven’t seen that lately, but it did drain from about 70% to 10% during a day on the Mornington Peninsula when I wasn’t using it, seemingly from overexerting itself trying to get a signal. Basically, the battery life is a bit crap.

And OK, I could buy a new battery. But the device is also really laggy. Just scrolling through Twitter is stuttery. If I press a notification, the relevant app will regularly take 20+ seconds to appear (often long enough that I try to open it again). Sometimes my alarm to wake up in the morning just doesn’t go off (as in, the phone decided to kill the Clock app/process overnight because it deemed some other background process more important). Sometimes the lag is so bad that the “accept call” screen doesn’t even appear until the call’s already timed out! Thankfully this hasn’t happened yet with any calls from the agency I get work through, but it totally could one day. As if the prospect of sleeping through my alarm wasn’t bad enough.

I still feel guilty about replacing it though, because I was raised in the kind of household where you replaced something when it broke. You did not get a new thing because you wanted a bigger screen/thought it looked prettier/thought you’d enjoy it more/whatever. Seriously, my family lumbered on for five years with a DVD player that only opened if you hit it repeatedly, because it still technically worked. (I bought them a new one myself last Christmas.) All my previous phones made this decision easy. My Galaxy S3 fell out of my pocket when I was running for the train one day and the screen smashed. (I still missed the train, btw.) As I recall, the two previous phones got corrupted file systems or something and all the menus and core phone functions like text messaging became unusable. My choices were clear-cut; the old phone was unusable. This time it feels like a bit of a shallow extravagance, because it still technically works…

The other piece of the puzzle, too, is the question of what I plan to upgrade to. I don’t really want a shitty budget phone that’ll break within eighteen months with a camera I can’t rely on in the meantime. If I’m spending hundreds of dollars (potentially over a thousand), I want one with the longevity my S4 has had. So, this brings me to my criteria:

1. Camera. Due to my disability (involving a crippled right arm), I cannot operate a digital camera. I probably could if they made left-handed ones, but they don’t, so a decent phone camera is critical to me.
2. Updates. tbh over the last few years I’ve got increasingly concerned about the lack of updates in most of the Android sphere. My S4 got the Android 5 update, much to my surprise… but it was several months after Android 6 came out. Now it gets nothing because the S4 came out four years ago, and it probably has exploitable vulnerabilities that will never be fixed even though the phone itself still works. What a joke.
3. Size. I cannot operate a phone two-handed, and honestly my left hand’s fingers are kind of stubby. I’ve spent nearly five years operating Samsung phones that are probably 5mm too wide for me. As in, when I want to type the letter P, I can’t reach and get O. Every time! FIVE YEARS I HAVE BEEN ENDURING THIS. I’d love something smaller.
4. Durability. Like I said, I don’t want anything with a cheap-as-fuck exterior that will break before I want to upgrade it. It ain’t budgeting if you have to buy twice as many because they break.
5. Operating system. Not really sure how to put this one. Basically, I prefer the permissiveness of Android to the walled garden of Apple. In theory I like that I can manage my Android phone from my Linux computer (which is much harder with Apple), but I never actually do. I’m just comfortable with Android.
6. Price. Like, obviously if two phones are roughly equal on all the other criteria but one is cheaper, I will get that one. I would prefer not to spend so much money that I could get a second top-of-the-line desktop. I’m not bitterly opposed to splashing out if the phone is just that good, though.

So, the main candidates I found:

• Google Pixel: Before I really started researching, this was probably my top choice. Unlike most Android phones it’s guaranteed security updates from Google until Sept 2019. The camera is reportedly great. However, the screen is about as wide as my current phone’s (i.e. too wide) and it costs ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY-NINE DOLLARS for the 128GB version. That is one of the most expensive phones available. Youch.
• Samsung Galaxy S8: I mean, I’ve been using previous iterations for years and this one’s a bit less wide, so, why not? Well, the potential “why not” is the lack of guaranteed updates. Also, it’s still like $1200. The S7 is cheaper obviously, but no smaller than my S4. Ehhhh.
• iPhone 7: This one has the guaranteed updates, a great camera, and it’s probably small enough to fit happily in my hand. However, it’s just as expensive as the Pixel, and it’s Apple, meaning you get trapped in a hellish dystopia of buying infinite dongles. Or, y’know, so I hear.
• Sony Xperia X Compact: The size is great, the price is way cheaper than the previous ones listed, and apparently the camera punches well above its weight for the price. The major disadvantages: lack of guaranteed updates, uncertain durability, and the fact that Sony is run by a bunch of absolute dingleberries who decided not to even release this phone in Australia. Fuck you guys too, yo.
• iPhone SE: Somehow I completely missed that this phone existed until today. DEFINITELY no question about this phone being too big for me – its size is basically a masterpiece! So small! So pure! I can’t even find any bloody 4-inch Android phones, let alone ones that offer the durability and guaranteed updates of this one. The front-facing camera looks crap, but my S4’s front-facing camera is also crap, and I manage. The price might just make it worth it: $829 for 128GB of storage. Other than the camera, the only real downside to this phone is the whole Apple hellish dystopia thing.
• Samsung Galaxy A3: A budget version of the regular flagships, and about the same width as the Xperia X Compact. Unfortunately I cannot see how much it costs because no one in Australia seems to stock it.

There are some other options too, like budget phones mostly, but overall these options were underwhelming on the updates and potential durability fronts.

Overall, while I’ve never been an Apple fangirl (I’ve owned three iPods, but none of their other products, and now I use Linux I don’t really use my iPod any more)… I am extremely tempted by the iPhone SE. In fact, I’d say I’m leaning heavily towards it, given it excels on nearly all my criteria (if not the criteria of not being Apple). I guess there’ll be an adjustment period for me if I do go with it, but lots of people use iOS so it must be doable.

In fact, I started telling my partner all about this iPhone SE (which he had never heard of either) and now he’s tempted to get one, when he feels like his gigantic iPhone 6 Plus has done its time. He might find the SE a bit too small for his hands though.

Anyway, I will leave my ramblings here! I will think on this matter a little more and hopefully decide what to do shortly.