Roll Call! What's up 2023?!?!?!

[ocnbrze]

sorry, but i do not consider my z fold 4 boring. i am loving it, and i might be tempted to get the fold 5 if it comes with a s-pen holder built in as rumored.

 

[AugieTN]

ocnbrze using his z fold 4

 

[nickdalzell]

Do you have a headphone jack? does the screen still have a crease issue? do you have IR Blaster, removable battery, expandable storage even?

I'll always see modern phones boring and features being removed = downgrades. Besides, the Kyocera Echo had folding screens in 2012. Samsung ain't done nothing new, just rehashed a concept and made it worse. If it works for you, however, great. I tend to have a larger expectation on what the word 'upgrade' means. They need to add more features, and make phones unique like they once did to make me consider upgrading.

If I'm paying over $1,000 on a smartphone, I want it to have MORE features than, say, the Galaxy S5, not less. Flat boring UI, less features, nope. Ever since the Galaxy S6, Samsung ain't Samsung anymore. They've just copied every bad Apple move the year after they make fun of Apple for doing the same thing. I mean, they made fun of Apple over the removable battery, then they removed the removable battery. They made fun of Apple over them losing the headphone jack, then they lost the headphone jack. Made fun of Apple for making disposable AirPods, then made disposable Galaxy Buds.

Go back to your day job, Samsung.

 

[mikedt]

Hey Rob.

I'm still in China, travelling around, and teaching English. Current phone is a Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G, had for almost 2 years, and will probably keep using for as long as possible, as there's currently nothing else as I see as a real upgrade for me. Also have a T95 Android box plugged into TV, mainly used for movies and TV with Kodi.

Do you have a headphone jack? does the screen still have a crease issue? do you have IR Blaster, removable battery, expandable storage even?

I don't miss a headphone jack now, mainly because all my headphones and speakers are Bluetooth. But an IR blaster is why I keep my previous phone still around, Huawei Mate10, and just use it as a remote control for TV and AC, Expandable storage with micro-SD is a main reason why I chose the Note20, as well as the Mate10.

 

[nickdalzell]

I can't stand Bluetooth headsets. I've tried many. But when I walk in the woods and every tree I pass by causes momentary dropouts, it ain't workin'. Besides, more than once I had forgotten to charge my headset and had to go without music entirely because I ain't about to blast folks with my speaker or disturb the wildlife.

I even tried the Buds because I thought 'maybe I'm wrong?' but nope. Not a few months in, one bud either cut out entirely (so my right ear enjoyed it) or one got lower in volume than the other. I never figured out how to fix the latter issue (left earbud very quiet, right one louder but very distorted--suddenly only highs not mids or lows)

Meanwhile despite all the abuse, my Phillips corded set that dates back to ~ 2005 works quite well. I love the ear clips that are more comfortable over in-ear buds that tend to fall out as I walk or feel 'weird'. I'm not fond of Apple's looking like 'ear tampons' either (you can use Pros with Android)

 

[ocnbrze]

yep i love my Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 pro which uis very much bluetooth. i hate wires hanging from my head. i do not notice the crease, but word on the street is that the new hinge coming out for the fold 5 will allow the phone to be creaseless.

ocnbrze using his z fold 4

View attachment 165346

and that is the z flip 4 and not the z fold 4.....KNOW YOUR PHONES!!!!!!

 

[mikedt]

I've never had any problems with BT headphones and earbuds. Where I often walk it's more skyscrapers and urban canyons, than forests and trees. Quite frankly I had more problems with wired headsets in the past, with undoing the tangles every time I wanted to use the things, and often having bad connections in the moulded jack plugs.

 

[olbriar]

I always struggled with wired headsets. With my work, they were always getting caught on something. I have never had any trouble with keeping a BT connection and wouldn't dream of returning to a wired connection.

 

[AugieTN]

My Pixel 4 came with USB-C headphones. I still use them. I just can't justify spending $100 for Bluetooth Ear Buds

 

[olbriar]

My Pixel 4 came with USB-C headphones. I still use them. I just can't justify spending $100 for Bluetooth Ear Buds

My retired phones all reside in their original boxes as a silly collection.
Many came with earbuds that are still neatly factory wrapped.

 

[mikedt]

My Pixel 4 came with USB-C headphones. I still use them. I just can't justify spending $100 for Bluetooth Ear Buds

The last phone I bought, Galaxy Note20 Ultra, which didn't have a headphone jack, actually came with Bluetooth Galaxy Buds+ included. Although in the winter I'm often wearing a Bluetooth beanie hat outside, which cost the equivalent of about $10.

 

[Hadron]

I've played with the Fold 4 and would say that the crease is still there but not something you notice in use. For me the drawback is that it's less portable than my phone, much smaller than my tablet, but costs more than I paid for the 2 together (and they're both high-end devices). Which is fine, a combined device will be a compromise, it depends on what you need (all devices are compromises: a laptop compromises in order to be portable, a phone compromises a lot more to be pocketable, etc).

I'm sure I'll buy a foldable (or rollable) device at some point, but actually that sector is developing more slowly than I would have guessed a few years ago.

I still use wired headphones (not buds, I can't tolerate things inserted into my ears), but am feeling that I may be approaching the point where I add a BT pair. When I look at the Sennheiser Momentum 4's battery life I feel I wouldn't worry about them going flat on me (and as almost all of my kit is USB-C now I won't be caught without the correct charger).

 

[nickdalzell]

Ha! All my 'kit' is Micro USB. I hated USB-C and am not going to keep up with two cables instead of one (yeah, like I'm gonna ditch my wonderful 2010 tech for modern again...) and since I'm not an idiot, I don't have the issues that it seems everyone had with Micro USB. I hated plugging in USB C stuff twice, expecting it to be charged up the next morning to only discover multiple devices saying "15%, charging" when it was "87% charging" the night before.

Screw USB C and all modern tech until they start bringing features back, making Android less like an iOS clone, and bring back what made things worth upgrading to.

I won't be buying Bluetooth stuff until they stop cutting in/out randomly, or when they stop being disposable. Heck, I won't buy a new phone until you can easily replace the battery. I find it really disturbing how these companies cite being 'green' by not including a charging brick, for example, yet they make the phones disposable and force you to upgrade every few years by forcing software updates for specific apps (thankfully none of which I depend on) which ultimately requires a new phone eventually. That also robs the planet of needless resources. Recycling ain't the solution either. Perhaps it's best not to have anything to upgrade to, as I'm not longer a part of the problem. Decisions like many companies make today make me a buy it for lifer now more than ever.

If companies want to help the planet they need to start designing devices to be repairable (and stop opposing right to repair), make them last at least 10-15 years, and start building reputations for quality instead of junk (customers need to get back into this mindset as well--used to be we cared about quality and that's how brand loyalty worked in the '60s). Before any futurist here tries to use the 'but what about efficiency' argument, well, a smartphone ain't going to get any more efficient that it would matter long-term for the planet. Currently the rate of e-waste is much worse than keeping old tech going. I mean I'm literally finding, in the trash, perfectly good HDTVs that still work, all because someone suddenly NEEDED that 8K TV that they can't even tell the difference on. That should not be happening. People used to fix what broke, and only tossed it when it was irreparable. Today they're tossing still-working stuff into the bin. Tell me that ain't disturbing.

 

[Dannydet]

It's all about keeping up with the Jones mentality...
4k is soo passe

 

[nickdalzell]

I don't even have 4K. I don't need it. 99% the shows I watch date to the 50s-60s and the newest the mid-1990s-early 2000s (Babylon 5, Farscape, Star Trek: TNG, Star Trek: DS9, Stargate:Atlantis)

I'm lucky if they're in HD, or in 16:9!

I will admit, that despite how wonderful the series Babylon 5 is, the CGI effects are sadly dated all to hell. I got a 37" Zenith CRT in the workshop/garage, so maybe I should play the DVDs out there and see if they hold up on it? They look outright awful on a 720p Vizio LCD TV, even the remastered version.

 

[Dannydet]

Yeah I'm not even on 4k. No use for it.
All my TVs are dumb and look perfectly fine for me.

 

[ocnbrze]

Give me 4k all day. I just bought the only 4k 32" tv that Best Buy sells. I was lucky they had one in stocks. It was their last one. It's the only size that will fit in my room. As all my wall space are being taking up by my fish tanks...... lol.

It is such a beautiful tv. I hardly notice that it is only 32".

 

[nickdalzell]

Wouldn't 32" defeat any perceivable benefit of 4K? Like displaying 2160x1440 on a 19" monitor? everything would be all tiny...

I don't get into modern shows, so nothing I own or watch is even in 1080p most of the time, much less 4K. I did have a 4K TV (2016 LG Ultra HD Cinema 3D Smart WebOS TV) but shows that WERE in 4K (pretty much all Apple TV+ content and some Netflix Originals) looked the same on it as a full-1080p show looks on the 2009 Vizio in the living room. Any show meant for the native resolution of your TV will be as clear. Obviously a major drawback of 4K TVs is anything less than 4K and especially lower than 1080p will look like utter garbage. Try enjoying, say, a western on a 4K TV. Or perhaps even an episode of Seinfeld. Or dare try playing GameCube or classic N64 titles on a 4K TV. Everything looks distorted and blurry, even without playing with the aspect ratio.

Frasier, for example looks OK on a 1080p TV playing from an upcoverting DVD player, but the same DVD will and did look like complete garbage on the LG 4K TV. 1080p TVs don't have the same problem with standard def 4:3 content that a 4K+ TV does. An oil painting is the best I can describe the results with.

 

[AugieTN]

......As all my wall space are being taking up by my fish tanks...... lol.
.

Are these fish you eat or fish you look at?

 

[ocnbrze]

Are these fish you eat or fish you look at?

i love sashimi and sushi, but no.....to look at

 

[nickdalzell]

Rob, I wouldn't mind there being other sub-forums for other topics like retro computing, old smartphones, retro or just car talk forums, that kind of thing.

Vintage TV/radio, etc. I got lots to talk about there!

 

[Bearsyzf]

I'm down for other talks.

 

[Rob]

Since we've got some regulars in here, let's test the waters...

Two big things I'm hoping to do:

• Upgrade our forum software (Xenforo) to the latest version (2.X). This will mean the site reverts to a "stock" UI experience (you can see an example here) and we'll lose basically all of the custom add-ons unique to AF. In some ways we'll be starting from scratch... but it gives us hope to build into the future.
• Change domains from AndroidForums.com to EarlyBird.Club. Let's face it: Android isn't gonna get any more popular. It peaked. Changing our name to Early Bird Club allows us to refocus our efforts to the latest tech trends, giving Early Adopters a place to talk about the latest and greatest new products without fear of becoming obsolete with a "brand".

Would love your feedback! Are you down with this shift? Would it make you sad? Excited? Both?

 

[AugieTN]

I'm new to this Android Forum, but have been with Palm, Nokia, Windows and other Android forums in the past. The most frustrating thing I find with this forum software is the search function and organization of post. Just my opinion but I think Invision Forum Software is the way to go. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Unforgiven]

Since we've got some regulars in here, let's test the waters...

Two big things I'm hoping to do:

• Upgrade our forum software (Xenforo) to the latest version (2.X). This will mean the site reverts to a "stock" UI experience (you can see an example here) and we'll lose basically all of the custom add-ons unique to AF. In some ways we'll be starting from scratch... but it gives us hope to build into the future.
• Change domains from AndroidForums.com to EarlyBird.Club. Let's face it: Android isn't gonna get any more popular. It peaked. Changing our name to Early Bird Club allows us to refocus our efforts to the latest tech trends, giving Early Adopters a place to talk about the latest and greatest new products without fear of becoming obsolete with a "brand".

Would love your feedback! Are you down with this shift? Would it make you sad? Excited? Both?

Can I speak for all mods past and present, OK, just, NVM, just my own opinion. Stock software please. Oh, and a dark mode. I'm assuming the AF domain would redirect for a couple years (or eternity) so older members can find their way back.

I'm new to this Android Forum, but have been with Palm, Nokia, Windows and other Android forums in the past. The most frustrating thing I find with this forum software is the search function and organization of post. Just my opinion but I think Invision Forum Software is the way to go. Just my 2 cents.

Dude, new, but a great member so far. I haven't used Invision, but this is a hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighly customized version of XF. I've used other forums using stock XF and that are easy to navigate and search.