Discouraged and depressed. No good options anymore. What is there to do anymore?

[chanchan05]

Yeah, the Moto Z could also be considered. AFAIK they also have battery packs.

 

[codezer0]

Looking at the Moto z and checking out the details, it's not a true removable battery. It's basically an NRB with a factory battery pack add-on. And the add-on isn't particularly high capacity, either. And if I opted for the force version with a larger internal NRB, it then doesn't line up with the pack like the standard one.

 

[codezer0]

And for everyone that dares to tell me again to just use a power bank with whatever phone I get...


This is the 8th cable that's been ruined so far with this one and this power brick. I'm goddamned livid right now.

 

[chanchan05]

I honestly have no idea how you're ruining cables. I have a power bank that's about a year old still with the cable it came with.

 

[codezer0]

I wish project ara was still active and not neutered. Had that been going on, I would have made a point of getting the biggest battery possible, and just swap radio chips as needed. But no, Google insists we don't want any of that.

 

[mikedt]

I'm thinking they couldn't make Ara work as it was intended with current technology. There is also Phonebloks, and a modular smart-watch project with Kickstarter, non of which have actually produced anything yet, apart from CGI rendered concepts. Basically vaporware.

 

[sullencab]

Here is a good read. I hope you feel better.

 

[codezer0]

Doesn't matter, if it means that nobody makes what I need at any price point, much less one within my means.

 

[mikedt]

Is this all because of whatever limited choice that the US carriers provide? And that's why there's so many trying to import phones from here in China, with varying degrees of success.

 

[Hadron]

Well, up to a point. At the end of the day it all comes down to sales, or what the manufacturers think will sell.

Yes, a sealed unit has advantages: you can fit more battery into the same form factor if you don't need to make everything removable, you can make the phone more rigid, and IP sealing is easier. The disadvantages are also clear. But the manufacturers clearly believe that an extra mm of thickness will hurt their sales more than a fixed battery, and reviewers certainly feel the same: see how they praise "thin" and describe 9mm thickness as "chunky". And how much stick did Samsung get for their "flimsy-feeling, plasticky" build each year (even if you can argue that glass on both sides is actually flimsier)? But ultimately it will be the manufacturers' market research that tells them that if they provide what you want they will lose sales overall.

It's not just phones though. My current laptop, which is a perfectly manageable size, has a (fixed) 76 Wh battery. This year's model has a much more efficient screen and processor, so what do they do? Reduce the battery capacity to 50Wh so they can make it thinner and keep the battery life nominally the same (as long as you use it lightly). Would I rather have 1.5* the endurance, so I could get through any working day pretty much regardless of how I use it? Certainly. Would I have sprung for an upgrade if that was offered? Yeah, I reckon so. Am I keeping my current one for another year now? You know the answer. Do I think the manufacturer would care or listen to me? You know the answer to that one too...

 

[codezer0]

So, I'm screwed because of fashion obsessed turbo hipsters.

 

[Slug]

the manufacturers clearly believe that an extra mm of thickness will hurt their sales more than a fixed battery[...]

As demand for larger displays increases, the thickness of the device has to reduce to keep it comfortable and usable. How many S7 Edges (as an example) would have been sold if they couldn't be used one-handed by the average user?

 

[codezer0]

I was desperate enough to consider a brand I hadn't heard of. Saw a listing for an oukitel k10000, named so for its battery capacity. Problem was, it had no compatible bands for anything here. And it was being sold for $150 us

 

[codezer0]

I just know at this point, with what I know is out there, there is simply no way I can see myself ever invest in a phone ever again. If they're going to make them this disposable and junk, why the hell should I be expected to pay $800 for one? Even $400 for this mxpe was painful, and even more so now with what I'd wasted in ruined cables to keep this goddamn ****er charged.

 

[Hadron]

Well I don't know what you do to cables. I've never actually broken even one...

 

[codezer0]

"so many options for Android phones" ... Try none.

Looking on gsmarena and phonefinder, there are literally zero options from any manufacturer, carrier, or OS that meet my criteria 100%.

Closest I'd been able to find specs wise would include...
iPhone 6s plus. Highest amount of LTE bands of any phone period. Actual headphones jack. But miserably small, nonremovable battery. No SD card slot. Though to be fair, iTunes more or less makes it brick proof in my experiences. Last I checked, one with enough storage to matter was $1000 after taxes. Nope.

The mxpe I am using now. SD slot. Universal compatibility. Miserable, hot, power whore. $400 ish... And about another $100 in ruined usb cables and power banks.

Nexus 6p? yea, the iPhone of the Android world. bite me, Google. And your pixel can kiss my ass. No way I'm paying $800 for a goddamn iPhone ripoff from Google.

Lg was close. There was a model of g4 that was sold in best buy and on Amazon as unlocked. It had the bands to support three of the four carriers. It has the SD card slot. It has the removable battery, and zero lemon has one of their extended batteries for it. But lg insists it's locked to a company called us cellular, which one, doesn't exist, and two, they then have the audacity to insist that they do not warranty any unlocked phones, regardless if they were purchased that way, regardless of where they were sold. So I was forced to look elsewhere.

This kind of garbage absolutely gets on my proverbial tits.

 

[Slug]

This kind of garbage absolutely gets on my proverbial tits.

Then complain to LG, 'cos they happily provide a 2yr warranty to unlocked handsets here in the UK or mainland Europe.

I don't know what else anyone can offer, tbh, Your criteria, while perfectly valid, are very specific. I can't remember the last time a customer mentioned a removable battery as a "must have", and frequency bands are a non-issue with most GSM-based phones; just about any phone sold in one market will work with any GSM network anywhere in the world. If you're looking for a CDMA-based device to work with VZW or Sprint, then you're at the mercy of the manufacturer... it's a tiny market compared to the rest of the world.

 

[codezer0]

Then complain to LG, 'cos they happily provide a 2yr warranty to unlocked handsets here in the UK or mainland Europe.

I don't know what else anyone can offer, tbh, Your criteria, while perfectly valid, are very specific. I can't remember the last time a customer mentioned a removable battery as a "must have", and frequency bands are a non-issue with most GSM-based phones; just about any phone sold in one market will work with any GSM network anywhere in the world. If you're looking for a CDMA-based device to work with VZW or Sprint, then you're at the mercy of the manufacturer... it's a tiny market compared to the rest of the world.

2 years? seriously?

nobody making a phone here even provides *1* year... and that's been the case since the effing 90's!

****ing hell. First it was two year contracts for one year phones. Now this shit!

Also, your statement about GSM doesn't add up. because a lot of the phones from other markets I was looking at, don't have ANY of the LTE bands used by ANY US carrier, full stop.

Why a removable battery? Because until batteries with 5-digit mAh ratings are the norm, no NRB from anyone has proven to actually ****ing last anywhere near its advertised lives. Motorola has the audacity to claim all day battery life for this MXPE, and it's already at 10% by 9am, when I'm already getting up in the morning at 4am for work. Meanwhile, my old Note 3 with its ZL Extended battery lasted me two days on average. The S3 I used to have before that with its ZL battery (before Sprint's signal basically kiboshed itself), I was getting four days of use on average.

 

[MLSS]

I just have one question and I'm being serious.
What in the world are you doing to your cables???
I've had one cable go bad on me in the 6 plus years I've owned smart phones and Tablets.

 

[codezer0]

I just have one question and I'm being serious.
What in the world are you doing to your cables???
I've had one cable go bad on me in the 6 plus years I've owned smart phones and Tablets.

Plug in phone. Plug in battery pack. No pocket big enough for both in the same, so separate pockets it is. Nowhere to store both, so they stay on me. Go do work, or hang out, or driving around, and when I realize my phone never charged at all, I realize why... cable broke, or it ran the power bank flat and never bothered to actually increase its own charge.

 

[mikedt]

Then complain to LG, 'cos they happily provide a 2yr warranty to unlocked handsets here in the UK or mainland Europe.

Yeh, I think LG happily provides a two year warranty, because it's EU law, and they must provide it.
http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/faq/index_en.htm

...although with the UK and Brexit....

2 years? seriously?

nobody making a phone here even provides *1* year... and that's been the case since the effing 90's!

****ing hell. First it was two year contracts for one year phones. Now this shit!

Then lobby your Congressman or Senator or President or whatever about it, for a change in US consumer protection legislation?

 

[Hadron]

Plug in phone. Plug in battery pack. No pocket big enough for both in the same, so separate pockets it is. Nowhere to store both, so they stay on me.

Ok, if you are walking around with the cable trailing between two different pockets I can imagine you are stressing it in ways that almost nobody else does.

 

[mikedt]

When I have my apparel bespoked in Hong Kong, I always ensure the pockets are just right for the tech I carry around with me, to ensure there's no cables going between pockets.

 

[Hadron]

I have a couple of jackets with pockets big enough to hold a phone an a reasonable-sized power bank (some could even fit the 96 Wh one, but they wouldn't sit right with that in a pocket). But nothing that would hold a tablet...

 

[chanchan05]

I have a couple of jackets with pockets big enough to hold a phone an a reasonable-sized power bank (some could even fit the 96 Wh one, but they wouldn't sit right with that in a pocket). But nothing that would hold a tablet...

What I find it funny nowadays is that our white coats now have big enough pockets to hold "mini" tablets (iPad minis and similar sized Androids). It seems standard. Then I had one resident who had a coat specially made to hold a full sized iPad.