• Habarug@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    Well, I can’t speak for everyone else, but I can’t go back because they don’t sell any small phones.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      I picked the Pixel 8 because:

      1. it runs GrapheneOS
      2. It was a little smaller than the Pixel 8 Pro

      If there was a smaller version available, I would’ve gotten that instead.

      • rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works
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        2 months ago

        I’ve been using the “A” branch of the Pixel line for years now.

        But I use CalyxOS so I guess you and I have to be enemies now. My name is Inigo Montoya, you use a different OS, prepare to die.

        • ilmagico@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Ah man… I just installed graphene to try it … (turns around and runs)

          .

          Seriously though, would be nice if they could get along and share code and efforts, I’d love to try a graphene-hardened OS with sandboxed microg (instead of gsf) and datura firewall :) Maybe even have the option to have microg in one profile and google play in another. One can dream

          • rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works
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            1 month ago

            Graphene and Calyx are two different paths to two different destinations. Graphene is for security, Calyx is for privacy.

            • ilmagico@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              Yep, that’s what I gather as well. I just wish we didn’t have to choose, and could get both

      • EngineerGaming@feddit.nl
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        2 months ago

        I picked the Pixel A because:

        1. It runs GrapheneOS
        2. It’s slightly smaller and slightly cheaper than the normal version
        3. The back is plastic and not glass

        Glad I can use it and type on it one-handed, can’t imagine using a bigger phone.

        • wols@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          The only A series Pixel phone smaller than the Pixel 8 was the Pixel 4a.

      • thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe
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        2 months ago

        I can’t trust anything made by google. It’s a company that literally makes its money capturing everything everyone does on the internet…and yet the phone they make is the ONLY phone immune to having everything captured…

        Sorry. Not buying it. There will be a chip in there phoning home we’ll find out about in a decade.

      • Krelis_@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I picked the Sony Xperia 1v because:

        • 71mm width (similar to pixel 8)
        • Flagship specs (*for 2023 - Snapdragon 8 gen2 / 12gb)
        • not Google Samsung or Apple
        • little to no bloatware
        • Decent cameras
        • SD card expandable
        • Headphone jack 3.5mm (though I haven’t used it yet)
        • No glass back (and solid build quality allround)
        • LineageOS support (for when vendor support runs out)
        • I got a good refurb deal in 2024

        I was considering a Zenphone 10 or Xperia 5 v - mainly for size and brand reasons as above - when i found this for £650

        • JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl
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          2 months ago

          I picked the 5ii for similar reasons at the time.

          The problem is it only gets 2 years of support, so I haven’t gotten an update in years. Sony is living in 2010.

          The fingerprint reader slowly stopped working 6 months ago via a prolific software bug that is all over forums for xperias that will never be fixed.

          The battery (even ONLY charging it to 80% using battery care) is horrific after a few years, mediocre when I got it and the standby time is shit. It loses 1.5-2% battery per hour not being used at all now. I get maybe 4h SOT browsing (much less with video).

          The default camera app is crap and not even worth using…

          I want to try lineageOS when I get the time to see if it fixes the battery and fingerprint reader, but here in Belgium we really need access to our bank apps because almost everything is done through there.

          Edit: also the xperia 1v has a glass back… https://m.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_1_v-12263.php

          • calamityjanitor@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            I had a 5 II too, used lineageOS for years, worked great. Doesn’t totally solve the battery or fingerprint reader. My screen got the dreaded green lightsaber too. Nail in the coffin was Australia turning off 3G so it can’t make calls anymore. (Wasn’t officially sold here so they didn’t bother loading it with VoLTE profiles)

    • otacon239@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I’m clinging to my SE. It’s the last small phone made by anyone other than Chinese no-names. I will be sad when it’s no longer viable as an option.

      • nylo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 months ago

        my Chinese tiny phone has a name, it’s the Unihertz Jelly Star. they even have a subreddit, not sure what makes you think it’s a “no name” they make a lot of phones for niches in today’s world including one with a physical qwerty keyboard.

        now the fact that they’re the only company filling those niches sucks, but it’s better than nobody doing it.

    • Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz
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      2 months ago

      I upgraded to a Sony Xperia XZ2 compact last year. It has a 5" screen and decent capabilities, the only down side is it doesn’t support 5G. For a phone that’s over 5 years old, it’s probably the most recent usable phone available which actually fits in my pocket.

      Seriously, don’t show me a damn tablet computer and try to sell it to me as a mobile phone. If you can’t make a compact phone then you’re not really advancing the technology, are you?

      • myplacedk@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        If I can’t use it one-handed (using ALL physical buttons and ALL parts of the screen), then it’s not a phone.

        Seriously, this is how we used to define the difference between phones and tables - one-hand or two-hand use.

    • Xanthrax@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      They do, but service providers don’t like selling them. There isn’t as much of a return on smaller/ dumb/ cheap phones. I used to work at spectrum, and we’d speak of the cheap phones in hushed tones like they were the boogeyman. It felt horrible because I was using my cheap android while selling people iPhone 15s.

      • nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 months ago

        So once again instead of providing choice the market is simply phasing out things with smaller profit margins as if they planned it together in some kind of cartel.

        • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          2 months ago

          Demand also isn’t there. The iPhone SE sold ok, but the other thing to keep in mind was that it was the cheap iPhone too so it’s supposed to sell.

          If it was outselling the main model every year then they’d keep making them small. But they didn’t so they got dropped.