Previously on Lemmy:
Past Discussions:
As promised, we are talking repairability this week. I thought it’s not really possible to talk repairability without talking about it in relations to build quality.
It seems to me that over the years, the general trend is that phones have become more and more difficult to repair in general. To me, I don’t believe that this is some kind of nefarious plot designed to make people buy new phones every two years, here are some of the reasons why I think it is:
The first is the perceived build quality. It used to be that plastic is the most common type of material for the back of phones, and I would say plastic is the ideal default material for the back of phones: cheap, and versatile in hardness, color, and texture. However, the use of plastic in cheaper phones has resulted in a negative perception. Metal backs are durable but doesn’t allow for NFC signals through, and I can’t believe they settled on glass as the ideal material for the back instead, since it is actually extremely impractical to use.
The second is waterproofing. Waterproofing requirement means that glue is mandatory even with the presence of a gasket, which naturally discourages the
The third would the improvement in actual build quality. Modularity is very much still a trade-off, as if we can assume the phone cannot be easily opened, then more fragile components can be used in the phone that doesn’t have the requirement to be able to be repeatedly plugged and unplugged. One of the most important changes is the change from Micro-USB to USB-C, as the increased durability means that people won’t consider it to be a part that requires replacement as much.
I just think that what’s broken can eventually be fixed, but it’ll never feel the same afterwards.
Sorry if this is a bit messier and late this week, very interested in everybody’s thoughts on this topic. The Fairphones look interesting, but it’s not easy to get in the States.
Manufacturers should release smaller phones which can actually be put into pockets. They’ll also need to come up with a better way than to just glue down screens and batteries in place.
Gluing is easily automated, whereas putting in screws takes more time, and time is money on a manufacturing line.
Also, agree on the smaller phone.
Meanwhile, I’m still looking for a bigger phone. Huawei’s Mate 20X, Xiaomi’s Mi Max line, and Sony’s Xperia Z Ultra were all phones I thought of getting of at some point but never did, thinking that there’d be something nicer in the future.
Maybe the Galaxy fold, if you are OK with the price tag.
Ain’t that the Asus Zenfone 10 for you?
Yeah watching phones grow and grow in size over the years has been frustrating for those of us who have small pockets and liked using our phone one handed. Nowadays it seems like a phone is a two handed device and ai can’t fit any of them in my damn pants. I went with a folding phone to help with the issue, although they are still two handed phones when unfolded. Apple used to have the iPhone Mini but it seems they have done away with it for some reason.
I’m not saying big phones should entirely go away. I’m just frustrated that we don’t have more options.