I’ve been very stressed lately and have been doing some window shopping to calm down. I’m interested in gadgets, but a lot of things can just be replaced with apps. I realize a phone won’t replace very large appliances like refrigerators or washing machines so I’m trying to scope my question to portable devices. So what are some portable devices or gadgets that their specialization hasn’t been replaced by smart phone apps? Extra points if they’re super useful and reliable.
Security cameras. Smart sensors. Basically anything you can make based on a $2 ESP32.
Cameras. You can take pictures with your phone, but despite Apple’s advertisements, a phone camera will never produce anywhere near the same quality a dedicated digital camera with interchangeable lenses. And neither are as good as film.
Neither are as good as film?
That’s subjective. Subjective to the application and the viewer.
It’s impossible to get a film look with digital, you can get close but there is just something about film that feels like a capture of an actual moment
Similar argument is vinyl vs digital, some people just refuse to believe vinyl is unbeatable
It’s not, really. Most of the variables are quantifiable: granularity (or resolution, what have you), dynamic range, speed. A small, disposable, fixed-lens film camera may not match a 3/4 Fuji X model, but compare similar size frames and don’t try to sabotage film by getting the cheapest no-name brand, and the measurable qualifiers are always superior on film. There are very few, if any, digital cameras available at even the professional level that can match the dynamic range and granularity of large format film.
Edit
I’m just going to put this here, because there are clearly lot of folks with opinions about this backed by … opinions.
The Wikipedia article, while not authoritative, provides a good summary across a variety of factors. Aside from convenience factors, the one area where digital has a clear lead over film is noise and grain for color photography, and even so, long-exposure time photos require doing things like cooling the sensor - the not doing of which increases noise in digital photographs.
When it comes to dynamic range, it seems modern digital cameras have finally caught up with film. HDR is described only for digital, and ignores the fact that multiple shots-at-different-exposures-combined-at-print-time has been used in film for nearly as long as we’ve had film cameras. It’s just now easier to do in digital cameras.
There’s a distressing amount of assertions with [citation needed] in the article. There’s also odd assertion that digital is capable of better low light performance right before the admission that digital speeds at lower than ISO 100 are rarely available, whereas it’s easy to find ISO 20 and 25 film - and you can ISO 0.8 film commercially.
@Blue_Morpho responded about how film is so bad that Kubrik choose digital, and there are certainly some directors who agree with him. Then there are directors like Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino who think film’s better.
TL;DR All of this is wildly off-topic
The question was what devices are better as specialized devices vs apps on phones. My answer was: cameras. Not many directors are going to be shooting major films on cell phones. All of the controversy has been around film vs digital, and I’ll grant that digital has finally caught up to film in some areas, although I wonder if we throw price in as a factor how this would look.
This is sadly not correct
Film is so bad in low light that Kubrick had to obtain 3 of the 10 NASA lenses to film Barry Lyndon. Any modern digital can take better low light pictures than the best film.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Zeiss_Planar_50mm_f/0.7
But film is way better when it comes to highlights.
ignores the fact that multiple shots-at-different-exposures-combined-at-print-time has been used in film for nearly as long as we’ve had film cameras.
Multi shot for HDR in film is restricted to still life because film is very slow compared to digital. There’s no film camera that will automatically change the stops to make that feasible. So it’s take a shot, adjust settings, take another, adjust settings. At the low and high end you’d need to swap film stock between shots.
@Blue_Morpho responded about how film is so bad that Kubrik choose digital,
??? I said to achieve low light performance on FILM, Kubrick needed a lens that was (and is) so special that only 10 exist in the world. What was possible for Kubrick using extraordinarily rare and expensive equipment is achieved by anyone with a common digital camera today.
So while you can find references to film that matches digital, it is so extreme that it isn’t valid. It would be like someone using the cryogenic cooled sensor in the $10B Webb telescope for their argument.
I apologize for the phrasing - my only excuse is that I use Lemmy mostly in an app, and unless it’s the comment I’m directly responding to, I have to memorize stuff from other comments. It’s usually all I can do to remember who made the comment; trying for an exact quote is beyond me.
So: I’m sorry for a bad paraphrasing.
Actually, some movies have started popping up where they film substantial chunks on iPhones. Odds are this trend will continue and the “professional camera purists” will be considered archaic like the 35mm purists are now.
They haven’t completely replaced them. But for 99% of people they’ve replaced them for 99% of their photography needs.
Man, that 1% are buying a shitload of cameras.
3 year high
That’s long after the reign of smart phones started. https://www.statista.com/chart/amp/15524/worldwide-camera-shipments/
On a similar note, action cameras, which can be even more portable than a smartphone.
Excellent point, especially as they’re still quite common. GoPro, for instance.
I would add that even though you can slap a filter on a pic you won’t get the same quality of lighting as utilizing reflectors, diffusers, lamps, etc.
And cameras will never replace a good painting!
Jk, I still use my handheld camera, a shame it takes 30 seconds to boot it
30 seconds
Yowsa. That’s an old camera!
I have a point-and-shoot Canon from around the mid-2010s that’s still perfectly functional. It starts faster than I can get to the phone app on my phone, and takes pictures faster. The video is worse.
My Fuji T-10 takes a couple of seconds to start from cold, but less than a second if it’s in stand-by.
The only digital camera I ever owned that took double-digit seconds to start was my very first - I don’t even recall the brand, but it was before smart phones and the resolution was pathetic, like 800x600 or something. And it was so. Slow. Starting, and snapping.
Maybe I’m overly dramatic and it actually takes less than 10 seconds, but it feels like an eternity…
I wonder why you “can’t” have a camera that is ready instantly.
I can’t vape weed with my phone yet.
Not with that attitude
Would you believe me if I said there is even a phone vape now?
I would need to see it to believe it.
Flashlights. Again, in an emergency, you can use your phone. But it’s not as good as a real flashlight, and I always carry and use a flashlight.
Also somebody had a bright idea to disable the flashlight in Android after battery drops to low percentages. I was very angry one day, when I walked through forest, and I needed to do it in complete darkness.
bright idea
I see what you did there
Can confirm. In many situations, it is far more convenient to go get a flashlight worth $2 to $5 that can easily fit exactly where you need it to be rather than holding your main communication device in an awkward angle where it doesn’t quite do the job and also a wrong move could destroy your $200 to $1k device.
Spend $20-$30 and you can have a rock and roll light.
This is my latest, of, uh, many lights. I’m a bit of an addict.
I’ve heard the “flashlight rabbit hole” goes deep.
I’ve bought myself exactly one “nice” flashlight and it was a big shock seeing how good the tech has gotten since phones took that over in my life. Some Acebeam model with a ridiculous bulb and a convenient rechargeable AAA battery with a USB C port. It’s tiny and super neat.
While I haven’t bought multiple, I did buy more of the same model for family members to carry around. For what it’s worth I don’t really keep it on me, but if you carry a purse or whatever, a powerful finger-sized flashlight could definitely come in handy without being bulky.
I’ve actually written a bit about my gripes with the EDC subculture online, which is how I learned about the flashlight in the first place. TLDR is that there is a weird disconnect that can’t be ignored between a rational interest in preparedness and the phenomenon of online communities of users goading each other into buying more and more widgets, sometimes with financial incentives to make others buy things.
It’s not just flashlights, it’s a whole bunch of things. EDC is a rabbit hole of rabbit holes and while I do appreciate having a lot of options and reviews for said options I genuinely think it’s a consumerist disappointment if you zoom back out.
Would you mind letting me know the model of that Acebeam? Really like the sound of it. Though the OClip mentioned elsewhere is nice too.
I just looked up my orders, it’s the H16. Looking more closely at the receipts it seems like there’s different models with different max brightness but whatever ,they’re all blindingly bright, for me at least, a non flashlight person.
They’re also nominally waterproof, they’ve got a strong magnet at the base so you can stick it places while you work, and comes with a headband attachment and a belt clip.
The bulb is angled which was weird to me at first. I also had to learn the controls over time since there’s one button but several brightness settings.
I hate how promotion-heavy the internet has gotten because it feels like even writing out any endorsement feels like shilling. But it’s a cool little thing. I’m sure there’s more models out there that might appeal to you by other manufacturers but I’m happy with this one.
Any recommendation as far as something that’s convenient to carry but still worthwhile? Most seem too bulky to justify their occasional use when the phone will do in a pinch.
I know the rabbit hole is pretty deep and it seems like it would take someone with experience to recognize that niche between inconvenience of having another thing to carry/charge vs how often a phone is good enough or a larger/dedicated working is worth keeping where it’s needed.
I use my bike light if I need something fairly bright. Does make me wish I went for the most powerful light available though. Think mine is only like 700 lumems, but the price was climbing up at that point and it is still pretty good.
A second one could be useful if I ever wanted a long night trip though because unfortunately it uses a build on lithium battery so would have to leave it charging in a bag from another battery pack when it’s flat rather than just sticking a fresh battery in and charging the empty one when I get home.
Already joined us?
Of course!
Depends though, you need to buy a pretty good one. My phone has a better than average phone torch, CatB40. It’s better than most cheap torches so you would need a decent torch to do better than the phone.
A Vibrator.
Have I got an app for you!
:-D ~~~
RrrrrRrrrrrRrrrr~RRRRRRRRIs that the same though? I don’t have the right parts to know, and the procedure to find out makes it easier to ask.
Men can, well you know…
But depending on the size of your phone it takes more bravery.
Never had an older Nokia?
Electric Toothbrush. Keeping up with Dental Hygiene is important too!
Own one. Definitely recommend it and ribbon floss.
Would love to have one, but my neurologist said even slight vibrations in my mouth can fuck with my epilepsy. That means a migraine because my medicine prevents seizures. Going to the dentist is an affair that wrecks me for the whole day.
It’s OK. My dentist thinks electric toothbrushes are too harsh on your teeth and shames anyone who even brings up the subject. So at least 1 dentist thinks it’s junk. He prefers soft bristles that you softly glide across your teeth by hand.
Soft bristles are pretty much the only thing anyone should use, regardless of whether or not it’s electric. Hard bristles are too harsh on your gums.
Paper and pencil: an analog data storage medium immune to power outages, data costs, EMPs, and remote surveillance.
bro, they can litterally listen to your pencil strokes through the walls man.
Most people don’t need to worry about the NSA listening to them write down stuff.
Nice try fbi guy
What about the CIA though?
They can listen to your thoughts man
Even if I pull out all my teeth?
Checkmate CIA!
Vibrator
We had Dildroid like 16 minutes after the initial Android release… 😂🤷
And yet I own more vibrators than I do smartphones
Nokia 3310 would disagree,
It is a ‘gadget’
Vicegrips. Wirestrippers. A light screwdriver with common bits carried on its handle like a Sidewinder. Rake lockpick. SDR. Elevator key. Punch. File. Multimeter. Multitool with good pliers. Crank radio. Survival guide. Poncho. Silver exposure blanket. Fire starters. Multihammer thing. MREs. Good flashlight. Beater laptop like an old x200. Serial console adapter. Flares. Camping stove. Throw it all in a bugout bag after you learn how to use them.
Hi-fi audio recorders with builtin microphones. As a bass player, I deeply resent phone mics and speakers.
Phones suck for anything audio related in general.
They’ve been bad for calling people in my experience for years.
My Ipod classic can run laps around my phone in terms of audio playback and its a recentish flagship.
also, a good music player is nice! not having the hassle of using a phone while driving or doing literally anything else is nice for listening to music and the like.
You underestimate my ability to find and download new music to my player. It’s not that I can’t, it’s just that I forget to.
i feel this, i totally forget to update my libraries haha
Radiation detectors. Such as the Radiacode or the Open Gamma Detector.
Binoculars are quite portable, very useful, and phones don’t do a good job at zooming in like that.
Smart watches integrate with phones but the phones by themselves are not so good at measuring the heart rate and other parameters directly.
Mini projectors. UV flashlights. Tools in general… There is so much actually. What type of gadgets are you looking for?
https://www.wired.com/2012/05/softbank-unveils-worlds-first-phone-with-radiation-detection/
Your other points are valid.
Ooh, cool! 😁 That detector seems to be working only in “Geiger mode”, which means that it can count the number of X-rays/Gamma particles but it does not estimate their energy. So, the dedicated devices are still better in that they allow you to identify the source of the radiation by measuring the counts and the energy distribution simultaneously.
It probably would not be too difficult to build the open gamma detector into something like a pinephone. I don’t think that has been done yet.
There were a couple projector phones. Samsung Galaxy Beam 1 & 2
Samsung S2x Ultra has 10x optical zoom. That’s pretty much a <100€ binocular right there.
My experience with phone zoom has been underwhelming so far, but I would like to check out the Samsung S2x’s 10x zoom when I have the chance!
Still, I really like using binoculars because they transport me next to what I am looking at and do so in very high definition. I do have >100€ binoculars though, colors look very nice through them. I think it will be difficult to replicate via a screen.
Well the phone is a bit of a “jack of trades master of none”. You pretty much always will have a better time with a dedicated device, but the fact that the phone is always in your pocket is just so damn convenient.
Not comparable for viewing purposes, don’t bother. But it’s good for capturing a memory of it.
The light isn’t enough, there’s ai artefacts, lower refresh rate makes it obvious the movements aren’t real time. Not a monocular replacement.
Can phones “detect” really high radiation on the camera if it’s high enough or is that film only?
Cleverly, even low levels can be detected. I love how creative early smartphone developers could be.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rdklein.radioactivity
What do you mean? Early apps was all stuff like this that nobody used. Nowadays apps are useful fintech services and photo filter apps that cost less than a coffee per month and fun free games that everyone can play, isn’t that much better?
/s
Yes. The camera pixels generate a current in response to light. You can add some filters to block certain wavelengths of light (like UV) from getting to the camera sensor, and tune the pixels so that they respond more to to specific colors. But X-rays and gamma rays can just pass through the filter. Often they will pass through sensor as well, but, in the cases that they do get absorbed by the sensor, they can also produce a current that to the camera’s readout electronics looks like other light would.
The gamma detectors I mentioned are very very sensitive. They respond to single X-ray/Gamma ray particles. These detectors can count how many individual particles collide with a small crystal cube every second. These crystals are special in that they produce a very tiny flash of light when an X-ray or gamma particle collides with them. As an added bonus, these sensors can directly measure the energy of the particles by measuring the strength of the flash, and from this information they can construct not only the total counts but also a spectrum. With this extreme sensitivity these detectors can measure small quantities of radiation that come from space, from rocks, and from other materials.
I looked for a video of a phone going through an X-ray machine, and found these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8iSoPhtY3s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1YaroH6lHA
The white specks that you can see near second 25 (first video) and second 34 (second video) could be a result of the X-rays. I am not sure, but it seems reasonable to me. On contrast, when I put my radiacode through the X-ray machine in the airport the radiacode reacts very strongly and becomes saturated.
I believe they can.
Video games. At least for me. Mobile games suck.
If you haven’t experimented with roms and emulators yet, many old school games play great on a smartphone. The biggest downside is the touchscreen controls overlay will never compare to an actual controller, but it’s close enough that it’s… well, close enough.
Nintendo’s entire library from their inception as a company through all of their N64 content is a grand total of like 20gb, the vast majority of which being N64. Roms from previous console/handheld games are tiny.
No idea what the current best emulators are; for the games, drop into places like thepiratebay and search for things like “SNES Romset” for the entire library.
Use a VPN. Yar.
play great on a smartphone.
Physical controls are a necessity for retro games. Get a Miyoo Mini Plus or equivalent. They make retro games playable.
Sbcgaming or whatever its called is a good sub for that, handheld gaming has taken off, its gotten solid, you could also android phone with any of the controller cases, I just dont game as much or id be into them
Physical controls are significantly better, but not strictly necessary. The kicker is needing to press 3+ buttons at the same time, like in Mario 64 pressing forward to run, Z to slide, and A to jump is a PITA on touchscreen.
I’ve played through Mario 64, Zelda OOT and Zelda MM all on touchscreen on mobile, and it’s -again- good enough. It scratches the nostalgia itch. But 100%, if you have a bluetooth controller or something, use it.
You can get a controller for any smartphone out there. Also RPG’s play fine with touch controls, that’s how I played Pokémon games with no issues.
I know that iPhone supports pretty much any Bluetooth controller.
Joycons, PS4/5 controller, and Xbox controllers all work great on it.
Be careful with Xbox controllers if you’re using Bluetooth. Microsoft only started including Bluetooth in their controllers in the last few years. The Xbox consoles all the way from the 360 actually use 2.4GHz (same band as WiFi) instead.
That’s part of why Xbox controllers are so much bigger and heavier than things like the PlayStation controllers; The 2.4GHz circuitry and antenna takes a lot more space than Bluetooth does.
If you’re going to get an Xbox controller for Bluetooth, at least look up how to identify which models have Bluetooth built in.
RetroArch is a good one, and is the go-to for most people. It covers just about every console you could want. But it also suffers from some bloat due to having so many features, and config can be kind of a pain if you’ve never done it before. If you’re just looking for a more basic “just fucking boot it up and play” emulator, maybe an app like Delta (Nintendo consoles) or Gamma (PSX) would be less bloated (and potentially run smoother.)
You could probably use RetroArch for nearly every system out there, including MAME core which could itself probably even emulate your smart fridge in the future, given enough time for developers.
There are also fan run repositories of games hosted through Myrient and the Internet Archive if you just want some specific titles or need a particular version for patching.
For emulation, personally I like RetroArch over individual emulators for simplicity. Can recommend SameBoy & Gambatte for GB+GBC, mGBA for GBA, melonDS DS for NDS, & Snes9x for SNES. All are accurate (so not likely to make a game bug out) & run fine on my midrange phone.
The touch controls work fine for games where timing/precision matters less, and for the rest I just use a BT controller. Xbox & PS ones are compatible, I believe, & there are some great quality 3rd party ones (like 8bitDo) out there.
I have a bluetooth controller with a phone mount on it. There’s a gadget for OP to explore!
I just emulate things nowadays. I have pretty much the entire NES, SNES, GBC, GBA, N64, NDS, and PSX libraries on my phone ready to go. And it works perfectly fine with any Bluetooth controller, because touchscreen controls are… Well… Complete fucking garbage.
I’m currently playing through the NDS version of Chrono Trigger in my free time. And since all of the games are stored locally, it doesn’t use any data at all. I recently went camping for a week, and my iPad lasted like 7 or 8 hours of playtime (on low brightness because I was in a tent at night) off of a single charge.
What app do you use?
RetroArch is the go-to for most people, because it can emulate just about anything. But first time setup can be kind of a pain if you’ve never done it before; The UI for settings can be unintuitive, you need to dig for what you want, and it’s easy to forget to save your settings because the save option is in an entirely separate page. It also suffers from some software bloat, because it has so many features that it can get bogged down when emulating more intensive systems.
For Nintendo I tend to use Delta. It’s simple, has cloud saves via Google Drive, and runs everything flawlessly. For PSX, I tend to use Gamma. Again, it has a simple interface and syncs via Google Drive.
That’s why I bought a 3DS :)
I think a ds lite is still the best value in gaming although the prices have gone up in the past few years. You can get a decent bundle with games and accessories for $50 plus theres those sd card cartdridges for it and you can play gba cartdriges. Battery life is unfathomable and they’re pretty durable
plus theres those sd card cartdridges for it
If you’re willing to get a flashcart for your NDS, you might as well just get a 3DS and load up some custom firmware instead. It’s stupid easy to hack with the SD card slot, and you can play whatever games you want for free. No need to fiddle with flashcarts when you can just use the 3DS’ built in SD card slot instead.
My old passcard died, and I can’t find a replacement?? Any ideas?
Now when I think about it, it was maybe the flashcard (like the gba linker) that died, gotta dig that up and check…
I have modded by 3DS, so I can play any GBA, DS, 3DS games or any emulator for old systems (like GB/GBC, NES). The worst though is that the scaling of DS games sucks on 3DS screens, so I might actually get a DS Lite or DSi XL in the future just because of this.
Have you seen trimui, abernic, etc. products
Yeah, I had one of these cheap retro handhelds, but I lost it somehow. I have been thinking about getting another one, but for now I am either using 3DS or RetroArch on my smartphone.
Early in the mobile gaming world, it was looking like mobile games would catch up with consoles within a few years, but then Angry Birds made more money than anyone ever imagined with half thr effort, and then Clash of Clans did the same thing again, and suddenly the idea of working hard and making a good mobile game seemed like a silly waste of time.
The only game I play is marvel snap. I’d consider emulators with a Bluetooth controller or something
Totally agree. The only game I play on my phone is Balatro.
Agreed. I play Scopa sometimes. That’s it.
phones can stream games from the computer in your local network/internet though. makes for a great experience actually if you get a good grip/controller for it.
also most video games arent portable.
I’m posting these separately so people can argue about specific devices.
A calculator is still better than a phone in a lot of cases. I haven’t yet met a financial advisor who uses their phone instead of a calculator. It’s often the same issue as with keyboards: touch screens are simply vastly inferior to tactile keys. Few people are willing to carry keyboards around with them, but for those who use calculators a lot, for many it’s worth having a portable, dedicated device.
Yeah definitely, I use an HP-49 emulator on my phone for like whenever I want to do just some quick calculation or only have my phone, but I always have an actual HP-49 in my bag because just having real buttons is so much nicer even if everything else is the same
RPN gang taking over
Technically the 49 is algebraic by default but I don’t think I’ve done a single operation in that mode
I did machining inspection for a while and would be dealing constantly with hundreds of data points. Using the table functions on my TI-84 was a godsend. Everyone was writing answers down and transcribing when I joined.
Pagers for Hospitals.
To be clear: Hospitals use pagers because they use a longer (and much lower bandwidth) wavelength, which is affected less by things like thick fire-resistant walls. Hospitals are built like bunkers so that things like fires don’t require the entire building to be evacuated. Pagers can still reliably get signal even in the basement of a hospital, when behind multiple fire-resistant walls and solid concrete floors. Texting has effectively replaced pagers for 99% of the population. But hospitals still use them because reliability is prioritized in the medical world; No hospital wants to lose a patient because a doctor was in the basement and didn’t get a text.
There was a good episode of Planet Money which went into this. I addition to what you said, when doctors would get texts, they were more likely to dismiss the message and not respond immediately which was more dangerous.
Also they don’t mess with radiology and it lets doctors have a way of being contacted that doesn’t give patients their number.
I was just thinking this morning that it’s kinda odd that there’s no cell phone that also doubles as a multi-meter for measuring electronic current. I guess it’s because in theory you’d need to also carry around a set of probes with you?
I think you are on to something, add a basic o-scope and it’s pretty much magic.
You invented the tricorder. Nice.
One of my favorite apps (not updated, doesnt work very well anymore), but I still have it installed:
We already have that, and a function generator.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.sbaudio.oscope
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.keuwl.functiongenerator
There is a really cheap one that uses the phone for the smarts so it can be good for cheap.
