Almost pulled the trigger on a Skyline, but then read about the bootloader not being unlockable, and hmd “promising” to make it unlockable at a later time. That’s bullshit right there - if you offer only 2 years of software support you better make the bootloader unlockable, otherwise it’s e-waste.
I suspect bad faith any time a company doesn’t do it the Pixel way (dev settings and fastboot unlock).
I recall ASUS doing something similar with the Zenfone 10 and then never following through.
Me crying on my Zenfone 10 right now. Shame because it’s a brilliant phone.
HMD also doesn’t provide any mechanism for unlocking the bootloader
This is the part that’s inexcusable.
Nothing is built to last. Not in the customer class of products in the capitalist world. Basically, if you can buy it retail, it’s made to sell. Not to last. Planned obsolescence included at no extra cost.
Nothing is built to last? No. One little Company still holds out against this concept.
Btw, their 5th phone has an industrial Snapdragon so they can deliver software updates for a couple years longer.
This is the main reason they got rid of the headphone jack. Some headphones lasted forever.
Now you have Bluetooth earbuds with tiny batteries that goes in a case with another small battery. Batteries that small will last 5 years tops. On top of that sound quality hasn’t improved and latency got worse.
This is true, but for whatever reason people always overlook the fact that you can still use your wired headphones with a USB-C adapter on most modern smartphones (I believe Samsung devices need one with a DAC). And that, depending on the quality of the phone’s DAC, the wired headphones may actually sound better through a USB-C DAC than they do through the headphone jack. You can even charge your phone and listen through wired headphones at the same time using the USB-C port. Wired headphones are only incompatible with modern smartphones if you choose for that to be the case - there are plenty of ways to solve this problem without clinging to an older phone (though there is nothing wrong with that solution either).
for whatever reason people always overlook the fact that you can still use your wired headphones with a USB-C adapter
Literally no one has overlooked that. We rejected that for the same reason we rejected Apple’s USBC-only laptops; we’re not interested in the dongle life.
Don’t need a dongle life, necessarily. I have a decent pair of cans with removable cable, so I just got a cable that terminates in a lightning connector. And through magnetic wireless charging I can even charge while listening to music.
Sure, that’s not optimal, not the solution for everyone and no reason for phone manufacturers to not include headphone jacks but it does work and without dongles at that.
Oh good, so you went out and bought a completely new set of headphones that are already obsolete because the connector no longer exists? Well that sounds way better!
Yes that is true but speaking on clinging on to an older phone, a headphone jack had a superior physical hold. My phone got saved a few times because my phone was connected to my wired headphones.
These dongles that came with phones were also usually very thin. It also sticks out and made of plastic. It just adds another weak point. They somehow added a weak point to a great piece of technology… On top of that phones no longer comes with the dongles.
Also dongles aren’t sexy. It looks like a hack to make something work. Phone companies made headphones unsexy while making wireless earbuds really sexy.
Some people said that a headphone jack made dustproofing and waterproofing more difficult. Maybe but it had be done before. They also said it brings down the price of the phone to get rid of them. Weird considering the Google A series and Samsung mid range phones had it but their flagship phones didn’t.
You made a lot of great points. Thank you for those.
I actually have bluetooth earbuds either came bundled, or I was gifted them. They have come a long way. Easier to connect. Better latency and better sound quality compared to the older version of bluetooth.
I like them, I am not a complete hater but I really am annoyed that this stuff will just turn to ewaste while my headphones have lasted me decades.
I’m just an old head yelling at the clouds.
