"Premium" features you don't actually want in a flagship?

[RollinLower]

13 minutes ago, Lord Vile said:

I actually don’t think I’ve seen any of those aside from the 7T and I’ve only seen a couple of those. 

they're very popular in china. sold thousands upon thousands over there.

also, most people i know here (The Netherlands) who want a pbudget phone get a model with a pop-up camera. simply because most budget phones have them these days.

[Lord Vile]

1 hour ago, RollinLower said:

they're very popular in china. sold thousands upon thousands over there.

also, most people i know here (The Netherlands) who want a pbudget phone get a model with a pop-up camera. simply because most budget phones have them these days.

Most in the UK seem to be either iPhones or Samsung. Think that’s more people getting them on contract and there’s not much difference between £17 a month and £22 

[Zodiark1593]

18 hours ago, TetraSky said:

Manufacturer apps that aren't part of the stock android experience. Even more so apps that are essentially designed to replace default apps, as if they were any better.

 

Apps that cannot be removed. Let us delete the damn bundled apps. Facebook is NOT system app ffs!

 

Super high res display. 1080p/1440p should really be the max for a device that small, there's no point to having 4k resolutions on a phone other than draining the battery faster. A 5.5 inch 1080p screen has a PPI of 400. Which is plenty as far as "retina" goes at like 10 inches from your face.

Pretty sure the high resolution was to address the drawback of using the Pentile sub pixel layout that is common in OLED displays. 

 

3 hours ago, akio123008 said:

It an extremely fragile piece of glass? 

 

 

In terms of pure practicality, plastic would probably be a superior choice with a rigid metal frame while still facilitating wireless charging. Though bearing in mind neither plastic nor metal visually hold up well over time due to relatively easy scratching. 

[akio123008]

15 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Though bearing in mind neither plastic nor metal visually hold up well over time due to relatively easy scratching. 

True, however you do need to take into account that a scratch on a plastic or metal phone is far less annoying than a crack in a glass device. (which happens to most glass phones over the same amount of time it takes to form scratches on non-glass phones)

[Zodiark1593]

1 hour ago, akio123008 said:

True, however you do need to take into account that a scratch on a plastic or metal phone is far less annoying than a crack in a glass device. (which happens to most glass phones over the same amount of time it takes to form scratches on non-glass phones)

That’s the nature of tradeoffs in materials unfortunately. There’s no perfect material. There are ways to mitigate downsides to a degree (curved glass corners withstands impacts better than sharp corners), but the relative downsides still exist. 
 

Even the most meticulously cared-for devices are prone to scratches and scuffs from everyday use. Even with cases, dirt and debris will find its way in there over time. My LG G2, even with spending it’s life in an Otterbox Defender, looked quite worn over the period of a few years. Though as beat as it looks, it still worked just fine(at least, until I gave it to Dad later on). 
 

In the other vein, while the more meticulous users seldom experience broken devices, a single lapse is all it takes to end up with an expensive repair. Glass devices are quite unforgiving of mistakes. The upside being the device can still look brand new after years of use, assuming you don’t drop the thing. 
 

For devices where aesthetic is any sort of concern, I don’t see manufacturers going back to softer materials anytime soon. Kind of no point in putting effort and R&D into aesthetics only to have it age poorly via scuffs and scratches. Not saying it’s the right or wrong approach. “It is what it is.” If anything, more pragmatic options with high end SoCs would be nice. 

[TomvanWijnen]

A notch or a hole punch display. To me, they just look like phone tumours. I've had to wait with buying a new phone until they finally got rid of those crappy things on some models. I'd rather have a full bezel than a notch or a hole punch. The solution that my and my mother's phone have (OnePlus 7 Pro and XIaomi Redmi K20 Pro), with a pop up camera, is the best solution for me, as I never use the front facing camera anyways, so it might as well hide itself inside the phone.

 

"edge"/"curving" display edges on phones. Serves no use, except being frustrating and bothersome to use. I'm still bummed that my OnePlus 7 Pro has them. My old Samsung Galaxy Nexus actually had a different kind of screen curve: the entire screen was curved a bit vertically. I thought that was great and wouldn't mind seeing that again, but alas.

 

21 hours ago, TetraSky said:

Super high res display. 1080p/1440p should really be the max for a device that small, there's no point to having 4k resolutions on a phone other than draining the battery faster. A 5.5 inch 1080p screen has a PPI of 400. Which is plenty as far as "retina" goes at like 10 inches from your face.

I have to be honest and admit that I'm often way closer than 10 inches from my phone. I've had a phone with 315 ppi, one with 401 ppi, and one with 516 ppi, and noticed a considerable improvement when going from 315 to 401 ppi, and a, still considerable, albeit slightly lower, improvement when moving up to 516 ppi.

 

Meanwhile, my laptop has a 15.6" 1080p screen, which means it has literally less than half of the pixels compared to my OnePlus 7 Pro.  I do different things on each device, though, and don't need more pixels on my laptop (nor on my desktop, which has 24" 1920x1200 monitors).

 

On 7/4/2020 at 11:05 PM, TempestCatto said:

On laptops, stop pushing 4k especially when that's the only option for touchscreen. Just make touchscreen a standard option. Why do I have to pay 500 bucks for a resolution I won't notice, when all I need is is touch capability?

Exactly! I'm lucky enough to have had the option to get a laptop with a 1080p touchscreen monitor, only cost me (including a pen) 110 euros extra. Those were one of the best 110 euros spent ever.

 

On 7/4/2020 at 11:44 PM, Kisai said:

As for features that I think show up in things that are unnecessary. 

- touch screens in laptops, that's all I need are smears on the screen while I work.

- touch screens in desktop monitors. Good god Wacom, not you too.

Touch screens are only desired on products that are designed around touch, don't add it to things that were not designed for touch.

I have a touchscreen on my laptop, and now "struggle" when I have to use my desktop without a touch screen. The smears aren't worse than on a phone, in my experience (and I have really sweaty hands) - I don't see them at all. WIndows might not be originally designed for touch, but it's still often incredibly useful. Scrolling, zooming, and clicking on stuff is great with a touchscreen. I feel so much more capable and free with a touchscreen, than with just a mouse. Even if I have a mouse connected to my laptop, I still often use the touchscreen, as it's just so convenient.

[Lord Vile]

3 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Pretty sure the high resolution was to address the drawback of using the Pentile sub pixel layout that is common in OLED displays. 

 

In terms of pure practicality, plastic would probably be a superior choice with a rigid metal frame while still facilitating wireless charging. Though bearing in mind neither plastic nor metal visually hold up well over time due to relatively easy scratching. 

You can get self healing plastics 

[True]

Face unlock  (Please give me my finger print reader on back again google esp in 2020)   

 

 

[Joseph K]

Wireless charging is so awful, I'm not sure why anybody uses it. It takes 10x longer to line up your phone perfectly than to just plug in a USB C charger and it charges at half the speed. You can't even use your phone while it's charging. Ridiculous!

[Zodiark1593]

19 minutes ago, Joseph K said:

Wireless charging is so awful, I'm not sure why anybody uses it. It takes 10x longer to line up your phone perfectly than to just plug in a USB C charger and it charges at half the speed. You can't even use your phone while it's charging. Ridiculous!

For brief charges, beats the added wear and tear on the charger port, which depending on the model can be difficult to replace.  Additionally, it works across both Androids and newer iPhones. Though a magnetic charging standard would be great. 
 

Losing half the charging speed isn’t a big deal vs the lost energy being converted to heat however. 

[NineEyeRon]

Smart TVs... I know all have it but anything other than flagship ones are terrible and an outdated concept now.

 

We just need a decent screen, TV/satellite tuner/decoder and the ability to cast to them from our devices. The rest is not needed!

[RasmusDC]

7 hours ago, Joseph K said:

Wireless charging is so awful, I'm not sure why anybody uses it. It takes 10x longer to line up your phone perfectly than to just plug in a USB C charger and it charges at half the speed. You can't even use your phone while it's charging. Ridiculous!

i LOVE it.. mostly because i don´t have to use cable and have them dangling about.. mostly in my car, it goes onto wireless carplay, so i can just throw it into the compartment, the "small" charges it gets on my work desk, in my car, and if needed when i am sleeping, ensure that i NEVER have to be afraid to run out of battery, it is just.. always at a decent charge state.

 

for me that was the most important part of getting my 7 upgraded to a 11 pro (workphone) all else on the iphone 11 i HATE, the faceunlock espacially, since it does not work horizontally and i use my phone mostly that way, i miss my buttons, and everything has just become more movement to do simple tasks. so the "evolution" of the screen is something i hate, the removal of MMI to "support" a higher screen to body ration.. (also hate that on cars, know it is cheaper to have "NO BUTTON" but seriously)

[GenericFanboy]

More camera's. Not everyone takes a billion pictures. And i could honestly do without the selfie cam if i got a full screen for it in return (Currently have the oneplus 7t pro for that reason) Wish phone makers would have an option for just 1 camera. 

 

 

[Aereldor]

Anything that doesn't directly translate to battery life. Pretty happy with the Moto G7 Power - $150, 5000mAh, lasts like 3 days with my usage. 720p and a 632 helps, and nobody can tell it apart from sharper displays. OLED would have been nice but I don't really care.

I wouldn't mind seeing a similar phone but with even weaker specs and a bigger battery - 7,000 or 8,000 mAh, that could last a full week. 

[RasmusDC]

15 minutes ago, NZgamer said:

I think I have an unpopular opinion here but I hate touchscreens on laptops, I never end up using it and I think there should be a fine line between laptops and tablets

I really have to agree with jobs here also. i have a Dell something laptop with a touch screen (an XPS business version with at P1000 and 6 core/12thread) i never use it.. NEVER.. it is just not a viable solution, when you sit at a laptop, since the screen is upright. 

 

it has REAL function in a 2in1 where you can lay it flat on a table, and use it there.. 

[Kisai]

7 hours ago, NineEyeRon said:

Smart TVs... I know all have it but anything other than flagship ones are terrible and an outdated concept now.

 

We just need a decent screen, TV/satellite tuner/decoder and the ability to cast to them from our devices. The rest is not needed!

I wish the entire "smart tv" module was something that could be ejected from the TV. So you can buy a 32-110 inch TV, permanently mount it somewhere for 20 years (backlight, and increased resolutions not withstanding) and just swap the computer module every few years rather than take the entire damn thing off the wall.

 

Like my "perfect" TV would have no speakers, connectors or smartTV features in it. It would have a single USB-C cable that DP/HDMI/TB is transmitted over, and the rest of the inputs and power supply would be on the back of a smaller PS4-sized box. Or you know, actually have a home theater box here do all that.

[Joseph K]

23 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

For brief charges, beats the added wear and tear on the charger port, which depending on the model can be difficult to replace.  Additionally, it works across both Androids and newer iPhones. Though a magnetic charging standard would be great. 
 

Losing half the charging speed isn’t a big deal vs the lost energy being converted to heat however. 

What kind of behemoth cave man are plugging your phone in? If you have a USB C port it should never break unless you torque it with enough force that something else was already going to break.

[Zodiark1593]

34 minutes ago, Joseph K said:

What kind of behemoth cave man are plugging your phone in? If you have a USB C port it should never break unless you torque it with enough force that something else was already going to break.

Many people aren’t going to plug the cable in perfectly straight 100% of the time. Accidents happen. Falls with the charging cable in place. Water, dirt and debris in the charging port. Friction occurs in the charging port, so it is far from immune to an untimely demise. 
 

Even if it’s touchy, wireless charging is a nice secondary to have vs a paperweight should the charging port happen to fail. Outside of metal bodied phones, I see no reason not to include at least a small induction charger. 

[Chiyawa]

Hmm... Premium features that you don't want in the flagship system... Hmm... I mean, flagship system is the most high-end or top-of-the-line and expensive system ever produced by the manufacturer, of course it needs to include all the premium features to make it stand out from the rest. You want everyone to notice the flagship features in this modern age to compete with other competitors.

 

Over here, I think you might be saying: what useless features you don't want to see in flagship system. That would make more sense to me.

 

Well, for that, I would say:

 

For Smartphones: EVERYTHING, except the battery life! I only use phones to make calls, SMSes, and social media with maybe sharing photos and video, but one thing that is very important to me, battery life. I prefer to go for months without the need to recharge the battery. Hope for a phone with a removable 90Whr battery (LiPo battery is 4.2V, so  it would be 21.43Ah battery).

 

TV: fast refresh rate. 60Hz is pretty good. Resolution depends on the TV size, but I believe a 55 inch and above TV with 4k display is the sweet spot for me.

 

Gaming laptop: slim type chasis. Yeah, you are going full performance, why slim it out and risk overheating your system with I/O constrains?

 

Blu-ray/ DVD player: Internet function. Just produce a DVD or Blu-ray player that could watch movies offline is pretty much adequate. Why do we need internet connection and streaming services?

 

Microwave oven: multi function button. I mean, you only use it for heating food up quickly, why include oven function such as baking or roasting? They did poorly than a conventional electric or gas ovens.

 

Cars: Well, I mean, many so call "safety" features. For once, the air-bag. You don't need an air-bag if your safety-belt design are good, which many manufacturer skimp in favour to sell you more safety junk like 6 air-bags system. Air-bag kills one of my cousin.

 

Also cars: anything like hill start assist, hill descend assist, and any form of automation such as automatic wiper.

 

Also cars: turbo-charger or any type of turbo for petrol or gasoline engines. An engines built with aluminium blocks just couldn't hold the pressure and the gasket is super flimsy and breaks easily.

[Guest]

[Ravendarat]

14 hours ago, Kisai said:

 

 

Like my "perfect" TV would have no speakers, connectors or smartTV features in it. It would have a single USB-C cable that DP/HDMI/TB is transmitted over, and the rest of the inputs and power supply would be on the back of a smaller PS4-sized box. Or you know, actually have a home theater box here do all that.

Samsung kinda started to go that route with their "one connect" boxes where they are upgradable and only one cable goes to the tv from the box, all sources and everything plug into the box.

 

As for options I dont care about on flagship models, if we are talking about phones ill say I could not give 2 shits about a "notch". The fact that people get triggered by them being there is miraculous to me. I have 5 phones currently in my possession and I honestly couldnt tell you if they had notches in most of them or not. Never have noticed, never have cared, never will.

[Origami Cactus]

On 7/5/2020 at 5:05 PM, Sakaki_Makio said:

I really don't need bigger size smartphone.

 

I need a Sony Xperia Z5 Compact size with flagship specs smartphone. The last smartphone that I really really like was the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact.

Same! I currently use the XZ1 compact, and there aren't any phones that come close to the size and specs ratio. Sadly the phone didn't get the android 10 update, but i will still keep on using it, as there is nothing to replace it with.

[it_dont_work]

Glass and metal cases, give me a plastic body and bezel for some drop resistances. 

[Tonberry]

20 hours ago, Origami Cactus said:

Same! I currently use the XZ1 compact, and there aren't any phones that come close to the size and specs ratio. Sadly the phone didn't get the android 10 update, but i will still keep on using it, as there is nothing to replace it with.

PC build trend is to downsizing. We now can see so many sff pc builds with high end specs.

We want the same trend for smartphone! Not the opposite, narrow & tall smartphones are uncomfortable to use, not as practical as before.

 

I really miss some less than 5" flagships, and I dont do apple. Last apple product for me was iPhone 4S, and that's enough for me, thanks.

[Mitko_DSV]

On 7/5/2020 at 5:05 PM, Sakaki_Makio said:

I really don't need bigger size smartphone.

 

I need a Sony Xperia Z5 Compact size with flagship specs smartphone. The last smartphone that I really really like was the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact.

 

20 hours ago, Origami Cactus said:

Same! I currently use the XZ1 compact, and there aren't any phones that come close to the size and specs ratio. Sadly the phone didn't get the android 10 update, but i will still keep on using it, as there is nothing to replace it with.

Completely agree. Currently using Xperia X Compact and I like it - it's running Android 8 and hasn't had a system update since September 2018, but it's size is perfect for me and I'm happy to use it (updates are not important for me). Before that I had two Xperia Z3 Compacts, but both died and I couldn't fix them (bought them second hand).

While I do have a Xperia L3 as well, I do not use it on the go, it stays home. I don't like big phones in my pockets, it's uncomfortable. Also using a big smartphone with one hand isn't easy.