Poll: What smartphone do you use?
Just a quick survey I'm doing
70 comments
Other - no smart phone.
Often no phone at all. I own a flip phone with a usable tactile keyboard (for texting), but I try to leave it at home as often as possible and I discourage people from contacting me too much on it.
There are a lot of good arguments in favor of all the wonderful things smartphones do for people. I'm not going to argue against any of them.
But I'm also old enough to remember how people used to socialize before smart phones (or even cell phones), and I miss that. I don't mind getting lost sometimes, and I already have too many distractions in my life. I'm not terribly social to begin with, and I don't get to get away often enough, so when I do, I definitely don't want to stay connected to the internet and family and all that. I've gone hiking with people that stopped in the middle of the hike to tweet something and I don't like it.
I keep wishing someone would come along and develop a modular phone system -- something like phonebloks, but with basic one-button functionality to answer a call and bluetooth for pairing with other devices, so that it can be used with a laptop or a 5" tablet or whatever. Probably not much of a market for that though.
Often no phone at all. I own a flip phone with a usable tactile keyboard (for texting), but I try to leave it at home as often as possible and I discourage people from contacting me too much on it.
There are a lot of good arguments in favor of all the wonderful things smartphones do for people. I'm not going to argue against any of them.
But I'm also old enough to remember how people used to socialize before smart phones (or even cell phones), and I miss that. I don't mind getting lost sometimes, and I already have too many distractions in my life. I'm not terribly social to begin with, and I don't get to get away often enough, so when I do, I definitely don't want to stay connected to the internet and family and all that. I've gone hiking with people that stopped in the middle of the hike to tweet something and I don't like it.
I keep wishing someone would come along and develop a modular phone system -- something like phonebloks, but with basic one-button functionality to answer a call and bluetooth for pairing with other devices, so that it can be used with a laptop or a 5" tablet or whatever. Probably not much of a market for that though.
I own a smartphone and almost never receive phone calls, my friends know to text or email me. I also never reply to texts immediately, unless it is urgent. I had information overload for many years and in the last year it's been delightful to escape this stuff. I achieved it mostly by adjusting behaviour and communicating to friends my preferences, not by abandoning tech.
I still carry my phone with me everywhere. It is useful when sitting on a bus, in a bathroom, doctors office, etc where you need to kill time and don't have a book. Or for utility reasons such as GPS, weather, public transit times, and booking a Hailo/Uber.
I can use the latter without sacrificing my connectedness to the present world.
Do you feel that if you carry it around, you'll feel compelled to use it? Or people will start contacting you more? Is it worth the sacrifice of utility?
I still carry my phone with me everywhere. It is useful when sitting on a bus, in a bathroom, doctors office, etc where you need to kill time and don't have a book. Or for utility reasons such as GPS, weather, public transit times, and booking a Hailo/Uber.
I can use the latter without sacrificing my connectedness to the present world.
Do you feel that if you carry it around, you'll feel compelled to use it? Or people will start contacting you more? Is it worth the sacrifice of utility?
A little of both. I know that I'm easily distracted and I would readily fall into the trap of letting my smartphone fill all of my idle time. I battle that in other places, but the battle itself is a nuisance, so I've started to avoid temptation altogether.
But I also know some people who will contact me frequently even if I ask not to be. "I don't carry a phone" and "I didn't have my phone on me" has turned out to be a good way to get that to stop, and it's nice not to lie to people I care about (even though I'd rather not talk to them several times a day).
But I also know some people who will contact me frequently even if I ask not to be. "I don't carry a phone" and "I didn't have my phone on me" has turned out to be a good way to get that to stop, and it's nice not to lie to people I care about (even though I'd rather not talk to them several times a day).
I was thinking about driving before GPS recently and I had to go somewhere I've never been to before. So I resolved to just look at Google maps before hand and then just try to driver there and back without my GPS unit or resorting to my phone. I really enjoyed it. I had to pay attention to where I was and what direction I was going. I feel like I actually learned the area better. So I get what you're saying.
I kinda miss tactile keys, even if you had to press 4 times to get the letter S. I could definitely dial and adequately text and barely take my eyes off the road. Softkeys are probably why there are so many accidents caused by texting.
Nexus 5... the Google flagship line is "Other"?
LG is a pretty big option to omit.
Nexus 5 as well
You left out the options for "I use a dumbphone" and "I don't carry a phone at all". This being HN, I suspect we've got a significant proportion in those categories.
that's cute, but this is a phone poll.
Not if that data isn't relevant to his research I guess
Nexus 5.. crapware free.. except for Google's crapware (Drive, Hangouts)
Drive is fantastic, probably my most productive app
I consider my phone entertainment; I mostly use it for reading HN and watching Netflix while in bed. It's great that it's free, it's not great that I can't remove it (I can 'disable' it, I think, but can't get rid of it)
Or you can just flash another ROM and gapps-minimal.
You should really have LG as an option (which includes Nexus 4 and 5)
Outside of phone-app developers, does it matter much anymore? The top two major platforms seemed to have hit feature parity and plateau, and they cover the vast majority of the smartphone market. I haven't been excited, or even very interested, in a new smartphone feature in a few years.
Fairphone[1]
[1]: http://fairphone.com/
[1]: http://fairphone.com/
Motorola and LG are huge omissions for this crowd, which is probably why "other" is the second-most-voted at time of writing. OnePlus and Xiaomi might also have larger-than-typical (in the West, at least) showings here, too.
Xiaomi indeed
Rare species here. Big Windows Phone fan :)
I develop for Android and have nexus devices, but my carry device is a Lumia 521 I got for $69 USD. Small & light enough to run with, smart enough to have a decent web browser / email experience - but simple and "just works". T-Mobile wifi calling is great too.
I'm bummed the successor (Lumia 530) is fatter though. I'll keep my 521 until it no longer works.
At $69, this is a pretty amazing device with Here Maps & Here Drive offline mapping and navigation.
I'm bummed the successor (Lumia 530) is fatter though. I'll keep my 521 until it no longer works.
At $69, this is a pretty amazing device with Here Maps & Here Drive offline mapping and navigation.
Huawei, HTC, Blackberry
Plus I have a working backup dumbphone which is Samsung but I'm not using it lately. The Blackberry is the only one I use as a phone, the others are internet devices. If the BB croaks I will go back to the dumbphone to use as a phone. They last me 1 week+ between charges (aftermarket brick battery for the BB).
Plus I have a working backup dumbphone which is Samsung but I'm not using it lately. The Blackberry is the only one I use as a phone, the others are internet devices. If the BB croaks I will go back to the dumbphone to use as a phone. They last me 1 week+ between charges (aftermarket brick battery for the BB).
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It's kind of surprising that while iPhone got the most points, only two of 44 comments are mentioning it. It almost contradicts the common conception that people have that iPhone owners have a need to express themselves and talk about their phones. But maybe HN is just different.
Moto X
Indeed. The Moto X is the most overlooked, but not under-rated, phone in recent history. The reviewers loved it. It is a truly awesome phone. They just failed to drum up sales to match.
I recently used a Nexus 5 for a week. While a nice piece of hardware, I found myself consistently wanting the little extras that the Moto X comes with.
I recently used a Nexus 5 for a week. While a nice piece of hardware, I found myself consistently wanting the little extras that the Moto X comes with.
Currently carrying both a Nexus 4 and a MotoX (the small one from 2013). The No Touch features of Moto X are unique to this date I believe.
It's a really great phone, and I like that it's pretty small, so it fits well in my pocket + hand.
Nexus
Only use iPhone beacuse iMessage
iMessage isn't the only reason I stick with iPhone, but it's a big one. It would be nice to see them open it up, though I doubt it will ever happen.
Droid Razr, but I will be switching to a no-contract MVNO shortly to save about $1500 / year over Verizon, once they get the new Moto X. Both would count as "other".
How about re-doing the poll:
1. iOS
2. Android
3. Other
4. No phone
1. iOS
2. Android
3. Other
4. No phone
Galaxy S3 with SlimKat 7.8 (Android 4.4.4) and gapps-minimal. Fixed the DPI to the hardware default (320). More stable than CM11.
I'm switching to an iPhone in a couple of weeks I don't know what to choose
Moto G!
Huawei is other ? rabble rabble rabble
Nokia Lumia 900(Windows Phone 7.8)
and I am very disappointed.
and I am very disappointed.
Galaxy S4
-and-
Other - Blackphone
OnePlus One
I like it. Plan to get a 6+.
Old LG with Cyanogenmod :-)
HTC One M7 with cyanogenmod
ZTE Open C - Firefox OS
Nexus 4 running CM11.
The OnePlus One.
Blackberry Curve
Blackberry Z10.
Sony Xperia Z1C
other - A Flame with FirefoxOS
Redmi 1S.
Nexus
HTC G7
Nexus 4
LG G2
LG Nexus 5
Kyocera
LG Nexus 5
Cubot P9
LG G2
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Moto G
I voted Other. I love the cheap Android phones with a no-contract plan!
I voted Other. I love the cheap Android phones with a no-contract plan!
It makes other phones seem like such a bad deal. You can get it online for under $60 new, and the warranty is great. I use one with no plan, just WiFi, and usually carry a hotspot. Data-only plans are so much cheaper than voice for whatever reason. You can even find free ones with monthly limits that give you more than enough for voice/text.
I've often been in the no phone camp, just checking messages on my computer when I'm around it, so if you're inclined toward that style, I definitely recommend a cheap Android phone with no plan.
I've often been in the no phone camp, just checking messages on my computer when I'm around it, so if you're inclined toward that style, I definitely recommend a cheap Android phone with no plan.