Poll: Which abandoned Android phone features do you miss the most?
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F(x)Tec Pro^1^ X
Super-weird formatting aside, that looks pretty interesting. Out of stock though.
I agree the name super sucks. Still really cool there was enough interest in this form factor to get a project like this going.
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Yeah, I just noticed that it was released in 2023. Not necessarily a bad thing, really, but damn I'd like one of these devices if not for that form factor on its own. Still has official LOS support, too.
wrote last edited by [email protected]It originally was released in 2019 as the Pro^1 with the then 2yo Snapdragon 835.
The Pro^1 X was supposed to be released in 2019 too, and it would mainly differ in software, but it was delayed and delayed again until 2021. By then Qualcomm stopped manufacturing the now 4yo Snapdragon 835 and so they downgraded to the inferior Snapdragon 662. According to tests at that time, this was a major performance downgrade.
Actually getting them into the hands of buyers then still took ~1.5 years after that, so it really was released in 2023.
All in all, pretty much all reviewers agreed that it was a terrible phone with an ok-but-not-great keyboard bolted on for a very steep price. Can't find a price right now, but IIRC they sold for ~€800.
Current prices on ebay are totally crazy. North of €1600.
It's a bit of a dry spell for us keyboard fans.
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Replaceable battery
AUX plug
Expandable storage by SD card
Did I say replaceable battery already?
Edit: oh and non-edged screens (the roundings on the side, don't know the official name... But it sucks and almost all flagship phones have them, or at least when I bought mine 3 years ago, don't know about now tbh)
wrote last edited by [email protected]Don't forget about the IR blaster.
Most useful gimmick on a phone ever. I never had to deal with an annoying TV in public throughout most of the 2010s. It was nice; it was one of my most-used features and I miss it dearly.
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SHIFT
I just looked at the site and it looks great, but parts of it didn't look available in English. Do you have any idea if it's fully compatible with US networks?
wrote last edited by [email protected]Hmm, I found this German forum thread from 2019, which says it doesn't support all frequencies used by US carriers.
Of course, this may very well be different with more modern models. You can try also asking on their forums, or maybe you're able to contact support directly. So far, I've always gotten a response fairly quickly.
Also just to note, I'm on the SHIFT6mq, which isn't being produced anymore.
I believe, they're currently in a bit of an awkward in-between phase, where you can only really get the SHIFT5me, which is an even older model, while they're planning out the SHIFTphone 8. That might still take some months, and quite possibly more than a year.
I don't think they have the capacity for two flagship models at the same time, so you just get these fairly long pauses in availability, which I just can't sugarcoat... -
What adapter do you use? Seriously, I am open to paying more for an adapter once instead of buying cheap adapters over and over.
Amusingly the only adapter I had is one that came free with an old phone which has just broken! I use wireless headphones mainly, not a fan of all the noise that comes from a cable banging against me as I walk.
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Isn't having an OLED display and using it as an "always on display" the replacement for this?
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Open bootloaders, ir blaster, 3.5mm jack, sd card slot, replaceable batteries. The list goes on.
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finger print scanner being on the back of the phone not under the screen. and headphone jack
I liked it on the power button more. My Xiaomi had it there and it was incredibly fast.
Just worked. Pixel 7 is nightmarish, plus blasts white light into your eyes late at night
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Hmm, I found this German forum thread from 2019, which says it doesn't support all frequencies used by US carriers.
Of course, this may very well be different with more modern models. You can try also asking on their forums, or maybe you're able to contact support directly. So far, I've always gotten a response fairly quickly.
Also just to note, I'm on the SHIFT6mq, which isn't being produced anymore.
I believe, they're currently in a bit of an awkward in-between phase, where you can only really get the SHIFT5me, which is an even older model, while they're planning out the SHIFTphone 8. That might still take some months, and quite possibly more than a year.
I don't think they have the capacity for two flagship models at the same time, so you just get these fairly long pauses in availability, which I just can't sugarcoat...Thanks for looking. I'll see if I can poke around in their forums.
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Physical keyboard
I miss them nostalgically I think. I have four different styles of small wireless keyboards and other than responding to a quick text they are mostly infuriating.
Everything is swipe or speech now for me.
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Unimpeded root. You can still get it on maybe a handful of phones but apps are getting harder and harder to run with it enabled.
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I just want the LG G5 back. It had a(n):
- Removable battery
- SD card slot
- Infrared blaster
- FM Radio
- 3.5mm jack
- Compass
- Barometer
- Gyro
- NFC
- Fingerprint reader
And a ton of other stuff. Truly the best android phone ever made
Closest I can find now is the Ulefone line (no removable battery) but I have no idea if they're decent phones or not.
Think I had a LG G3 I miss it. Wish they would of kept making phones.
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I thought I'd be okay without a headphone jack but I'm now learning that USB-C to headphone adapters will enter a power save mode after a few seconds of silence, and quiet moments in shows or music can cause that, then it takes a split second to power back up, so the end result is choppy sound if it isn't constant. Maybe it's better with a better adapter, but also how the heck do you search for such things on Amazon and the like? It's not exactly a specification they list...
Aww geez man, that's even worse! I learned about adapters and figured I'd at least be able to tolerate (but resent) the switch. But that will prevent me using sleeping headphones at all...
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A physical, landscape mode, QWERTY keyboard. FAHAHAHAHUCK typing on a touch screen.
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finger print scanner being on the back of the phone not under the screen. and headphone jack
Nexus 5 had the best finger print reader i've ever used. I still miss it to this day.
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- Headphone jack.
- Removable batteries.
- Sidekick/Palmtop form factor with the full width keyboard.
- MicroSD Card slot, and OS support for executing software and accessing data on the card.
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Rounded screens have mostly fallen out of style. I kinda like them tbh
They're only nice if you can afford to run without a case. All curved screen cases suck and add unnecessary bulk for questionable protection.
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Being able to take out the battery so that I can swap it with a pre-charged one. Those were great times. Then you can just throw the nearly-dead one on the charger.
This is identical to having the super power of being able to restart your phone to get a full battery charge.
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Samsung had a little pressure sensitive area at the bottom of phone screens in the S9 era. It was handy and I had it set up like a hidden home button.
The S9 also had a variable aperture camera, which I feel like could have been developed a lot more.
I also miss notification LEDs. Sure, AOD mostly replaces it, but it was fun setting different colors for people, situations, etc
The Essential phone had a ceramic back that was very comfortable and cool in the hand. Though it was slippery. Another idea that could have been developed further.
The different back materials on the Moto X were very satisfying. The customization of that phone was unmatched!
AOD causes burn in on every single device I've ever seen it used on. I want my notification LED back too. Hell, use the OLED display, just flash a colored dot every ten seconds at the top of the screen. Could even move around each flash to prevent burn in. I really miss that notification LED
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The feature where you can hold the phone comfortably in one hand and without having to do any gymnastics to reach the top corner.
I found my old S4 active the other day, it fit so much better in my hand than my current OnePlus. You basically need to use a pop or a ring or something attached to the case to use a phone one handed anymore. And they just straight don't make new small android devices.
