• aaaaaaadjsf [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      As someone that's used Huawei phones in the past, they're not great. Still plagued with most of the issues modern smartphones have. Shitty updates and support unless you bought the flagship model, EMUI is a pile of nonsense compared to almost everything else, stock android is much better, and even Samsung has a better UI. Locked bootloader because reasons. Unfortunately it's not good

      • TheLepidopterists [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I just don't understand in 2021 why no one seems capable of making a decent smartphone that doesn't crap out after a couple of years.

        Probably planned obsolescence.

        • wantonviolins [they/them]M
          ·
          3 years ago

          It is planned obsolescence, but to be more specific it’s mostly the batteries. They just go to shit after ~500 charges. Nobody is willing to make a phone that sacrifices battery capacity for lifespan (by limiting charge to the 20-90% range you can extend the life of the battery, operating outside of that is stressful for battery chemistry) or teach consumers how to maximize lifespan (most people don’t want to babysit their batteries like that and enjoy all the bells and whistles of fancy UI animations and always-on connections and apps).

          Plus increases in computing power almost all go straight to doing more stuff, faster, instead of doing the same amount of stuff at the same speed but more efficiently. We absolutely could have phones that stay alive for a week, they’d just be as powerful as phones from 2013. Granted they’d remain useful for a decade since it would take 5-7x as long to hit that 500 charge mark, so perhaps software improvements could keep performance up.

          I think this is why manufacturers are charging more for phones these days, they see the writing on the wall. People are keeping their phones longer, and trying to fix them instead of just buying a new one. Fewer phones sold, but at a higher margin for each sale.

          • KermitTheFraud [they/them]
            ·
            3 years ago

            phones that stay alive for a week

            they’d just be as powerful as phones from 2013

            they’d remain useful for a decade

            TAKE MY FUXKING MONEY

            • ssjmarx [he/him]
              ·
              3 years ago

              100% would replace my phone with one of these if it was an option. I remember keeping my Droid 4 alive by swapping to fresh batteries for years after they stopped updating it until even the texting app was unusably slow because of how much I loved the keyboard on it.

          • TheLepidopterists [he/him]
            ·
            3 years ago

            Wait so just to be clear, taking my phone off the charger at 90% and not letting it hit 20% would improve longevity of the battery?

            • wantonviolins [they/them]M
              ·
              3 years ago

              Yes, battery chemistry is more stressed at either extreme. Keeping it out of those extremes prolongs its life and helps to avoid risk of fire.

            • BruceWillis [none/use name]
              ·
              3 years ago

              you can replace your own battery for pretty cheap these days. just buy the repair tool kit and the battery. just did mine for $20.

          • Animasta [any]
            ·
            3 years ago

            Nobody is willing to make a phone that sacrifices battery capacity for lifespan (by limiting charge to the 20-90% range)

            My Asus Zenfone 3(?) hand this implemented as a settings option.

            Also this whole battery problem could be solved by selling new batteries, even those new squishy ones. My friend got a battery for his four year old phone changed at a repair shop but it ended up barely any better than his old battery. It's always the case for some reason...

        • aaaaaaadjsf [he/him, comrade/them]
          ·
          3 years ago

          At the end of the day, it's just a product they want to sell in order to grow and obtain the skills for domestic ARM chip manufacturing. And for that, it's a massive success. And it's not as if the phones are terrible or anything, they're just another smartphone, with all the issues that they have

        • BruceWillis [none/use name]
          ·
          3 years ago

          you can replace your own battery for pretty cheap these days. just buy the repair tool kit and the battery. just did mine for $20.

    • pooh [she/her]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Can't you get them pretty easily through Chinese sites like, Aliexpress, Taobao, etc.?

      • ancom20 [none/use name]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Yes I think so. But if the price looks too good to be true, it is not a real Huawei. Beware "Alibaba and the 40 thieves", after all.