Whats the least evil phone I can buy?

The answer is none, isn't it?

On a related note, Huawei phones are hard to find in Australia :thinkin-lenin: I wonder why? :xi-lib-tears:

  • kristina [she/her]
    ·
    edit-2
    3 years ago

    dont work in the USA afaik

    i usually just buy whatever phone currently holds the record for battery life and is sub-200 dollars. did that 7 years ago and im still going strong on mine even with the battery being built in. still can last me a full day on 1 charge after all these years. before it could last me like, an entire week lol

    the actual biggest issue when a phone lasts that long is that the microusb charging port slowly starts to erode away so it becomes harder to charge it. im thinking of maybe trying to get wireless charging on my next one, might have to replace this one in a year or so because of this issue

    • Ecoleo [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I've had the corroding port problem on a couple phones I've owned too. My current phones a 2018 and it has wireless charging, but I ended up never using it because it would always disconnect and reconnect and turn the screen on and off all through the night, or disconnect and not charge at all. And that was after spending a couple of minutes trying to find the perfect spot for it to charge on every night. Other wireless chargers have been similar.

      Maybe newer phones are better, but see if you can test it out before you buy if you plan on relying on that in the future. The corroded port is still better for me than a wireless charger.

      • ennuid [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Wireless charging is sus af.

        The battery is one of the first things to fail, and wireless charging destroys it even faster.

          • ennuid [he/him]
            ·
            edit-2
            3 years ago

            It's just generally harder on lithium batteries to charge them wirelessly, and reduces their overall lifespan. Which would be fine if phones had easily swappable batteries, but they of course do not, because that isn't as profitable.

            I have trouble finding a source, but that is obviously because of Big Wireless Charger (only half joking). Here's something though: https://www.futurity.org/wireless-charging-inductive-phones-2103782/

            • learntocod [they/them]
              ·
              3 years ago

              I was surprised to hear this so I read a bit of the article. It seems to come down to temperature, particularly from increased power output due to misalignment, which explains the later iPhones magnetic alignment thing… I bet the mag field helps too.

              Consider this, folks, a lion battery can basically go 0-100% a finite number of times. The wear is exponential: charging to 20% and draining to 0 is much worse than charging to 100% and draining to 80%. So, if the convenience of wireless charging helps you keep your battery in the happy zone, you’ll get more life out of it.

              Also, mechanical ports into a phone are a nightmare.

              • ennuid [he/him]
                ·
                3 years ago

                That makes sense; a matter of degree.

                Whenever I've tried wireless charging, my phone does tend to get much hotter than wired charging, but I've always wondered if this is from having a case on the phone.

                • learntocod [they/them]
                  ·
                  3 years ago

                  Like misalignment, distance will require to whole system to work harder and produce more heat.

    • discontinuuity [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      You could probably get it fixed at one of those cell phone repair shops. I got a new headphone jack put in mine for like $30.

      • kristina [she/her]
        ·
        3 years ago

        its starting to get to the point that it can barely run gps apps, i keep swapping to new ones that claim to have less cpu usage but im reaching the end of the rope. about time to upgrade i think. in another year ill say 8 years is a good run and move on.

        planned obsolescence and bad programming is a hell of a thing