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Why can't we go back to small phones?
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this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2025
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I picked the Pixel 8 because:
If there was a smaller version available, I would've gotten that instead.
I picked the Sony Xperia 1v because:
I was considering a Zenphone 10 or Xperia 5 v - mainly for size and brand reasons as above - when i found this for £650
I picked the 5ii for similar reasons at the time.
The problem is it only gets 2 years of support, so I haven't gotten an update in years. Sony is living in 2010.
The fingerprint reader slowly stopped working 6 months ago via a prolific software bug that is all over forums for xperias that will never be fixed.
The battery (even ONLY charging it to 80% using battery care) is horrific after a few years, mediocre when I got it and the standby time is shit. It loses 1.5-2% battery per hour not being used at all now. I get maybe 4h SOT browsing (much less with video).
The default camera app is crap and not even worth using...
I want to try lineageOS when I get the time to see if it fixes the battery and fingerprint reader, but here in Belgium we really need access to our bank apps because almost everything is done through there.
I had a 5 II too, used lineageOS for years, worked great. Doesn't totally solve the battery or fingerprint reader. My screen got the dreaded green lightsaber too. Nail in the coffin was Australia turning off 3G so it can't make calls anymore. (Wasn't officially sold here so they didn't bother loading it with VoLTE profiles)
I've been using the "A" branch of the Pixel line for years now.
But I use CalyxOS so I guess you and I have to be enemies now. My name is Inigo Montoya, you use a different OS, prepare to die.
I picked the Pixel A because:
Glad I can use it and type on it one-handed, can't imagine using a bigger phone.
The only A series Pixel phone smaller than the Pixel 8 was the Pixel 4a.
Pixel 8, even now that 9 is out, is still around $400 compared to 7's already huge $300.
That point absolutely still stands.
It's just strange that since the 4a, the 2 smallest phones Google released were both not in the a series.
I almost did, but I found the 8 used for a good price and the size difference was minimal.
I can't trust anything made by google. It's a company that literally makes its money capturing everything everyone does on the internet...and yet the phone they make is the ONLY phone immune to having everything captured...
Sorry. Not buying it. There will be a chip in there phoning home we'll find out about in a decade.
All phones already have that, regardless if its Google or Samsung or whatever.
And all computers even those running Linux, are still vulnerable to the Intel ME and AMD PSP backdoors.
Like I don't see a way to stop mass surveillance unless we have open source hardware.
I doubt that, but I respect the skepticism. I happen to trust the GrapheneOS devs to reveal if that was the case.
If the pixel series had a damn SD card slot it would be the perfect phone for me.
I just want to sync all of my music and local backups to an SD card via syncthing dammit. I don't want to have to pay 200€ for them adding a 5€ chip
Is there an 8a? Those are usually the smallest model
There is. The screen is smaller, but the actual phone is bigger 🤦♂️
Wow, dumb. The last a I had was the 4a, which was notably smaller.