Quoting the tl;dr in the linked article:
Samsung could be stepping up its game by offering seven years of major Android updates for the Galaxy S24 series, and the generous update policy might extend to other Galaxy flagships.
The Galaxy S24 series might also introduce charges for AI features like Live Translate and Pixel-like photo editing tools after 2025.
There’s speculation that users may need to sign in to their Samsung accounts for certain AI functionalities.
That is not the only big thing of pixels. To me it’s the openness. These are, ironically, the best and easiest phones to leave google. Or at least root them without the evergrowing hassles of each iteration of samcraps.
Noone would ever buy a PC if they wouldn’t get admin-access and mustn’t install Linux or whatever. With phones they managed to keep us out.
i always found it funny that the best method of having a privacy focused phone (without having significant tradeoffs like the pinephone) is to buy the phone from the company who violates privacy the worst, and flashing over it.
True. This is why the general recommendation is typically to buy used. That way, they don’t get additional revenue from the sale of a new phone, and it also decreases e-waste.
(Sure, the revenue may be a drop in the bucket, but it’s still something.)
Noone would ever buy a PC if they wouldn’t get admin-access and mustn’t install Linux or whatever. With phones they managed to keep us out.
Realistically this only forms a tiny part of the population though, that’s pretty much the only reason why they’ve been able to keep people out.
If only a tiny part of people care at all, why even make it sooooo complicated and change every damn update? Let people that WANT control, have control. The others don’t care anyway and are scared enough by a “are you REALLY REALLY REALLY sure you know what you’re doing here?”-security-question.
I don’t pay 1000,- for a phone that isn’t mine, and I hate that this has become the default.
On the one hand, I could see bad actors taking advantage of easily rooted/unlocked systems. Maleficent resellers could also take advantage.
Definitely give me the warnings and let me know what could happen, but let me unlock it and own it completely.
I agree with you but to play devil’s advocate, even for the simple issue of app sideloading on Android, there’s no shortage of dumb users out there that willingly bypass all sorts of warnings and install apps that are very obviously malware.
“you can’t uninstall a system-app” (while trying to get rid of all the bloatware like mcaffee)
“you cannot upgrade to win8, but you can factory-reset your win7”
“you can only factory-reset 3 times, please call <insert company>-support!”
“you don’t have access to this file”
"defender has removed this ‘malware’ and there’s nothing you can do about it’
“You can’t install linux on this machine, this machine came bundled with Win7Home”
“you cannot install this program”
“you are not allowed to enter the bios”
“you cannot boot from this non-licensed device” (usb-stick)
etc.
One of these would probably do it :-)
Samsung could easily win me over if their bootloader was unlock able.
Edit: Apparently it’s just US variants that can’t be unlocked
Well, bootloader unlock toggle in developer options and fastboot eom unlock are available, am I missing something?
To talk about the article instead of ranting on about niche wants:
- 7 years of updates would be really good. Given how mature the hardware is nowadays, I can see a phone doing 7 years, save for the battery. Will Samsung be able to keep batteries in production?
- I’m less sold on the AI things, I guess that’s the buzzword now. AI AI AI everywhere. Also the two features mentioned are already in Google products, and I’d rather use those if I have to, unless Samsung pulls out a surprise and show that they are better at software development than Google is.
Things I want in a phone:
- Decent camera
- Aux Port - because I want the option
- at least one mappable button
- Expandable SD card slot
- Debloated OS
- good speaker phone
- water resistant and drop resistant
My favorite phone in the last 10 years was the Samsung S8 Active, before that, the HTC One (front facing speakers). Before that, probably the Samsung FlipShot and LG Chocolate.
I miss innovation in phone designs. They’re all the same phone now.
Anyone have any recommendations for the US? I was thinking a fairphone but I think that’s UK only.
You can get last year’s model or the year before that cheaper. It’s not like there are huge differences year over year anyway.
But Sony only provides 2 to 3 years of software and security updates, so getting an older model might not be the best idea either.
After a couple of Redmi Note phones, I’m currently looking at Motorola. I need to see how ROM development is on their phones.
Motorola has been making a lot of midrange devices lately with Mediatek chipsets and I owned one for 2 years. My particular device (edge 20 fuaion) sold pretty well but there was no ROM development at all.
So pick one with a Qualcomm chip and you will probably have a good time. I Think the recent Moto Edge 40 pro got some Custom rom development lately.
