Ok but why is my browser doing this in incognito mode? Incognito mode isn’t a banking app. It’s me not wanting my browser to save my Facebook login info or history.

Seriously this reads like a sketch. Maybe a Seinfeld one where they all talk about it afterwards lol

I agree that modern smartphones are too big, but that’s what the vast majority of the options are nowadays. I don’t know if you can call it a “gimmick” anymore if literally all of them are like that. It’s getting harder and harder to find a reasonably sized phone. But believe me, if I didn’t have a folding phone, I’d be looking out for small phones like the Zen phone.

? Just because it’s not practical for everyone doesn’t mean it’s “just a gimmick”.

Modern smartphones are freaking gigantic. Women’s pants pockets are comically tiny. Modern smartphones physically would not fit in the majority of my pants. I bought a Z Flip so I could fit a modern phone in my pants and not be forced to carry around a purse.

The length is important for women’s pants pockets, not necessarily the thickness. It is practical for me. No, it’s not practical for everyone.

I haven’t used Jerboa in ages because of how buggy it was in the beginning, but that looks very pleasing to me as well. So many of the apps out there just look too “busy” for me. I am also coming from Reddit is Fun, so I like as simplistic looking an app as possible. Voyager fills that role for me and fixed the bugginess issues I had with Jerboa.

I’m sure Jerboa is much more stable now, but I just haven’t had a reason to leave Voyager yet.

I thought some of these things initially, but then I noticed I wasn’t constantly accidentally getting the cord hooked on things and yanking them out of my ears all the time. That bit has been super nice. Plus I have a pair that sounds absolutely fantastic…no issues with sound quality. Maybe I’m just a klutz, but freeing yourself of wires is super nice.

Note that if you only use headphones in a stationary position, a wire isn’t very obtrusive. But if I’m doing something like laundry, the dishes, cleaning up, getting some exercise, or even just being seated at my computer (where I would always forget I had wired headphones on and I would yank them off when I stood up), going wireless has been great.

HOWEVER, one of the biggest downsides to wireless headphones has been gaming. The latency makes them unusable for that purpose imo. We just aren’t there yet in terms of that tech.

Idk…I had to throw out my first gen Chromecast because it does fuck all compared to literally any other streaming stick and it could no longer play HD videos without lagging to shit. When they added Android TV, it became a hell of a lot more useful.

I know this isn’t what you’re asking, but I’d really recommend buying refurbished earbuds. You can sometimes get them for so much cheaper than the normal price and they work the same. I got refurbished Galaxy Buds2 (not pro or anything) from Best Buy for $60 around a year ago and they work perfectly fine.

But as you’re coming from the Buds2 Pro, you probably don’t want to downgrade to an older model. But yeah, for whatever you end up getting, buying refurbished from a reputable retailer seems to be the way to go imo.

Yeah there’s a lot of give and take I suppose. There’s also an advantage to the split controller attachment model in that it’s more portable than a giant honking Steam deck tho I suppose.

Can’t you get a happy medium with a split, side mounted controller for your phone then? Would be cheaper than the steam deck, but better for ergonomics than a phone clip to a regular controller.

What is PPP

The Asus Zenphone line seems to get great reviews in terms of small Android phones

Just curious, why don’t you want Google in your life but you’d want Android in your life? Both are mega corporations that are taking our data.

I’m personally not a privacy focused individual, but your sentiment is just odd to me because it seems inconsistent.

The black is screen cancer. It will spread and eventually the entire screen will be destroyed. Sorry, man. I wouldn’t ever purchase a phone with issues like that again.

I think most do…with the caveat that the screen protector needs to be changed every so often (every 6 months to a yearish), as it will start to bubble at the crease. Really not much of a hassle to get replaced or to replace it yourself.

Check out ReVanced on your phone. It has all the features SmartTube Next does. Really improves the viewing experience with AdBlock and sponsor block!

I don’t understand posts like this, tbh. I live in the US where iOS is predominant, and never have I ever been made fun of or “shamed” for using Android devices outside of some occasional “hey iPhones are cool, you should get one. Android phones are kind of lame”. What is this bizarro world that people like OP are living in? Is it a teen thing?

Yeah watching phones grow and grow in size over the years has been frustrating for those of us who have small pockets and liked using our phone one handed. Nowadays it seems like a phone is a two handed device and ai can’t fit any of them in my damn pants. I went with a folding phone to help with the issue, although they are still two handed phones when unfolded. Apple used to have the iPhone Mini but it seems they have done away with it for some reason.

I’m not saying big phones should entirely go away. I’m just frustrated that we don’t have more options.

I hate the glass trend on phones too. I get why we use it for screens. But now when you accidentally drop a modern smartphone, you gave to worry about not only the display potentially shattering, but the back of the phone, too! And like you said, it makes modern phones slippery as fuck where you now need a case or skin on them in order to use them.

I know that the glass backs are because you can’t wirelessly charge with a metal back. Can you wirelessly charge with a plastic back?

When I googled Nokia 2720 Flip, the results I got were not a smartphone. Am I missing something with that device?

The only two big names in this particular folding form factor right now are Motorola and Samsung. I don’t think you could go wrong with either one of their most current models (Razr Ultra and Z Flip 5). I personally have the Flip 5 and prior to that owned the Flip 4.

Some differences:

Samsung does fantastic yearly trade in deals if you happen to live in the US. I paid only $50 to upgrade my 4 to the 5. Motorola doesn’t tend to have deals this crazy to my knowledge. And Samsung does not have deals like that outside of the US either.

The Razr is slightly larger than the Flip.

The Flip takes slightly better photos and videos than the Razr.

The Razr has a dust resistant rating (but is not rated for water submersion) whereas the Flip has a water submersion rating (but is not rated for dust)

The Razr comes in a bolder color than the Flip.

Both have a great cover screen. The Razr’s screen is technically slightly larger than the Flip, but the useable screen real estate on both is actually very similar due to the camera cutouts.

Samsung has more bloatware on their phones. For whatever reason, they insist on making their own messaging app, gallery app, notes app, calendar app, etc. Meaning if you migrate over to them, you will often have two of many base apps. Luckily you can just hide the ones you don’t use.

Both phones don’t have fantastic battery life compared to other flagship phones, but I can usually easily last a day without needing to charge personally.

Both phones have a slightly different implementation of how the cover screen works, but I think they both work fine. The new, larger cover screens on both devices has been a game changer. If you get the Flip, be sure to install Good Lock (a free Samsung app) to unlock the full potential of the cover screen.

A YouTuber recently did a comparison of manually folding and unfolding each device head to head for many days until the hinge broke. The Razr lasted around 140k folds and the Flip lasted significantly longer at 400k folds. Keep in mind that this isn’t a wide scale test. But reviewers have commented how the Razr’s hinge makes a bit of a crunchy noise and the Flip’s is essentially silent. 143k is still not terrible. If you fold your phone 100 times a day, that’s still quite a bit of time with your phone before the hinge breaks. But it’s worth considering.

There is another brand, Oppo, who makes a phone in this form factor. But the cover screen is small and I’m not sure if it’s only available in China. Either way I’d steer clear.

Something to note is that yearly maintenance with the phone will be changing the internal pre-applied screen protector, as it will eventually lift at the crease. It’s really not a big deal imo.

Then there are the phones that unfold to become mini-ablets. With these, you have companies like Samsung and Google trying it out. I think maybe a few more companies, but I tend not to follow this scene. I don’t really have a use for a chunky phone and mini-ablets, personally. They also are more expensive than things like the Razr or the Flip. But some people love the form factor.