This is the $300 Android phone to beat in 2023 - and it even has a stylus - eviltoast
  • OldFartPhil@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I guess the reviewer doesn’t care about software updates, because Motorola’s support is abysmal.

  • Pxtl@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Bought one for my kid because he’s a little artist. Seems nice. I use a Pixel, but honestly I miss the moto “chop chop to turn on the flashlight” feature from my old Moto.

    • KingJalopy @lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I miss that flashlight thing too. Also on Pixel now but I used an app called edge gestures to activate my flashlight. I just swipe up on the edge of my screen and hold to activate/deactivate. Not as awesome but very functional. If course I use edge gestures for everything, calling/texting certain contacts, activating apps I use regularly, it’s such an awesome tool. Been using for years at this point and can’t imagine using my phone without it.

      • jlarex@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        In case you didn’t know, Pixel phones also have a built in feature called quick tap that lets you toggle the flashlight (or do a few other things) by tapping the back of the phone twice.

    • DontTreadOnBigfoot@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      If you go to Settings -> System -> Gestures, there’s an option for “Quick tap to start actions”, one of the options is to turn on the flashlight when you double tap the back of the phone.

      Nice little feature.

      • FleetingTit@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        That is not an adequate replacement for chop chop.

        1. The screen needs to be on for the pixel gesture to work. Chop chop can be done with the screen off

        2. Tapping the back of the phone to the beat of music will turn on the flashlight by accident all the time. Chop chop is a very deliberate gesture

        3. Tapping does not always register. Sometimes I need to do it 2 or 3 times to get the flashlight to turn on/off, the moto gestures were almost 100% reliable for me

  • Clav64@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Reads headline: “oooo interesting”

    It’s a Motorola: “ah, shit”

    • soviettaters@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Motorolas are my favorite type of phone. I’m never going to use Apple and Samsung phones are bloated with garbage I don’t want. It’s not like there’s another real option.

        • soviettaters@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The Nothing Phone is the only other real option, but it’s also one phone while Motorola has several options for several different price ranges. OnePlus is purely Chinese (I know Motorola isn’t perfect but it could be worse). Google Pixels aren’t cheap.

          • ඞmir@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            Pixels are now super cheap in Europe (in The Netherlands in particular)

            Could get a 7 for €400 and now 7a for less than that

              • ඞmir@lemmy.ml
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                1 year ago

                Belsimpel, T-Mobile or Tele2 in combination with any carrier plan.

                I assume you’re not using a Prepaid plan but if you are then my comment was misleading. Everyone I know here has a carrier subscription so I usually list those prices (but with one-time payment for the phone).

                Now that the 7A is out, 7 doesn’t seem to be getting discounts anymore.

                Google Store sometimes has 7A sales for ~€450.

            • Blaze@discuss.tchncs.de
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              1 year ago

              Good to see they are reaching that price range, but it’s probably more “good value/price ratio” than cheap.

            • Koala@feddit.de
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              1 year ago

              Does the 7 has working Dual SIM support? On the 6 it’s broken since release. It’s 2 years now and still not fixed. Phone calls randomly drop and after 30 minutes or so the modem just crashes and needs both SIMs to be deactivated and actives again. Absolut shit show.

          • meatly@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            What is the difference between OnePlus and Motorola being chinese? It’s a serious question, i thought Motorola was fully chinese owned?

            • soviettaters@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              OnePlus was fully designed and created in China while Motorola was bought out by Lenovo. Motorola is still fishy but it’s technically still an American company so I feel better about it. It’s just false hope that my data isn’t being stolen, privacy is dead anyways.

              • meatly@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Alright :) In my opinion the companies are all not that trustworthy unfortunately. Because Motorola is not that good with updates it’s not the brand for me.

          • Phanatik@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            OnePlus may be Chinese but the OS has some privacy features like removing permissions for apps you don’t use. Out of the Androids I’ve used, it has way more customisation than I expected.

        • Wanderer@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          OnePlus one was the best phone I ever got. Then I got a Xiaomi for a better camera and now I’m looking to get a new phone.

          Haven’t OnePlus gone to shit now?

          • OskarAxolotl@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            They have. OnePlus was great until the OnePlus 5. Now they have become just another premium smartphone brand. Same thing will happen to Nothing eventually.

      • Muehe@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        The third iteration of Nokia is back to building phones, and the smartphones they sell are part of the Android One program (stock Android, two years of updates guaranteed).

      • Clav64@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Sony, Asus, Nothing, Pixel…

        I’m not doubting the hardware, but software is a real issue. Carriers are now pushing 36 month plans… what good is that if your device is basically out of date after 18 months.

  • SuperSpruce@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    I have the 2022 version of this phone, and it’s great value for money in the USA. Adequate performance, lots of internal storage, headphone jack, MicroSD slot, and good battery life. I didn’t buy it for the (crappy) stylus, I bought it for the good value for money.

    The 2023 version most notably updates the SoC from SD695 to SD6g1, which is about 15-20% faster and more efficient. It also adds stereo speakers, which is nice. It seems like everything else is only a marginal change or the same from last year.

  • LuckyCat@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I’m trying to wrap my brain around why anyone would want a stylus for their phone.

    • youngalfred@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Niche case- I’m a maths teacher and it’s been good for replying to emails from students with problems.

    • rem26_art@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I’ve had a Galaxy Note 9 for a few years now and, at least in my use case, I rarely use the stylus. It’s very convenient to have when I need to take notes in a meeting or something that I need to send a copy off somewhere, but day to day, I really only remember the stylus is there when I drop the phone and it pops out lol.

    • Cryptic Fawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      Some people like to make art on their phone. Others like to use it for note taking. I came across a TikTok creator that has the S23 Ultra and he uses the stylus to edit/make photos and videos.

      Some find it easier to swipe with as well.

    • 1stq@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I wish I could use a stylus on my phone. When I edit photos, my fingers are less precise to hit the right spots.

    • Bianca_0089@lemmy.today
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      1 year ago

      Art, annotation, memos, hand drawn animation, business’y stuff of that nature

      It kinda depends on the stylus though: Some are actual digitizers(pressure sensitivity for use as a paintbrush, some even recognize tilt and rotation for calligraphy) while others are just a rubber nib on a stick(rubber finger…on a stick…no electronics just rubber).

    • TheEntity@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      It’s great to quickly draw a diagram or something similar to explain something to someone. I could use pen and paper but I prefer doing it on my phone since it’s already there. I don’t do it daily but I enjoy having this option. When I was taking a break from the Galaxy Note lineup I was sorely missing it.

      • Overzeetop@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Even the biggest phones, imo, just don’t have the real estate for decent note taking. Tablets, esp with low aspect ratio screens, are the sweet spot.

      • LuckyCat@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Tablets make total sense to me because the use for a tablet is different. I would use a stylus on a tablet with a larger screen. I wouldn’t use a stylus on my phone.

        • Hazdaz@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’ve had situations where having a stylus even on the smaller screen of a phone wouod have been handy. Sketching with your finger is very crude. It’s not something I would pay a premium for and I wouldn’t want it robbing a bunch of space to fit it inside, but it would be a nice addition that I might use on and off.

        • Laticauda@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          It’s nice for quick edits or sketches when you don’t have access to a tablet. I have one and I’ve gotten a lot of use out of it.

    • pm_boobs_send_nudes@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Sometimes I’m on the go and I need to highlight, underline and make comments on pdf files. A stylus makes these much easier. Other than that I’ve used it about once for taking a photo using the stylus when the camera was on a tripod.

    • shashi154263@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I want stylus for my phone so that I can sign directly on my documents. Right now, I have to print it, then sign, then scan it.

      Another use of stylus is for note taking, and solving math equations (which is often very tough to write).

    • soviettaters@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I got the version with the stylus of this phone solely because the version without the stylus didn’t have an NFC chip. The stylus is kinda neat though.

        • LuckyCat@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          True. Although looking back over the last five years, and even more so since COVID, the majority of the documents I’ve had to sign that were emailed to me have been secure digital signatures so I feel like even this advantage is becoming less relevant.

      • LuckyCat@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Is using the stylus really more efficient than typing your notes into your phone though? I guess it’s likely a preference thing but I’m amazed there’s that big of a market for that.

        • On@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          There are languages that are just not convenient to type on a keyboard. A stylus combined with a proper OCR keyboard app could read the handwriting and compose messages in a lot less time.

        • techt@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I like it for OneNote specifically; in a uni setting it’s nice to have a stylus handy to jot margin notes or drawings alongside my text input, do a non-rectangular crop on a photo I just took of the lecture slide to put in notes, or just idly doodle. Stylus pens are super smooth and gives me good brain feel when I do swooshy doodles.

  • HidingCat@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Man, is the US market for cheaper phones so bad that this is a contender? And this is US$400!

    • NateSwift@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      Short answer yes.

      The longer answer has to deal with the way that our cellular networks are set up. Most people “rent to own” their phones here and usually trade in their phone long before they get to the owning part.

      Contracts are set up so you can get discounts, but only if you stay with the carrier for 2-3 years. The discounts are given as monthly credit towards your bill and if you pay off the phone early you forfeit all future credit.

      This system allows for carriers to sell more expensive phones at rates that, while not low, most people will stomach. Phone manufacturers avoid selling good budget phones here and I think that’s a big part of the reason. Why sell a budget phone when you can probably convince someone to finance a flagship?

      Now, as an enthusiast aware of other budget phones you might think importing might be an option, but that unfortunately isn’t the case. A couple years ago all the carriers here switched off using the 3G network for phone calls and instead we use Voice Over LTE (VoLTE). This new system requires cellular carriers to explicitly support phones/models for them to be able to make traditional phone calls. These support lists are not public and make it incredibly difficult to tell if a phone not sold by the carrier will function on their network. Gone are the days were you can just check the bands the phone supports and pop in a sim.

      This got a bit long and probably was more me ranting than actually explaining anything, but I hope someone finds it at least a little bit informative

      • HidingCat@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Yikes, I knew your systems were different, but holy hell I didn’t expect all that. VoLTE is part of the GSM standards, how’d the USA carriers make it work like a proprietary system?

        • NateSwift@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          No clue, all I know is imported phones don’t always work, it varies from carrier to carrier, and the only way to check is with the IMEI

  • aluminium@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I would love to see comparison to the Poco F1 which at the time had the same price. I suspect its pretty close, despite the 6 years gap. That being said, the F1 was unreal value at the time.

  • TheMadnessKing@lemdro.id
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    1 year ago

    Moto has a history of horrible updates to its devices. This is despite the fact that Moto has a near stock UI.

  • baatliwala@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Moto’s update support has been horrible since post Googorola. They are a decent option but never a truly great one.