Previously on Lemmy:
Past Discussions:
As promised, we are talking repairability this week. I thought it’s not really possible to talk repairability without talking about it in relations to build quality.
It seems to me that over the years, the general trend is that phones have become more and more difficult to repair in general. To me, I don’t believe that this is some kind of nefarious plot designed to make people buy new phones every two years, here are some of the reasons why I think it is:
The first is the perceived build quality. It used to be that plastic is the most common type of material for the back of phones, and I would say plastic is the ideal default material for the back of phones: cheap, and versatile in hardness, color, and texture. However, the use of plastic in cheaper phones has resulted in a negative perception. Metal backs are durable but doesn’t allow for NFC signals through, and I can’t believe they settled on glass as the ideal material for the back instead, since it is actually extremely impractical to use.
The second is waterproofing. Waterproofing requirement means that glue is mandatory even with the presence of a gasket, which naturally discourages the
The third would the improvement in actual build quality. Modularity is very much still a trade-off, as if we can assume the phone cannot be easily opened, then more fragile components can be used in the phone that doesn’t have the requirement to be able to be repeatedly plugged and unplugged. One of the most important changes is the change from Micro-USB to USB-C, as the increased durability means that people won’t consider it to be a part that requires replacement as much.
I just think that what’s broken can eventually be fixed, but it’ll never feel the same afterwards.
Sorry if this is a bit messier and late this week, very interested in everybody’s thoughts on this topic. The Fairphones look interesting, but it’s not easy to get in the States.
I did expect a slower thread this week, but the comment quality has been great though.
Hi from my other account on Lemm.ee everyone!
One gripe I have with build quality. Why do people associate having glass back and metal frames with good build quality?
Looking back, Apple touted its superior plastic quality with the iPhone 5C, and it wasn’t bad at all iirc. The Zenfone 9 and 10 have the soft touch plastic back and feels good. I had a Pixel 5 before and enjoyed using it bare without having to worry about damaging the back.
Meanwhile, glass is prone to shatter and scratches, is more heavy and slippery, and is expensive to repair. Which means people will likely put on a case to protect their phones, which defeats the purpose of having a glass back, adds thickness and weight, and adds another layer between the wireless charger coils, and I argue creates more plastic waste.
PLASTIC IS FINE WHEN DONE PROPERLY!
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?
As long as it isn’t a conductive surface that would interfere with electromagnetic induction, then yes you can wireless charge with it.
If you want a metal back but also be able to charge wirelessly, you would need to cut a hole in the middle for the coil, like the Pixel 5 did.
One thing I’m really surprised about is that the overall screen strength doesn’t seem to have improved over the last 5 years. Screens are still much better than what they were over a decade ago (where a drop without a case was pretty much a screen crack)
But I’m finding on my Pixel 7 pro for example that I’m still finding light scratches, it feels like these screens only have a 5 or 6 on the mohz scale where you’d usually expect a 7 or beyond.
It’s a Heisenberg tradeoff. At a certain point you can either make them more impact resistant or more scratch resistant.
Exactly. I remember looking up information about this back when foldables are still a new thing.
By making glass harder, it makes it more scratch resistant, but also makes it more brittle and easier to shatter on impact. By making glass softer (bendy), the glass is less likely to shatter, but is will probably have more scratches on the surface in the same time frame compared to the harder glass.
Off - topic but I’m really liking these threads.
I really like what Framework is doing with their laptops - what we need is an equivalent in the mobile space. It’s a shame that Project Ara never took off, their original idea was great and had a pretty good public reception, but they kinda sabotaged themselves and ultimately released a very nerfed version of their original idea. It’s been seven years since it was canned and I think it’s worth revisiting - technology has progressed a lot since then.
Also, more than repairability, I think the bigger question should be around sustainability, after all, repairability is only a small part of the sustainability equation. So in regards to that, we need to look at what we can do to make Android devices last longer. Updates is the most obvious thing - Apple is offering 6-7(?) years of updates, whereas in the Android world it’s more like 4-5, if you’re lucky. Even if updates cannot be offered for that long, there should be some sort of certification or recognition process for third-party custom ROMs such as GrapheneOS or LineageOS. The fact that custom ROMs fail to pass the Play Integrity checks is very unfair, especially for GrapheneOS, when they’re likely to be more secure and updated than stock ROMs. This is a major roadblock for people in switching to custom ROMs, and thus a roadblock in the sustainability pathway.
At least one positive thing to look forward to is EU’s mandate for smartphones to have replaceable batteries by 2027.
Waterproofing requirement means that glue is mandatory even with the presence of a gasket
Huh?
