Why your fancy new smartphone is worse at making calls than your crappy old featurephone

[HossHuge]

I'm reading this on my smartphone.

 

[Aquinus]

Jeez, is this article serious? My iPhone sounds a lot better than my flip phone from 4 years ago. If there was sound coming from my phone, it would cut off the incoming audio. That means if I was talking, I couldn't hear the other person or if there was a lot of background noise, I would have trouble hearing the other person. My experience going from a flip to an iPhone 4S is anything but what the OP describes. The only thing better about my flip phone was battery life but, claiming call quality was better is pretty absurd in my opinion.

In all seriousness, I got a smart phone so I could get online to find locations on the web and to have GPS, really nothing more. It helps when work pays for it.

 

[AsRock]

You're just proving my point dude.

Point is if i needed or wanted one i would of got one long time ago, that's the fact. Because you like or most like them don't mean we all do or even need them.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Everyone says that until they actually own a smartphone. Then when they get a good smartphone their worlds change even more.

I can kind of relate to this.....

A long time ago i used to own a Samsung Jet mobile phone which was advertised as a 'smarter than smart' phone. Samsungs original OS was a peice of shit though, Android was kind of in its infancy back then. Owned the handset for 3 years then stepped up to my first android handset the Sony Xperia Arc S and my world completely opened up.

 

[Ruru]

I was also like "why the hell I would need a smartphone", but there is absolutely no turning back anymore. Also I wouldn't use anymore nothing less than 5" smartphone. Looking my old iPhone 4 now makes me laugh with its "stamp-sized" screen.

 

[Nosada]

I need a phone and i need the internet which are both work and school related, i don't need a smart phone i have no use for one as whats the point in having a smart phone if your just making and receiving calls as i would not use it for any thing else.

Then our needs differ. I have, from work perspective, more use from a phablet that allows me to reply to mails, messages, voip-calls, conf-calls, quickly lets me look up stuff then and there, than I have from a laptop.

From a personal perspective, I use it as a private personal assistant. It tells me when to put out the trash, what the weather is gonna be tomorrow-morning (very important if you are a motorcyclist in a windy/rainy country), gives me the latest updates on the news from all over the world, tells me the exact time-tables and delays of public transportation should I need it, allows me to study video courses wherever I am and a million other small things that fill up time that would otherwise be wasted waiting for things/people.

Honestly, I hate wasting time and, second to my motorcycle, there hasn't been a purchase that has saved me as many hours per week as a smartphone.

*This post was made on a W10 PC, and finished from the bathroom via TeamViewer from an Android smartphone*

Spoiler: Science!

 

[Sasqui]

I have this phone (yes it's hooked up to a VoIP land line), it's the best sounding phone I've got!

 

[yogurt_21]

I have this phone (yes it's hooked up to a VoIP land line), it's the best sounding phone I've got!

those are great when power goes out as they still work. (well not a voip line) also dialing is more fun.

 

[Sasqui]

those are great when power goes out as they still work. (well not a voip line) also dialing is more fun.

VoIP and router have a decent UPS that'll go for several hours and I'm on a priority grid location (power feed to a hospital). I've lost power no more than 4 hours at a time in 15 years. Knock on wood!

Yea it is fun but makes you appreciate button dialing. I gave my 14 yr old a lesson on using the phone, pretty funny.

 

[cdawall]

I don't need or even want a smartphone, i just need a phone without all the crap, just don't have any need for all that crap on a device.

I phone people hang up, answer a call and that's all i need, some thing wrong with people thinking they "need" a smartphone, omg how did we survive so long without like o please.

You know we survived without the automobile, computer, internet etc. You may think you don't need a smartphone, but guess what I use my smartphone for work. I can remotely work on a network issue from my phone, I can respond to my outlook email from my phone, I can plan a route using my phone. I can also send and receive calls. Just because you decided you have no use doesn't make them the single most purchased piece of technology of this century.

 

[taz420nj]

Also you need to remember the coverage. Older phones needed much stronger reception because there was no extensive coverage like today.
Right now the majority of users can "get by" with weaker but comparatively faster signal due to the fact that right now almost every third-world village has a cell tower.

It's actually the reverse of that.. Analog 800MHz phones used much higher power transmitters (in both the towers and the handsets) than digital, therefore the OG cell grid was widely spaced. Dual and tri band phones used to be able to fall back to analog in the absence of a usable digital signal. When the analog sunset was announced, the cell companies had to make a mad scramble to add towers to 'fill in' between the converted analog towers - since the signal could no longer reach far enough to complete a handoff. That is why there are cell transmitters seemingly everywhere today - however, the actual coverage still isn't as dense as it was while analog was king, even with the FCC's colocation requirements. Some of it is logistics, some is due to the NIMBY crowd, but digital just requires far more towers than the companies can put up.

I've long suspected that. Often a single purpose built device needs to be improved upon, but when it can't get any better or the features aren't keeping up with the trends of the times, they look to evolve it into something more hip. This often means making it multi-purposed.
Subsequently, a jack of all trades is a master of none.

Thing is, you could prove this to people and they'd be OK with it. Why? Because their smart phone/mini tablet/hand held computer is just that. It's a device that lets them 'do everything,' to enough of a satisfactory level, that it meets the level of narcissism(a.k.a. their needs) that society has reached.

I still carry a couple of Nokia phones from circa early/mid 2000s in my vehicle glove boxes, with pre pay minutes on them - used only for emergencies.
They always work and the battery lasts for a month at a time before needing a quick charge.



The majority of people that 'poo poo' it are those that have lived in the world before and after smart phones. I think we should change the date format - no disrespect to Jesus. It should now be the year 2015 AS (after smartphones or after stupidity).

I'm with you there.. I have Verizon prepaid $10 Sammy flips in my glove boxes and my "go bag" just in case. I turn them on every once in a while just to make sure they haven't died, and it takes about a year for the batteries to drain halfway. It's pretty ridiculous.


Honestly I wish I didn't need a smartphone. My carrier is one of a very few that still offers unlimited data that doesn't throttle you back to 1xRTT speeds after a certain point, and I'd really rather spend that $70 a month on something else... I miss my old flip phone.. But since I have it, I take full advantage of it lol. I only use streaming radio in the car anymore, I watch netflix/hulu/plex while I'm waiting for things, like @cdawall I can use Teamviewer to help my customers even if I dont have my laptop handy.. It's a curse lol!

 

[newconroer]

It's actually the reverse of that.. Analog 800MHz phones used much higher power transmitters (in both the towers and the handsets) than digital, therefore the OG cell grid was widely spaced. Dual and tri band phones used to be able to fall back to analog in the absence of a usable digital signal. When the analog sunset was announced, the cell companies had to make a mad scramble to add towers to 'fill in' between the converted analog towers - since the signal could no longer reach far enough to complete a handoff. That is why there are cell transmitters seemingly everywhere today - however, the actual coverage still isn't as dense as it was while analog was king, even with the FCC's colocation requirements. Some of it is logistics, some is due to the NIMBY crowd, but digital just requires far more towers than the companies can put up.



I'm with you there.. I have Verizon prepaid $10 Sammy flips in my glove boxes and my "go bag" just in case. I turn them on every once in a while just to make sure they haven't died, and it takes about a year for the batteries to drain halfway. It's pretty ridiculous.


Honestly I wish I didn't need a smartphone. My carrier is one of a very few that still offers unlimited data that doesn't throttle you back to 1xRTT speeds after a certain point, and I'd really rather spend that $70 a month on something else... I miss my old flip phone.. But since I have it, I take full advantage of it lol. I only use streaming radio in the car anymore, I watch netflix/hulu/plex while I'm waiting for things, like @cdawall I can use Teamviewer to help my customers even if I dont have my laptop handy.. It's a curse lol!

Also raises the alarming point of just how dependent we are on these communication devices. Granted a normal telephone propelled the world forward like few other inventions in the history of mankind. I am sure that was something to get used to, but it's not like it is now. You can literally hide away in some of the most obscure places and still 'connect' with people any where in the world. Though if your battery drains, or your service runs out or the OS on your device crashes(this is before you dropped it on the ground...) then you're done for.

People can't even function any more with out them. It's like the internet..for every one thing good it may offer, there's ten bad things that come as a result.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

I disagree there I get an enormous amount of entertainment from the internet with no bad stuff happening except a rare you ban or so.
But my main point is I'm in the wrong game here ,some scientists spent time and money discovering that which is apparent ,and all for money ,where can I sign up.

I've an asus zenphone2 (Yeah not as keen on asus but it's sic 64gb one)
Patchy calls to other smartphones sometimes, the 9 quid basic Samsung stand in i have has epic signal and calling skills but feck (I might yet smash it for its dumbass predictive text)that I just don't talk directly to people and surf ahoy ,I couldn't be to far from tpu.

 

[neatfeatguy]

My dad is still using his Nokia he got 14+ years ago. Based on images I've found it's a 3310/3320 model. Most of the buttons are faded, but it still works. He gets great signal and reception and he said the battery still holds a charge for upwards of 2 weeks before he needs to plug it in.

My HTC DNA (3 years old now) still has good battery life for a smartphone (2-3 days if not used for anything except minor texting or a few short calls. 1-2 days if heavy texting & minor calling. 1 day if a lot of calling and texting. 6-12 hours if heavy gaming, streaming, texting & calling). But my reception is spotty at times. I could be talking just fine at home while sitting on the couch - full bars - but as soon as I walk 10ft the signal strength drops and a few rare times the call gets dropped.