-SD card expansion - what we could once count on to use phones like mirrorless cameras is now gone so they can rip you off for higher non expandable storage (128GB SD? $10. 128 -> 256 GB base? $200)

3.5mm - why buy cheap wired headphones when you can force people to spend 10x as much on wireless! Coming up with a solution to a problem they invented.
IR blaster - yes I used it since it worked on TV, receiver, DVD player, air conditioner, etc. Also super convenient if you have used stuff you bought without the remote
FM radio - yes I used it again since no data needed! Can also be fun to listen to campus radio or when travelling
notification led - The RGB led was pretty good when you had binds foe each app to know who texted you and why. Always on OLED draws substantially more power than the LED did
Always unlocked bootloaders - the custom ROM scene was pretty big at one point, but has shrunk as more manufacturs have begun locking bootloaders 'for safety'
removable battery - phone no longer holding a good charge? $15 fix. Was also super convenient since I bought a spare that I kept charged and in my bag, meaning I could go 0% to 100% in 2 mins... better than fast charge!

List could go on for longer. Maybe it's just nostalgia but I do miss some of those days.

[–] Melody@lemmy.one 12 points 2 months ago (11 children)

Losing SD Expansion sucks; they should bring this back. Only reason they stopped this is greed.
Yet another Nice-To-Have that is gone; but I've never seen any phones that weren't Samsung with this. This one doesn't really even affect waterproofing; or phone size so they have no excuse.
I certainly miss this one; but the FM Radio was present back on my 2020 Moto G6 Power. It was present on my 2020 Moto Edge. This one got stolen from us because we lost the 3.5mm Jack too...they used the wire from your wired headphones as an FM Antenna lead.
This is nice; but I ended up having to root my Nexus 6 to make this work properly and use all the colors the LED could perform. I don't really miss it with Bezel-less phones.
I hate that bootloaders are frequently locked; but it's been less necessary to root Android as it's improved over the years. There are still a few pain points; but not quite as many that require root.
This is another case of greed. There's no reason why we shouldn't have removable batteries for phones that aren't IP67 or higher. If it ain't waterproof; there's no reason to seal the battery in...and replaceable batteries is a benefit when they accidentally ship units that become "spicy pillows" when the batteries swell due to bad batteries. It also simplifies disposal of phones; which don't need disassembly if they've got a removable battery.

[–] TonyOstrich@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago (2 children)

IR blasters are very common on Chinese brand phones even today. It's easily the feature I miss most from my Huawei.

[–] Melody@lemmy.one 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ah; I don't use Chinese branded phones at all. Never have.

Phones in the US market do not usually have them, unless they're Samsung branded, and since I don't include Chinese made phones in that "group", what I'm saying is true for the US.

[–] TonyOstrich@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

I'm based in the US and that's where I used my Huawei phone until recently. OnePlus is among the manufacturers that still do IR blasters, and it looks like the OnePlus 12 has one and is easily purchased from their US store page.

As far as I can tell Samsung hasn't released a phone with an IR blaster since 2015 either. Essentially, IR and Samsung hasn't been a thing for a long time. If we are going by total volume then I would agree that the most common manufacturer in the US that has/had IR is Samsung. If we are going by new phones available today, then Samsung isn't even in the conversation.

I'm not entirely sure what this comment is in relation to yours, I don't think I disagree with you, I think I'm just adding some context or nuance.

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