My first Android phone was the HTC One M8. I got it because at the time it made my iPhone 5 look like a chump. Bigger screen, unrivaled stereo front speakers, much more internal storage you name it.
I also got the LG G series after that because I loved that the battery was removable (I ended up with an enormous aftermarket battery pack that lasted 3.5 days of constant use) and the buttons were all on the back of the phone.
I got the Essential PH1 because the ceramic body was nice and the promise of the 2 pin magnetic accessory port was really neat (only a 360 camera was released for it but still).
I got a Pixel 4a because every Android phone at that point was a 6 inch rectangle with side buttons and a fingerprint reader but at least it was cheap and still had a headphone jack.
I’m glad to see flip phones returning because I think it is giving Android back what has always been its biggest advantage to me which is unique hardware features.
Personally, the HTC M8 speakers with the button layout of the LG G4 would be an intsa-buy for me to this day.
What kind of hardware features have you guys fallen in love with over the years and what do you value or would like to see return?
I’d love to see those features in phones today; all of those are basically dead in the US market (Xperia 1 V gets two out of three, Zenfone 10 at least gets the 3.5mm jack…might be some cheap Motorola something that still has a jack, as well?).
Me personally, I could even live with just the 3.5mm jack. The whole argument of “it’s for waterproofing/making the phone thinner/insert BS excuse here” falls flat when my Galaxy S9 has a 3.5mm jack and the same IP68 rating as the Pixel 8, yet manages to be thinner.
I have maintained for a while that if phones came with 2 USB ports instead of just 1 you could have your cake and eat it too. My biggest gripe with the lack of a headphone jack is that I can’t charge my phone and listen at the same time. 2 ports, one on each side for right and left handed people to pick their favorite charging location and you get a ton of other options for peripherals that way.
At this point, I’d honestly be fine with that too. Unfortunately it looks like one of the only ones around that has two USB-C ports is the Asus ROG Phone 7 & 7 Ultimate, which both already have a headphone jack too, lol.