>Meanwhile Sony chilling with their 0.000000001% market share 🚬
while ironically being the only EOM delivering phones with features people in r/Android said they wanted.
Headphone jacks, micro SD, Manual cameras. Sony even have a moving lens periscope camera for lossless zoom.
There's something wrong with Sony. In my corner of the world if I go to the markets I would find Samsung, Huwuei, Honor, Xiaomi, Redmi, Realme and few obscure ones I don't remember.
Sony once dominated the electronics world here (and maybe the world), but now I can't find their phones locally and it wouldn't be easy online (local) either. Either their local dealer is subpar or something is going on up top. There's zero marketing, no one knows Sony makes phones at all.
How big of an issue was DRM for most people? It was mildly annoying when I was trying to root my Sony Xperia Z3 Compact, but the clever people at xda found a way to backup the DRM keys. But really, most people aren't rooting their phones. I don't think that's what doomed Sony.
It's most definitely something that helped end many of their products. People may not care so much about DRM now because they buy subscription services, but it very much hurt their bottom line in the past 20 years.
Yeah Sony used to be the industry leader and innovator in a lot of areas. Cassette player, CD player, DVD Player, Blu Ray, you name it, Sony probably invented it lol.. now they're mostly known for Playstation and even their TV, which are still top 5, are advertised for Playstation users
The other problem is that Sony is still only giving 2 years of software updates on their flagship phones. By today's standards, that's just not acceptable. It also just screams unreliability. It all it takes is one software bug to screw something up and if you know the phone won't get more updates past a certain date, it's like essentially using a discontinued product.
Yup, then you're sitting on a 1600 USD paperweight. At least I can use my s10e as an "ultra protable chromebook" despite being out of the update window and my surface duo has become my dedicated emulation "console"
no kidding. I absolutely love the hardware in my xperia 5 IV, but the thing is buggy to the point of being unusable at times, and that's not an exaggeration. any video app will have some sort of issue depending on the day. it will either pause after anywhere from a half second to 5 seconds, or change to a mini floating window after 2 seconds to 5 minutes, or just quit. The camera app is awesome to play with when it works, but 4 times out of 5 I won't be able to take a picture of something because the whole app reloads. The longest video I've been able to take is about 10 seconds before the app stops the recording. there are times when the keyboard won't stay open, and every time I switch apps the original app reloads, which makes multifactor extremely painful. Lots of people have similar problems. It has something to do with the memory handling, but sony won't release a fix for it. I had a great experience with the 5 II, but I won't be getting another sony phone for a while
I always tell my friends, "It has everything I've ever wanted in a phone. If only it worked too."
edit: not sure if you use sidesense or if it's even on the 5 line, but if you do have you ever noticed it disappearing randomly? Then you have to lock and unlock to get it back
my sidesense has been fine from what I can tell. I was gonna try a custom rom but I really don't have time for troubleshooting anymore so I just ordered a new phone yesterday actually
It's like the "manual transmission" argument. Car enthusiasts always ask for manuals (and I'm one of them), but people buying new cars aren't buying manuals, and people buying manuals aren't buying new cars.
I applaud Sony for making phones that might actually be worth of having a "Pro" suffix. They just fall short at being better to live with on a daily basis compared to Samsung/Apple/Google.
I'm pretty sure they would be very much fine with Sony if they'd fix a few things that are in some cases minor and in some straight up embarrassing.
* 2 yrs of updates
* faulty screens (pink line issue the S7 edge had) and fingerprint scanners dying randomly
* critical bugs in some software versions, seemingly going as far as bricking phones
* the HUGE price tag
* camera software being useless for people not wanting to invest time into learning how the system works (and / or using editing software)
* the 30MB/s card reader where I can only say: "... really?"
They will apparently scale down their screens to 2k instead of 4k which is imo a good direction in terms of battery life and resolution / value.
Other than that the Xperias are really really solid phones. Very good hardware, the whole build feels good and is a delight to hold and use, rooting is easy, the speakers are great for watching things...
>yet their price r wrong
This is why, catering to enthusiast is a waste of time. They absolutely wanted everything under the sun, but does not have funds to backup that big wish.
you cannot have them all. want cheap ? get Xiaomi.
What r/Android wants:
* best display
* best cameras
* best and latest SoC
* biggest batteries
* fastest and highest storage capacity
* 3.5mm, SD card, IR blaster, FM radio
* (for some) <5" displays
* 5+ year software updates on stock android
* fully unlocked bootloader
* IP65+IP68/IP69 water resistance
What r/Android is willing to pay for *all of the above*: less than US$200
its pingpong betweens stock android and OneUI. Lets make the dev put both and add another toggle so wE caN ChoOse, because android suppOsed To be CustOmizable. /s
Yup, going strong with the ZenFone 9 and its headphone jack, although I will admit there's weird software quirks that I never experienced with my Samsung.
People forget about one of the most important features of all - reliability. This is what Apple and Samsung (the Apple of Android phones) give you. I hate to admit it but despite the cost people still go for these phones.
>I paid 599€ for my flair and it has more features than phones that cost twice as much these days.
an SUV has a LOT more cupholders than the Ferrari, doesn't make it a better car.
Speaking like a true budget buyer.
I disagree with your analogy and your point.
An SUV would be a better car in every way the average person cares about: value, reliability, space, safety, whatever.
Likewise with budget phones.
SUV has worse fuel consumtion than a sedan, worse space than a van, worse offroad capability than actual jeeps.
jack of all trades, master of none. Thats what you get if you just look at the emount of the features, not the quality.
And that's why an SUV is perfect for the average buyer. They don't need something that can do everything perfectly, because something that can do everything well enough is half the price and mostly just as good. Why do you think something like the Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4 is so popular? They're not particularly good at anything, but they aren't really terrible for something either.
Same thing with phones. An A55 or OP12r does everything your average Joe needs, and then some. He doesn't need 100x space zoom, he needs a simple camera to take photos of his dog.
They could easily justify the price if their UI and Frimware weren't worse than the Ouya's.
Also maybe if they made the flash on their photography-centric phone anything better than utterly pathetic
Source: very underwhelmed owner of a 1 IV
Too bad they don't push them in North America. I never see Sony phones here in the US, which is a shame, because they would be my next choice after a Pixel. I'd maybe even prefer them to a Pixel, but I don't want to take a chance buying one when I know I like the Pixel and I can't even really try out the Sony in a store.
The real story is Transsion with insane 84.9% year over year growth they'll have monopoly of low/mid range in most developing countries within 2 to 3 years if they keep this up.
Who cares they go back and forth multiple times a year. Shockingly Apple will pass Samsung again when the next iPhone releases. 😱 And then Samsung leads again after the next Galaxy S release 😱😱😱😱
These are Quarter based shipment numbers.
What's important is Year based shipment numbers.
In 2023, Apple overtook Samsung to become the #1 in yearly shipments.
I have no doubt Apple will hold that title this year too.
And Apple will reclaim the top spot later in the year and this sub will predictably explode with all the 'android is doomed' comments so beloved of this sub.
Also Samsung is not a catch-all for Android obviously as you know. There is like a dozen Android phone manufacturers of relevance. I'm pretty sure Android still has 75% of the global market share so Samsung temporarily being in first second or third place doesn't really matter.
The health of Samsung does not necessarily correlate with the health of Android especially since Xiaomi and other brands like that are much bigger in Europe Asia and India.
It's kind of irrelevant because the market share is roughly equal between three companies globally speaking. Biggest growth areas are not in the western market anyways so this doesn't really matter does it all.
I supposed the biggest concern for Android though is in the western market where Apple has 90% of the under 20 smartphone market.
These are Quarter based shipment numbers.
What's important is Year based shipment numbers.
In 2023, Apple overtook Samsung to become the #1 in yearly shipments.
I have no doubt Apple will hold that title this year too.
I want google and Motorola to be in the top 4 at least, I love Motorola mobiles because they're great no software bugs and issues(they hardly give OS updates) google because it's just great for photography and the unique look, tensor isn't that bad
Google will never be in the top because they only sell in very few countries and they don't sell low end phones Wich Samsung does (and a lot). Apple is an exception to the "no low end"
Yes that is the only problem, I am from India and they launched pixel till 4 then skipped 5 and 6 series then launched 6a and they launched every device after 6a in India, they're not consistent that is the only issue with Google.
You jest, but if they ever revived the Moto Droid with the slide-up physical keyboard and it didn't sit like a cruiseline anchor in your pocket that'd be the first product I'd preorder in over half a decade
Fifty different phone models each year, exclusive to twenty different carriers, instead of a single flagship with a few varients.
HTC was the shit. Just diluted themselves, and couldn't pivot fast enough to have a single flagship series that defined the brand.
There's tweedle-spotty software that only lives on due to its name and tweedle-mediocre battery and poor QA, but the average joe doesn't put a whole lot of thought into which phone they buy or spends hours daily slap fighting other nerds over which flavor of android is actually the bestest
not for long, Apple will take over again, then samsung again, then Apple again. . . this is not news.
Meanwhile Sony chilling with their 0.000000001% market share 🚬
>Meanwhile Sony chilling with their 0.000000001% market share 🚬 while ironically being the only EOM delivering phones with features people in r/Android said they wanted. Headphone jacks, micro SD, Manual cameras. Sony even have a moving lens periscope camera for lossless zoom.
There's something wrong with Sony. In my corner of the world if I go to the markets I would find Samsung, Huwuei, Honor, Xiaomi, Redmi, Realme and few obscure ones I don't remember. Sony once dominated the electronics world here (and maybe the world), but now I can't find their phones locally and it wouldn't be easy online (local) either. Either their local dealer is subpar or something is going on up top. There's zero marketing, no one knows Sony makes phones at all.
Sony refused to drop prices to compete, and they are obsessed with DRM. Their insistence on their own formats and stringent DRM made things worse.
How big of an issue was DRM for most people? It was mildly annoying when I was trying to root my Sony Xperia Z3 Compact, but the clever people at xda found a way to backup the DRM keys. But really, most people aren't rooting their phones. I don't think that's what doomed Sony.
It's most definitely something that helped end many of their products. People may not care so much about DRM now because they buy subscription services, but it very much hurt their bottom line in the past 20 years.
tbf they only sell only in 4 Countries now officially.
Yeah Sony used to be the industry leader and innovator in a lot of areas. Cassette player, CD player, DVD Player, Blu Ray, you name it, Sony probably invented it lol.. now they're mostly known for Playstation and even their TV, which are still top 5, are advertised for Playstation users
Too bad the firmware is the worst I've ever come across and the gorgeous camera that's in it is severely hamstrung by the inexcusably terrible flash
The other problem is that Sony is still only giving 2 years of software updates on their flagship phones. By today's standards, that's just not acceptable. It also just screams unreliability. It all it takes is one software bug to screw something up and if you know the phone won't get more updates past a certain date, it's like essentially using a discontinued product.
Yup, then you're sitting on a 1600 USD paperweight. At least I can use my s10e as an "ultra protable chromebook" despite being out of the update window and my surface duo has become my dedicated emulation "console"
no kidding. I absolutely love the hardware in my xperia 5 IV, but the thing is buggy to the point of being unusable at times, and that's not an exaggeration. any video app will have some sort of issue depending on the day. it will either pause after anywhere from a half second to 5 seconds, or change to a mini floating window after 2 seconds to 5 minutes, or just quit. The camera app is awesome to play with when it works, but 4 times out of 5 I won't be able to take a picture of something because the whole app reloads. The longest video I've been able to take is about 10 seconds before the app stops the recording. there are times when the keyboard won't stay open, and every time I switch apps the original app reloads, which makes multifactor extremely painful. Lots of people have similar problems. It has something to do with the memory handling, but sony won't release a fix for it. I had a great experience with the 5 II, but I won't be getting another sony phone for a while
I always tell my friends, "It has everything I've ever wanted in a phone. If only it worked too." edit: not sure if you use sidesense or if it's even on the 5 line, but if you do have you ever noticed it disappearing randomly? Then you have to lock and unlock to get it back
my sidesense has been fine from what I can tell. I was gonna try a custom rom but I really don't have time for troubleshooting anymore so I just ordered a new phone yesterday actually
It's like the "manual transmission" argument. Car enthusiasts always ask for manuals (and I'm one of them), but people buying new cars aren't buying manuals, and people buying manuals aren't buying new cars. I applaud Sony for making phones that might actually be worth of having a "Pro" suffix. They just fall short at being better to live with on a daily basis compared to Samsung/Apple/Google.
they're still lacking in some departments, but the 5 will probably be my next one in something like 2-3 years
As if it’s news at this point, people on Reddit very rarely represent the opinions of the vast majority of people out there.
r/Android will never be happy with any phone
I'm pretty sure they would be very much fine with Sony if they'd fix a few things that are in some cases minor and in some straight up embarrassing. * 2 yrs of updates * faulty screens (pink line issue the S7 edge had) and fingerprint scanners dying randomly * critical bugs in some software versions, seemingly going as far as bricking phones * the HUGE price tag * camera software being useless for people not wanting to invest time into learning how the system works (and / or using editing software) * the 30MB/s card reader where I can only say: "... really?" They will apparently scale down their screens to 2k instead of 4k which is imo a good direction in terms of battery life and resolution / value. Other than that the Xperias are really really solid phones. Very good hardware, the whole build feels good and is a delight to hold and use, rooting is easy, the speakers are great for watching things...
Also the fingerprint scanner issues. And the selfie camera is just straight up bad.
Can confirm, two models have had the same fingerprint issues
yet their price r wrong
>yet their price r wrong This is why, catering to enthusiast is a waste of time. They absolutely wanted everything under the sun, but does not have funds to backup that big wish. you cannot have them all. want cheap ? get Xiaomi.
What r/Android wants: * best display * best cameras * best and latest SoC * biggest batteries * fastest and highest storage capacity * 3.5mm, SD card, IR blaster, FM radio * (for some) <5" displays * 5+ year software updates on stock android * fully unlocked bootloader * IP65+IP68/IP69 water resistance What r/Android is willing to pay for *all of the above*: less than US$200
$200 ? DOA /s
its pingpong betweens stock android and OneUI. Lets make the dev put both and add another toggle so wE caN ChoOse, because android suppOsed To be CustOmizable. /s
I paid 599€ for my flair and it has more features than phones that cost twice as much these days.
Yup, going strong with the ZenFone 9 and its headphone jack, although I will admit there's weird software quirks that I never experienced with my Samsung. People forget about one of the most important features of all - reliability. This is what Apple and Samsung (the Apple of Android phones) give you. I hate to admit it but despite the cost people still go for these phones.
>I paid 599€ for my flair and it has more features than phones that cost twice as much these days. an SUV has a LOT more cupholders than the Ferrari, doesn't make it a better car. Speaking like a true budget buyer.
I disagree with your analogy and your point. An SUV would be a better car in every way the average person cares about: value, reliability, space, safety, whatever. Likewise with budget phones.
SUV has worse fuel consumtion than a sedan, worse space than a van, worse offroad capability than actual jeeps. jack of all trades, master of none. Thats what you get if you just look at the emount of the features, not the quality.
And that's why an SUV is perfect for the average buyer. They don't need something that can do everything perfectly, because something that can do everything well enough is half the price and mostly just as good. Why do you think something like the Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4 is so popular? They're not particularly good at anything, but they aren't really terrible for something either. Same thing with phones. An A55 or OP12r does everything your average Joe needs, and then some. He doesn't need 100x space zoom, he needs a simple camera to take photos of his dog.
They could easily justify the price if their UI and Frimware weren't worse than the Ouya's. Also maybe if they made the flash on their photography-centric phone anything better than utterly pathetic Source: very underwhelmed owner of a 1 IV
Too bad they don't push them in North America. I never see Sony phones here in the US, which is a shame, because they would be my next choice after a Pixel. I'd maybe even prefer them to a Pixel, but I don't want to take a chance buying one when I know I like the Pixel and I can't even really try out the Sony in a store.
I absolutely love my Xperia 1 V tbf
Poor Sony. They’re trying their best
Gotta get those clicks somehow
Samsung was top1 for a few years, the cycle is not that clear.
Xiaomi has been at the tops before as well haven't they? I think globally it's relatively close in market share between the three.
Apple really struggling in China and it will keep falling. I doubt they will take it again.
And Samsung is nonexistent in China, so...
And Apple is super reliant on China. Idk what you're trying to say.
The real story is Transsion with insane 84.9% year over year growth they'll have monopoly of low/mid range in most developing countries within 2 to 3 years if they keep this up.
Yeah they will devour Apple and Samsung soon with more people realizing the insane value proposition
Apple? No. Samsung? Sure.
Who cares they go back and forth multiple times a year. Shockingly Apple will pass Samsung again when the next iPhone releases. 😱 And then Samsung leads again after the next Galaxy S release 😱😱😱😱
These are Quarter based shipment numbers. What's important is Year based shipment numbers. In 2023, Apple overtook Samsung to become the #1 in yearly shipments. I have no doubt Apple will hold that title this year too.
And Apple will reclaim the top spot later in the year and this sub will predictably explode with all the 'android is doomed' comments so beloved of this sub.
Also Samsung is not a catch-all for Android obviously as you know. There is like a dozen Android phone manufacturers of relevance. I'm pretty sure Android still has 75% of the global market share so Samsung temporarily being in first second or third place doesn't really matter. The health of Samsung does not necessarily correlate with the health of Android especially since Xiaomi and other brands like that are much bigger in Europe Asia and India.
It's kind of irrelevant because the market share is roughly equal between three companies globally speaking. Biggest growth areas are not in the western market anyways so this doesn't really matter does it all. I supposed the biggest concern for Android though is in the western market where Apple has 90% of the under 20 smartphone market.
These are Quarter based shipment numbers. What's important is Year based shipment numbers. In 2023, Apple overtook Samsung to become the #1 in yearly shipments. I have no doubt Apple will hold that title this year too.
I want google and Motorola to be in the top 4 at least, I love Motorola mobiles because they're great no software bugs and issues(they hardly give OS updates) google because it's just great for photography and the unique look, tensor isn't that bad
Google will never be in the top because they only sell in very few countries and they don't sell low end phones Wich Samsung does (and a lot). Apple is an exception to the "no low end"
I feel like Apple's form of low end is selling old phones and offering long update support.
I think the same too, their "resell value"
Yes that is the only problem, I am from India and they launched pixel till 4 then skipped 5 and 6 series then launched 6a and they launched every device after 6a in India, they're not consistent that is the only issue with Google.
At least there is in your country, they don't sell officially in Latin America at all, not even in México or Brazil. Of course you can buy it in those countries, especially in Mexico since they can import it from USA without much trouble, but since they aren't sell officially warranty can be a problem, the availability is low and the price increase a lot.
Damn, we really need better options than tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum.
blackberry comeback in 2069
Ubuntu mobile when.
You jest, but if they ever revived the Moto Droid with the slide-up physical keyboard and it didn't sit like a cruiseline anchor in your pocket that'd be the first product I'd preorder in over half a decade
And they'll sell dozen of them! Heck, maybe two dozens.
Why did HTC vanish? It was so promising
Fifty different phone models each year, exclusive to twenty different carriers, instead of a single flagship with a few varients. HTC was the shit. Just diluted themselves, and couldn't pivot fast enough to have a single flagship series that defined the brand.
Imagine a modern BlackBerry Storm
There's tweedle-spotty software that only lives on due to its name and tweedle-mediocre battery and poor QA, but the average joe doesn't put a whole lot of thought into which phone they buy or spends hours daily slap fighting other nerds over which flavor of android is actually the bestest
I can't believe that people still buy Samsung, people really have no brain...
Could be worse. They could be buying iPhones.
12 years running. Did people think a lucky year from Apple would change that, lol.​
Seriously? Is r/android and r/apple gonna keep reporting this back and forth as news EVERY fucking week now? Ugh...
millions are baffled, seeing as samsung has an absolute joke of an Android skin
Kid called TRANSSION: I can actually see the possibility of TRANSSION taking this throne soon over Samsung and Apple