Tell me about it. An over 3 year old chip and still flogging it as if it’s new. Which means all the phones in that segment will still be only as powerful as 3 year old budget phones.

That is disgusting. Shame on them.

I agree, from a user point of view, however from Google’s point of view guys only job is to make money for the company, which he seems to be doing.

Android has been left to languish and especially the mid range and budget segment. Google had let OEM’s use the largest sales market to keep selling junk low spec phones year after year with the same specs and no meaningful improvements. If you wanna really great cameras or wireless charging, your only choice is to buy a premium device. That locks out billions of people from having a great Android experience.

Even the premium segment hasn’t seen that much improvement from Google. It’s basically only Samsung who are pushing things forward through OneUI and through hardware Innovations like folding phones and zoom cameras to make the experience better.

I for one am tired of it and have decided that my next phone is an iPhone. For the same price as an A55 I can get a brand new iPhone 12 or for less I can get a refurbished model and have far superior cameras than any Android below €750 as well as years of OS updates and enjoy all the great user features Apple has added to iOS recently.

The last iPhone I had was the 7 and it was ok but my S7 Edge was better. I’ve been on Android since then but now iPhone has finally made some great improvements in both hardware and software which I think should offer me a better experience than budget Android.

The article says “manufacturers” but then only mentions Samsung in the article…

Not exactly a surprise tbh because they have to compete with iPhone. And I bet it’s only for flagship devices. I can’t see the budget devices getting this.

I bought a Sony Xperia 10iii back in December 2022 for the headphone jack, SD card slot and IP rating. Plus it’s Sony and one of my all time best phones was my Xperia Z2.

When it comes time to replace it I will first look to see which phone offers a jack. I use it several times a week.

However the downside is that the only premium phones with it are Sony but very expensive. I can’t afford a 5v when though I’d love it.

If you get a midrange phone you always lose out on a great camera. Which is crappy. So you have to choose between headphone jack with poor cameras Vs no headphone jack with good cameras.

Or somehow get enough money together to buy an Xperia 5v.

Ps don’t bother with ZenFone. Asus is known for poor quality and very, very bad support

Nope

Here in Cyprus they don’t let you buy it.

Yes exactly. But the pixel isn’t available worldwide whereas Sony could make their phone available everywhere.

I live in the EU and Google don’t sell the pixel here. The won’t even let you buy it online because they can see my location.

Yes the 2a definitely stands out with it’s design and cameras in this segment.

Ok some reviews I’ve seen and the camera was really bad. Others said it was ok. Another said it was inconsistent - sometimes they got great shots and other times terrible shots.

They definitely have work to do in the camera department but tbh all OEM’s struggle with this. It took Apple and Samsung years to make their cameras good so Nothing will need time with that.

They’ve removed that banner mentioning the Ai offer all together now. It’s no longer there

But how good will the cameras be? That’s what is missing at this price segment. There are enough powerhouses but all with junk cameras.

Sony will be a niche phone no matter what. Dropping 4k and 21:9 won’t increase the customer base.

Price drops, better OS support and selling in more markets might help.

I have the Xperia 10iii and love the 21:9 and design. It’s also very fast and with Nova Launcher 8 it’s very fluid.

The cameras are good but not as great as I’d hoped considering they typically position themselves as photographers phones. That seems to be reserved for the expensive phones.

Given that they make the lenses they have a chance to position themselves as phones with great cameras when at the budget and mid level and that might generate sales.

The big problem with the budget and mid range is poor cameras. The 2a is trying to change that but e what’s needed is Samsung s series level photography but at budget and mid market prices.

People really want that but keep being disappointed. Only Samsung A34/A55 kind of gives a decent experience but better is needed.

I feel like Sony could do well there if it manages to get S series/iPhone quality photos on those prices.

I don’t think it will be a loss leader because phones at this price are specced the same or better. Plus they are making them in India, which is super cheap. I think this is aimed at filling up the bank account with much needed cash as well as massively expanding the customer base.

This is what I said they should have done last year when the 2 came out. Many times I commented and complained on socials and YouTube, even directly to Carl, that the 2 was way too expensive and not many will buy it. What they needed was a cheaper, mass appeal phone to build the brand and customer base.

Well I was right. They sold 60 000 in the first hour and revealed that phone 1 AND phone 2 sales COMBINED never reached 100 000 units…

That phone 2 barely sold. Exactly as I said. He had to lick his wounds and learn his lesson. He thought he could just come out and compete with Apple, Samsung and the rest just because his phone looks like an iPhone… Think again.

They subsequently went on to sell 100 000+ of the 2a on that first day, which is a very strong start and injected massive cash into the business.

Let’s see if the sales continue but at that price they are least will be looked at by consumers as an option, which wasn’t the case with 1 or 2 due to their high pricing.

Must have been very uncomfortable explaining himself to investors after the phone 1 and 2 failures…

Yes. If takes me to the home page of nothing

This offer only seems valid in some countries. I live in Cyprus and if I click on the offer I get a 404 not found…

Definitely. It’s good that they exist and are an example to others for sure. They just shouldn’t expect lots of sales. Hopefully enough to keep them funded and pay wages.

Accessories like phone cases of different types, features and colours, as well as prices. You even get cases with magsafe magnets to use with wireless chargers and phone holders. Also chargers, cables etc

And most tech shops will stock these type of accessories in bulk. But they won’t have Realme cases, or Xiaomi cases, or OnePlus cases, or Vivo cases, or Oppo cases etc. You need to import those from AliExpress…

Yes maybe. But honestly I don’t think one tiny company selling 500 phones year will make any difference to the environment. What’s needed is legislation to make all phone makers be eco friendly and allow easy parts replacement.

It’s a great phone to be honest. Firstly it’s a beautiful design and the materials are high quality. The narrowness of it is great because it slips easily into a pocket and it’s very light. The tall display means you scroll less but it’s narrow enough to make typing easier.

Haptics are very good. The screen quality is very good and the cameras I’d say are equal to most €$ 500 phones. They do a little post processing but in good light the main camera gives excellent results. The wide angle camera is decent in good light but has slightly less detail than the main camera, but it’s good for landscapes.

The zoom lense is 2x and the quality is ok. Only use it in good light.

Night photography or shooting with the sun at you, eg sunset, is a disaster. Crap low light photos with lots of noise.

The software is actually good. It’s very fast and slick. I run Nova Launcher 8 beta and the animations are lovely and fluid, apps open fast and scrolling is very fast and smooth. I never get lag or anything like that.

Video on 1080p is very nice. I’m pleased with the quality, steadiness and sound capture. In general the cameras are great in good lighting. Easily as good as, if not better than the Nothing 2a for example, which has 50mp cameras.

I also like the placement of the buttons on the right. I can unlock the phone while drawing it from my pocket and I use the Assistant button quite a bit for timers and reminders. I find the button very, very convenient.

Battery life has been great. For the first year I would only recharge every 2nd night with quite a bit of usage. Now after 1 year I do need to charge it once a day, by 11pm I have about 20-30% left. If I barely use the phone, then it will still last 2 days.

I paid €350 and for that price I’d say it’s very good. Would I want to pay €500? Not really.

To me €500 is what the S24, OnePlus 12, Asus ZenFone, iPhone etc should cost and the Ultra’s/pro’s should be €750.

If you can get it for €350 or less I’d say it’s good deal. It’s also IP68 which is rare at this price and I use the headphone jack alot.

The only downside is service/repairs, OS updates and accessories. In the UK this might not be a problem but here in Cyprus there are no repairs that I know of and definitely no accessories. I had to buy my cases off AliExpress and wait weeks for them to come. And after about 2 months they started yellowing because they are transparent.

I hope that helps you with your decision.

No thanks. Poor design, rubbish cameras, rubbish CPU and overpriced. That’s Fairphone.

Any body who buys that must have a hole in the head. 😂

I just used once a year as an example. I’ve noticed after 1 year I no longer get 2 day battery life on my Xperia whereas for the first year I only charged it every second day. Now I charge every night.

If I had a Samsung I’d just go have it swapped out in 1 hour and be back to 2 day battery life.

If you ask most average people why they are getting a new phone it’s normally because the battery no longer lasts all day and they have to change up mid day. If they had a way to easily and quickly, and cheaply, have the battery replaced with waterproofing still in tact, many would do that and not have to get a whole new phone.

I can’t imagine using the battery for 5 years. After 2 years my V30 only gave me 2-3 hours of screen on time max. I AVOIDED using it just so I could make it through a work day in case I got a call. And no 3rd party repairer had Lg batteries…

A mobile phone without a dependable battery is a paperweight. What’s the point of having it if it always has to be plugged in to a charger???