UFODivebomb

An excellent history of X11 from V all the way to the current state.

(Not mine)

revisiting my review https://programming.dev/post/868117

now that android 14 is out.

First, we have this quote on Android 14 from Dave Burke "And I don't know, we may not have talked enough about this, but we've done a ton of work to reduce CPU activity in background apps."

Yes. This is nice. The overall experience is now appropriate. Less weird lag and chunky performance. The poor multitasking software combined with chunky performance was miserable. Now it's at least tolerable if not totally great.

Battery life is less unpredictable. I can consistently get a full days usage with no concern. Not exactly sufficient for traveling without concern but manageable. Instead of needing to stay tethered to a battery pack you only need one just in case.

A huge issue I had previously was the fingerprint reader. Happy to report than the reader now works predictably and reliabily. Up to the limits of a silly power button reader. No longer frustrating.

The software performance is all great but what about updates to better support the screen size and multitasking? Sadly, nothing to note. Still fairly miserable but certainly less janky.

Screen utilization and layout is still unsuitable. Lots of wasted screen space. Rotation controls are more suggestions and insufficient.

Multitasking is the real trouble tho. Will going back actually take you back? Or is the forward gesture required to go back to the previos activity? Impossible to say. Might as well be random. So you try the app switcher and the preview shows an app I the state you want to go back to. Switch to the app aaaaand the preview was a lie. The app resumes in some pseudo random state.

Overall the OS update is great. However there is no patching of software that will make up for the hardware deficiencies. And unfortunately, the software updates still don't enable effective multitasking.

7/10

Some great aspects coupled with a few terrible aspects makes for an average experience. Add in the price and pixel fold is only for enthusiast who really want a non-samsung foldable.

Take the form factor. For my large hands the size and shape both folded and unfolded is great. Almost comfortable to hold. If there wasn't such a strange weight distribution and odd placement of the buttons. The buttons are placed in the middle of an edge. Problem is that is typically where the edge of your hand would naturally be. You cannot hold the phone tightly because then the buttons would be pressed.

Speaking of which: the fingerprint reader. Power button fingerprint readers are a bad idea. Even with care this reader works probably 75% of the time. Hard to get your finger in the right position ; especially if there is a case.

The button placement is ok when you add on a ohsnap v3, however the weight distribution is bad. The issue seems to be the camera mass. The NSA level combination of sensors is really noticable. Not in a good way. The camera bump is awkward and the weight doubly so. Would likely feel a lot better with less cameras.

As for the cameras: they take pictures. I don't understand why anybody would want this for the cameras. They exist. They are heavy and weirdly shaped. Would be a better device without them. But hey, if you want an awkward camera I guess this would work.

Which brings me to the actual phone aspect. Uh. What can I sawly that is good about using this as an actual phone? There is Bluetooth so a microphone that works better than the tin can the phone comes with is possible. WiFi calling can, fortunately, be disabled .

The displays are bright and clear. I can use either on a bright day but the external display is definitely clearer. The internal display is shiny, very, very shiny. No way someone would intentionally make a screen this shiny. You could signal airplanes in case of emergencies I guess.

The software is truly a mixed bag. For the most part software works well with the different resolutions and layouts. Except google's software. The poor layout is really noticable in google's software. Either the entire screen is cramped with junk that leaves the usable area to small segment of the screen eg: google maps. Or most of the screen is effectively blank. Eg: gmail has over half the screen empty space. Non-google software works well.

Edit: reading over other reviews and some are even more negative on the software support. I really haven't had a negative experience overall. Maybe it's because of google's gmail being so wonky haha. Aside from those few examples, software support has been good. Most apps work well.

Battery life is ok. For my usage I haven't had troubles. Going a full day without a charge is unlikely if you use the main screen

Overall the Motorola RAZR is a better foldable. If you want a google phone and a large size, well this is the only real option. I wouldn't buy this again but I'm happy enough to use this as a daily driver.