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The Year OnePlus Started Ignoring Fans (venturebeat.com)
OnePlus has made a name for itself selling devices that punch above the price class. The Chinese smartphone maker has also built a loyal fanbase by proactively reaching out to its users and incorporating the changes and suggestions they make in its product lineup. But as the company grows bigger and embarks on a new journey -- entering the United States -- it is increasingly turning a blind eye to its community. From a story: To get the whole picture, we have to look at all of 2018. OnePlus releases two phones per year, and it makes sure to hype these before each debut. This year was the same in this regard, except for the obvious fan backlash. I'm of course talking about notches and headphone jacks. In March, OnePlus cofounder Carl Pei tweeted that users should "learn to love the notch." The outcry was so great that Pei deleted the tweet. The OnePlus 6 of course launched in May with a notch. Earlier in March, Pei also tweeted his usual annual poll about headphone jacks. The OnePlus 6T, which started shipping in the U.S. on November 1 and will hit the rest of the world on November 6, has a smaller "teardrop" notch. But as you likely already know, it doesn't have a headphone jack. [...] It's a bizarre set of decisions given OnePlus has always prided itself on giving its fans exactly what they want. This year, OnePlus seems to be happily pushing its fans to Samsung, which at least for now still offers headphone jacks in all its phones and has completely ignored the ugly notch trend.
"The Year OnePlus Started Ignoring what this one particular guy told them to do."
There, I went ahead and fixed the headline for you.
Apple can make extremely dumb decisions: iPhone notch, removing the headphone port from iPhones and iPads, butterfly keyboards on MacBooks. Even after three generations of butterfly keyboards, they still suck.
Stop following Apple and their dumb decisions. Stop making phones, tablets and laptops thinner. Just as there's "good enough" with technology, there's "thin enough" for portable devices. What we need is lighter devices with the same capabilities, not thinner with thermal throttling and no space left for batteries.
#DeleteFacebook
Sure, some very vocal fans make a lot of noise about notches and headphone jacks, myself included, but do they represent the majority?
The number of companies introducing notches and removing headphone jacks suggests that they must be getting some market feedback. Contrary to popular belief they don't all just copy Apple, they do extensive market surveys and testing with potential customers all through the prototype stage.
It sucks but I have a feeling us notch hating headphone jack lovers are in the minority here. Most would prefer a bigger screen, battery and the like.
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SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
If you ignore fans then the air will get very stale, unless you go all Dyson on your airflows...
Use them if you like, dont if dont like them. L
I don't understand the notch. It's the stupidest idea ever, even worse than removing the headphone jack (which I can understand, to some degree).
But the notch, all it does is remove valuable space from the screen, like why?
The person that thought of that should be taken out back and shot.
Are they taking notes from Blizzard play book ?
OnePlus started falling off as early as the 3. The first OP phone was predicated on wanting a pure Android experience with flagship-levels internals at non-gouging prices. The second one was more or less a direct extension and improvement on that promise. By 3 they weren't using CyanogenMod and started adopting more of the prevailing flagship cruft while also charging more.
Nowadays they're just another big Android name getting by on their old reputation, minus any innovation or differentiation besides pricetag.
Obviously all the other phones are popular, so you got to start being like them! Ignore the fan base that supported you precisely because you didn't blindly do what everyone else does. This is just like the story about AI learning and movies/movie trailers. The idea of quality first doesn't really enter into it because they've become big. Quality in this case means not doing the notch and keeping the headphone jack.
I'm glad they finally gave up on fans. The internal fan in my phone is way to noisy.
You sell what the customers want, or they buy from someplace else.
Me, I won't buy a phone that doesn't have a headphone jack nor an SD card slot. The Huawei Mate SE (or Honor 7, or soon the Honor 8) provide excellent alternatives to the OnePlus 6T, at about half the price with nearly the same performance.
I chose my Samsung Galaxy S9+ over the OnePlus. It's the best phone I've ever owned.
I watch Netflix at the gym, with my headphones on, plugged into the jack.
I can't really see myself ever buying a phone without a headphone jack.
Who cares what they do? Who in their right mind would buy a Huawei or OnePlus or any other Chinese-made phone when A LOT of products from China spy on you, have backdoors, steal your logins, etc? I don't care what they do to the hardware and software, I'm not buying a compromised device regardless and neither is anyone else with a brain.
Apple does things because they are profitable/cheaper for Apple, and zero other reason. Removing the headphone jack simplifies manufacturing and pushes diehard Apple fans to drop cash on adapters. Other folks go buy Samsung who sells far more phones than Apple.
In March, OnePlus cofounder Carl Pei tweeted that users should "learn to love the notch."
I can think one one type of notch I'm quite fond of.
A BROKEN display area
FTFY
Oppo designs & builds everything with a OnePlus label. It was a pretty ingenious marketing idea by BBK Electronics. Create a "small startup" called OnePlus. ONLY advertise on social media & their website. Create the hype by saying you have to have an INVITE to spend your money (because they are a poor little startup). Hype it up with things like smash your device (which went sideways) and a girls only thing (which went sideways), but, any coverage is "good" and FREE press. Make up with pretty high specs, but cut a few corners, sell it for "cost" and say any profit is put in to making more devices for devoted users. With each new device, tweak the price higher and higher and higher to the point it's NOT the bargain it use to be, or bargain, if you use Apple & Samsung as a benchmark. With pretty much NO customer service and NO testing before release, leave it to the customers to report bugs which get fixed, and use THAT to say look how many updates we push out. We "listen" to the customers (yeah because the phones didn't work like they were suppose to!) The phones are made by Oppo, and usually look just like some Oppo phone, but as a less expensive price. They can be good devices, after they've been in the wild for a while and the bugs are fixed. Oppo pulls the strings, OnePlus is just the puppet.
The notch allowed the phone to reduce in size by removing the top bezel, which we like, and removing a block of pixels in the middle of the status area, which we also want and which we generally use when viewing things full screen. It's hard to understand the mentality that it somehow allows for greater screen real estate - it doesn't, it rips out a little in the name of reducing the bezel, which in turn wasn't something anyone wanted removed.
The only reason a poll of iUsers right now would tell you "most people are not using it" is because iUsers can't. The vast, vast, majority of Android users use the headphone jack regularly. And the vast majority of iUsers used it before Apple made their "brave decision".
It was also a poor decision for another reason, which was Apple had, and has, no sane alternative. Bluetooth's poor audio quality makes it a subpar alternative, the standards for USB - even USB-C - are still so poorly followed that there's no system followed by USB headset makers or charger makers that would allow for daisy chaining both a charger and headset from a USB port, and, well, Apple doesn't use a standard USB connector, they use a proprietary one, so there's absolutely no way manufacturers would standardize on anything for that port.
On every practical and logical level removing the headphone socket for Apple was a dumb idea. They could have done it by switching to USB C, then either adding two USB C ports, or endorsing an extended USB C connector that allowed other connectors to be plugged into it, but instead they said "Hey fuckers, you're on your own, but, hey, we do own Beats Audio so if you want we'll sell you some seriously shitty bluetooth headphones to make up for it. And you're going to buy our shit anyway because we're Apple."
Why are you defending this?
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
I will never buy a smartphone with a notch. When I watched the Apple and Google keynotes, every time they showed a full screen photo or game on their respective new phones, I kept thinking, "This looks great...except for that stupid notch!" Previously I have liked many if not most of the designs Apple has introduced which everyone else has seemed to copy. But the notch is the worst design decision Apple has ever made. And damn all the Android vendors who copied that crap.
The notch allowed the phone to reduce in size by removing the top bezel, which we like,
Which YOU like. The rest of the world does not care because they mostly value substance above style.
It's hard to argue with someone who sees more screen and thinks there is less, so I'll leave that argument there with you being wrong and you can understand my point when you so choose to understand how reality is.
The only reason a poll of iUsers right now would tell you "most people are not using it" is because iUsers can't.
Except for the adaptor that millions on millions of iPhone users had shipped int the box that DOES let them use older analog audio headsets. Apple only too that out with the launch of the Xr/Xs.
So once again, we see that you refuse to ignore the reality that is, so that you can bitch.
Bluetooth's poor audio quality makes it a subpar alternative
Not really but Apple supports higher quality bluetooth audio interfaces also.
Again, if you want to stay stuck in the past, fine, but don't let your bony hand from the grave keep the rest of use from reaching the future.
They could have done it by switching to USB C,
It's very interesting you think that since that is exactly what has happened with the iPad Pro, they removed the lightning port and headphone jack and put in a USB-C port. In fact it does support things like extended USB-C connectors. So you can't even be consistent with your complaints!
I'll let you have the last response since it is fruitless trying to truly help people who ignore reality. I just post to educate others as to the various ways you have things wrong, and that is now accomplished.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I don't understand the outcry about the lack of a headphone jack. You just leave the small adapter on your old headphones. For new headphones, digital output should be superior anyway as you can place the DAC in the headphones, away from the electronics; and if you buy a good set of headphones, the DAC can be much better than the ones integrated in a phone with headphone jack. That leaves the problem of charging at the same time as using headphones. This can be solved with a simple adapter, which should be supported by the phone. That said, my Pixel 2 does not seem to support such chargers, which is a pain (only very occasionally, I need to charge and want to listen to music or watch a video, but when I do, the lack of an adapter is very annoying). Personally, I would prefer if they would put a USB-C socket on the top, and another one on the bottom. This would increase the flexibility for cabling, and you could easily charge and use a headset (or other USB device) at the same time.
I used to be one who thought the loss of the 3.5mm jack would suck but now I can't think of a time where I'd actually use it. The headphones I use have their own DAC built into them so using the 3.5mm out would actually sound worse than using Bluetooth. So even if I found myself in a situation where I couldn't use Bluetooth for whatever reason I'd reach for a USB-C to Micro USB cable to leverage the external audio bypass. I really wouldn't even miss not having a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter at that point.
OnePlus's motto is 'Never Settle' yet all they have done with their feature set is require you to compromise on the things users want/need. I was so excited when I saw the announcement about the 6T. I am not the person that reads upcoming phone specs nor do I obsess about them. I know I get a new phone every 2 years or so, it is the latest model and it will be sufficiently fast enough. When it is time to buy, then I look at specs. It is now time to buy. Samsung is dead to me after how they completely botched the entire Note 7 (yes I got that one on the first week of release... not fun with the recall, loaner phone, get back a second Note7, final recall, offered a Galaxy, switch to LG). Ultimately I have been pleased with my LG V20, but it is showing its age, so I figure I would go to the ThinQ 7 or V40, then I heard about the 6T. Then I looked at the specs of the 6T:
No headphone jack - I can compromise on this one. I have a Sansa Clip for music and books. Bluetooth on the phone for external speakers is all I do anyway.
Notch - I don't even see this as a comprise. Consumers want an edge to edge screen and they want a front facing camera. If it were up to me, I would go without a front facing camera, but will accept the notch. It is really not that big on the 6T.
No replaceable battery - This one still burns my ass, but any modern phone has to be water resistant so whatever. My V20 has a replaceable battery and I have done so twice.
Fingerprint reader in screen - this is good, I guess. I think it is a step backward from where LG has it on the back. I just think that on the front, in the bottom it will be awkward to one hand it for an unlock. I am sure it is not as bad as I am imagining and some hands on time with the phone would change my mind.
No SD slot - FULL STOP, I WILL NOT BUY THIS PHONE. seriously this is the one that just blows my mind. I guess I am old school and don't trust the cloud.
In the end I followed OnePlus's motto to "Never Settle" (on their phone) Looks like I will be sticking with LG. I don't mean that in a negative way, the LG has been a great phone, I was just really excited to try a stripped down version of Android.
My only question is if there's another good hardware manufacturer that sells a phone with vanilla Android?
Oh, and capitalism really sucks when only the rich decide what you can buy. We need to pry open the market.
No replaceable battery - This one still burns my ass, but any modern phone has to be water resistant so whatever....
No SD slot - FULL STOP, I WILL NOT BUY THIS PHONE
Wouldn't the instruction of an SD card slot be a major potential point of failure as far as water resistance goes?
Real question, are there any phones that can go underwater for a while that have SD card slots? I know there are cameras that are water resistant and even some that are truly water proof that have card slots, but all of the cameras I know of have very bulky doors with seals you have to maintain carefully.
I think water resistance in the end is the real siren call that has got rid of many external phone features that some people liked, because pretty much everyone at some point is very grateful to have a water-proof device (at least from spaces and rain and random dips in water).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
How do you know most people aren't using the headphone jack? Headphones came with my iPhone, headphones came with my previous Android phone, so it's clear that many customers already have the headphones (well, earbuds). Removing the headphone jack means that now uses need to obtain bluetooth headphones or a headphone adapter. Did the later iPhones ship with those?
The notch is just useless fashion (I for one dislike).
Killing the 3.5mm jack is to push pricey wireless earbuds as the USB dongle prevents the use of wired earbuds while charging.
This time they are betting high on their reputation.
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
Don't "grow bigger" and "turn a blind eye to customers" virtually always go together? It's the cycle of life.
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
In talk radio, if you're not pissing off at least a quarter of your listeners every hour, every HOUR, you're failing.
Phone customers think they can dictate specific design decisions. So they wail about notches, which if they serve a purpose are going to stay, and they do (the cosmetics of having narrower bezels except for where the sensors/cameras sit, a big woop), customers have to vote with their feet. Headphone jacks are gonzo. If you're still wired, please 'splain the big deal having to use an adapter. I'm wireless, at the cost of fidelity, but if you're all about quality you've lost that fight with the DAC inadequacies in virtually every phone, and then the source, since you're either flinging gigs of truly lossless that wasn't previously sampled like sh*t, or you've given in to better-than-128k-mp3 quality, which is pus. Or, in simpler terms, audio quality is an oxymoron in phones. Get a player.
OnePlus is doing what it needs to do to expand, and those early adopters that thought the pwned the company are being told what their place is. Better hold on to that treasure you bought last year.
This spew brought to you by a now 10 year HTC customer who has, finally, bought his last HTC anything. The U11 cured me, I'm free.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Hardly anyone changes an SD card frequently, you can easily have a waterproof seal over the SD card slot, and you also have the same waterproofing issue with the SIM card slot as well.
The hate for the notches is they take a bite out of your screen. The rest of the app/video/pic fills the area around the notch. When you rotate the screen its no longer part of the status bar so there goes your scroll bar or part of a web page. If the alternative is a border around your page/app/content you've technically lost 2x the notch of screen space. The other option would be to make it asymmetrical and then you still lose a bezel worth of space.
also the removal of the notification LED, one of the very few distinctive features google and oneplus had, especially over the iphone.
Open Source Java Web Forum with LDAP authentication
... is about making money selling those sweet beats wireless headphones. Who cares what users want when polls indicate they'll give in in large enough numbers to ramp up profits on the headphone front.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
OnePlus NEVER made their phones. I'm not sure why this mistake is made over and over and over by One plus fans. OnePlus repackages and slightly customizes Oppo phones. They have NEVER made their own phones. That's why they can get away with the price break. Whatever Oppo makes? That's what the OnePlus is going to look like.
-- I'm the root of all that's evil, but you can call me cookie..
I took photos underwater in my pool when I got my Samsung S5 several years back. It was probably underwater for 15 mins or so. That phone (with a replacement battery) is still running fine. The SD slot is next to the SIM card slot, both of which (plus battery) is located behind the back cover.
> The vast, vast, majority of Android users use the headphone jack regularly.
Bullshit.
There is an option in the settings that lets you remove the notch if you want a rectangular screen
Samsung is rumored to drop the headphone jack in the S10
As far as I see it, OnePlus includes a USB-C adapter in the box and that's good enough. You probably only use one set of headphones with a headphone jack. Hotglue that sucker on and be done with it.
But, let's be honest... are people used to an open system like OnePlus - which encourages mods, releases the kernel source code, provides easy unlocking of the bootloader, etc....and all without voiding the warranty, going to flock to a closed Samsung phone because it has a HEADPHONE JACK? No. They're just going to go to USB-C headphones or wireless and be done with it. The headphone jack doesn't provide a superior audio experience. It just means you can use $2 ear buds you have stuck in a drawer somewhere. It's really time to move on
OnePlus includes a USB-C adapter in the box and that's good enough. You probably only use one set of headphones with a headphone jack. Hotglue that sucker on and be done with it.
That's absolutely NOT good enough. I use three sets of wired headphones. There is one set in my gym bag, another one at home for the times when I walk the dog, go shopping, and so on. And a third set that's a backup set for the times when one of the others is lost and misplaced. A few times I have ended up in gym with no headphones in my bag, and had to borrow somebody's wired headphones.
This basically means I need to have three of those dangling USB-C adapter penises connected to each of my headphone sets, plus another back up laying in my car and in my gym bag just in case. Ugggh! why did they need to create this problem?
Anyways, no headphone jack means for me no deal. So Good bye Apple, good bye Oneplus, good bye Hauwei Mediapad M5.
Samsung already lost me by making the "infinity edge" display the only display you can have on their galaxy devices.
It blows my mind why many people insist of having battery-killing CPU-devouring QHD resolution on their phone even though it makes no difference to the human eye, and yet will accept the rounded edge display which gives you a clearly visible distortion at the edges of this marvelous display with QHD resolution.
They do sell USB-C headphones. The new OnePlus bullets are USB-C for $20
Bluetooth's poor audio quality makes it a subpar alternative
... for a small fraction of users. For everyone else listening to music on their smartphones, Bluetooth sound quality has gotten to the point where wireless headphones sound just about the same as their wired counterparts, and are more convenient because you don't have to mess with wires anymore.
Let's be honest here, most smartphones have DACs and amps which aren't worth writing home about. And 99.9 percent of users weren't going out and buying high-quality external DACs for their smartphones. So a decent pair of Bluetooth headphones with AAC / aptX support will sort out the 99.9 percent of users. And aptX HD gets you to 24-bit/48kHz. If you really need more than that from your smartphone, then you're the .1 percent.
The only potential issue left is interference, but even that is overblown. A smartphone with a solid Bluetooth implementation of AFH takes care of most of the interference in a way that's not annoying to a casual listener.
How do you know most people aren't using the headphone jack?
Because Apple has sold more than a couple hundred million iPhones without them over a multi-year period?