Calm Code

Smart Phone Evolution

I was thinking about how smartphones have evolved and how they are now becoming over complicated for my taste.

Nokia E71 — First physical qwerty keyboard I had. Was fast to use and solid as a rock. No cases needed.

Nexus 5 — The screen was smooth and the back was matte. Very easy to handle and pocket. No case was necessary until I dropped it on a concrete floor 😢. I still consider this one of the best phones I’ve had.

iPhone 6 — Great phone, good balance. Very pocketable even with a slim case. The touch ID was always spot on and was still usable in one hand.

iPhone 6s — This one had a battery heating issue at the start. Got a replacement and chugged along nicely for a while. Didn't handle the newer iOS updates as well but was useable.

iPhone XR — Familiar but heavy as hell. Face ID was ok but I missed TouchID very much. Battery life was decent due to the LCD screen.

iPhone 13 — Familiar but feels very fragile. I got a rugged case which is not pocketable. Too heavy to hold for long calls. I have to use the speakerphone or a headset most of the time.

Clearly I’m not impressed with these latest overpriced pocket computers. Going forward I would go for a smaller iPhone SE, iPhone mini or pretty much any mid range Android phone.