From black and white Nokias, to clicky Blackberry phones, smartphones have come a long way. It’s hard to believe our most frequent form of entertainment and social connection can easily fit in our pockets. While things like bigger screens and more superior cameras have stuck, here are some smartphone features that seem to be going extinct.
Physical keyboards
There is something about having a full keyboard attached to your phone. It gives off an air of importance, like you simply need to shoot off emails before your company loses another million dollars. With a few tries at reviving the keyboard, the Blackberry brand seems to have given up their position as a smartphone brand and focuses now on cyber security.
Removable batteries
Remember when you would go shopping for a new phone battery? Those days are gone. Even so, not being able to conveniently change your phone battery seems more like a step backwards. It seems more practical to replace your phone battery with ease, extending the usability of your device. Perhaps it’s time some phone manufacturers revisited this feature.
Headphone jacks
This is one of the major changes that was heavily disputed for a while. When Apple decided to drop headphone jacks in its 2017 iPhone 7, many users saw it as a push towards the AirPods that were coincidentally released in Q4 of 2016. Other smartphones began to follow suit and nowadays it has become a niche feature.
Expandable storage
It’s hard to imagine how overloaded albums used to be transferable to simple expandable storage cards. These days, you have to pay a monthly subscription to Apple or Google or Microsoft just to store images in a cloud. But look at the bright side, at least the cloud never goes missing in your office desk drawer.
Notification lights
While these were already uncommon since the mid-2010s, notification lights were handy in the sense that you could know if your phone needed attention from a distance away. Most phone brands have done away with notification lights as it often took away from the phone screen. In the place of notification lights, always on displays have been introduced although it’s not quite the same. But unlike headphone jacks or expandable storage, the trade-off for a bigger screen is probably more palatable across most users.
Conclusion
Smartphones continue to impress us with shiny new features with every generation. What are the features that you miss and what are the ones that you would gladly do away with? Perhaps it’s time for a phone upgrade? However you feel, you can always count on CompAsia to bring you high quality pre-owned smart devices at affordable prices. Check out what’s available by browsing our store today!
