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As we start 2020 waiting for new smartphone technologies, we now live in a different world. We’re still excited about flip phones and all the cool things to come, but given the outbreak that has changed our lives, we also take a moment to reflect on how we’ve started to use our phones differently.
Why? Because we spend our days recommending phones with a view to how they will be used and valued in the coming years. If our circumstances have changed, then the things we value on phones could have changed.
For example, do we need those high capacity batteries that we adopted in our reviews now that we are sitting within five feet of a charger at all times? Are we seeing more media walking through our living spaces, or less, since some of our trips have been drastically reduced?
The way we use phones has changed, and although it will return to being normal in time, we are curious to know if these new habits will continue and, in turn, what we value in phones in the future. Our team of phone reviewers has explained how their behavior has changed in the past few months of blocking below:
David Lumb
Mobile publisher, USA USA
There are a lot of things I loved about phones that I haven’t found so helpful while taking refuge instead: bigger batteries, telephoto lenses, and screen brightness no longer matter as much as before. In fact, it allows strengths that are generally overlooked to stand out.
For example, I still use wireless headphones (because cables are worst), but I found that my lack of transportation makes it easier to plug my cute earphones into phones with a 3.5mm jack, and as it happens, two new phones have that old benefit: the LG V60 and the Motorola Edge Plus. Audiophiles and holdouts have lost this port on newer flagships, and I appreciate their side of things now that my more sedentary day has kept me from trusting in my AirPods Pro.
These circumstances have revealed an even better unknown hero: fingerprint scanners. While looking at a phone until facial recognition is activated has never been a particular pleasure, it is much more difficult to use now that we all wear masks outside, or, in the case of the iPhone, impossible, since FaceID will not register faces that are partially blocked
And like most of you, I’ve been video chatting a bit longer. While I put a lot more miles on my webcam, I also did my fair share of FaceTime and Google Hangouts, which is where my wireless headphones have come in handy to carry on the conversation while I’m cooking or doing dishes. I’ve come to value accessories like wireless charging stands to keep my phone propped up as I speak. I don’t exactly need a high-quality screen to see my friends and family; I prefer to have a more reliable Bluetooth connection to my headphones.
John McCann
Vice principal
I’m using my phone more … but I’m also using it less. Since I don’t currently have to make my long commute to and from the office, the amount of time I spend listening to podcasts and music, and video streaming on my smartphone has dropped to almost zero.
With larger screens, smart speakers and a game console, all at your fingertips at home, I currently don’t trust my phone to listen to music, movies or TV. When it comes to using my phone for long periods of time, it slows down considerably during blocking.
However, I am also using my phone more, but in shorter bursts. I find myself picking it up for more frequent notifications, and message volumes increase as friends, family, and colleagues stay in touch rather than face-to-face meetings.
In short, my interactions with my phone are up, but the time I use it for each interaction is down.
Tom Bedford
Staff Writer
I don’t think I’ve reviewed a social media feed in a month. I have also not listened to music (except in my government-assigned exercise time), watched movies or television (except once I was too lazy to get out of bed), or taken outdoor photo shoots to test the cameras. of the telephone. So there are three things I do in abundance with my phone.
First of all, I have been playing differently. Not necessarily more often, but I’ve had time to play more complicated games, so now I’m deep in Stardew Valley and have XCOM: Enemy Within below. Thank goodness I’ve been locked up with some cool gaming phones.
Secondly, I’ve been communicating through phone calls, and I don’t remember the last time I had one of those that wasn’t through an app or video. This has almost exclusively replaced the digital interactions I had using apps. Yes, I’ve had more of those boring old boring phone features, always at least one a day, and it’s the preferable way to communicate too if your house has a bad Wi-Fi connection. However, it seems that I have gone back in time about ten years.
Finally, I decided to use my phone’s camera to embark on a new project: learning stop motion animation. With the purchase of a smartphone tripod, an Amazon portable light room, and a slew of Play-Dough, I’m using my Oppo Find X2 Pro and iPad Pro 12.9 to capture and edit short sequences together; It is not exactly art yet, but it is an accessible way to learn a new skill while locked up.
James Peckham
Telephone editor
My phone’s home screen is a holy place. There’s a meticulous order to my apps, so muscle memory can just take over and I’m not wasting those precious seconds, especially when I’m on autopilot, opening my email when I really wanted WhatsApp.
Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but one of the most important changes for me during the Covid-19 crash was when I realized that I had to change some apps. It all started when I realized that Citymapper was irrelevant.
Netflix Who needs that on their home screen when they have a TV just a few feet away? Banking apps aren’t even that helpful right now as I have a much clearer idea of where I spend my money and how.
In fact, much of the order of my home screen has changed. For example, I now have four different audio applications. Those are Spotify, Audible, a podcast app, and the BBC Sounds app (a UK radio provider) since I’m using all four much more regularly than normal.
Also, I’ve re-downloaded Words With Friends (which took over the coveted Citymapper spot at the top right) as everyone now wants to challenge me in Scrabble-like gameplay to avoid boredom.
