Google Will Now Back Right-to-Repair
Google Will Now Back Right-to-Repair
The Android phone maker says go ahead, fix your own phone.
The Android phone maker says go ahead, fix your own phone.
The right-to-repair movement continues to gain steam as another big tech company shows its support for letting people fix their own broken devices.
Google endorsed an Oregon right-to-repair legislation Thursday calling it a “common sense repair bill” and saying it would be a “win for consumers.” This marks the first time the Android phone maker has officially backed any right-to-repair law.
The ability to repair a phone, for example, empowers people by saving money on devices while creating less waste,” said Steven Nickel, devices and services director of operations for Google, in a blog post Thursday. “It also critically supports sustainability in manufacturing. Repair must be easy enough for anyone to do, whether they are technicians or do-it-yourselfers.”
In the Oregon repair bill, manufacturers will be required to provide replacement parts, software, physical tools, documentation and schematics needed for repair to authorized repair providers or individuals. The legislation covers any digital electronics with a computer chip although cars, farm equipment, medical devices, solar power systems, and any heavy or industrial equipment that is not sold to consumers are exempt from the bill.
Google has made strides in making its Pixel phones easier to fix. The company enabled a Repair Mode for the phones last month allowing the protection of data on the device while it’s being serviced. There’s also a diagnostic feature that helps determine if your Pixel phone is working properly or not. That said, Google’s Pixel Watch is another story as the company said in October it will not provide parts to repair its smartwatch.
Apple jumped on the right-to-repair bandwagon back in October. The iPhone maker showed its support for a federal law to make it easier to repair its phones after years of being a staunch opponent.
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This is good news but, I gave up my last phone after 3 years because they stopped security updates. My new phone was marginally faster and worse in many ways.
I once had a phone with a replaceable battery, headphone jack, IR blaster (so it was also my TV remote) and SD slot.
I feel after this we gained waterproof phones.
(although I only once dropped my phone in water and it was before waterproof phones and it still worked 48 hours later, so I don't care that much for waterproof phones).
Anyway I feel we just got downhill after this phone, my current pixel has no: headphone jack, IR blaster, SD slot, replaceable battery, etc.
I wonder what would happen when a major smartphone maker would make a phone with all those features again.
Sony flagship phones (xperia 5 and xperia 1 lineup) still have a microsd slot and a headphone jack
And shown by MKBHD's smartphone camera blind test, a shit camera phone for regular people. It's a great little device for professional photographers but a shit choice for regular people.
- Camera auto mode is sub par
- Hugely expensive
- Doesn't have a good track record of providing updates or parts reliably
- Not available in many markets etc.
Even pro photographers won't really utilise it in a professional shooting. It's kinda like a gadget that seem interesting to camera enthusiasts but has poor real use cases. I worked with Sony cameras and interface is very familiar but shooting manual on phone is not enjoyable because it's done with touch screen and no viewfinder. Without dedicated tactile buttons and wheels for shutter / aperture or focus and zoom It's just not replacement for the camera. It is a nice concept of the benefits of having android in an actual camera.
The benefit of shooting with phone is quick return rate but if you need to waste a ton of time in manual because auto and ai does subpar job then what is the point if you can just use camera and have it paired with phone for publishing. The other benefit is convenience of having it with you at all times and it's small form factor which in professional setting doesn't mean anything and for hobby or family moments when I wanna capture something and don't have my equipment with me I will just use auto.
Tbh Sony phones just feel like beta test on how to integrate android into their cameras in future. That is the only reason I can see their niche focus making sense.
Galaxy S5 has all those features, including decent water resistance
So that was the peak!
Would have been peak if it had USBc, but I don't think it was around at that time. Instead it had the dual plug usb3.0 connector you find on external hard drives.