Flaki

So at the end of 2021, I got an ASUS Zenfone 8. It was brand new, unlocked, costing around 800€ at the time, it replaced my aging Pixel 3... with a phone that, in many aspects was a step *backwards* (particularly in camera quality).

Well, it's 2024, the phone is barely 2.5 years old and *already* the last time it received security updates was *last November*. Not to mention how it's stuck on Android 13... NBD, says the intrepid homebrew modder, I'll just install a custom ROM..!

HA!

You *think*!

Apparently, over a year ago ASUS broke their (proprietary) unlocking mechanism by pulling the plug on the servers, and haven't ever fixed it. You can't unlock the bootloader, can't install any other OS.

My $200 Pixel 5 from Ali Express is a more secure and more capable phone than this piece of junk right now. How is this even *allowed* by consumer protection agencies??
#degooglification

Jun 22, 2024 at 2:42pmWeb
Show threadferricoxideJun 22, 2024
@flaki honestly, the various countries need to pass laws that make the device makers responsible for any damages caused by phones that haven't been patched due to no monthly security patches any time within 5 years from the first sale date of a given device.
Show threadFlakiJun 22, 2024
@ferricoxide  
Show threadDaniel DemmelJun 22, 2024
@flaki ironically unlocking the bootloader and through that degooglification is super easy on Google's own Pixels, which make them an excellent second hand buying option!
Show threadFlakiJun 22, 2024

@daaain it's SO annoying, yep!
(and particularly because Pixels themselves are enshittifying in their own ways; not just by means of growing ever-more-gigantic, but in many subtle but extremely annoying ways…)

(whoever came up with moving the quick and handy fingerprint sensor to the screen, or even worse, removing it completely deserves to get cooked tender in the deepest reaches of the underworld…)

Show threadDaniel DemmelJun 22, 2024
@flaki I probably haven't ever tried a really good fingerprint scanner, but coming from Fairphone 3's back fingerprint scanner that more often didn't work than it did, the under-screen one in the Pixel 6 is a breath of fresh air, works like 85% of the time.
Show threadFlakiJun 23, 2024
@daaain both the Pixel 3 & Pixel 5's rear fingerprint sensor works for me 99% of the time. I would say my Zenfone 8 had roughly 85% success rate with the screen one and I got used to it, it was okay, then coming back to a Pixel 5 was, like you said, a "breath of fresh air".
Show threadknackJun 22, 2024
@flaki wait, I was sure the EU has a law about this… did it not come into effect yet?
Show threadFlakiJun 23, 2024
@knack I think that one's about repairability & availability of parts, maybe firmware updates included to? But in this case me (and many others) got this phone for its prospect of an unlockable bootloader, which they then broke and never fixed.