convergence posts

A couple weeks ago, I bought a new phone, a Pixel 9 Pro. That is my 3rd phone in the last three years, about as many as I had bought in the previous 15. But the last two just weren't meeting my desires. The Samsung S24 didn't support multiple profiles or the AVF terminal, and the separate Samsung account, required for some features, was off-putting. The Minimal MP01 was missing reasonably frequent security updates, had a poor camera, had some buggyness and definitely had no video out or AVF terminal, among other things. The Pixel can support all that I want and can run the security / privacy focused Android fork, Graphene OS, as well as other common Android forks. This is my first try with Graphene or any self-installed alternative. I set it up and then moved my SIM card over a little over a week ago.

Yesterday, I got a new phone, a Samsung Galaxy S24. Jade green, ordered from samsung.com because that was the only place to get green. I never got my Pixel 3a running again and my Moto X was just a little too broken, slow, poor network connecting, and unable to handle some apps. The S24 was my first Samsung and notably more expensive than any phone I've gotten before. But I justified it by its:

• likely longevity with 7 years of updates, strong build, waterproofing
• reasonable size
• full features
• 5G data
• Dex desktop mode and USB video out

I'm still getting set up and getting used to it, but I think I'm happy with it. Continue reading post "New phone: Samsung S24"