Unleashing My Festivus Fury: Top Smartphones with a Lot of Explaining to Do

Festivus: Airing Grievances with Smartphones

In the spirit of Festivus, I’m taking to the airwaves to share my grievances with the smartphone world. Gather ’round the Festivus pole!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold I Really Want… in Korea and China Only?

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 has a flaw: the narrow screen when closed. I was hoping Samsung would fix the problem with the Galaxy Z Fold 6, but the new phone was only slightly wider than its predecessors. It seems the only way to get a proper foldable tablet is to buy the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, which is available in Korea and China. What about the rest of us?

The iPhone 16 Camera Control Isn’t a Shutter Button

I’m still waiting for a two-stage shutter button on my iPhone. Apple’s AI powers its camera convenience, but maybe that was the point all along?

I Can’t Buy a Xiaomi 14 Ultra. Or a Huawei. Why?

There’s a camera phone that haunts my dreams: the Xiaomi 14 Ultra. But it’s not available in the US, and I wouldn’t buy an import model without proper network and warranty support. Meanwhile, Huawei’s Mate XT is also out of reach. I’ve heard the reason is political, but the US market is missing out on something good.

Stereotypes from Generative AI, Now on Your Smartphone

Generative AI creates images that often adhere to racist, sexist, ableist… pretty much any stereotype you can imagine. And now, this feature is on your smartphone. Google and Samsung have limited their AI wallpaper features, but some phones, like the Motorola Razr Plus 2024, still present these problematic results. This isn’t acceptable. These AI image generators are not useful enough to justify the danger.