Bro, You Don’t Need Bundled Charger or IR Blaster

From time to time I visit comment section of latest Sony Xperia 1, in this case Sony Xperia 1 V - https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_1_v-reviews-12263.php. While I have Xperia 5 IV, usually people go to cry and fight to the latest flagship model (not counting that Xperia Pro-I).

I don’t really wonder why there are hardcore fanboys in smartphones. I’m a bit cynical here - most of these people are probably children or don’t have Internet too long or their identity is composed of particular smartphone brand.

Comments there are so bizzare, I wanted to write my experiences.

Btw. is Xperia 5 overpriced for 1000 euros? Yeah, comparatively, but in the end it is worth the money. Finally this is a phone where I don’t feel limited that much. Commenters try to compare features and chipsets, but I don’t care that much about pure numbers. I just need it to have a fast fingerprint reader, run tons of communication apps, use Firefox and take a good photos, and display have nice 10bit colors, microSD slot and fast USB transfers (no USB2.0 joke). And IP67 and no notch or punchhole (this is very important). And relatively easy one hand use. Fortunately I don’t break phones, so the value per money spent should be fine.

Bundled charger

I used to think this is necessary, but not anymore. A phone must use power delivery to be considered serious (use standards for god’s sake) and I prefer to buy dual port USB-C + USB-A 45 or 65W chargers. They are more practical than one port whatever. Sometimes the bundled charger is less powerful than phone supports (7,5W for Xperia XZ2 Compact). Good for the battery I guess and I even used it for some time, but in the end I began to use dual port charger, because lots of times I charge two devices or have microUSB connected to one port and USB-C to another.

Bundled cable

A bundled USB cable is fine I guess, although I don’t require it. Currently I have 15 of them, but also bundled cables are usually 20-40cm, but I buy 1-1,5m cables anyways so I can connect charger to a power strip on a floor and place phone on a chair or table. Yeah, I know that 120W cables have max 50cm, but 65W and lower can be even 2 meters long.

Bundled earphones

Why? I can’t use earphones. Just another cheap item to sell in second hand market. Hours lost. Money lost, because this is hard to sell. Or throw away which hurts my conscience.

IR Blaster

According to https://www.cashify.in/ir-blaster-remote-android-phone-complete-guide only some Chinese brands have IR blasters:

• Vivo X80 Pro
• OnePlus 11R
• HUAWEI P50 Pro
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro
• POCO F4 GT
• iQOO Neo 7
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
• POCO X5 Pro
• Xiaomi 11T series
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
• POCO X4 Pro
• Oppo Find X6 Pro
• Redmi Note 11 Pro Plus
• Redmi 12C
• POCO M4 Pro
• Redmi Note 12

Honestly this looks like 4 base models rebranded to 16.

I don’t use infrared in my daily life. I do have devices with IR remotes in household tho, but don’t use them much.

• audio amplifier
• televisions
• VHS and DVD player
• video capture box

Anyways, I consider those commenters fanboys or more likely paid Chinese agitators. These days they are everywhere and in all areas. Most of devices use Bluetooth these days.

Camera

The best way to have nice photos is to buy a mirrorless camera. Don’t trust Apple, Samsung and definitely not Xiaomi when they are showing adverts or propagation materials how photos are amazing. They are heavily Photoshopped or use special lens - like the whole different one. Advertisement how smartphone camera can capture beautiful moon is a joke (and lying) - the Moon is computed and artificially inserted into a photograph.

On the other hand, yes, you can take nice photos with smartphones. You just need a good light, a support for heavily computed photos (good software) or some skill to set ISO, shutter and aperture.

Conclusion

Bro, you don’t need IR blaster and other stuff can be bought separately and quite cheap - 65W charger cost 30 euros, a good cable 5-10 euros. While it is additional cost, but this will be reused across all other devices like power bank, smartwatch, other phone, battery charger or head lamp.