In the Spring Festival of 2023, it seems that everything has returned to the rhythm of the past, and wanderers who are away can freely return to their hometowns, and relatives who are thousands of miles away can finally be reunited.
In the eyes of the younger generation, there are many "new tasks" in addition to reunion. Single young people are asked how to solve personal problems, unmarried men and women have to talk about their marriage expectations, married people have to conduct on-the-spot defense about their career status...
Young people who are more sensitive to technology and digital often help their elders solve new problems brought by these new gadgets, or bring products to bring new experiences to their families. Lei Technology chatted with some young people about the consumer electronics and smart home things they encountered during the long-lost Spring Festival when they could pass unhindered with their families.
New category of home appliances, really useful?
Ah Xin is a loyal smart home fan, as early as when the industry was not so widely selected now, it boldly upgraded the light switch of the rental house. In the following years, he has upgraded his hometown intelligently from door locks to toilet lids, and if parents and pets have any accidents at home, he can also see them with his mobile phone at any time from thousands of miles away.
He is happy that the concept of smart home is gradually being promoted by the less interested public with the change of the real estate industry. A-Xin's aunt moved to a new home this year, which is a delicate and well-decorated apartment, and the real estate developer pre-installed smart door locks in the home, and also taught the aunt's family to skillfully use fingerprints to open the door, and the relatives visiting the aunt can also skillfully generate a one-time password to let people enter the house.
(Source: Xiaomi)
However, compared with the traditional door lock in the simple and direct between opening and closing, the smart door lock actually brings new "troubles" to the aunt. The door lock sometimes enters a state that will not be completely locked due to misoperation, and there has been a thrilling moment when the aunt suddenly finds the door open after entering the door to wash her hands and change clothes, although the battery needs to be replaced every few months, and the uncertainty of battery life will still make the aunt feel uneasy.
Ah Xin has been entangled in whether she should buy an oven at home, originally thinking that her mother can have more handy kitchen appliances, and the big family can easily make a "big dish" such as roast chicken when eating Chinese New Year's Eve. Unfortunately, the oven is not as intuitive and easy to use as the microwave, and my mother tried several times to figure out the relationship between controlling the heat pipe and time, but it would still bake or not cook, and over time the oven was so idle.
Chinese New Year's Eve he came to his aunt's house this year, and found that the air fryer has become a powerful tool for making grilled goods and desserts. In principle, the air fryer is a simplified version of the oven, which is smaller and easier to operate, and the food can be put in the set time to wait for the pan. My sister-in-law bought more and more transparent air fryers, and she didn't need to pull it out to know the cooking status through the glass.
(Source: Jiuyang)
Starting from the inadvertent increase of scale in the kettle, more and more people began to care about the water problem, and Ah Xin did not hesitate to replace the rental house with an RO water purifier that can drink directly, and the hometown naturally did the same. He chose a high-flux water purifier that can be directly heated, which is equivalent to the flow of hot water with its own pipeline function, and the flow of effluent water will not lose much due to filtration.
Parents agree with the improvement brought about by the hot water that can be drunk directly, but their worries also make Ah Xin worry: the quality of the water supply continues to deteriorate, the TDS degree of the water purifier will exceed 100 after a period of time, and more water must be released to wait for filtration to normal values, if the water purifier self-cleaning frequency is increased to reduce the degree in advance, parents will still question whether it is too wasteful of water. He hopes that drinking clean water will not be too burdensome.
Put on your watch and put your family at ease
Lin Jiajia, who returned home after "passing the yang", immediately put on smart watches that can monitor blood oxygen and other signs for family members. When the symptoms are obvious, it is the Apple Watch that makes her realize that she is sick, blood oxygen monitoring, sleep records and other sign management helps her intuitively understand the current state, and the reminder to drink water is even more so high that people can remember to drink more hot water.
Unfortunately, Lin Jiajia, who is not going smoothly in 2022, does not have enough budget to wear the basic Apple Watch SE for 1999 yuan for everyone, and combined with the fact that family members' mobile phones are mainly Android mobile phones, she finally chose several smart watches and smart bracelets launched by domestic brands to express her concern within her ability.
(Source: Apple)
What Mom got was a round light smartwatch produced in 2020. She explained that although it looks like a not so fresh inventory product, in fact, in the past two or three years, the RTOS light smart watch has not changed the essence of functional performance, almost all products have changed around the screen and appearance, that is, there is no need to buy new models, the price falls to hundreds of yuan in the middle and high-end will be more "cost-effective".
After seeing a number of men's sports and light luxury style products, she felt that this watch with a gold metal body and a light gray imitation leather strap, and its weight and size were relatively small and lightweight, which seemed to be more suitable for mothers. Compared with Apple Watch, light smart watches provide family management functions that are much simpler, but enough to understand your family's heart rate, sleep, and exercise from thousands of miles away.
Grandparents got two smart bracelets of the same style, she set the same large-character dial, other settings are exactly the same, the old people can see more clearly and remind each other. This bracelet can have more than four days of battery life when all signs are monitored, which is convenient enough for the elderly who are not familiar with smart devices, and the universal magnetic charger also allows the elderly to charge without thinking too much.
(Source: OPPO)
The unit price of commercial smart bracelets has come to one or two hundred yuan, and only fluoroelastomer straps are provided to control costs, which brings potential skin allergies. Grandpa wore it for a few days without incident, but grandma was tossed by allergies and uncomfortable, and the sleep condition was not very good, and the wrist itching caused by the breathable fluoroelastomer made it even more difficult to sleep. Lin Jiajia had to buy another woven strap, but the delivery was too late.
Interestingly, although she initially considered that the watch would come to 40g~50g or even heavier, it might not be very comfortable for people who did not wear it often, so she bought her grandparents a smart bracelet that weighed less than 30g. However, the old man expressed that he wanted his mother's smart watch with a dial display area of about 50% larger, and the large-screen display effect was far more important than the weight.
The "old man" also needs large capacity and strong performance
After some entanglement, Pingping chose the latter between the folding screen mobile phone and the new regular new machine launched at the end of 2022, which is used to replace the new smartphone for his parents. In the Spring Festival of 2020, she got her first year-end bonus and excitedly replaced her parents' mobile phone, and had to buy the 128GB basic version due to budget constraints, even if the performance was enough, there was often a problem of insufficient storage.
At that time, she thought that the 128GB mobile phone still had nearly half of the remaining space after the replacement was completed, and how could it be used for a long time. Unexpectedly, with the accumulation of various pictures, videos, etc. in WeChat chats, as well as various apps that are becoming more and more "growing", regular cleaning and storage has also become a compulsory course for parents. This time the new machine bought a 512GB top configuration, and she hopes to insist more.
(Source: Lei Technology)
As for why parents did not try the folding screen, first, the iteration speed of the folding screen is relatively slow, the existing models are equipped with the previous generation of chips, and the conventional high-end machines of the new generation of chips have been listed, and buying new machines is less likely to encounter performance bottlenecks. Second, her parents often go out for activities, and the folding screen that is not "strong enough" will face higher maintenance costs once damaged, and the long-term use cost is not affordable enough.
Owen did not bring a new mobile phone to his parents, and in the summer of 2020, he finally seized the opportunity to return to his hometown, and by the way, he gave his parents the large storage version of the Snapdragon 865 mobile phone with a good discount on the 618 promotion that year. These products still have good performance after three years of use, taking pictures and charging are above the midstream level today, and the storage and battery life are still temporarily normal, so I plan to discuss it next year.
He also has small troubles. After her mother retired and was idle at home, she gradually liked to open all kinds of "speed" apps and participate in activities to "make money". Half a day of busy work a month can almost reflect dozens of dollars, but it is also a pastime. He worries about the longevity of the phone - his mother will often let the phone display the same screen in order to facilitate housework, which risks burning the screen.
If his mother didn't know much about the potential service life of the phone, Owen couldn't laugh or cry, then the change in his father's phone made him feel a little angry. My father is not keen on using apps to make money, but a large number of advertisements appear in the mobile phone, or one after another, and finally the mobile phone system built-in app store installation interface will pop up, automatically download the promoted app.
(Source: Lei Technology)
He originally thought that his father accidentally installed the rogue software mentioned at the 315 Gala in 2022, but after investigation, he found that now the mobile phone system of the head manufacturer has enhanced the management of the installation of applications from unknown sources, in fact, it is difficult to install rogue software quietly. The "culprits" are actually a few obscure fast apps, ostensibly tools that are actually all ads.
The technical advantages of easy installation alone cannot be cured, and the technical advantages of easy installation have been appropriated and become a petri dish for fast-spreading advertising programs. Finally, he revoked the consent to private information in the management interface of the fast app, so that dozens of fast apps inadvertently installed on the mobile phone can be deleted altogether, even if there will be an app to induce the elders to click on it later, it will be rejected due to privacy prompts.
Knowing how to repair computers is still a scarce skill
Sheng Chao, who was absent from the Spring Festival for two consecutive years, can finally return to his hometown to reunite with his relatives this time, and in addition to the routine New Year customs and family gatherings, he also has to help relatives and friends solve PC failures that ordinary people are not familiar with. The first thing he had to troubleshoot when he returned home was the desktop computer at home, a self-assembled computer he used in college, which was left for his father to use online after work.
The version number of the Windows system has come from 7 to 11 over the years, but there has never been a better software ecology, so after a while, it is necessary to delete the rogue software that my father installed by mistake and misdirection. These annoying things look like little more than tool software, but in fact they only turn your computer into an advertising machine. As the hardware ages, he has to try to replace parts or make repairs.
(Source: Lenovo)
This year, his workload is obviously much easier, and he took advantage of the performance gap and the Double 11 opportunity to replace his home with an all-in-one computer. The all-in-one machine is far from the mainstream desktop in terms of performance, but it is much more worry-free than DIY - it takes up less desktop space and the noise is also controlled, and the manufacturer provides a two-year on-site warranty, so you don't have to wait for your Spring Festival to go home, and you can call for maintenance with a call.
The quality of maintenance services provided by first- and second-tier PC manufacturers is acceptable, but there are also places where they are not enough. Cousin Sheng Chao was preparing to play games during the Spring Festival, but he never thought that the laptop keyboard that was good on weekdays would fail in the Chinese New Year's Eve night, and he couldn't enter any operations at all. This gaming laptop was a reward that my cousin received when he was admitted to college, and it has been guaranteed three years ago.
Even relatively heavy gaming notebooks have a similar structure to today's mainstream notebook products, and the bottom cover and a series of components such as the motherboard and battery must be removed before the keyboard can be repaired. This is too difficult for desktop players who do not have prepared tools during the Spring Festival and rarely encounter notebook failures, and after communicating with their cousin, they decided to find a manufacturer to pay for repair.
(Source: Lenovo)
During the Spring Festival, all walks of life will have a holiday and rest, especially for non-guaranteed PC repair services. The manufacturer's official website does not specify the holiday date of the maintenance outlet, only as usual, it says "open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.", and calls the phone left by the outlet to transfer to the store manager's mobile phone, only to know that the maintenance master will work after the fourth year of junior high school, and the cost has no specific standard depending on the situation.
Fortunately, he will take a leave of absence until the sixth year of junior high school and then return to work, with enough time to solve unexpected problems. Shengchao handed over the mechanical keyboard brought home to his cousin for temporary use, and the rapid development of the domestic supply chain made the keyboard that can be hot-swappable and replaced with the shaft body and RGB lighting quite affordable, and this DIYer who does not play the keyboard has also bought several replacement models one after another.
epilogue
The progress of consumer electronics has really brought all-round changes to the public. As we've been saying for years, things we've long been accustomed to can be done in a simpler and more comfortable way. Housework is effortless, personal health management is meticulous, smartphones are embedded in all aspects of life, and all of this has expanded from young people to a wider range of groups.
There are still many small issues to be solved, such as advertising programs that are not completely solved on mobile phones, wearables with a lot of room for comfort and functionality, and smart homes where reliability and ease of use are still being explored. This may be the "sweet burden" for young people and elders to find topics, but the day when there are no more these little troubles should be better than now.