I loved it when my phone had IR. I really hate it when restaurants have tvs on in the dining room. I would turn the volume down or even turn it off. I really miss being able to do that.
Phones don't have IR blasters anymore for the same reason they don't have aux ports or SD card slots anymore. For one, they remove these features to make room for other things that take up the real estate of a thin slice of technology. And for two, cutting those things increases the profit margin of the phones they sell, even if only slightly.
The absence of the component frees up room for the phone’s taptic engine -- which allows your device to vibrate -- and creates room for a larger battery.
I'm not saying I agree with it. I prefer a phone with an aux port, and apple pioneered taking it out. It is what it is
I had that phone for like 4 months and loved it! Unfortunately the police stole it when the house I was living in was raided... it was a good phone, I spent quite lot of hours researching which to get and decided that would be the best.
Yeah, mine doesn't either, but I guess I could get a USB to 3.5mm, then the 3.5mm IR dongle... Eh, I've lived fine without it, as much as I'd enjoy having it back.
oneui is pretty decent but actually i don't like the build quality on most older a series, including mine.
it got better with a54, a53 and a7x ones tho