I’ve got an older, smaller iPhone (12 mini) and apparently these are also phone thief repellent as had the experience of it being snatched out of my hand only to be tossed onto the pavement further up the street. I had the out-of-body experience of hearing myself yelling “thank you!” at the retreating thief for this pleasure
London Centric is run from an ageing iPhone mini which is the thinking person’s phone of choice. So I’m delighted to find readers who also recognise that AND learn I don’t need to switch to an Android just yet.
I'd pay anything to replace my trusty but aging iPhone 12 Mini with a brand new iPhone 12 Mini 👍 I think it's cos it's the closest one to the sturdy iPhone 4, which was the best ever.
I've had my phone snatched twice, and dropped twice. Either they fumbled it or didn't want it. It's an old Google pixel. Not a scratch on it - can recommend!
Many years ago in Cape Town, some hapless sod sent his Mercedes careening and caroming off the cliffside, emerging virtually unscathed from the ordeal to be featured in a gleeful set of full-page ads run by the local dealership; enduring testament to the durability of their offerings.
The boom gloating was cut short a day later, when BMWs ad quietly noted their brakes wouldn't have failed in the first place.
I'm Cape Townian living in London and was losing it at how London is first-world even in its muggings, thinking it would never be this way back home. Lmao at my hometown still managing to make the comments somehow
I feel like there's no way you'd do this as a big brand (e.g. Google or Samsung) but it could be a very effective nieche for a small brand trying to launch a grassroots, social media based advertising campaign.
How about leaning into a scarcity / niche angle. The nature of being too niche is why they're not resaleable, but the scarcity heuristic still makes you want it.
I truly don't believe that every phone thief would ignore Samsung Galaxy models. They are premium devices and cost just as much as iPhones. I understand why Pixel phones aren't their main target, but I still wonder why they would even discard them after snatching them. They won't be caught anyway, and they are free for them to resell at any price (even lower). I have a Samsung Galaxy phone and I always have it inside my pocket when I am walking in busy streets.
I don't think it's just about value. At this point the gangs selling phones have a mass-scale process in place. They have a dedicated buyer, who sets the demand for x number of iPhones, they have the team delivering those phones, and the tech support teams wiping the devices and making them usable for a new user. To have to repeat that tech support and find buyers for the very fragmented Android market is time consuming and probably not really worth the effort.
My partner's phone got snatched in Leytonstone last week - it's a newer Pixel - and they also threw it back! Not a scratch! Pretty sure the Google models don't work the same in China, I had a pixel years ago and it didn't work properly because of the Great Firewall.
Many years ago some muggers circled me and demanded my phone, I got it out and explained it was a really old iPhone. They decided to not mug me, and while walking away one shouted "get an upgrade!"
Yeah as I said in bsky, having the weird ass Xperia 1 V (21:9 aspect ratio, quite big, headphone jack and microsd card) which was not precisely a cheap purchase got me paranoid in the beginning thinking everyone would steal it. Then I stopped caring and saw guys approaching me close in the canal and then running away as they saw the freakery I had in my hand. My little baby freak.
Funnily enough, read this piece yesterday and today a guy on a bike snatched my phone as I was changing music. Despite me running after him he took the time to stop at a red light, look at my (unlocked) phone (older android fairphone 4) and throw it on the ground before biking away. Guy properly threw it on the ground though, so now it has some scratches but beats losing it.
Glad I have a Samsung! My friend just had her iPhone 17 snatched by a guy on a bike this morning in Shoreditch. Wish that a minor explosion (harmless but alarming, maybe with a blowing raspberry noise) could be part of the security protocols..
I’ve got an older, smaller iPhone (12 mini) and apparently these are also phone thief repellent as had the experience of it being snatched out of my hand only to be tossed onto the pavement further up the street. I had the out-of-body experience of hearing myself yelling “thank you!” at the retreating thief for this pleasure
London Centric is run from an ageing iPhone mini which is the thinking person’s phone of choice. So I’m delighted to find readers who also recognise that AND learn I don’t need to switch to an Android just yet.
I'd pay anything to replace my trusty but aging iPhone 12 Mini with a brand new iPhone 12 Mini 👍 I think it's cos it's the closest one to the sturdy iPhone 4, which was the best ever.
Agreed on both counts. The iPhone 4 was the platonic ideal of a smartphone.
Agree my hands and my pockets are only so big!
I'm already determined to hold on to my 13 Mini for as long as possible, and this story only strengthens that feeling 😂
I've had my phone snatched twice, and dropped twice. Either they fumbled it or didn't want it. It's an old Google pixel. Not a scratch on it - can recommend!
Challenge for the comments section: You’re the Android/Samsung/Pixel PR team.
Do you embrace the “buy us if you don’t want your phone stolen” messaging.
Or do you run away from the “not cool enough to be nicked” implicit element.
Many years ago in Cape Town, some hapless sod sent his Mercedes careening and caroming off the cliffside, emerging virtually unscathed from the ordeal to be featured in a gleeful set of full-page ads run by the local dealership; enduring testament to the durability of their offerings.
The boom gloating was cut short a day later, when BMWs ad quietly noted their brakes wouldn't have failed in the first place.
I'm Cape Townian living in London and was losing it at how London is first-world even in its muggings, thinking it would never be this way back home. Lmao at my hometown still managing to make the comments somehow
I feel like there's no way you'd do this as a big brand (e.g. Google or Samsung) but it could be a very effective nieche for a small brand trying to launch a grassroots, social media based advertising campaign.
How about leaning into a scarcity / niche angle. The nature of being too niche is why they're not resaleable, but the scarcity heuristic still makes you want it.
I truly don't believe that every phone thief would ignore Samsung Galaxy models. They are premium devices and cost just as much as iPhones. I understand why Pixel phones aren't their main target, but I still wonder why they would even discard them after snatching them. They won't be caught anyway, and they are free for them to resell at any price (even lower). I have a Samsung Galaxy phone and I always have it inside my pocket when I am walking in busy streets.
I don't think it's just about value. At this point the gangs selling phones have a mass-scale process in place. They have a dedicated buyer, who sets the demand for x number of iPhones, they have the team delivering those phones, and the tech support teams wiping the devices and making them usable for a new user. To have to repeat that tech support and find buyers for the very fragmented Android market is time consuming and probably not really worth the effort.
However I agree with you that if there was another brand that they could make profitable, it would be the Samsung Galaxy.
My partner's phone got snatched in Leytonstone last week - it's a newer Pixel - and they also threw it back! Not a scratch! Pretty sure the Google models don't work the same in China, I had a pixel years ago and it didn't work properly because of the Great Firewall.
Many years ago some muggers circled me and demanded my phone, I got it out and explained it was a really old iPhone. They decided to not mug me, and while walking away one shouted "get an upgrade!"
Yeah as I said in bsky, having the weird ass Xperia 1 V (21:9 aspect ratio, quite big, headphone jack and microsd card) which was not precisely a cheap purchase got me paranoid in the beginning thinking everyone would steal it. Then I stopped caring and saw guys approaching me close in the canal and then running away as they saw the freakery I had in my hand. My little baby freak.
Funnily enough, read this piece yesterday and today a guy on a bike snatched my phone as I was changing music. Despite me running after him he took the time to stop at a red light, look at my (unlocked) phone (older android fairphone 4) and throw it on the ground before biking away. Guy properly threw it on the ground though, so now it has some scratches but beats losing it.
Did we mentally prepare you for this happening?
Did a better job at that than the "phone thieves operate in this area" signs.
Glad I have a Samsung! My friend just had her iPhone 17 snatched by a guy on a bike this morning in Shoreditch. Wish that a minor explosion (harmless but alarming, maybe with a blowing raspberry noise) could be part of the security protocols..
Never been so glad to have a Pixel A model!
(they tend to bounce quite safely too!)
London council try not to be run by nutjob despots challenge: impossible
A tenner a month for AppleCare with theft and loss protection gives me ample peace of mind in London and elsewhere.