this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2023
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I'm having a tough time choosing my next android smartphone, any ideas? (lemy.lol)
submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
12 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

cross-posted from: https://lemy.lol/post/1519899

EDITED: As I am not in a rush, I've decided that my budget is now $1000. I would really prefer to spend less than $500 though.

I am picky about the features I look for in a smartphone. Hopefully this post can be a good resource for myself and others who have similar preferences. For reference, I am using a Oneplus 7 Pro with a non-functional camera and flashlight.

Very important features

Battery life

It should handle a day's worth of general usage before charging. Heat kills batteries, so decent heat dissipation is important too.

Durability or repairability

I recently bought a Google Pixel 5a, a phone I greatly enjoyed before I dropped it 5 feet and the display decided its work was done. My top priority is to have a useable device for ~5 years before needing an upgrade.

Storage

I like storing my music collection (30 GB and growing) and expandable storage would save me from having to carry a DAP (mp3 player). Without expandable storage it should have 256 GB storage.

Price

Electronics aren't meant to last a long time; I'd prefer devices costing ~300 USD, but I would gladly pay a little more for reliability.

Microphone

Please let me be intelligible on phone calls. Please? Pretty please?

Software updates or custom ROM support

OS updates for 3+ years or resources on XDA for flashing a custom ROM. Ideally LineageOS.

Would be nice

Root capability

It's a bit dated nowadays, but I really do appreciate having that extra bit of control. This also ties into custom ROM support.

Fingerprint Sensor

I loved the dedicated fingerprint sensor on my Pixel 5a. Power button fingerprints are worse, but better than nothing. Typing in my passcode every time is a bit of a pain.

Speakers

Preferably dual front facing stereo speakers. Having some decent output for videos when I don't have anything else with me would be nice.

OLED/AMOLED display

Makes stuff WAY easier to see when the sun's all sunny.

Processing power

I don't play phone games. I watch a lot of media and I message people. Must be capable of simultaneously running muliple apps and background services.

IPA ratings

It'd be pretty sick if I could bring it with me in the shower without worrying about water damage.

Fast charging

Won't always use it, but it'd be great to have.

Cutting corners

Screen resolution

I don't need a 4K display. Hell, I don't need a 1080p display. If it cuts costs, 720p is just fine so long as it looks okay.

Size

It can be big or small, thick or thin. Not picky.

Other features I don't need

Headphone jack, NFC, 5G, wireless charging

The phones I am looking at right now are as follows

  • Sony Xperia 10 V - No custom ROM support, long term durability is unclear.
  • Fairphone 4 - Slightly out of price range.
  • Samsung Galaxy XCover6 Pro - Way out of price range. I would appreciate any input or questions.
all 14 comments
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[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Very hard on that price range. Above your price range sits the Asus Zenfone 10 (the 9 is really good as well), which covers a lot of your points. The 10 allows you to disable everything and have stock Android experience. Not bad ! Not sure the 9 had that.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Hey OP ! I'm digging this back up, I found a smartphone that might interest you (with a few caveats) : The Nokia G42.

It's an interesting one ! Built to be durable and reparable. It's a smartphone, but Nokia worked with iFixIt to design this model; you can remove the back cover to "easily" change the battery, the USB-C port and the screen. It has a headphone jack (even if you don't care), a decent screen (90Hz, 720p though), has expendable storage to 1To, approximately 2 days of battery life (Nokia claims 3 days), it's "cheap" (can be found where I leave to around 230 euros) and has take decent photos (for its price). Not sure about rooting this one though !

The main issues from my point of view are updates (3 years of security update is OK, but 2 years of guaranteed Android updates is short), and the processor, which is quite weak. Not sure how it will perform in newer version of Android.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Wow. Nokia is fulfilling prayers now apparently.

In seriousness, this is a very promising device. I'll likely wait a bit after release before pulling the trigger on this phone, but honestly it's probably what I'm going to go with. As far as rooting goes, I suppose that's up to the XDA community to decide. The 2 year android updates is pretty short, I agree. But for the price, I think that it would be a good option regardless.

Thanks for following up on this as well!

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I think your best bet might still be a pixel (probably a-line), since that would be the path of least resistance for software support and custom rom development/rootability. Another fun option is ASUS with great price/performance and a huge battery (I think it's fairly repairable too?), but it doesn't seem there's a community for custom roms. Here's the main possibilities and downsides as I see them:

Pixel: a little pricey, not great price/performance, not sure on repairability, weird issues with extra sw features apparently getting worse over time

Samsung: forget about custom roms, again not great price/performance at your price range, repairability okay but not good

Fairphone: bad performance, I don't believe there's any water resistance and build quality would be a concern for me, unsure about software support but I'd expect good custom rom community

Sony: not a large user base, so I'd assume there won't be custom roms. I think Sony hasn't committed to the same software support as other big names. I'd be worried about availability of replacement parts for repairs

ASUS zenfone: out of your price range. Bad track record for sw support

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You grasped what I was trying to convey well and I appreciate that. I will definitely look into the Zenfone as far as repairability goes, since I think that a repairable phone with a few years of android updates might be what I need. Thank you for your input.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

I wish there was a better recommendation I could have given! Good luck finding something that works well for you though :)

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Thinking about buying a Zenphone. What is "sw support"?

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Software support, basically ASUS doesn't have a great track record when it comes to updating phones to the newest versions of Android (although they might be getting better at this). I would only expect 1 or 2 Android version updates if I were buying a zenfone (and probably to get those significantly later than Google and Samsung phones), and it would be a good idea to double check on how long they're committing to security updates for the phone you're eying

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I like the pixel series and recently went with the 7 pro. Wanted to wait until the 8, but my 5 had other ideas.

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

How long did you have your 5 before it became unusable?

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Three years. I dropped it a whole lot of times in those years and eventually the battery swelled and pushed the screen off.

[โ€“] [email protected] -1 points 11 months ago

Magisk is a popular rooting solution and framework for Android devices. It allows users to gain root access, which means they can modify the system files and settings of their Android devices to perform various customizations, install mods, and use apps that require root access. Magisk provides a systemless approach, meaning it doesn't directly modify the system partition, which makes it more compatible with various devices and avoids issues like tripping SafetyNet