Ask Lemmy

I use a Fairphone 4 running Murena's e/os. The experience has been pretty good so far. I haven't needed to repair the phone yet but it's nice to know I have the option. The os doesn't have any quirks I can't live with. I like their app store, it gives every app a privacy score based on what logging it has and permissions it uses.

You might ask on c/android if you're not after an eyephone. I now use a Motorola G Stylus 5G 2023, good value at $250 imho. Big screen, fast compared to what I'm used to, good battery life, battery apparently not too hard to replace, headphone jack, SD slot, NFC, 256GB flash, 6GB ram, decent cameras (main, front, and wideangle macro, no telephoto). The main missing "flagship" features that I can think of are wireless charging and USB-C video out. Main complaint everyone has is too few software updates, but meh. I would probably buy this again if I needed another phone right now. The pen (stylus) isn't great but it is handy for poking small UI elements or typing when I'm tired, so I use it more than I expected to. Samsung's S pen is supposed to be better though.

Heads up: the 2024 version of the entry level model (G Play) is out and it's an ok upgrade to the 2023 version, but they removed the SD slot, which makes me wonder if they will do the same in the other models. With 256GB on board I guess the card is less important than before, but it is nice.

Galaxy Fold 3, incredible phone, Dex is fantastic, brilliant for viewing things on larger screens so it's much easier to view.

Battery life is atrocious though, I charge it 3 times a day

I still have the pixel 6 pro, I want it to last until at least a pixel 10. I treat it like an appliance, I'm done with custom roms

I have my old oneplus 6 on my desk as a postmarketOS test device

Jelly Star.

I don't like big phones. I just wish this one was a little thinner. The Jelly Pro was a perfect size, but it didn't have the performance to really be a functioning device. 😔

im still on a pixel 3a

Poco X3 Pro.

It was very cheap (€188) with a powerful SoC. Though it does come with a caveat: reliability. I knew about this issue since I decided to buy it. It already had motherboard replaced in-warranty not once, but twice. But since I knew about this, I had backups already, so I lost just moderate amount of data. The biggest one was Termux stuff which I forgot to backup since I explicitly excluded the Android folder. Then all the apps, since there's no way to back it up without root.
I mean, the software is also quite buggy, but oh well, I can work around it.

Hardware wise, the mentioned SoC (Snapdragon 860), FM radio, headphone jack, IR blaster, 120Hz IPS LCD (I do not want *LED due to permanent burn-ins.), 5200mAh battery, easy to open (the back cover is soft plastic, so you can just rip it off without breaking anything, then glue it back).

Though now I am also looking at the idea of PinePhone.

Next time I'll probably take something with MediaTek SoC instead, due to MTK engineer mode (*#*#3646633#*#*) due to changes by my carrier. Specifically, I am looking at the band-lock feature.

Galaxy S24 Ultra. I got really pissed off at the Pixel 7 Pro and bought this on a (very costly) whim. But this is the first phone I really like since the Note 9. The screen is gorgeous. The software is better than stock android on the Pixel. And it can actually make phone calls!

Pixel 7 pro with GrapheneOS. It is great.

Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G 2022

Don't care about the stylus. Bought it for the features and the value. $250 for a 120hz screen, headphone jack, expandable storage, and nearly 3 days of battery life. I carry all my music on a micro SD. It's been a great phone and my only complaint is the camera. I think the sensors are good it's just moto's camera app, and the obscurity of the model makes it very difficult to find a fully working port of GCam.

I have Motorola something because I'm poor. Though, one good thing about Motorola phones is that they're durable as all hell.

I got a seconhand Samsung S22+.

Great size (my last phone was too small), battery good, performance is great, screens good. Everything is good.

But the camera is meh. I'm really disappointed by that and I don't know what to do. Sure it's an upgrade on my 5 year old cheaper Chinese phone. But I thought it was meant to have a great camera, the default setting are some shitty Instagram looking ai filter where the sky is the bluest blue much darker than reality, grass is some glowing bright green it looks like a fucking video game. I managed to fix a lot of that but it's still meh, night mode is fairly bad too.

Samsung Galaxy Z fold 4. I got it for a good price and just wanted to see what folding phones were like. It's pretty awesome. Just hope the durability holds up for a few years.

Xperia 1 II

Has every feature I want in a smartphone without compromise.

Pixel 7 because oft grapheneOS. As all Smartphones are pretty much the same because we reached a plateau, the only thing differentiating them is how easy it is to install another OS.

I have a pixel 6 pro, but I wouldn't recommend it. You'd think Google is capable of providing a perfect Android experience, but my old Note 9 was way less buggy.

I've had lots of issues with 3rd party launchers (nova), I can't even use the USBC with a dongle and second screen (my old Note could do this without issues). Also this is my first phone without headphone jack and SD slot, both I really miss. Just in general the software (especially in the beginning) felt really buggy with small glitches etc.

I don't think I'll ever go pixel again.

I got a samsung galaxy s23 ultra. Battery and stylus are dope, camera is fun to use, but it's slightly too big.

LG G8X from 2019. Bought it used last year for a 100€ with the second display case. It runs circles around any modern budget options.

Fairphone 5 with iodéOS. Its perfect for me

ZenFone 10, because it's one of the now rare phones where you can still reach the whole screen with one hand.

I use a Gigaset GS5 from Germany. Runs stock android has USBC, 3.5m audio jack, replaceable battery, dual Sim cards, and a SD card slot. Yea, 3 card slots. not those crappy dual SD/Sim card slots.

Galaxy A32. It no longer receives software updates, but still gets security updates. It works fine for me.

Unfortunately, an iPhone 13 Mini.

I’d love to switch back to GrapheneOS (used it on a Pixel 3a for a while), but I really don’t like Pixel hardware. The Fairphone 5 is on my radar, but it’s expensive for what it is and also isn’t available to purchase in the US. I’m also not sure if CalyxOS supports it yet, and there aren’t any other Android roms that I’m interested in.

So I’m suffering with iOS until something else becomes available.

I’m hoping Linux phones become viable within the next 5-10 years. I have Ubuntu Touch on my Pixel 3a and PostMarketOS on my Pinephone. Mobile Linux is super cool and fun to play with, but is nowhere near daily driver ready yet.

iPhone 13 Pro. Will probably keep it until the 16 Pro later this year maybe, or I might go another year. Nothing wrong with it so far, I mostly just want a type-C connector for convenience at this point

Pixel

Google Pixel 6a

Recently got myself a Pixel 7a and it's been a great experience.