It’s good to read about someone else frustrated with the current state of Android phones. Motorola seems to have the formula for hardware that lasts beyond warranty, at least for mid-range phones, but they seem to be allergic to long-term updates.
Isn’t the X4 old? it helps to have newer chips and memory management systems.
I would get a Z3p to specifically put lineage on it
They’re both old, but the Z3 is a year newer. I’m not going to buy a phone from 2018 in 2022.
I have been for years! I cant stand samsung so I am always in the hunt for a decent alternative, and while I used to enjoy the Google Nexus line truth be told there have been way to many issues with their phones and rapidly degrading quality within a year of release.
This conversation sparked the bug in me so I ordered a used/referb pixel 5 and I am going to flash it to Linage and see if maybe im ready to change daily drivers. Only reason I go the google phone over something else is because they are easy to OEM unlock and get longer dev support. I worry the battery will be an issue, because they always are.
The best part about my OP 6T is despite its age the battery still goes a day plus with reasonably heavy use.
I may have been foolish here, but I bought a LG V60 and LOVE the thing. Its such a same LG left, because their phones were so good.
Sony makes fantastic phones too. I’m a bit of a audiophile so am a bit bias but if your carrier allows I’d get the Xperia 5 iii, as it has good audio and camera software. If you want low maintenance/ updates/ bang for the dollar, the pixel 5a is pretty good, but you aren’t going to have the best camera. Honestly, anything over Fullhd+ is kinda overkilled if you are looking for battery life. Nokia his doing some interesting things and are promising a few years of updates. Samsung is the OG player in the Android space, but I just wish they brought back their s Active series.
TL;DR if you are kinda looking for mid-range cost: For updates/cost:pixel 5a, for features: xperia 5 v3.
If you want unlocked, my go-to’s are B&H and BestBuy sales. Ebay is good too if you know the scams and what the good deals are.
If you want security updates for a long time and don’t want to go to Apple, then the Goggle Pixel line is the best shop. They just increased the support for Pixel 6 devices from 3 years to 5 years of security updates. I am on a Pixel 3a and come from the world of HTC (which Google bought their phone division some years back).
Thanks for the extra data point. I’m seriously considering Pixel 6 because of the promised 5 year window, but I’m mainly annoyed with how buggy it still is according to the press. I’ll have to trust Google will get a handle on that.
Suppooosedly the most recent updates have helped the Pixel 6. For your price range, that’s what I would go with.
My dad has one and he loves it. Being a Pixel, you get to ditch the bloatware that pretty much all other Android phones come with. Plus there’s other nice features like auto call screening. I haven’t gotten spam calls in a while now that I think of it. I can go to the Phone app and see all the “scam likely” calls that just never came through thanks to the screening. There’s also “Flip the Shhh” which silences notifications when your phone is screen-down on a table.
I have a Pixel 5A and I would recommend it for anyone on a budget. It’s great for the price, but there is a little bit of lag here and there especially when processing photos. For $800 I would get the Pixel 6.
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The pixel experience has been great until Android 12. but I think that is across the board with 12. It has become less buggy but the other day I had a phone lock up and had to hard reboot (three button salute), which the first time ever needing to do that.
Same. I came from a Moto X4 and the Pixel 5a is fantastic compared to it.
Roughly similar size, but far better screen, more power, actual updates, and longer battery.
And it even still has a headphone jack.
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All my google devices have been buggy as hell, its infuriating. My 6T has been the least buggy and that is only because I locked it at its release firmware so they could not slowly introduce more bugs as the amount of QA goes down over time and they transition resources over to new phones that provide higher profit.
Once I get my pixel 5 and load it up with Lineage I will report back.
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Ya I was really excited about that haha. TBH though I haven’t used it yet because I got the Pixel Buds A-series with my phone, but if I ever get back into gaming on my phone, wired is the way to go. Rhythm games in particular are terrible over bluetooth because of the latency.
I look forward to reading your report.
I guess that’s one big negative for the Pixel 6 models. Rumor has it the 6a will also lack the jack.
Will do, part of why I got the 5 and not the 5a was because of the size, though I do miss the headphone jack.
Price right now used on Swappa for a Pixel 5 and 5a are both around $300 used so its cheaper than getting a mid range new like a Pocophone with better guaranteed “hackability”
I am very nervous about going back to google hardware because I have had so many bad experiences over the years.
IMO I have the Pixel 5 and I didn’t had any issue really so far. But also I always was on Google hardware (Nexus 5, Nexus 6p, Pixel 2, Pixel 3) and never got any major issues in my case. But the Pixel 5, aside my beloved Nexus 5, as been the most uneventful ownership.
Only slight issues I have is because I’m often on beta software, but aside of that has been working like a charm.
It’s impossible for me to keep track of earbuds lmao. I spend $60 just to loose one. I spend another $60 on like 7 pairs of samsung s8 oem earbuds and have never looked back. Best investment I could have made (especially having ADHD)
I bet if you install a firewall, you’ll probably see all the google domains still loading:
device integrity
device token
idenitity
google android network time protocol
and
mtalk
alt1.mtalk
alt2.mtalk
alt3.mtalk
alt4.mtalk
alt5.mtalk
alt6.mtalk
alt7.mtalk
alt8.mtalk
There are 8 mtalk alternatives to this mtalk thing, isn’t that wild? Install a fireall or load wirezhark (turn on ip resolver in wireshark or install pi-hole and watch it go with android on wifi.
Love my old pixel 5a still, love that you can take whatever google software off that you want or at least disable it easily.
Samsung drove me nuts with all of their bloat. I don’t in fact need two “contacts” apps, file apps, etc etc.
Can also “root” your phone if you ever feel adventerous.
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