Trying to find a suitable new phone

Mobile Tech Phones & Tablets
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Warning: My usual talent for creating few, but super long posts appears to have struck again!

My current phone, a samsung galaxy core prime, is starting to really show it’s age, and the hardware is beginning to give up (camera focus is broken, plastic casing is cracking). I don’t plan to buy a samsung consumer product again from the experience I have had from them.

So I think it is time for me to get a replacement. The main problem is that I can’t find anything I want to spend money on. Please suggest anything you think would suit what I outline here.

Requirements
rationale for requirements after a ‘-’
I don’t need a huge amount from a phone in all honesty, but what features I am looking for is probably going to be the deal breaker.

However these features are important, and it must be able to perform any tasks I don’t mark as non-essential.

  • Reasonable camera - I don’t have a dedicated camera anymore, and as I don’t take pictures too often, a reasonable camera that is good enough to not immediately notice would suit me.

  • Basic performance capiability - I would like to run firefox with some tabs fairly smoothly, and play PUBG mobile. This is basically all I need from the performance.

  • Up to date with current software (updatable to current is fine) - Samsing only updated my current phone once, and it is falling behind with app availability. I would rather not buy something that is already stuck on old software.

  • This is probably going to turn out as essential, but I would like to hear options for if this can’t be done
    AOSP as an option, with kernel sources available - My current phone is all locked, meaning even if the hardware is fine, I cannot change the software to something that can do what I want. This feels a bit like a car not being able to fit third-party components. If I get something open to work on/with, community development can keep the device updated for a while longer, and I can also work on my own solution for the device once out of support.

  • Reasonably sized screen - my current phone is 4.5" 16:9. I like the size, and could go up to 5" at 16:9. As new phones have strange screen ratios, I am ok with up to the horizontal width of a 5" screen with different heights. No smaller than 4".

  • My budget is (UK) £200. I can go a bit over if it is the only option and particularly good. I also can get a decent amount off if the phone happens to be stocked at some chain stores from vouchers.

Nice to haves
General things I would like in a phone.

  • I don’t like curved screens much. Squared phone chassis is also nice.

  • Forward or edge mounted, good quality speakers would be nice.

  • Headphone port would be preferred.

  • Waterproof is a huge plus.

What I already found

I had already found the perfect choice; A sony xperia xz1.
Unfortunately, the prices I found it at were sale prices, and the phone was out of stock by the time I tried to buy it. All places with it in stock are asking for ridiculous amounts of money for the phone.

If I decide to leave the open and self-maintainable aspect, I can get a nokia 5.1 for £100, but it will not last as long as I would like due to software and low performance. Also google maintaining my only choice for the operating system installed is not inspiring for confidence in the privacy of the phone. Being able to completely remove google apps with an open phone would be good, hence why I haven’t just bought this one yet.

I have one last option for now (it might dissapear soon); I can get a sony xperia x on sale for a reasonable price, which has compatability with AOSP and so on, but is about at the end of maintained life. It should get official AOSP android P according to sony’s website. However it is a fair bit older, and the same price I almost got an xz1 for.

If you have any ideas, please let me know.

1 Like
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Probably should look at Xiaomi phones.

Xiaomi Mi A2 is one that comes to mind in that price backet. But you might find better one without Android One, since you don’t seem to need it or want it. Not entierly sure if Android One actually comes at any premium. I don’t really think so. Either way you can get rid of it.

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That looks like a pretty good option, Once I can find the physical dimensions of the phone, along with the kernel sources, It will be a good option, provided I can find one for a good price.

It seems to have a pretty active development community, using recent versions of android, which is a very good sign for me.

Thanks for the reccomendation!

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For how many years? With a budget of £200 there are zero phones which will have software kept up to date for more than a year or so. They just don’t exist. You also arent likely to get waterproof for £200. Your budget quite frankly extremely limits you.

Your only real option is to find a phone which has some current 3rd party rom support and hope they keep supporting it for a few years. Keep in mind though that 3rd part rom providers cannot provide things like firmware updates if the manufacturer has stopped supporting the phone, so you will never truly have an secure up to date phone.

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I would not expect any updates as a rule of thumb. So when I say up to date, I only mean has android 9 available now or confirmed to get an update to that. The budget really is the limiting factor here, so TBH, I would not expect to get any updates other than to 9 for whatever I buy.

That is the real reason I am searching for the probably impossible, looking for full kernel source and AOSP; It would give the phone a chance of getting third party stuff that would keep it going for a bit longer, and allow me to load something super basic if not.

It sadly seems to be the norm now that the cost of phones is rising (fast). I spent £100 on my current phone, and it has lasted 3+ years, but it seems like I have to spend an extra £100 to get any improvement at all in a replacement phone, other than a 720p display and recent OS.

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All manufacturers release the full kernel source. But as its GPLv2, their binary blobs which aren’t part of the kernel don’t need to be included. Zero companies release these.

If you have no interest in security updates then i wouldn’t be worried to much about android P. O will be accepted in the play store for a few years.

7

That sounds quite realistic.

I would question if zero companies release the blobs for the kernel though. Sony say on their https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/ pages that they supply AOSP build setups, which you can use to build your own AOSP. They also mention kernel compilation guides.

Would this mean they supply the required blobs (minus some DRM stuff for their camera I have heard) to build a running android/kernel with? There might be one sony phone I can get within my budget (not the ideal one, but in the suported list anyway), if it ends up being worth spending near the top of my budget on an older phone.

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a refurb or used pixel checks most of the boxes here.

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Yes but only while the phone is supported. Sony is one of the better ones on this, but good support on android in general is basically non existent. Once support is dropped for a phone, its not the end of the world, but you just have to be aware of the what that means for you.

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And then…

I run into this A LOT! I honestly think it is the reason apple fans still debate it. Android cheap phones are terrible and in no way representative of android or which ever company’s hard you are using.

Sorry but I have been through a series of cheap and expensive phones from various companies years and family members. A nice Samsung phone, note series, is incredible, I have had the 2 and now 3 which are quite old and still battle it out and beat a lot of new phones simply because they are a higher tier.

I have also used cheap Samsung phones, the s3 mini… What a flaming piece of junk that is.

So my only recommendation is don’t get anything cheap. I bought the note 3 second hand for very little money in like new condition and it is great. I could buy a brand new cheap Samsung and it will be bad in very short time.

1 Like
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For my view on samsung, it is not only my current phone I base it on, but I have also seen a lot of what you describe.

I have had relatives with other samsung devices, and owned a couple others, and with most of them, the hardware has been in performance, as advertised, and generally quite well lasting, other than their high end tablets (£300+ cost of device, after it had been released a while); those failed soon after the warranty expired.

The devices I have observed had no software maintenence except my current phone (£300+ cost of device in the case of the tablets), and were completely locked against running the software I want to (warranty not required). I don’t like the company’s attitude towards software, and would like a bit more option to have control over that if possible (hence looking for the ability to build my own kernel, etc)

Your opinion of buying older high end devices sounds like it could be a good method; with the options I have, would you reccomend spending more on an old flaghsip (may be limited to android 8.1) that is a couple of years old (sony xperia x), or a new, cheaper device (nokia 5.1)?

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I had a look at xiaomi mi a2 and refurbished pixel prices. While they could be good options, I can’t find any refurbished pixels within my budget unfortunately, and the only xiaomi mi a2 I have found for a workable price is from a seller I can’t tell the reliability of.
I will still consider them, but would prefer to use another option.

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That sucks because they are dirt cheap here.

I’m not hip with the euro phone market but what do the one plus used phones go for? that would be my second choice.

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Found a grade A OP3T for slightly above budget from an online place. They also have pixels, but at lower grades. Since they are glass I probably don’t want to get one, due to the nature of damage/markings on glass.

The oneplus can be an option, but does only have handset, so I would have to get new cables, and possibly a charger.

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On the older devices and their software, I always run custom android on my devices. It is something I look for when I get a phone, is there resources to unlock them and do what I want. Not always easily but very few so far I have seen are totally locked, barring my own screw up with not having a backup of my original ROM for one of my phones so I could not network unlock it, otherwise still fully functional.