[WTB] Used Android Phone; Must Have 64GB Storage, 4GB RAM, Headphone Jack, MicroSD Slot, and More

Community Buy/Sell/Trade
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Currently have an Xperia X but it has really annoying “bug” (seems like panned obsolescence after the final update from what I’ve read online and friends have said) that has it run either it’s low-power or high-power CPU’s (never both together) running at 100% usage, causing it to always run super hot, overheat super quick, and make the battery last on “idle” for about 3 hours. I would love to factory reset the phone, but I simply don’t have time to backup and install all the data and appdata again; it’s easier and more feasible for me to slowly transfer it over a period of a few weeks.

Must-haves for the phone:

  • MicroSD card slot
  • Headphone/3.5mm jack
  • 64GB Internal storage
  • Qualcomm or Exynos CPU
  • 5.5" or less (pref of 5.2)
  • USB OTG support (whether it be from factory or AOSP ROM)
  • NFC support (so I can have my phone spoof MY OWN credit cards. Is this legal?)
  • May 2016 or newer
  • Must be rootable and have an AOSP ROM (can’t stand the annoying Google Play Services crap)
  • Unlocked (preferably factory unlocked)
  • Support at least 2 LTE frequencies of Freedom Mobile (check here: https://www.frequencycheck.com/carriers/freedom-mobile-canada . LTE Bands are: 4, 7, 13, 66)
  • Must have all of these features or I am not interested
  • Less than $280 including shipping (Toronto, Canada) and import fees)

Wants:

  • Micro USB connector (USB Type C has so many flaws, but I understand many phones use it…)
  • Fast Charging (5V 2A or Qualcomm Quickcharge 9v/12v 1.5A)
  • Physical/Capacitive buttons (I hate on-screen buttons)
  • 16:9 LCD (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160; can’t fucking stand the 18:9 or other tall screens, but at least with a rooted device, I can make the home button always stay on-screen, making the phone seem more like 16:9…)
  • Front facing speakers (Sony phones)

Possible devices that I’d want:

Sony (preferred; has great AOSP support): Xperia XZ1, Xperia XZ2 Premium (technically has a larger has 5.5" LCD, but idc; only exception), Xperia XZ Premium

Motorola: Moto X4

OnePlus: None wanted

Fairphone 3 (the dream)

As you may have guessed, I’m super picky. I’m tired of all the junk that phone companies have released (removal of headphone jack and microSD card slot specifically, but also going with super massive edge-to-edge screened phones). I want a phone that reminds me of the better times, hence all of my requirements. It took me months to find a used laptop that fit all of my requirements (Fujitsu T938 ! :smiley: Love 95% of the things from it), so it’s time to do the same with a phone.

If you are unsure if your phone qualifies (ex. can’t find if you can unlock the bootloader and root it), post a comment and I will reply. Try not to feel too turned off by its length, as most of it can be answered from 1 Duck searches (on www.gsmarena.com) very quickly.

Edit: Forgot to mention, I’ve also bought something from @FaunCB before and have a 5+ year old account and am somewhat active. Just in case you think I’m sketch.

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Sounds like a device that needs to be rooted.

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Definitely needs to support root. I’m tired of not having control over my devices (why can’t I access the app data folder??? I want to back up the appdata!) I want to do so many things that I can’t without root!), and can’t stand it any longer. Been wanting to make a long rant on how horrible and annoying Android and IOS are because of how locked down and limiting they are, in comparison to Windows and GNU/Linux.

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I’m not selling mine but you might want to look at one as I think it meets your requirements.

I have a Nokia 7 plus The phone is an Android One device so it’s currently running Android 9 with the latest security patch. It’s getting Android 10 at the end of the year.

Milled from a single chunk of Aluminum, it’s a little of the heavy side as a result. Android 10 will be that last major OS update it will receive and as such it’s life span is reduced, if support is a major concern. Thing is most smartphones don’t receive security updates let alone OS updates so there is that.

Things I don’t like, The battery is not user-serviceable but the list of smartphones that have that feature is very short. There have been many users complaining about dodgy USB connectors. Not something I have suffered from as my phone has been fault-free. However, it should be investigated if you are going to think about getting one.

A quick search on eBay.com lists new Nokia 7 plus being sold for between $200 and $260.

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Personally, I love security updates, but value root more. Security updates are a “want,” but considering many companies now implement planned obsolescence into the updates, I care less for them now (sadly :frowning: )

I’ll give it a quickie lookie tomorrow. Thanks

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Planned obeisance is going to be something hard to avoid. Fair Phone or maybe the new Pinephone once it’s out. I know I’m looking to the PinePhone closely. However, my list of must have features are quite different from yours and there is no way you will be happy with the low system spec of the PinePhone.

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If you have a need for hackability, motorola z3play is a plus. No headphone jack tho D:

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Sadly won’t work. I own quite a few different wired headsets, and converted them to wireless will be a downgrade. Not only that, there’s no way I’m gonna buy another wire (the type-c to 3.5mm adapter) that will break every couple of months. Buying wireless headsets which will pretty much be useless in 2 years because the battery is not replaceable (looking at you Apple Airpods, as a great (horrible) example) is also something I can’t ethically do either.

Pretty much all my “must-haves” are really must-haves. MicroSD to act as a backup of the internal storage (in case the main storage ever dies; similar to raid 1 on PC), 64GB storage because I store a lot locally, screen size because I only grasp small things ( :wink: ), and OTG because I often plug USB’s into my phones.

Thanks for trying Aremis :stuck_out_tongue:

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If its anything to help, I’m designing a moto mod to add a dac + battery with 18650’s. But I won’t have that rolling till mid next year 3:

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Omfg. I’ve actually tried looking into this myself, but once I found out that they require external management IC’s to allow for charging the moto’s internal battery, I just gave up. I don’t think any other company actually makes a product like this (and I know it’s super niche because of the thicc 18650 cells), but I’d love it.

Have you already started working on the schematic? Is it easy to interface with the Moto?

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I appreciate the questions, PM instead.

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No microsd. USB C, NFC really doesn’t work well on it. (I had the 3, got rid of it recently)

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Oh shit, you’re right. I really was thinking those phones had a MicroSD card slot. Updated post accordingly.

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Nah, it’s dual sim tho.

I just didn’t want you to wind up grabbing one and realizing after it arrives.

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SGS5

You’re asking for a phone that doesn’t really exist these days.

I have the oneplus3t, the SDcard I got over pretty quick. 64g and 128g is a lot of space. Otherwise look into cloud storage and sync up what’s most prevalent at the time. Also prefer USBC as its physically beefier, and faster transfer.

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Usb C doesn’t determine transfer speed, it is simply a connector. Many phones using a USB C connector still only transfer at USB 2.0 speeds, the same as a Micro USB connector.

That’s already being utilized, however using the cloud as your only backup method is a risk I’d rather not take. Don’t always have a network connection, the cloud goes down, etc. Definitely not as reliable as a microSD card connection.

Not for me.

To my knowledge, the listed Sony devices meet these requirements, especially with AOSP support; they’re great with their AOSP support

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Imho, if root and flashing AOSP is important, start with the officially supported LineageOS Devices: https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/
Yes, there are others, but those are pretty much guaranteed to work. Now, lets narrow it down:

  • Headphone Jack shouldn’t be a huge problem in 2-3 year old phones
  • Qualcomm or Exynos is basically anything but huawei or honor
  • MicroSD and sub 5.5" will be the big ones to look for (though NFC can be tricky).

First, keep in mind that, with MANY payment apps you won’t be able to use them once you’re rooted or even factory unlocked. Samsung Pay won’t work after rooting, and i’m pretty sure my banks app won’t either. So, check if the app you want to use works on a rooted phone. If it doesn’t you can choose between root or NFC (unless you need that for something else).

As a used option, both the Galaxy S7 and S9 are supported, have Headphone jacks, sd-card readers, are smaller than their displaysize would make you think (curve) and have NFC. Not sure if you can get an S9 for that price yet though.
Both are really popular phones and have seen a lot of development. If you’re from the US, the Snapdragon options can be a problem to root though. So, check xda-developers for that.

If you’re flashing a AOSP Rom anyways, maybe Xiaomi is an option. The Mi 8 is officially supported by lineage, and delivers everything other than headphone jack.
If you can find it, a Poco F1 might be even better. All Xiaomi Devices are allowed to be unlocked and rooted from the manufacturer. The Poso F1 adds a Headphone jack and a bit more support, as it was much more common here. It’s a little larger though (not huge).

FInally, look into the LG phones. Both the G6 and V20 are a tad on the old side, but still incredible phones. And really cheap now. Especially the DAC/Amp in the V20 really sets it apart if you want great audio.

I can’t/won’t comment on Sony as i’ve never owned one of their devices and have 0 experience with them.

We’ve had 7 Motorola devices in our Faminly (4 Moto Z, 2 Moto G3 and a Z Play) all of them failed for different reasons after a bit over a year. Might be unlucky, but it’s enough that i won’t personally recommend them.

Finally, an odd ball: Pixel 3a. Again, everything but microSD. But by far and away the best camera you can get on any phone up to double it’s price.

If you’re willing to compromise on Price, i personally have the S10e. For now it ticks all your boxes other than AOSP support. But that should be on it’s way. It’s certainly the best phone with it’s form factor. If the size is a hard limit, that might be the best option there is.

You’ll be hard pressed to tick all your boxes. I think the easiest way is to compromise on Screensize, as bezels have gotten slimmer and Displays taller. So a 16:9 bezeled 5.5" screen makes the phone just as wide as a 6" screen in 21:9 with no bezels on the side.

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In reference to my oneplus3t the USB is 3.0. I’d wager most phones post 2017 are as well but you’re right the form factor doesn’t always coincide with the datarate.

It sounds like you know what you want and I’m not going to argue that. I am curious why you think an sdcard is more reliable than a data center?

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Or a syncthing connection between PCs and your phone

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Had no plans to use these types of apps. I don’t want Samsung, Google, or whoever to know all my financial transactions, alongside the financial institution lol

Crap, that’s something I forgot to not-want in a phone; those fucking curved edge displays are horrid. They look nice, but functionally are garbage IMO. I’ll look more into the S7 64GB variant.

I’ve dabbled with the idea of getting an LG phone, but from past experience and from research of their track record (so many phones which boot loop…) I’ll likely avoid them.

This is something I didn’t know. I’ll try finding one of their phones that meets all of my wants. When I last checked, it seemed like most of their phones don’t have a MicroSD card slot, but I’ll look again

Practically no root support on the V20, and whatever does exist limits my bands to less than 3 (closer to 1-2, depending on firmware). The G6, not sure, but likely wont even bother to check because of the the bootloop history…

That is something I have not heard of. Will definitely look into this more; I’ve only heard good from the Moto’s.

I’m so tempted to get a 3A. It seems like such a great phone, but yup, lack of microSD really screws me. Camera means nothing to me.

The reason for this is because I like to reach all corners of my LCD with a single hand. With the old Zenfone 2 (5.5" LCD), I wasn’t able to do this, so I went down to the Xperia X, and love that I can use it one handed. Plus, when OEM’s use that little software trick to shrink the screen into only the lower half of the LCD, I hate that, and found it useless on my Zenfone 2.

If I lose access to my account for the cloud provider, they shut down, I get banned, or whatever, I will lose all of my data in an instant, with likely no recovery. In many instances, it’s feasible to recover data from a dead MicroSD card.

I’ve done this in the past, and it definitely worked, however I never got around to researching how to do it over WAN (only used over LAN). Still, IMO, this won’t replace a MicroSD card.

Currently with my Xperia X, I have 64GB of the SD card to nearly mirror the internal storage, and another 64GB for useless crap like music, pr0n, and totally legitimately purchased videos. Having the microSD card is a must, not just to act as a mirror of the internal storage, but also to hold data that I don’t want taking up space internally.