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.
EDIT: As of 4/13/24, I decided to pick up a Samsung S20 FE. It’s been treating me well, and for the low low price of $280 NEW, I’m very pleased with what I got. My complaint is that the vibrate is seriously weak. Use it on sound mode if you don’t want to constantly miss notifications.
If you are looking to use it for 5 years, I’d say go with Fairphone. They actually have a 5 year warranty and committed to providing software updates for 6 years. All other phones will lose support in 2 or 3 years, leaving you vulnerable to security vulnerabilities.
Definitely a strong contender due to the replaceable battery and other parts. If I cannot find a phone that performs as well in my ideal price range this is probably what I will end up doing. Thank you for the input!
As another happy Fairphone user, I’d caution against getting one though if you don’t see the hefty price tag as also being a way of subsidizing right to repair and fair trade. The long warranty period and support duration, the repairability, and the SD card slot might not be enough positives to offset it being bulky, heavy, the camera being terrible, security updates coming with 1-2 months of delay, the specs being generally under what you’d find around its price range and you going 300 USD over budget.
Personally, I’d only ever owned a low-end smartphone that was 4 years past its end of support before getting the Fairphone, so I’ve been very happy with it, but I can see the drawbacks mattering more to other people.
The Fairphone for a long time was sort of my “dream phone” due to the philosophy of repairing it. However recently I have stumbled across the Rog Phone 7 by Asus. It does not have the repairability that I desire, and it is too expensive for my current financial situation. But the battery far surpasses Fairphone’s and although it is not as readily repairable, a teardown video reassured me that i would be able to at the very least attempt diagnostics. Also, it is a newer model so I know there will be support for it for a while. I am not completely convinced that it suits my needs better than the fairphone, and both are too expensive.
Perhaps by the time I can comfortably afford one or the other, the winner will be more clear.
Came here to say this. I love my Fairphone!!
Jup, Fairphone. Enough phone for anything you need to do. Repairable and fair. Best thing
at 300USD I would look at flag ships that are a few years old but still found new. A samsung s21 seems to be pretty close to your price range.
This is definitely an option. However the past few years have not been kind as far as repairability goes, and that would be a must for a used phone. Newer phones are starting to add options for self repair but the majority are overkill for me.
Thank you for the suggestion!!
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Plus on Pixel you can run GrapheneOS.
I used to promote OnePlus but after the recent change in their OS, I’d not purchase another one. I’d suggest the Samsung Galaxy A14. I’d really like and recommend the Fairphone 4 if you can deal with some of the limitations.
I did not purchase the OnePlus as it was a hand-me-down. The Fairphone 4 is a bit expensive, but I am considering the investment. Your recommendation about the A14 is a good one and I will strongly consider it against similar priced devices. Thank you!
Why are people directing you to the samsung galaxy s series and the other top shelf brands when you literally said you don’t play games or didn’t list extremely good cameras as a requirement? You don’t need the premium series S.
Just go for the samsung mid brands, galaxy Ax4 series
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_A_series
They’re half the price of an S and I keep them just as long as I kept my S, phones still evolve quickly, you’re better off getting mid ranges, phones hardly ever feel snappy anymore after 4 years of tech progress anyway, picking the mid ranges will hardly get you a year less and it’s gonna save you heaps
I recently got a Pixel 6 Pro after my Pixel 4 XL died. I’m not sure I’d recommend it. It runs a bit hot and am not so sure about the battery life.
One thing I can recommend is Swappa. I’ve had great experiences getting cheaper phones if you’re ok not always running the latest and greatest.
I actually got my Pixel 5a on Swappa. It died ~3 months after I purchased it, so now I am hesitant to purchase a phone used as you cannot return it. I will take your suggestions into consideration though, thank you!
Just an option, there are a lot of places out there that will sell you a ‘refurbished’ phone with 1-3 year warranty. eBay even has an integrated program for it, I think they call it ‘certified refurbished’.
Pixels have the widest range of custom ROM support. I flash GrapheneOS to Pixel phones. I would say to get an older Pixel and flash it but you want 5 years of use, the only choice is a Pixel 7, however the Pixel 8 should be out in 2 months and you could put LineageOS on that and be done with it all for a long time, but spend a few dollars on both screen protector and a case. At the ver least, a screen protector, for yor new investment.
I had bought a refurbished Pixel 5a and flashed GrapheneOS on it, but the display went black after a short drop onto tile floor. I am hesitant to purchase another Pixel device. I did have a screen protector and a pretty solid case, but I guess not solid enough. I can’t comment about the Pixel 8 because I have not seen the specs yet, but whether or not that is an option will depend on the price. Thank you for your input.
See above comment ^^
I wonder what happened for it to reak so easily like that, maybe it was the quality, whether it was quality of phone of protection.
Right now I’m using a 4 XL, I dropped it outside and protector got damaged, I bought a new screen protector so old one taken off, cleaned screen, it was in mint condition, put new protector on, and that’s what I have now. My original Pixel XL has been dropped several times on hard floor and it’s all fine and everything works.
I plan to buy Pixel 8 Pro for Black Friday and flash it.
I didn’t cheap out on my case nor my screen protector, so I have no idea. An interesting tidbit; the phone isn’t dead. Just the display. Perhaps a ribbon cable came loose? I have no idea since I do not have any smartphone repair experience.
You didn’t take it somewhere to open it up and have a look?
I did not. I tried opening it up myself but it seems that you have to heat the screen up in order to get the display off due to the adhesive. I’m hoping that it doesn’t cost very much, because I spent maybe $140 on it. The main reason I haven’t already gone is just the fact that I have been busy and procrastination.
Yeah, someone with the tools has to do it, it’s not simply a matter of pulling the covers apart like a lsptop, phones are more like taking a tablet apart.
I took one phone to a certified Google repair store and thdy said on of the main components inside the board had died, the repair would cost more than another phone so they don’t me not fix it and go find another phone but there was no charge for taking it apart since no work was done. On another phone they did a literally one minute repair job, there was no charge but I bought something to thank them for it.
If yours is nothing more than ribbon cable came loose, that would only take a few minutes. Take it in, you might end up with a fully functional phone after they spend 20 minutes on it and could save having to buy another one.
The store by me is certified in both Google and Samsung by those companies so I trust the technicians, and they also have access to original parts that Google and Samsung put in brand new phones, not a 3rd party after market parts from whoever made it.
I am embarrassed to admit that after watching a video on how to open up the device, I decided that a bic lighter was an appropriate substitute for a heat gun 🙈
I’d you can find one, the LG Velvet 5G is solid bang for the buck, especially at clearance prices.
As someone currently using a Velvet 5G, and genuinely does not hate the experience, I have real trouble recommending a company that is no longer producing phones. However, being that I forget to charge the phone constantly and both the front and back have been demolished for over 18 months of my ownership, it certainly meets the top 2 criteria.
I’ve never been one for brand lockin. I did the same journey OP doing. Here’s what I want; and here’s everything on gsm arena that comes close. The lgv5g simply blew the rest out the water and because it was discontinued I got it for a quarter of the price. This was two years ago when 5G was just starting to hit towers in my area, so 5G phones besides Apple and Samsung were slim pickings. Getting something with an sd card, headphone jack, USB c port, wifi6, and waterproof all in one box? End of discussion. I’m tempted to grab another for when this one dies.
It’s still getting updates and when that stops I’ll use a custom ROM if I can.
That’s fair, like I said my screen is demolished so either I’ll get tired of that, my bank will quit working on it, or it’ll just quit lol. If my screen wasn’t demo’d I probably would be more interested in modding it, but I just feel like it’s not worth the investment at this point.
I second the suggestion of an A-series Samsung. My brother has an A24, which is pretty great. It’s doesn’t have the same performance as a S-series, but it’s a great device at its price, and more durable and better battery life than the S-series imo.
