Suggestions for a new Android phone, please
Hey all, hope everyone is doing well today. I've been using a Pixel 6A for going on a year now, and I'm not very satisfied with my purchase. It's a decent enough phone, but it seems that the fingerprint reader doesn't work more than half of the time, and Google Assistant is about as reliable. It also just has a lot of weird little things that add up (for instance, plugging in the battery may not indicate that it's charging until you unlock the phone). Not to mention that I'm just not fond of the company these days, and I'd like to gradually ween myself off of their applications and such.
I actually upgraded to this phone from a Moto G6 plus (bought for >$200 via Amazon, compared to this $500 device), and I find myself wishing I hadn't hopped in the hot tub with it in my pocket that day.
With that said, what sort of alternatives do you fine people suggest? I'm not too concerned with specs (as long as it plays Pocket Trains, I'm happy lol), mostly battery life, Android, and sustainable company practices if that's still a thing in tech.
Currently looking at the Fairphone 4, but was wondering what else may be floating around out there. Thanks in advance, and have a great day.
I just got the new Asus Zenfone 10 a couple weeks ago and it has been great. Fingerprint reader is on the power button solving one of your annoyances. I don't know anything about how sustainable Asus is, I imagine it's not a priority for them.
Phone is on the small side, which I love for one handed use and the battery is massive. I routinely plug it in to charge at night and have only gotten down into the 60s with regular use.
Also, if you like the default experience of stock Android you get on Pixels, Asus lets you choose if you want the default or Asus' version during setup which you can easily change later threw a menu in settings. No real bloatware aside from the usual Facebook apps I always immediately delete. Probably the best stock Android experience outside of a pixel.
If you care, it still has a headphone jack and is also IP68.
I just looked up the specs and its the perfect size for my hands! (and a headphone jack to boot!) It looks like I've found my replacement phone for when my s10e finally dies - thank you.
The size is awesome if you want a small phone. It also has a one handed mode that works well that complements it.
Fingerprint reader on the power button is a good choice. I went from a Pixel 4A which had it on the back (also a great spot.) to a Pixel 7 which has it in the display, and it's awful. I purchased a screen protector, and it almost didn't work at all until I removed it.
I really dislike the design choice to try and remove any extremities on a phone. It won't be long until they're just solid slabs of glass with no buttons or ports at all.
I often miss my LG G4 which has power and volume buttons on the back. That was nice.
I miss when phone companies were able to explore and do weird things, before the standardization of slabs of black glass took over.
I remember my old Sony Ericsson back in high school. It was an orange clamshell with a built-in media play back controller on the front (is that the term? Pause, play, rewind). You just don't get that anymore.
Bring back kooky weird stuff, I say!
Absolutely. I actually had a Samsung Z Flip 3 before this phone that also has the fingerprint reader in the power button too and it reminded me how much I prefer that over the in screen versions.
I really liked the volume slider on OnePlus phones. Sadly they also moved to in screen and the software is terrible since Oppo bought them.
I need someone to make a phone with a fingerprint reader in the power button and the volume slider like OnePlus had and I'll be in heaven.
It sucks Google cheaped out on the in display reader. It actually works really well on the last couple of Galaxy phones.
I have been thinking about getting one as my new phone. Do you have any annoyances or issues with it?
The power button lets you swipe up or down and choose what action you want to occur. I find that swipe function is too sensitive and I'll accidentally trigger it by mistake. Minor annoyance and could just be my fat fingers.
Sometimes when unlocking the phone it doesn't register my finger print right away, so I click again and it unlocks but then the screen goes black as if it was slow to register my finger print. Doesn't happen all the time.
Those are the only two minor annoyances I have found so far. Phone is generally solid otherwise.
it looks like the perfect sized phone for me, but sadly still doesn't support eSIM.
Is there some advantage to eSIM aside from not needing a physical SIM card that I'm not aware of? Seems like a strange deal breaker to me.
For one, it's significantly easier to set up with Google Fi. That's the only context I personally have for eSIM.
Ah, not offered in my country, but if that's something you care about then fair enough.
I have one since 3 weeks ago and it's been absolutely fantastic. Perfect size, great battery life.
I was not impressed with the zenphone. The headphone jack was DOA, and getting a refund took weeks.
While you didn't ask about Samsung, I'd like to share my one, massive complaint for anyone not aware. I have a model A52, but I've read this is an issue for other models, too:
Samsung has a charger moisture detection feature that you can't deactivate; it blares and prevents charging when triggered.
That'd be fine except.. it's so sensitive, it's triggered by high-humidity days (very common in summer where I live: midwest North America). I don't have AC, so I have to be careful about keeping a high charge in summer; there've been times when I couldn't use a charger for a couple days in a row.
I otherwise like my phone well enough that, if not for this one massive issue, I'd probably re-buy (though, camera colour balance renders yellows just slightly off). As is, when this phone kicks the dust I'll be looking at different brands...
I've had this issue on my s22 a few times. I hit the charge port with a hair dryer on med-low for a minute or two and that usually lets me plug it in for the night.
I've done the blow-dryer trick! I find it's 50/50. Sometimes, some witchcrafty combo of also plugging my phone into my laptop, then turning it off and then on again can remove the warning long enough to charge up.
Sometimes it's just too hot and too humid, and I have to ride out the weather.
Have you tried putting it in the freezer for a moment? Cold air holds less moisture.
I've not - I assumed moisture would condense on the surface the moment I removed it. But, it may be worth trying if I'm really in a bind. Thanks :)
Oh yikes, that does sound like a pain. I'm from the South, so that would be an instant no-go down here. It's so interesting (and equally frustrating!) that so many devices are nearly perfect, but then have at least one glaring flaw that sticks out like a sore thumb. I actually think that I fixed (for now!) my Google assistant issue by some minor troubleshooting, but the fingerprint issue is such a flaw to me that I just can't recommend this phone. Which sucks, because I want to like this phone!
Samsungs colors on photos has always been a bit off in my experience. It definitely brightens and saturates things. You can improve things a bit by using GCam but they'll still be a little off.
Thanks for the tip!
Oh, so that's why my mom's been complaining about her phone not or barely charging.
I bought my mom the same phone two months ago and while she's quite happy with the phone, she had a hit and miss experience with the battery. She lives in a remote, somewhat humid area with no AC where there's poor reception, so I chalked the battery issues up to the phone modem sipping much of the battery trying to find a signal but some days, the battery drain was so bad that she couldn't even watch a full episode of a series on Netflix, as the phone's battery would go from around 90% to 10%. Since this happened infrequently, I thought it's more likely to be a software issue rather than a hardware one. I turned off the location services (which might also be related to the modem) and the issue was gone.
She still had the charge issue though, which is what you described. On some days she wouldn't be able to charge her phone or if she did, it'd only charge around 20% when it was plugged in over night. I've never thought about a moisture detection or anything like that. I guess that's just Samsung being overly cautious after their phones started exploding some years ago.
Edit: I just realized I bought her A54, not A52. Since A54 appears to have the same moisture detection feature, I'm not going to delete the comment.
Battery jumping from 90% to 10% absolutely sounds like a hardware issue to me. I experienced the exact same thing years ago with the Google Nexus 4 and it turned out that my battery was blowing up like a marshmallow in a microwave. It eventually got so bad that it pushed the screen away from the frame. I feel extremely lucky that it never got a puncture or blew up in my pocket.
If it were a consistent issue, I'd agree but it happened infrequently, once or twice, in the first month of her using the phone. She hasn't had any issues like that since I turned off location services. Her battery is draining as much as you'd expect, depending on her daily usage.
Thank you for the heads up though. Given where she lives, she should always be on the look out for possible battery issues like swelling. I'll let her know to be mindful of that and what to look for.
For the specific issue I'm describing, there should be a very clear notification and icon. At least on my phone, I get a full-screen error when I trigger the warning that describes the 'problem'; a buzzing/alarm noise; and a water-droplet icon in the upper 'notification' banner.
After reading your comment, I researched the feature a bit and indeed that seems to be the case. I don't know if she paid any attention to it, but I'll certainly ask her. She's not at all technically savvy, so she may have not even noticed it. But it's good to know what it looks like so that if it happens again in the future, she will be more informed, thanks to you.
Can you use a wireless charger? I have adopted wireless charging for this issue, and I have a cap on the charging port. I have found it renders this, generally, a non-issue, and even a feature; when it's humid I don't introduce any kind of water damage.
I could, but I utterly resent the idea of buying another dongle simply because my current dongle can't do basically its only job. :)
I understand that. I personally have framed it slightly differently; I've got several wireless charges throughout the house. I can drop my phone on any of them and guests can as well, and it ends up being very convenient. I have saved a non trivial amount of time by just being able to set my phone down and having it be charged later. It also has reduced the number of charge cords that I have purchased; since investing in a few stations, I have bought zero for our home over a period of a few years, whereas before I bought them more often than, sometimes up to quarterly. Our house does have three phone in it that all can use the charging stations though.
Having the usb port stoppered almost all the time also has mitigated the pocket-fluff-in-port issue that I frequently had.
My wife and I have samsung s21 ultras. Hers just doesnt charge with a plug due to this issue and she has to use wireless charger. Mine doesn't have this issue at all. Hers stops every now and then after an update and works fine for a whilem
We live in Florida, so humidity is akin to floating in soup most of the time.
Oh wow. I had no idea this was a thing. I have an A52 and live in a humid area and also being my phone into the shower sometimes. This has never happened to me.
I guess I'm very lucky. I would be very frustrated with this problem too.
For what it's worth, from personal experience, my wife's Pixel does the same (so do our Amazon Fire Kids Tablets lol).
Oh nooo. Actually, that's worth a lot. Thank you! I was under the impression that it was specifically a Samsung issue. Next phone, I'll have to do my research on this issue (though, hopefully by the next phone I'll have some form of indoor A/C...)
My house has had Pixels from back in the Nexus days up to the Pixel 6 and have never once seen a moisture warning on any of our phones.
https://thecellguide.com/fix-moisture-detected-error-on-a-google-pixel-71057
It's a thing, I promise you.
While I understand that is a function of the pixel phones as well, it doesn't seem that this is such a prevalent issue like it is for Samsung phones.
I have a Samsung and have never had it happen. My wife has a Pixel and has. We have Fire tablets that constantly do it. Anecdotal evidence is anecdotal evidence.
Yeah, you really need to have a wireless charger available. I teach scuba, so frequently in swim trunks that are still a little damp between pool sessions, and I've learned that having my Samsung in my pocket means wireless charging only for a few hours.
I also have the A52 and live in Midewst US. Have only ran into this problem only a couple of time when i bring it in the bathroom while im showering to play music in the almost 2 years ive had it. Only mentioned this because I love my A52 and for its price point does everything pretty well. Weird how we've had such different experiences with it
Exact same! I live in Australia so it seems every 2-3 days it goes off on my phone.
I remember having that issue multiple times on my Galaxy S8. Interesting to see they never really fixed it.
If you’re looking at sustainability the Fairphone is the one to get;
Other than that I’d recommend a Samsung as their OS upgrade schedule is one of the most generous. One of their flagships or the A54?
In the same vein and stepping out of the Androidsphere I’d also throw in a recommendation for the iPhone lineup as servicing the phone can be done through the store and their OS support on their phones are phenomenal.
Having said that I do prefer the flexibility of Android and there is a steep cost associated with Apple products …
As someone who was in a similar position and bought an iPhone: please consider the choice very carefully. I wish I didn’t buy this, after several years with it. The software keyboards suck, all the apps and accessories are overpriced or very limited (no torrent clients, emulators, alternate browsers, etc.), Siri is atrocious, and the years long OS support they offer is neither guaranteed nor good — after a few years, everything gets slower and buggier anyways.
If you’ve made it this long on an Android device and don’t feel that you’re lacking anything feature-wise it’s best to stay well outside the Apple ecosystem. The only thing Apple has going for it is its hardware and build quality, which is genuinely great, except for all the boneheaded handicaps they take (glass everything, minuscule batteries, port and extensibility limitations, etc.)
Your experience is exactly the opposite of mine. Practically everything you mentioned is better for me on iPhone than on any Android handset I have ever owned, regardless of price. And every app I used on iPhone has been better than the Android equivalent.
Particularly, Google assistant can’t understand what I’m saying most of the time, and I’m a Native American English speaker with no speech impediments. Siri has arguably less functionality on paper but in reality is vastly more functional because it doesn’t fail to activate.
Same experience for me, having switched to iPhone just last year since always being on Android since I got my first smartphone, an original Galaxy S, in ~2010. I had similar issues as @kacey had with the keyboard, but I think that's because it's a new system - but you eventually learn the quirks and differences, and the keyboard learns what you want it to do too, along the way. It definitely took some getting used to. But aside from that, everything else on an iPhone is better in my opinion. Granted I am not a techie and don't feel a need for torrenting or emulating etc. on my phone.
As for voice assistant, I've never used it 😅 I feel awkward as hell speaking to my phone. And I'm not even sure it knows Danish?
(focusing in on the bit that mentioned me by name :3)
Well I’m three years into this keyboard and it’s still awful XD it just tried to correct “keyboard and it’s” to “key pad buts”, and I’ve learned that I have to painstakingly erase the whole phrase at that point. Autocorrect is too hosed to recover quickly. And that’s painful too, since holding the backspace key switches deletion modes if you hold it too long, and it’ll take out the whole paragraph if you’re not careful!
I’m not saying your experience is wrong or anything, but it’s totally different than mine, unfortunately.
I've read recently that autocorrect will be much improved with ios 17. Maybe the update will help with your keyboard frustrations?
Fingers crossed, but I’ve learned to douvt Ang annoniucmene t about improvements in iOS.
Autocorrect errors left in place intentionally to demonstrate my point :3
You know, a few years ago, before I had a significant first-hand experience with Apple devices, I would probably agree with what you're saying, but having had an Android since 2012 (devices from Motorola, Samsung, Xiaomi, Sony, Google), having rooted and installed tens of different ROMs, and ending up with a Google Pixel 6 that wasn't even rooted I would probably beg to differ.
Two months ago, trying to deal with my ADHD, I decided to give an iPhone a try, thinking it might be a better experience as I kept fucking around with my phone. I gave my Pixel 6 to my wife, and lent my sisters' iPhone 11 (which came out in 2019).
I can tell you this much: it's definitely not slow or sluggish. I even installed iOS 17 Public Beta (because I wanted the WIFI Shortcuts TBH), and it works just as fast as the Pixel 6 does (if not faster in some scenarios).
The battery is not new at this point, so not really a comparison.
Each device (and platform) has it's strengths and weaknesses.
I would also strongly recommend the Fairphone. Reasonably priced, decent specs, ethically sourced, and most importantly long term support. Just be sure to check cellular band compatibility (https://willmyphonework.net/) with your carrier before you purchase! If you're missing a couple of bands it can make your phone essentially unusable on certain networks. IIRC the Fairphone lacks band 66, which is really useful for T-Mobile these days, and a few minor bands useful for Verizon.
Dang, I was really looking into the Fairphone, but it seems they don't ship to the US, and I'm not sure if Verizon would support it even if they did. I guess the greater issue at hand is how difficult it seems to be to find an ethical tech company, but what else is new! Thank you for the recommendation just the same.
It’s coming stateside
https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/5/23783714/murena-fairphone-4-us-release-date-price-sustainability-repair
A bit of an uncommon option
I use a Sony Xperia I IV and I love it. Granted I really prefer having an audio jack and microSD slot on my phone because reasons but I've been really impressed so far. I don't know how many times I've dropped it (as a very tall man, I might add) and it only has a small scratch on the screen. Switched from a Samsung note 8 and the screen on that would shatter if you looked at it wrong
My only complaints are that Google's messaging app doesn't work properly (for some reason it won't receive gifs correctly) and so I have to use Verizon messages which is objectively worse.
Trust! I've been struggling the last few years because my phone requirements aren't met at all here in the states. They need to bring back removable storage, removable batteries, aux ports and (most importantly for me & also apparently most obscure for others phone requirement) ir blasters. Until they do or until they get rid of those options in other countries I will most likely not be buying another phone from the US.
Bump for the ir blaster. I still keep my galaxy S5 around for that one feature.
Fellow Xperia 5 IV user here. My previous phone was Pixel 3a XL since the non-A version removed the headphone jack, and only Asus Zenfone/ROG, Sony, and Samsung XCover are the only phones left with it nowadays. The Sony phone feel like "more of the same" from my previous Pixel.
The cons is that it's pretty pricey, since volume is low. It's pretty hard to find (It's only available here through Sony retailers and not through operator/phone retailers). I wish the side fingerprint scanner can use swipe gestures like a Pixel/Zenfone, but side sense is a good replacement and I want them on my Pixel Tablet. And software update longer than 2-3 years.
I'm using a Sony Xperia 10 III and I second this. It's a very good phone, it's waterproof to an extent, with a warning to not charge while the port is still wet. It's a solid phone and the IV is the newer model. I dont use Google messages so I never experienced that problem with it.
Also unpopular, though I’m not a huge Android fan anymore, I used the PRO-I for a long time and loved it. The Sony phones feel so well built compared to the competition.
I'm normally an iPhone guy, but have to keep Android devices around for development and Sony phones are definitely on my radar. Their hardware seems solid and from what I can tell the Android they ship is just as "vanilla" as the Android they ship on their TVs (which is to say, almost entirely), which sounds great.
It's that or another Pixel, but I'm disinclined towards one of those because I find the current metal-hump design pretty ugly and in the past a Pixel 3 bricked itself on me for no discernible reason outside of warranty.
How does the I IV feel in your pocket when you bend over or sit down? As a shorter guy I'm really annoyed that almost all phones these days are too large to leave in my pocket comfortably when I sit down. I really want the headphone jack and an SD card slot, too -- love them on my XZ1 Compact -- but all the modern sony phones look like those iphone 5 "longphone" memes from 2011.
It's only ever really an issue if I wear jeans and a t-shirt. If I'm wearing ANYTHING ELSE with a pocket, it's going in that pocket (athletic shorts, hoodie, flannel shirt with a chest pocket, etc)
It rides well enough in my back pocket but I can't sit down with it in there for sure.
Woof, only a $1400 phone, that's a bit of an investment
CAN CONFIRM
I know Sony makes more budget phones too but I'm weird and like flagship models.
I totally agree with your experience with the pixel 6. The pixel 3 was really good, quality just went down from there
To be fair, OP purchased a Pixel 6A which is the budget pixel. The Pixel 3 was more of a "flagship" type device, so they aren't really compatible.
I ha a Pixel 2 XL and absolutely loved it. Currently I'm going on a Samsung S21 Ultra, and it runs like butter still, but I just miss stock android experience.
If OP doesn't mind buying used or older flagship models and wants to get off the Pixel line, the S21 series is probably a decent value still.
Valid point, but as someone who had the pixel 3A, 4A, and 6A, I've noticed the same issues OP has with 6A, which weren't issues with the previous two pixels I had. I still like the phone, but the fingerprint scanner really is bad.
Interesting. I had the 4a and got the 6a. It's materially better. Fingerprint scanner works 99.9% of the time.
How do you feel about the bright light that shines while it's scanning? Besides not working a lot of the time, the other thing I hate about it is that the light feels practically like a blinding flood light when I'm just trying to unlock my phone in bed to check my alarms. It's so aggressive that the thumb partially covering it doesn't prevent it from flashing bright light at me in the middle of the night (and my half-asleep husband, unfortunately.) Just feels like an absolute downgrade from the perfectly fine, subtle, and functional fingerprint scanner on the back of the Pixel 3A.
As far as the accuracy of it, I might need to try re-configuring my fingerprint again. Maybe that will help. Mine works about 60-70% of the time, which is quite irritating.
The bright light is kind of annoying. However, when I'm at home I have it smart unlocked so I don't need to use it. So in bed I can just swipe up.
My Pixel 2 fingerprint scanner worked perfectly but my 4A would fail multiple times in a row. On my Pixel 6A the only time it fails is if I use my thumb on my left hand which I keep forgetting to configure.
I do wish it had a better camera but it's not terrible. How likely keep this phone for another year or two. I just don't use it for much other than browsing the internet. Anything productive I prefer to use the desktop or laptop
I've had the 3a XL, the 5a, and now the 6a. The 3a XL was probably my favorite, but it was too big and heavy, which made it prone to dropping and the glass breaking. The 5a was an absolute train-wreck in my opinion. The thermal throttling on the device is completely messed up, so it overheats and freezes during video calls. I had 3 separate 5a devices die on me over the course 1.5 years. Eventually Google/Assurant replaced it with the 6a.
All that said, I too can confirm all of OP's issues with the 6a. So, my point is, if OP is not happy with the 6a, then they should absolutely get off the Pixel wagon. It's been about as good as the Pixel experience gets, in my opinion.
That's true. But I do have similar problems with the 6 pro
I have the 6 and it works fine. 🤷
Same. I've had the 1, 3xl and now 6 and they've been great phones! I've never tried any from the budget line (the As) but they seem to be the ones I hear having issues.
Hm do you never have issues with the fingerprint reader? From my understanding, there's no difference between the sensors in the 6 and 6a, but I'll be honest in saying I haven't really looked into it past initial spec reviews.
I have the pixel 6 and have no had any problems with the fingerprint reader. Only times it doesn't work is when I try to use it at odd angles or when my hands are damp after washing or in the rain, so I can't reasonably expect it to work 100% in those situations.
I have sweaty hands, so a few times a day the fingerprint scanner fails on me.
I've had the regular 6 for about a year and a half with no issues with the fingerprint reader. It's definitely not as good as the one that was on the back with the older phones.
Have you tried to contact Google about a replacement?
The only time I have trouble is if my finger is wet or something. I also don't have a screen protector, which probably helps.
My brother also has a 6pro and has a myriad of problems unrelated to mine. Maybe we got a bad batch
Went from loving my pixel 3 to hating my pixel 6. I'm having issues with Google in general these days too, so I'm ditching pixel and thinking of alternatives as well.
I've considered ditching. But having played with family members and friends phones of all kind, there's no better place than the pixel. Even with its degrading quality
I love my OnePlus, and right now they have a pretty insane discount on their phones (at least, that's what it says on the website). I have a fairly expensive 10 Pro, but their cheaper models are also supposed to be very good. This one has lived through a year of work at a bakery complete with a bunch of intimate meetings with the floor and still works flawlessly. The only serious downside is a lack of side/back fingerprint scanner which is the one thing I wish this phone had over my old Xiaomi.
That said I know nothing about their sustainability and it has a pretty annoying pocket mode.
I have OnePlus 11 5G and it is fucking fantastic. Great battery life, and every other day when I charge it, it charges real quick. Great phone if you use your phone a lot. Camera is really good as well. But it is expensive, but it is worth it.
I bought a OnePlus 6 ~400€ four years ago, it's still my daily driver. The battery is not as good as it used to be and it no longer receives updates, but it's definitely the best phone I've ever had. Speaking of updates they promised 3 years and delivered 3 and a half, so it was a very good purchase for its price.
Sending this from a 10 Pro, great phone.
Solid performance all round. I miss the camera from my 8 Pro which was absolutely phenomenal still, and I preferred the screen. I'd still be using it now if Jacob hadn't messaged me at that moment... It didn't survive the 4 foot drop on to stoney concrete.
I've had a Nord 2 as well. Also a great phone. I will always recommend OnePlus due to a good experience through the generations although I'm itching to try the Honor lineup.
I bought a 6T in 2021 with 8GB/128GB for $170. I like it. I'm running LineageOS 20 / Android 13. I plan to keep it for at least another 5 years. Will probably replace the battery soon.
I bought my pixel after oneplus started going the way of expensive flag ship. That and the whole stealing you data thing from a few years back soured me on them
Luckily it's one of the easiest phones to flash another Android flavor onto! If you want to go truly paranoid, GrapheneOS I've found to be surprisingly usable while also being more privacy friendly than nearly anything short of a brick/dumbphone. It achieves that by not having the mandatory Google components ("Play Services", licensing service for app purchases, location service which turns wifi IDs into coordinates, etc.) as rootkit but in an isolated sandbox instead, letting it do its job but not access unnecessary things.
Another option is something like LineageOS, particularly with microG but this is a bit more hacky. Even more privacy friendly, but you'll run into more bugs.
Note that all this is possible because, for now, Android is an open platform. Try any of this on modern Apple hardware...
There's a lot to be said about different options but it depends on your wishes. If it should "just work" (without you adding any fixes on top) then probably the stock software is your best bet. Buy a different phone, such as a nice flagship from 1-3 years ago second hand will probably be a good experience while also good for your wallet.
People mentioned Fairphone already, which is always essential to consider imo, but it has real downsides too so this is a personal choice. Every brand has people that love and hate it; just check spec sheets and independent professional reviews to see things like off-color photos which won't be mentioned on spec sheets.
I second GrapheneOS. It has given me control over my phone. The scope, Multiple profile, Network privacy etc.
Would either of these be a way of keeping my pixel5 running securely after it stops getting updates this fall? I love the phone and nothing I've seen looks like I'd like it better (besides maybe the Zenfone 10), but my meager understanding of security leads me to believe that using it beyond October is risky. But if lineage would keep me secure without ruining my (thus far) pretty dang good android experience, I'd be tempted to try it.
If you're otherwise going to stop using the device, then you might as well try :)
The guides online should be pretty step by step and safe so long as you keep to those steps (and often also safe if you don't - bricking is mostly a thing of the past). What I've got more trouble with is figuring out which of the various options will be what I want and thus which guide to follow.
Note that unlocking the bootloader will always wipe your device (annoyingly, but how else could they incentivise not gaining root access on your own hardware?), so you're starting clean anyhow. Can try out different things and just install something else if you don't like it
I don't have a lot of experience with different Android flavors but maybe start with a popular one like e/OS, LineageOS, or GrapheneOS. The latter I found especially easy to install via the webUSB method (I'd trust my mom to get that one right on the first try), not sure if the others also support that by now
Advice you didn't get from me is to just keep running outdated software, if you like the stock software. Soo many people run unsupported androids and I've never heard of anyone actually abusing the vulnerabilities those contain. It's a risk you could choose to accept. Maybe keep an eye/ear out for a particularly severe bug (like stagefright was, or the bluetooth vuln whose name I forgot; these happen every couple years it seems) and just don't install weird crap, keep your browser and other internet-connected apps up to date, and it's typically fine.
Thanks for the detailed reply! You've given me a lot to think about.
I have the Pixel 6A, and had the same issue. Are you using a screen protector, maybe a thick one made of tempered glass? Switching to a thin gel screen protector solved it for me. The alternative is to ditch the screen protector entirely. Either way, it sucks.
I also have a 6a, and found that turning on
settings -> display -> increase touch sensitivityhelps increase fingerprint recognition a bit.It still fails often enough to be annoying, but its worth trying out
I didn't even know about that setting, thank you, I'll try it out! Looks like they changed it to "Touchscreen Mode," but it looks to do the same thing.
I thought it was my screen protector, but that cracked during a fall, and after removing it I'm still experiencing the same issue. I've tried adding the same thumb but in different positions as well, so the fingerprint coverage is relatively total, and it still seems to only work about half of the time. If I'm deliberate and exact it's more consistent, but I do miss the near total consistency I had with my Moto. Thank you for the suggestion all the same though!
I understand. It really seems a design issue of this phone. I've seen countless complaints on the web. Ironically, my previous phone was a Nexus 5X and the rear fingerprint sensor was top-notch with regard to accuracy.
Same with my old Moto, and I thought that was some cheap budget phone! I could pull it out of my pocket and have it unlocked before even looking at the screen, it was that accurate.
The Galaxy S23 is the best phone I've ever used, by far. What rockets it over the edge is battery life.
On my previous S21 (and most other Android phones), I'd get around 4-6 hours screen on time. Thanks to the new Snapdragon, the S23 is beyond anything I've ever seen - if I'm a true degenerate, on my phone all day with a hangover, it gives me 10 hours. Consistent 10 hours SOT, often using high battery apps like TikTok. Right now I'm at 55% with 5h50m SOT.
I never have to worry about charging on a normal day of course, but even when I'm out and about on cell signal using GPS a good amount, it doesn't even cross my mind that it'll ever run out of juice. Battery stress just isn't a factor anymore.
The rest of the phone is super solid too, but I'm really hoping this battery revolution is the start of a new trend for Android phones. We're finally cresting the hill to true 2 day battery life for base models.
I'm seeing a few recommendations for Samsung A series phones. I had an A50 for two years and it had a deep performance hit after year one. I started having issues where the phone wouldn't find cell towers, but if I cycled in and out of airplane mode it'd find a connection again. The GPS started getting weird and would send my location all over a few block radius. It very well could be I just got a dud, but my suspicion is that there is a bit less quality assurance in their mid-tier phones.
As an alternative, consider getting a manufacturer refurbished phone. When it came time to upgrade from the A50, I went looking for a slightly smaller phone. Turns out that's not a very big market and the Samsung S10 was one of the most recent "small" phones but was no longer made new. However, Samsung sells unlocked refurbished phones through their website and Amazon. It doesn't come with the same pristine fancy packaging, but for $450 (now $414) I got what felt like a brand new flagship phone. I'm a few years behind current flagships, sure, but I'm also not going to pay a grand for a phone. I've had this phone for a little over a year with no signs of performance degradation yet. You also get a 1 year manufacturer warranty, at least from Samsung, going the manufacturer refurbished route. From a sustainability perspective, getting a refurbished phone does reduce your e-waste impact compared to buying new.
So if I had to pick between a new A series Samsung phone, or a refurbished Galaxy series phone, I'd go with the refirb every time. But that's definitely colored by getting burned the first time around. It also looked like Samsung waters down software features in their A series, so if you do much customization or tinkering with your phones, you may find some features unexpectedly missing.
I wanted to like it so bad, and on principle I still kind of do. You get a lot of phone per dollar compared to a flagship. It had a massive battery and a nice display which were big pluses. It just felt like the day the warranty ended it began a rapid decline. That phone was a carrier sold phone (Xfinity), so it's very possible Xfinity got a bad batch. If I bought an A series again I'd buy an unlocked one to avoid any carrier specific issues just in case that was the root issue.
Not to steal from OP, but figured I might ask while we're here talking about Android phone recs: Has anyone here had experience with the Unihertz Titan or similar physical keyboard Android phone?
I've been using a BlackBerry KeyOne as my daily driver for three years now (released 2017 but bought NOS in 2020 as my first-ever smartphone), but it's stuck on Android 8.1 and is getting a bit long in the tooth. A physical keyboard is a must-have for me (can't stand typing on glass), but I've seen very few models that look like a viable eventual replacement.
As a matter of fact, I have! I recently tried using the Titan Pocket. I don't have much experience with BlackBerry devices myself, but AFAIK, the user-experience was very similar. Unfortunately, I didn't like it very much due to most apps and mobile websites being catered to larger screens. I wanted to like that phone so badly, but I tried using RedditisFun, and I knew right away that the experience wasn't what I was looking for. But if you're already used to that, it may just be up your alley.
So caveat, I use my phone for web searches, navigation, photos, and communications. It's not that I'm a Luddite, I just don't use phones in the way many do. That said, I love my Pixel 7 and I hear good things about the 7a. Given how poorly your experience your 6A has gone, it makes sense to steer away from all things Google.
If it were in the market for a new phone, I'd be looking
a) Zenfone 10 - small form factor, headphone jack, physical finger printer reader. I nearly got an Zenfone 9 but the trade-in value + discounts I got for my Pixel 7 was huge so I got it and I'm happy with it.
b) Samsung S23 - solid overall performer, the toyota camry of phones
c) Nothing Phone 2 - from the oneplus creator so I'm curious about that
d) Samsung A54 - solid mid tier phone, the honda civic of phones. (edit : this comment expresses some concerns about the A-series which if I'm honest, doesn't surprise me)
Depending on your network and location, there are some other manufacturers that I'd be curious about, specifically phones out of China, but support/security/network accessibility/etc are huge question marks and to me, it's not work the gamble at this point unless your carrier officially supports it.
I've seen some Motorola mentions, but no comments on the phone that I have.
I have a Moto G Power 2022, and my wife has G Power 2021. Both excellent phones. We are simple users. Talk, text, basic internet, music, and videos. Works fine for those, and battery life will last 2-3 days for me depending on use, similar for her.
I think it's probably less powerful processing than other phones or as high resolution, but works great for me and is very reasonably priced!
I love my G power 2021. I broke the screen on my last one and briefly tired out the 2022 before finding a used 2021. What letld me back to the older model was the slightly smaller size and the wide-angle lens. It's worth has far exceeded the price for me. I use it much like you do, and the battery life is outstanding for a forgetful person like myself. As mentioned by others I'm addicted to the Moto actions (accessing the camera with the power button, and the flashlight through a motion are two I use multiple times a day).
I hate to see perfectly good hardware end up in a landfill. Its worth giving a custom ROM a shot if you have the time and patience to install it.
You could also check out GraphineOS. its a privacy focused custom ROM. It may help with some of your problems. (And create others.)
I have a One Plus 7 Pro with a custom firmware. Android 13, latest security patches and all. Its better supported than most phones I have had in the past. And its still fast as hell. I highly reccomend playing around with your hardware a little before tossing it out. If you want help with installing custom Roms, hit me up.
No worries there, I do my best to recycle or trade-in electronics when possible. I even paid for a service to recycle my mattress for me recently! Not saving the world, just good for my mental health to know I'm trying.
I'll definitely try a custom ROM, no reason not to if I'm thinking of getting rid of this thing! I was looking at some the other day. Thank you for the offer! If I run into any issues I'll swing by.
I don't know why you're having those problem on pixel, that shouldn't be happening. I am on Pixel device too everything works great. If I wouldn't have bought pixel, I would have gone with "NOTHING Phone" or Motorola with stock OS. All other android phone are bloated with stupid apps.
Last year the pixel 3a I was very happy with had a hardware failure and I had to move on.
I got the pixel 6a and was pretty disappointed, mainly because of the fingerprint reader issue. I tried the increased sensitivity thing, different screen protectors and even no screen protector. I realized after 6 months I still hadn't gotten used to it and I was frustrated with the touchscreen feeling unresponsive or inaccurate as well.
I bought a refurbished 5a for $150, and have been really happy with it. It has the better, rear fingerprint reader. and is otherwise a simple phone with a good camera, etc. I gave the 6a to my daughter.
I'm on my 4th Xiaomi (Poco X5 Pro) and have no complaints aside for the fact that you have to wait 7 days to unlock the bootloader. Oh, and it comes with a lot of bloatware, but it is easily removable with adb.
Yeah the bloat and weirdness (not being able to click through widgets in Nova) was awkward. But the hardware itself (I have a Note 10 Pro) is super. 2 Sims and dedicated microsd.
I like Nokia these days. It's not really Nokia, it's "HMD Global" but they make nice phones, especially nice for the price.
They've got some current models out where repairability is very in focus too, easily opened to replace parts. Not sure if that matters to you. I would say their devices are very in the Moto G spirit, good value and not a lot of nonsense.
My favourite phone is a Nokia 8.1, old but just right still and very well made. Also very crucial: unmolested, untouched straight Android just as Google intended. I hate when phone companies mess with Android though, you might be different but Samsung devices in particular... can't tolerate their modifications.
I've been looking at that phone, though I've heard conflicting reports if it has esims. I'll definitely get one once I get confirmed for more work trips abroad.
Thank you. Hilariously I got a dual Sim version by accident first before getting the Sim + esim model.
A546-U1 is the model name of mine with esim.
Nice. Yeah I'm us as well. Will eagerly wait for that update. Hopefully we get Android 14.
Nowadays i'm sort of almost 50-50 whether to keep going the android route or plugne into iphone territory...neither of which impresses me; and i'm not referring to technolgoy, more about being disappoointed on lack of control and whithering privacy. However, to your point, as far as android phones....i have now decided that i muself will only buy only one of the following phoneas:
...Because any of them can get Graphene or some similar android based alternative operating system...In other words, it gives me a future of slightly longer lifecycle with a phone, instead of being forced to buy yet another phone unnecessarily every 2 years, etc.
Any suggestions for an phone which supports 4g(volte)/5g ?. New Poco's any good?.
$200ish Motorola's are all I buy for my wife and I. The last one I bought, a Moto G Stylus, I'm still using nearly 3 years later. My wife and I have been thinking about upgrading sometime soon, but I haven't bothered doing that research just yet, but I know it'll be Moto.
I absolutely can't give up the Moto actions and Motorola can generally be relied upon to have an SD Card slot, which is extremely important to me.
The other thing is, in my 15 or so years of buying smart phones (this holds true for pretty much everything else as well), I've generally found that the more money I spend, the less happy I am. The little issues that every phone has are so much more annoying when I've spent $600 on the thing and I end up just hating it.
I've also been using Motorolas for some years now because of the price and features. I will die on the microSD hill. I refuse to stream music so I need that actual storage. Each Moto phone I've had is cheap and I like paying for it upfront so I don't get the extra monthly charge. On republic wireless my monthly bill is less than $25 with a phone that cost me not much more than $200.
Touch OS design peaked with Windows Phone 7.8. Which launcher do you use? I've tried a few different WP-inspired ones, but never found one I was truly happy with.