Smartphone recommendations?
I've been rocking a Sony Xperia 1 IV for the last 3.5 years or so and, save for some persistent and irritating Bluetooth issues (audio quality drops for no reason) I've really enjoyed it.
However, as of a month or so ago, the Bluetooth issues have graduated to "untenable" level, and considering its age, it's time for a new phone.
I almost entirely use my smartphone for watching YouTube, listening to music, watching videos, and reading books. I don't use it to play games or surf social media at all. Occasionally I'll take photos, but I don't need anything better than "takes decent photos"
My hard requirements:
Not an Apple
MicroSD card
My strong wants:
No back glass
Durable
Headphone jack
Decent audio quality
Does anyone have any recommendations?
Another good reason to wait on a permanent solution is the GrapheneOS-Motorola partnership. You might have a smartphone with Graphene and a headphone jack in less than a year!
This joint venture makes me sooooooo happy, I won't even have to have a google phone to enjoy my GOS.
EU phones with replaceable batteries are happening in 2027. In your place I would buy an old or refurbished phone that's similar to or same as your existing one for couple hundred bucks to limp along until 2027.
Meanwhile, usb-c to headphone jack adapter isn't so terrible, if it helps you broaden your choices a little.
The EU law has a carve out for devices with an IP water rating (eg, every major smartphone in the market) so I wouldn’t expect much to change after 2027.
I think I read somewhere that if a battery is designed to withstand a certain number of cycles of charges it's also exempt, which Apple and certainly other big brands certainly qualify for.
I believe battery that retain 80% capacity after 1000 recharges are excempt. I can't find a source, but most articles confirm it.
I thought they were in consultation phase about that right now, and the waterproofing exemption was meant for things like:
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/commission-seeks-views-battery-removability-exemptions-2026-04-28_en
Sadly I'm in the US; hopefully the EU making removable batteries a thing again will bleed over into the US market?
Unfortunately the US phone market is a bit pathetic for choice at the moment. Would definitely check out Motorola as well since they're usually pretty solid but they don't have SD card slots. Would definitely check if Chinese phones can be used on your network (and if you're comfortable using them) since the majority of options with a card slot will be Chinese.
Me and the five Moto G Powers I've set up with SD storage expansions in the last five years politely disagree.
They don't have external slots, though, if that's what you meant. You do need a SIM puller or paperclip and a restart to swap cards.
Here's hoping from Canada
GSMArena has a phone picker where you can search for phones with specifications to help you narrow down your candidates.
https://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3
Personal recommendation would probably be the Samsung Galaxy Xcover, 7 if you gotta have the Headphone Jack, 7 Pro if you’re willing to go without and have something a little bit nicer, but either hits all the other marks and gives you a removable battery as well. I also rather like Motorola’s and the Moto G Stylus or Power would hit those marks as well in the budget to midrange market, but those have a history of Bluetooth issues so may not be good if you’re trying to get away from that. None of those are in the same ballpark or price bracket as the IV, and would probably be a performance hit, and you may want to give it a factory reset or run it through Software repair or Troubleshooting to see if you can recover some of that speed and Bluetooth connectivity?
Edit: See Toric's comment.
I've come to the realization that this phone is honestly way too nice and powerful for my usage. I don't care about recording video in 4k or playing games on my phone, so I really don't need to be dropping massive amounts of money on flagship models anymore. I just want a phone that can hold a ton of music and video files and isn't slow AF. (I work in areas without wifi or cell service often, hence my need for extra storage)
+1 for motorola then
Worth pointing out that wanting a phone to not be slow directly correlates with how expensive it will cost you.
Even if you don't game or record in 4k, the SoC on those higher end phones is much more efficient than one on a budget phone, meaning it will run smoothly for a lot longer.
So I would think of it less as "I don't want to do all these fancy things on my phone" and more "I want my phone to still be running great in 3+ years," and that latter might warrant spending a little bit of extra money.
I used to also only buy budget/mid-range phones which were definitely serviceable for a few years but always showed their age eventually. I thought it was ridiculous to spend a ton of money on a phone when I mostly watch videos on it and take a couple pics here and there. But then I got my first flagship (pixel 7 Pro) 3 years ago and it's still running so great that I have no idea when I'll switch because it's still blazing fast and does everything I need it to without a hitch.
All this to say, if longevity is your goal (ie you don't want it to be a slow brick in 2 or 3 years) definitely prioritize the phone's SoC. And in that regard, your Sony Xperia I IV is actually really good, so anything with a less powerful SoC will be taking a performance hit, so definitely keep that in mind.
That depends on the usage I suppose. For myself I had for several years the equivalent in terms of power of budget 2016 phone running Linux and performance was not a problem.
I suspect that would not be a problem even today.
I have no experience with Linux phones but with android specifically, if you go too budget the SoC will absolutely start showing its age early. That doesn't mean the phone is unusable after 2/3 years, it's more like it just starts lagging here and there, becoming slow to load certain things, that type of stuff. This will be even more noticeable for OP, whose phone has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which was the top of the line at the time, hence my word of caution.
And unfortunately Android just keeps getting more bloated with each new iteration (the severity varies between manufactures) so if you don't future proof enough, you will have a sluggish phone sooner rather than later. Of course there's the option to use a custom ROM to de bloat the phone but I don't think that's realistic for most people.
Yes it's gotten better over the years and I don't think you need to spend top dollar on a flagship to have a phone that runs smoothly for a long time, but SoC model and even RAM is definitely still a big consideration if you want the snappy feeling to last.
I just want to concur strongly with this, this has been my experience as well. I bought a Moto X 2013 version and used that for 4ish years, and then I bought a Moto G5 around 2017 but it was a more budget SOC and that thing within 2-3 years was already feeling a bit slow occasionally, doing not intensive things on the phone. The Moto X on the other hand, I don't even think I switched because it was slow, I think I switched because of wireless carrier compatibility issues. I very much preferred my Moto X for form factor alone. I ended up buying a Galaxy S10e when that first came out in 2019 and I'm still using it now, though it's definitely showing its age in processing power at this point.
From what I see at a glance, it appears the performance of the Snapdragon 430 in the Moto G5 in 2017 was not much better than the Snapdragon S4 Pro in the Moto X released in 2013. So to me that tracks, hardware released in 2017 that offers similar or slightly better performance than the flagship line in 2013 isn't going to last that long, because you would expect to see some performance drop by that point even from the 2013 flagship line by 2019-2020 or so, just like I'm seeing now from my 2019 Galaxy S10e.
Point of note, because while I agree with almost everything you've said, it's not Android that gets slower and heavier every year, but Google's software. GApps, Google Play Services, the Play Store, Firebase Cloud Messaging, etc. Dropping these will have a massive imapct on performance, percieved and actual speed, and battery life.
That doesn't make it feasible for most people, and we agree that this isn't a realistic solution for the vast majority. But Android is fine - all of Google's software, however, assumes you have Silicon-Valley engineer-tier hardware
I had to de-Google my BlackBerry Key1, and it ran fine for several years after dropping all Google software. Now, with a newer (but out of habit, de-Googled phone), I routinely have ~9GB RAM free (out of 12). It's insane how so few people realize the performance impact when Google Play Services runs on pretty well every Android device out there.
I'm VERY new to the world of Linux as an OS (started my first laptop running Mint in October) but this intrigues me. Is it particularly difficult to get Linux running on phones? Also I assume I'd probably have to switch away from Poweramp, which would be sad
Not difficult as such assuming compatible device but it does mean it is needed to deliberately choose one of those. PostmarketOS seemed to be the most supported. I am not current on what phones can be flashed and for phones intended to run Linux there is not much. I used to have PinePhone and there was also Librem5, I think.
Unfortunately there seems to a universal assumption that everyone has ios or Google owned Android which is one reason I finally personally switched.
I'll also pitch in for Motorola. My last phone was a 2021 Moto G Stylus, and I just switched to a 2026 Moto G (there was an issue with carrier lock when switching carriers). I was happy with my old phone and I'm very happy with my current one. My only real complaints are with the screen size (no real good Android options below 6") and lack of case options, and the latter will probably get better with time. I have an SD card, headphone jack, and a pretty good camera that also comes with a dedicated macro lens. The back is a kind of leathery material, so it's a bit soft and grippy without feeling plush. My old phone didn't have NFC, the new one does but I got by without for so long that I forgot what I can even use it for. Since I got an unlocked phone, there's no carrier apps on it, and the Motorola apps just stay out of the way. Unless something drastic changes in the next 5 years (what I expect the life of this phone to be) I'll probably stick with Motorola going forward.
Im not sure why this is, but the 7 standard does have a headphone jack, only the 7 pro does not.
Professionals use Bluetooth obviously. /j
Thanks for the catch.
I do not recommend the Motorolas (Moto G, Moto G Play, stylus, etc). I have bought a few of them over the last 6 years or so for my kids, specifically because of the headphone jack and price. It was probably the best choice for lower price range, but you will have issues. We went through 3 phones in 5 years and have only now been trying out one of the lower model Samsungs that still has a headphone jack.
The moto g line have all been flaky, bluetooth issues, wifi issues, poor reception, charging issues (on 2 of the 3 models), and terrible software with very little in the way of software updates. They are also rather gigantic and don't fit in even large men's pockets well, but that is a personal reason I didn't also get one.
As for the new Samsung... it's pretty bad as well for different reasons (performance). If you do go with a Samsung, the "Galaxy XCover6 Pro" is probably the one to get.
As with all of these, the step down from the Sony will be very noticeable. I wish I had better recommendations honestly. I personally ended up getting a Pixel so I could use GrapheneOS and just started using a standalone music player.
Thanks for this write up. I was leaning towards a Moto G but I also discovered they're notorious about providing one year of software updates and then abandoning them forever. Good to know they also have Bluetooth issues.
You're most welcome. I have had Sony Xperias in the past as well and I wish they had become more popular. They were some of the few phones that treated audio seriously. Google has been doing their best to push me away from Android. I wish pure Linux phones were in a better place.
Gotta be honest, this is veering into “tablet and flip phone” territory, given that you are rarely using the phone or camera aspect.
I suspect you’ll have to compromise on at least one thing.
My reasoning on no Apple:
-I work in areas that have spotty or no cell service and wifi, and considering the fact that I mostly use my phone as a video-and-music device, I need extra storage space which Apple doesn't provide
-I only own PC products, so I wouldn't gain any utility out of cross-device features
-Youtube Revanced
My emotional reason for no Apple:
-At least in the US, Apple fanboys can be absolutely insufferable. Years of giving (in my opinion) perfectly logical and rational reasons behind my choice to stick with Android are often met with a condescending "but who would want to do that" or "lol just get an apple you idiot" which is the most effective deterrent possible to getting someone to make the change.
Budget is preferably below 1k, and so long as it has a micro SD slot I'm fine with anything above 128GB, since I use a 512GB micro SD currently
You mentioned signal issues: I am not a fan of apple but I used to do mobile testing and I found that the radios were a good degree better than androids. This was a few years back, mind. And I'd say it's the only characteristic that apple has an edge over imo
What is Revanced? Something that lets you choose among official patches for other apps? Or custom patches made by fans?
Youtube Revanced. Basically adblock plus sponsorblock in app form
If you want to stick with Sony, the Sony Xperia 10 VII meets your hard requirements and has an audio jack. Basically an upgraded version of your phone, although I guess the dimensions have changed. I'm not super familiar with Sony phones, but should be a fine replacement if you want something familiar.
+1 to the Sony Xperia 10 VII. Should feel fairly similar to your current phone though thr dimensions are more like a traditional phone now.
From what else I could gather on GSMArenas phone finder, you're mainly limited to MId-ranger models from Sony, Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Tecno. I'd say it's worth exploring Samsungs models as I have no experience with the final 3 brands. I'd be a bit weary about Samsungs though, they've never really aged well in my experience with the S8 and S22 Ultra
Has Samsung improved their back glass? My previous phone to this current one was a Note 8 and that back glass would shatter if you looked at it wrong.
Yeah I think the hardware is solid. Had no issues with my S8 and S22U in day to day use. Only cracked my S22 Ultra when I violently dropped it on concrete and the back shattered.
The 10 VII is actually a downgrade (Sony is stupid with model names) though that probably is not an issue for OP. The Xperia 10 VII is also smaller than the Sony Xperia 1 VII, which is actually kind of nice for people that don't need or want a large screen. I briefly had both a "10" and a "5", where the 5 is much closer to the 1 in specs. I had a hell of a time getting one that wasn't carrier locked the last time I tried getting an Xperia. I eventually gave up on them after three different purchases that were supposedly not locked to a carrier.
Fair, it seemed newer but that doesn't mean better either. I'm usually wasting my money on flagships so I'm definitely less knowledgeable on Sony.
No worries, you're probably better off for not having used the ludicrous amount of phones like I have.
I was an Android, and smartphone in general, super enthusiast early on (I had probably five smartphones before Android even existed), so I've played with way too many phones. These days I'd probably rather have no phone at all, every major company involved has ruined them.
I use Fairphone 6. I also had a Fairphone 4. You can replace many things, including the battery, they have their own OS which is a bit more privacy friendly (and Android which I am using), the camera is decent, they do not have an audio jack, the finger print reader is on the side which needs a bit of adjusting but it's not that bad.
Fairphones really intrigue me but they also have basically zero presence in the states.
I'm still rocking my fair phone 4. Not needed to upgrade yet and probably won't for a couple years. It's got some wear and tear, the battery is a little less performant (got a second one sitting around for when it dips) but otherwise great. I damaged the usb a while back but that was a cheap easy repair.
In that case I would say don't get the newest model of whatever you end up with. A 1-2 year old model should fulfill these needs perfectly fine - and cheaper.
I use 1VII and I can confirm the Bluetooth audio issue. It only bother me when I'm paired with my car as in all other use cases I just use the speaker or, you know, the headphone jack.
My 5IV doesn't seems to have the issue, but they no longer make new 5 series phones.
Yeah I loved this phone but I also loathe how Sony's response to its myriad Bluetooth issues has been "try using Sony branded headphones"
My $30 Tozo earbuds worked just fine on every other phone I've had; why do I need to go spend $200+ because Sony doesn't want to play nice?
I do wonder if it is their insistence on pushing their preferred "high res" codec that almost no one other than Sony uses. We do have a few Sony BT headphones in the house and I can confirm that it did sound very good on them, but that's a jank reasoning and I prefer wired headphones anyway so it didn't do much for me.
The 5 phones were 95% as good at the 1 line and were 60% of the price. They also weren't oversized. That sort of value had to be eliminated from the market. :)
Actually, just got this email today! The Titan 2 Elite is available if you want a keyboard.
No headphone jack, sadly. While I am excited for the Titan 2 Elite (could unihertz finally make a phone that isn't just fine, but actually nice?), the kickstarter campaign that just ended brought the price down by a solid $100, so it's hard for me to see the actual MSRP.
Tis a shame they decided to keep the non-Pro at 256GB of storage; I prefer a large chunk of onboard storage because apps are getting increasingly bad at supporting SD cards, and 256 is a bit tight for music + photos. But you have to wait until almost 2027 for 512GB!
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 7. Battery replaceable without tools, SD card slot, headphone jack, No back glass, fairly durable, and a somewhat beefy speaker. My only complaint about it is the standard samsung bloatware, but nothing UAD wasnt able to take care of. Not super expensive, either.
Thanks so much everyone for the comments. I've read through them all (and I'll continue to do so)
Does anyone have any experience with Ulefone? I didn't know they existed prior to GSMArena tossing them in my search results and now I'm gently wondering what the catch is. Probably should've mentioned so earlier but I couldn't care less about having a phone the size and weight of a brick. I'd happily take improved durability and features at the cost of.....all aesthetics
From a quick search, they are one of the many Chinese mobile phone manufacturers operating out of Shenzhen. Reviews are mixed.
For brain rot prevention I recommend a cheap Redmi, it kinda works but it's crappy enough it doesn't make you want to use it all the time :)
I'd start with versus and work from there.
3.5years doesn't seem thaat old.
I don't have a Sony, but I've had bluetooth issues where audio quality drops around the same spot i walk through during my commute. It was a strange phenomenon but i had to assume there was some kind of interfering signals. Wonder if thats your issue?
In any case, try the Asus Zenphone - i think it meets all your requirements listed.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Asus discontinue the affordable Zenfone a few years ago and go all in on flagship models? My wife really enjoyed her Zenfone 3 and wanted to replace it with a newer model a few years ago, but the Ultra was the only model available and it was like 1500 CAD. Used ones/new old stock weren't really available either
Looks like you're correct im outdating myself! Only the Zenphone Ultra is available
Work combined with the fact that I'm a tall and not particularly coordinated person means it's been dropped onto concrete and submerged in dust more than once. It's been through a fair amount of abuse over the years.
Asus discontinued the Zenphone, so it is probably not wise to buy into one now unless the price was stellar and you were fine with no updates.
I got a Moto G Play a few months ago after my Pixel 7 Pro's screen died and I found out that a replacement would cost more than the phone itself, but I digress.
I've had a couple of Motorolas in the past because I like that they're cheap, some still have SD card support, and a headphone jack. Sure, it's definitely not a very powerful phone but I don't use it as my sole device. That's what my pc is for.
To me the obvious choice would be a Google Pixel of some variant. In my experience, pretty much every Android phone ends up being a compromise in some way, but at least with the Pixel series you're guaranteed 7 years of updates and a no-bloat experience. Plus the camera sensors are generally very good.
I love my Pixel, but I don't think it can meet OP's requirements. The 5a was the last model to have a physical headphone jack, but no pixel has a microSD slot, and the 5a is only available in 128 GB I believe. Unless OP iss willing to use a USB-C storage solution, I just don't think it's practical for their needs.
Oh whoops, I somehow filtered out everything after "Not an Apple" -- my bad! But yeah, the microSD card requirement does significantly limit the options.
Believe me I know it...really not fond of the modern smartphone market trends.