Recommend me a new phone
Hi all -- I have had a Moto G5+ for the last two years, and have been largely happy with it. However, it's recently developed some serious issues w/ charging -- it tends to not ever get past ~45%, and the battery indicator seems to be ... disconnected from how long the phone actually lasts. I have attempted cleaning out the charging port (there was a lot of caked-in dust), changing the charging cable and port, to no avail. It works ok-ish for the moment, but I have largely been limiting it to emergency usage and I suspect it's on it's way out.
So, I find myself in the market for a new phone. In the past I have typically gone with whatever the cheapest reasonable Android phone has been (hence, the G5+ which I really do like quite a bit besides the poor camera). I am not a heavy phone user, and I really don't care about having the latest and greatest, my priorities are:
- long battery life (my Moto G5 lasts two days fully charged)
- cheap (say 200-300$, the SE on this thread is probably the upper bound of what I'd want to spend)
- reasonably performant
- preferably reasonable privacy protections (probably a pipe-dream)
The Moto G series have checked all boxes (apart from privacy) in the past, but I am considering whether I can take this opportunity to rid myself of another Google device in my life. I was thinking potentially going for a refurbished iPhone, but I really have no idea what to be looking for there. I haven't used an Apple device since my iPod (iTunes on Windows PTSD is real, and I don't even want to think about Linux support), and I am more than a bit hesitant to tie myself into their ecosystem, but it's hard to deny their superiority from a privacy standpoint.
I had also considered a Librem 5 at one point, and would be willing to spend a bit more for something so privacy oriented. But the 6-month order window, and other things I read about Purisms' roll-out have left me a bit wary there.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
The new iPhone SE as you mentioned looks like a good choice. If you’re not bothered by the slightly older design it’s got the same CPU as the iPhone 11 series and it’ll be supported for ages. The original SE from 2016 is still getting updates. Better for privacy and security too. You can’t expect any of that from a Motorola - or any Android phone at that.
And the camera has 4k60fps recording. It is missing night mode, however.
The iPhone SE you mentioned is probably your best bet for
unless you get into some niche Android forks that take out all the Google shit
Another question for you all:
What's the import process of android data into an iphone look like? Is this reasonable to do at all?
There's the
Move to iOSapp by Apple on the Play Store. Based on my own and some of my friends' experiences its reliability is all over the place though. Sometimes it works great, sometimes it doesn't. (It seems some phones don't like the private WiFi network it creates, because they detect that it doesn't have internet access and automatically leave the network again). If it completes successfully though everything works out.Other than that, if you sync contacts to Google you can get them to iOS easily (just add the account in
Settings -> Accounts & Passwordsand make sureContactsis enabled. If you use Google Photos, theey have an iOS app too which allows you to sync to the iOS Camera Roll.When initially setting up a new iPhone there is a "move data from Android" option. I noticed it when first setting up my new phone a few weeks ago. I didn't use it myself, since I have never owned an android phone and so can't tell you what the process actually requires... but at least there is a built in solution for you, and I don't imagine Apple would include it if it didn't work.
Edit: Seems easy enough, you just need to download the "Move to iOS" app from Apple Inc. on your old Android phone, and have both phones on the same wifi network for the migration to work. See: https://www.imore.com/how-switch-from-android-iphone-ipad
You may want to look into a battery replacement of the phone is otherwise working great, but otherwise @sron has a point that the new iPhone SE was just announced today, and the previous model is likely going to be available used or refurbished if you want to jump on that train.
Mmm, a battery replacement is a great point -- looks like they're only 15$ on Amazon right now. I'm still considering the SE just because it seems like it's a good opportunity to drop Android.
If they ever enable third party defaults, I'd be considering it right with you, but $15 for a backup unit while you get a new SE isn't such a bad deal.
Edit: You could probably rom it to not have GApps as well, but that's a little more involved.
Looking on ebay now the old SE is less than £100 now. Seeing quite a few listings around £55-65 and it’s still a very good phone. It’ll be more repairable than the new SE as well, with that glass back they don’t want you getting in to.
Besides the new SE (which looks pretty appealing), I'd have a look at a Pixel 3a or the upcoming 4a. I have a 3a and it suits me well. Based on your criteria, I imagine it'd also suit you well. Not sure if the battery can quite make it to 2 days, but I can usually get a day and a half usage out of mine before I hit the red.
I moved from a broken Motorola G6 to a Pixel 4 a few months back - it's a solid phone, I have minimal complaints, but I will say that I'd be disappointed if I'd paid anything resembling full price for the Pixel. It's almost triple the launch price of the G6, and while the screen and camera are both great, it just doesn't feel like 3x the phone. The 4a should be out any day, though, and looks to present much better value for money (it'll likely push down the 3a prices, too).
For me, the real selling points were size, and updates, in that order. OnePlus and the G series are just too big, and Motorola are terrible at keeping up with new Android versions.
As phone that I can comfortably use one handed the Pixel is maybe 2cm too big on the diagonal for that to really work, but it's the closest I could find. I live in hope that "small" phones (i.e. no bigger than what was considered mid to large a few years ago) find a niche in the market again - I quite understand why some people much prefer a big screen, I'd just like to also have the option of not.
Fair. I would say my usage pattern is similar to yours, with the significant addition of podcast / bluetooth usage for headphones. Occasional reading of articles after work, etc. as well.
Keep in mind that any Android phone you purchase is unlikely to receive security updates beyond 3 years after its release (and even then, that’s only likely for certain phones like Pixels). Personally I am willing to pay an Apple premium for something like the SE knowing that they will reliably provide updates longer than that.
If you really want to do the whole privacy thing without shelling out for a Librem, the Pinephone is supposed to be a decent alternative. It runs what is basically the sort of Linux that runs on a Raspberry Pi though, so apps that are actually designed to be used on a smartphone are sparse. It's $150, which is pretty good for the specs. It's even got hardware switches for mic, Bluetooth, etc. and a removable battery.
If you decide against de-googling, I have a Moto g7 Power and I really enjoy it. I am a fairly heavy phone user and it still easily gets 2 days between charges.
If you're not that worried about privacy then Xiaomi phones are really really good for their price, I recently got a note 8 for <200 USD and its holding up pretty good. Also if you're even a little tech savvy then you can unlock the bootloader and install Lineage OS or something on it so the privacy concerns shouldnt be that much anyways