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I need a new phone. Can anyone recommend me a replacement?
I've had a Nexus 6P for the past 3 years. It's been a good run, and I've swapped the battery out once before (1 year ago) but it's time for a replacement. At this point, it's not charging properly, and turning off randomly.
What phones are you all using? Any you'd feel good about recommending? I'd be interested to hear thoughts on current smartphones, as it's not something I've looked into for a while.
Some things I liked about the Nexus 6P:
- Camera (12.3MP) was really good back when I first got it and still holds up (just shuts down when I take photos now)
- Larger form factor (not a dealbreaker though)
- Android
- Convenience of having photos uploaded to Google Photos automatically
- Battery life (in its prime) was actually decent
I'm in EU, and ideally I don't really want to spend more than 300 euros.
Thanks all, keen to hear people's thoughts...
Appreciate any kind of response/advice.
I have a Google Pixel 3A and it's amazing, would definitely recommend. Clean Android, outstanding camera, enough screen/power/storage for my needs but your needs might differ. Everything works, very few (if any) annoyances. Couple of days of battery if I'm being a little careful but even if I 'm taking lots of photos, doing GPS stuff, that kind of thing - I still manage a day with no issues.
You might prefer the XL edition, which is fairly hefty in size, but I think the Pixel phones tick all your boxes. Although I think they are low on stock of the 3A XL because the 4A was supposed to be out by now, but that should mean you can find a bargain with a bit of luck. They're in the 300EUR range though.
I suspect there will be third party ROMs available long past the point that Google stop pushing OTA updates. I haven't checked XDA forums but it's a pretty popular handset.
I just committed to the Moto G8 Power after a similar search. I haven't taken it out of the box yet, but it is a mid-range phone that has those things (I assume it's possible to automatically upload photos on Android in general).
Two things that helped me decide: gsm arena's compare feature and this particular review.
I have the G8 power and I've been really happy with it, but I have mostly had Moto phones so I don't have a lot to compare to.
I can not say anything about the moto G8 (i never had that phone)...but the GSM arena's compare feature is really helpful; I've used it (and the general product stats feature) to research phones in the past to great success! I would suggest anyone researching phones to leverage that site's features.
Thanks everyone. I'm thinking the Pixel 3A or 3A XL is the one to go for... I'll have to see what the price is like around here and consider that against some of the other options mentioned. Much appreciated :-)
Have you considered the Samsung Note9 or Note10? I have a Note9 since Dec 2018 and I've been very happy with it. I considered the Pixel 3 (the A version wasn't available at the time) but for me the Note 9 was a clear winner. You can probably find them for a decent price given the Note 20 is on the horizon. Just something to consider looking at.
Ok another update from me.. I took some time to plug all of these suggestions into GSMArena, and did a little more snooping around... ultimately went with a Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite.
I've never had a Xiaomi, but looking at the specs and price points i couldn't see a good reason to go with Google Pixel - in any case I'll report back after a month or so to report my experience.
Thanks everyone!
I had a Nexus 5P and replaced it with a OnePlus. I extremely highly recommend the OnePlus models especially given the attribute list you specified liking.
However… 300 EUR, you'll have to buy a previous, used model. I think you'll find decent 6T and 7T around that price. 6T is my model; the 7T camera is better but it has this weird selfie cam that pops up mechanically…
Fresh out of the "where's my GD Internet privacy" thread, so may I recommend a deGoogled Android /e/Phone? Refurbished Galaxies and brand new Fairphones running a crisp, user-friendly google-free version of LineageOS Android, including—among many other things—your own personal share of a private cloud-sync service for auto-uploading photos, contacts and other personal data (a tweaked version of Nextcloud).
Mine has been my primary phone for well over a year now, a few issues early on, no problems for many months now, certainly no deal-breakers.
Prices from ~ 250-500 Euros.
https://esolutions.shop/
How truly Google-free is LineageOS or any other flavor of Android? I haven't checked in a couple years but I think I recall reading that any fork of AOSP has Google dependencies that were difficult if not impossible to remove.
First and foremost, they're all more Google-free than vanilla Android.
/e/OS bundles LineageOS with MicroG, and they've also done a lot of their own in-house work with the OS itself, with MicroG, and with several bundled apps to remove Google dependencies. Some of their work, I believe, has been rolled back into MicroG, as well.
100% Google-free? Maybe. Definitely close, and if they're not 100% yet, that's definitely where they're headed.
Don't know if it's available where you are, but my Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite is the best phone I ever had.
Battery still lasts 2 days after a year. The camera takes night pictures without flash that are so clear and beautiful and performance is really good.
The downside is that it comes with some Xiaomi bloataware, but it's easily removed via ADB.
The only reason I don't root it is because of the camera. It would lose the superb quality.
Since it's not a new model anymore, it should be cheaper.
If you're OK with custom ROM's and such, I'd recommend the Poco(phone) F1 (F2 is also out, but I don't have any experience with it)
The built-in MIUI "skin" is garbage, but unlocking it (requires a 3 day wait, sadly) and flashing Lineage (or something like Pixel Experience if you don't mind Google) makes it a really good phone IMO.
Also, the F1 has some in-progress postmarketOS support, so if that works out, you might be able to use it way after it's "intended" lifetime.
I'm liking my Galaxy Note 10. The 10 Plus is objectively better value per dollar, but I just didn't want to bump up my budget. Looks like the Note 10 is still in the 500-euro range in the EU though.
Just another suggestion, since I'm buying one for around 300 myself: Realme 6 Pro
It's an absolutely power house: Snapdragon 720G CPU, IPS 60 and 90 Hz refresh rate screen, decent camera, and 4300 mAh battery that charges to 100% in less than an hour