Best phone under 250$ with great Lineage support

[GuestK00285]

Hello!

Last year, decision was very clear for me: Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (mido). Great specs (battery!), great price and 1st place on this list: https://stats.lineageos.org/

Today for another device that I need, I do not know for sure. What do you suggest?

Criteria:
- under 250$
-Dimensions: Height max ~158mm (not too large phone)
- Great battery (+4000mAh)
- Good camera
- (Year 2017+)
- NOT Samsung.
- Official Lineage support + Lineage for Microg support


Thank you and greetings!

 

[GuestK00285]

This turned out to be more difficult decision than I was expecting...
Either device has great lineage support and is NOT anymore in store OR it is in store and does NOT have official Lineage support.

Xiaomi MI A1 seems to be the only one to have both.

 

[solace mukhtar]

Xiaomi mi a1 is the best choice for you. I used it for months before i moved to mi a2. It's a nice phone. You can go for it, i believe it'll soon receive Lineage 16 official update.

 

[GuestK00285]

Xiaomi mi a1 is the best choice for you. I used it for months before i moved to mi a2. It's a nice phone. You can go for it, i believe it'll soon receive Lineage 16 official update.

Thank you for an answer!
Now I am tottaly swinging between Redmi Note 4 an Mi A1. Both are quite similar, but Redmi Note 4 has a much better battery (4000mAh vs. 3080mAh).
I have also found Asus Zenphone Max Pro M1 to be a good match (5000mAh), but I has poor camera.

If the price would not be an issue, I would probbaly go for Xiaomi Pocophone F1 (350$). But I really do not see the point. Phones above are good enough for normal use.

 

[jazzh]

I also have mido on los 15.1, I'm thinking of buying rn5pro or rn6pro.

 

[BlackWhale2108]

Instead of buying an old phone which already have Lineage OS support, you can buy a new phone which will probably get Lineage OS support.

I am talking about Mi A2. I am pretty sure that once the 2 year update program under android one project ends, it will definitely get the Lineage OS Support.

But if you can't wait for something that might or might not happen, you can go for whyred I guess.

If you ask me I would stretch up a little bit and go for poco F1, I don't think that there is any other phone out there, right now, which offers such a great value for money.

If by any chance you are able to get your hands on a OnePlus device (probably second hand so that it fits your budget), that would be great too.

Decision is yours.

 

[Bongzerker]

You can get a first gen Pixel XL for under $200, I've loaded LineageOS on it and it's so good that I'm actually selling my Note 9 and going back to the Pixel as my daily driver. Camera is better too, despite being kinda an older phone now.

 

[z0m8i3]

I picked up a used Oneplus 5 a few weeks ago for $200 and flashed MicroG Lineage to it. Excellent phone so far, I am 100% pleased with it.

 

[siluok]

Pocophone F1

+ Community
+ Official LineageOS
+ LineageOS with MicroG
+ Performance
+ SD
+ Battery and runtime
+ Camera
+ Price
+ Can be opened with screw instead of glue (to change battery, e.g.)
+ No glas back. Scratched back can be changed on the cheep

+/- No OLED display (means no oled flickering and no burnin)

- No NFC
- Only one camera

 

[xdaslo]

In 2020, pocophone is still considered the best option for a good Lineage support? Well, that is nice to hear...

Even so, any other, maybe a little cheaper option? ))

 

[alavalathi shaji]

I was also in the same situation... Frankly there is no good phone for this purpose in budget range. My only expectation was redmi 7 getting an official lineage update. But the developers seems to be satisfied with their own unofficial versions. We have two unofficial lineage for this phone but no official ones.

Actually requirement of a budget phone which is on microg (or degoogled) is a social cause... I wish this happened.

 

[heinhuiz]

I was also in the same situation... Frankly there is no good phone for this purpose in budget range. My only expectation was redmi 7 getting an official lineage update. But the developers seems to be satisfied with their own unofficial versions. We have two unofficial lineage for this phone but no official ones.

Actually requirement of a budget phone which is on microg (or degoogled) is a social cause... I wish this happened.

As others mentioned before, Mi A1 will be the phone of your choice. I just broke mine but will have the screen repaired. I love it.

 

[xdaslo]

As others mentioned before, Mi A1 will be the phone of your choice. I just broke mine but will have the screen repaired. I love it.

How can you say that since the official support for MI A1 has been dropped on April 2020?

You see, that exactly is the problem with LineageOS and others costum ROMs. You never know, how long some device will be maintained. That is specially problematic when you would like to choose a device based on official Lineage support. I could buy Pocophone F1, but support may be dropped in few months. YOU NEVER KNOW.
If only there would be few selected devices with long-time official support: https://forum.xda-developers.com/lineage/general/suggestion-provide-long-time-official-t4087499

 

[mgw2015]

If you can still get a Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 go for that. We have several of these in operation. Works like a charm. I believe the the latest Note 5 is still unsupported.

In case you know what you are doing: broken screen replacement around EUR 15 via e.g. AliExpress (including digitizer). 30 minutes to change. Bunch of spare parts like ringers and loudspeakers in the EUR 2 range available as well.

In general some hazzle with the unlocking but I've been told the process has improved significantly (works only under Windows).

 

[xdaslo]

If you can still get a Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 go for that. We have several of these in operation. Works like a charm. I believe the the latest Note 5 is still unsupported.

In case you know what you are doing: broken screen replacement around EUR 15 via e.g. AliExpress (including digitizer). 30 minutes to change. Bunch of spare parts like ringers and loudspeakers in the EUR 2 range available as well.

In general some hazzle with the unlocking but I've been told the process has improved significantly (works only under Windows).

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 is not officially maintained from april 2020.

 

[sejolino]

what about zenfone 3?

 

[HansFreier]

How can you say that since the official support for MI A1 has been dropped on April 2020?

You see, that exactly is the problem with LineageOS and others costum ROMs. You never know, how long some device will be maintained. That is specially problematic when you would like to choose a device based on official Lineage support. I could buy Pocophone F1, but support may be dropped in few months. YOU NEVER KNOW.
If only there would be few selected devices with long-time official support: https://forum.xda-developers.com/lineage/general/suggestion-provide-long-time-official-t4087499

This is the crap. I have a Samsung S7, when I bought it, the Lineage support was perfect. Some months later the support was dropped. Now I think, I buy a IPhone...

 

[GuestK00458]

This is the crap. I have a Samsung S7, when I bought it, the Lineage support was perfect. Some months later the support was dropped. Now I think, I buy a IPhone...

The S7 is in fact a very good phone for it's age and I am still using it daily with https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...eta-lineageos-17-0-galaxy-s7-build-1-t3980101.
Unofficial yes, but Lineage, good performance and battery life and very stable

 

[G A S T]

Hello!

Last year, decision was very clear for me: Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (mido). Great specs (battery!), great price and 1st place on this list: https://stats.lineageos.org/

Today for another device that I need, I do not know for sure. What do you suggest?

Criteria:
- under 250$
-Dimensions: Height max ~158mm (not too large phone)
- Great battery (+4000mAh)
- Good camera
- (Year 2017+)
- NOT Samsung.
- Official Lineage support + Lineage for Microg support


Thank you and greetings!

Since every other XDA member here posted crap (the best advice was the poco, but it has a very cheap display and is a poor plastic unibody) or ingored your wishes totally, I want to be honest:.

With a litte bit of own research on the supported device list on the LineageOS homepage you could have seen, that the Mi 8 (dipper) would have been the best pick you make with your criteria. I bought one last year for around 200 €. But you're a little bit late for that. It's hard to get dippers with a proper pricetag because they are sold out.

A very interesting LOS-capable, young, high end device is the OnePlus 7 Pro (guacamole). But of course this one is way too much expensive at the moment. If I were you, I'd wait a few months until it get's more affortable and buy it. At least I'm considering to do that.

 

[heinhuiz]

As an alternative to LineageOS, you might want to consider /e/ https://e.foundation/