General **What phone should I buy next?** -- Not sure what device to buy? Ask here!

[KidCarter93]

Hi everyone,

This thread is a continuation of this thread.

This is here so you can discuss what your next phone/tablet should be, if you're not sure what to pick.

Also, if you need advice as to which device is better than another, then feel free to ask those questions in here aswell.

This is an attempt to clear out all the similar threads being created around these forums.

*NOTE* I will be requesting thread maintenance as and when it is needed, to remove any SPAM comments

 

[Horrible Username]

I currently have a MotoG5, running on Lineage14.1. I find it is getting pretty slow with modern updated apps, plus the battery is getting tired - that along with the fact I overlooked that the phone doesn't have a compass.
Now, I'm thinking about getting a former flagship model. Honestly, I really don't use the phone for much, so there is no reason for me to spend anything close to big money - I'm thinking along the lines of ~$250CAD.
As far as features go… I want to stay 6" or under screen size. Must have a compass (the few thing I do use are astronomy and hiking apps). Easy to root, with good custom ROM support.
The models on my radar right now are the Pixel3, maybe 4a. Beyond that I have no idea what else to even look at, so any suggestions for other models would be helpful.
Cheers

 

[Fytdyh]

I currently have a MotoG5, running on Lineage14.1. I find it is getting pretty slow with modern updated apps, plus the battery is getting tired - that along with the fact I overlooked that the phone doesn't have a compass.
Now, I'm thinking about getting a former flagship model. Honestly, I really don't use the phone for much, so there is no reason for me to spend anything close to big money - I'm thinking along the lines of ~$250CAD.
As far as features go… I want to stay 6" or under screen size. Must have a compass (the few thing I do use are astronomy and hiking apps). Easy to root, with good custom ROM support.
The models on my radar right now are the Pixel3, maybe 4a. Beyond that I have no idea what else to even look at, so any suggestions for other models would be helpful.
Cheers

Is there a reason you want to stick with former flagships? Midrange phones nowadays blur the line between them and the former flagships. Have a look at Xiaomi/poco phones.

 

[Horrible Username]

Is there a reason you want to stick with former flagships? Midrange phones nowadays blur the line between them and the former flagships. Have a look at Xiaomi/poco phones.

Best phone for the smallest amount of money? Plus new phones are freakin huge. No thanks

 

[cacamalaca]

Hello, I'm in desperate need of a phone upgrade. I currently use the moto g8 power. I need an upgrade because my phone is either defective, terrible, or both.. Basic apps like google maps can take 10 seconds to load and the device constantly freezes. I hate it.

My budget is $800. I'm currently visiting the UK and will spend the next 5 months in different countries across Western Europe.

Primary requirements:
- snappy performance
- NFC & google pay
- good camera
- 5g
- Dual sim preferred
- Non-Chinese brand preferred
- Works in Europe and Brazil. USA would be a bonus too.

Edit: I was recommended the S20 FE with Snapdragon. Is this good? A samsung representative told me that the Snapdragon version will perform slower in Europe because the phone will always be set to roaming. Is this true or was he just trying to get me to buy the Exynos?

All advice appreciated, thank you.

 

[Fytdyh]

Hello, I'm in desperate need of a phone upgrade. I currently use the moto g8 power. I need an upgrade because my phone is either defective, terrible, or both.. Basic apps like google maps can take 10 seconds to load and the device constantly freezes. I hate it.

My budget is $800. I'm currently visiting the UK and will spend the next 5 months in different countries across Western Europe.

Primary requirements:
- snappy performance
- NFC & google pay
- good camera
- 5g
- Dual sim preferred
- Non-Chinese brand preferred
- Works in Europe and Brazil. USA would be a bonus too.

Edit: I was recommended the S20 FE with Snapdragon. Is this good? A samsung representative told me that the Snapdragon version will perform slower in Europe because the phone will always be set to roaming. Is this true or was he just trying to get me to buy the Exynos?

All advice appreciated, thank you.

How about the samsung s21? Still quite new, fast processor and a better camera. Now exynos vs snapdragon? Can't say, I reside in Romania (Europe) so exynos is the only option I have. Given the price range, wouldn't surprise me if the differences between those two are marginally at best, if any

 

[flyinhawaiian968]

Hey all,
Like most of the posts here, I too need a phone, but I have a somewhat specific list of needs, so here goes!

1. MUST have an sdcard slot!
2. MUST wireless charge.
3. MUST be usable on Verizon Network.
4. MUST be rootable.

What I have right now is an S7, rooted on android 8.0. This phone does everything I need it to, but the battery is puffed and popped the back cover, and now I'm finding several apps no longer work due to it not being on 9.0 (stupid companies with zero legacy support for their apps!). I'm looking in to a 9.0 root for the S7 if I cannot find what I am looking for. At this point, cost is not a factor, so long as I can find what I'm looking for.

Cannot believe, in this day and age, that I can't find a dozen phones that have wireless charging and an sdcard slot! Was hoping the S10 5G would do it, but its missing the card slot of all things.

Thanks for any insight as to what I should get next!

 

[Fytdyh]

Hey all,
Like most of the posts here, I too need a phone, but I have a somewhat specific list of needs, so here goes!

1. MUST have an sdcard slot!
2. MUST wireless charge.
3. MUST be usable on Verizon Network.
4. MUST be rootable.

What I have right now is an S7, rooted on android 8.0. This phone does everything I need it to, but the battery is puffed and popped the back cover, and now I'm finding several apps no longer work due to it not being on 9.0 (stupid companies with zero legacy support for their apps!). I'm looking in to a 9.0 root for the S7 if I cannot find what I am looking for. At this point, cost is not a factor, so long as I can find what I'm looking for.

Cannot believe, in this day and age, that I can't find a dozen phones that have wireless charging and an sdcard slot! Was hoping the S10 5G would do it, but its missing the card slot of all things.

Thanks for any insight as to what I should get next!

See sony xperia 1 IV

 

[flyinhawaiian968]

Thanks Fytdyh, while I'm not a fan of Sony products, the specs look pretty good. A bit high on the pricing though, but if that's what it takes, then I'll drop that kinda cash on it.

Any others? Was looking at the SM-G988U1, but it still has the crapdragon processor and I can't tell if its rootable or not. Some sites say yes, while others say no.

 

[LeDavida]

Hello everybody.

Back 4-5 years ago I own a Xiaomi Redmi 5A, a pretty basic device but for my needs was almost perfect, unfortunately the phone has been failing lately, the device get slow, the Bluetooth connection fails sometimes, the system forgets the Wi-Fi passwords, the Adreno 308 GPU has been having troubles with AR applications, the battery drops so fast and most important, it's been getting hotter when I use two applications, so it's time to find a new phone.

I don't have in mind get a powerful phone, the specs I'm looking for are:
-5''-6'' Screen
-Gyroscope and IR emitter (if possible)
-Decent Bluetooth connection
-No fingerprint sensor
-Physical return, home screen and custom button (optional, mostly impossible for what I see)
-Good RAM and Internal storage (3 or plus of RAM, 64 or plus of internal storage)
-Decent AR device
-USB Type-C
-Useful for the next 4-5 years (updates and support)
-Around $200

One option I found is the Samsung Galaxy A03, but aside of the screen size and micro USB connection I found a mix of reviews, some goods and some regretting after weeks, it's a good shot?

 

[Fytdyh]

Hello everybody.

Back 4-5 years ago I own a Xiaomi Redmi 5A, a pretty basic device but for my needs was almost perfect, unfortunately the phone has been failing lately, the device get slow, the Bluetooth connection fails sometimes, the system forgets the Wi-Fi passwords, the Adreno 308 GPU has been having troubles with AR applications, the battery drops so fast and most important, it's been getting hotter when I use two applications, so it's time to find a new phone.

I don't have in mind get a powerful phone, the specs I'm looking for are:
-5''-6'' Screen
-Gyroscope and IR emitter (if possible)
-Decent Bluetooth connection
-No fingerprint sensor
-Physical return, home screen and custom button (optional, mostly impossible for what I see)
-Good RAM and Internal storage (3 or plus of RAM, 64 or plus of internal storage)
-Decent AR device
-USB Type-C
-Useful for the next 4-5 years (updates and support)
-Around $200

One option I found is the Samsung Galaxy A03, but aside of the screen size and micro USB connection I found a mix of reviews, some goods and some regretting after weeks, it's a good shot?

Redmi note 11. A bit taller than your size range, but quite a decent phone, with a snapdragon chipset, so most likely it will get updates, official and non official

 

[Hei Wiper]

Hi everyone,

I currently have a Moto G6 running on LineageOS 18.1. I would honestly stick to my current phone if the battery wasn't dying and I also get random black screen freezes which is hard to fix since my power button is almost not functional.

I was thinking it's time to get a new phone, I'm quite satisfied with Moto G6 so I would like something similar with a better RAM, here are my preferences:

- Budget phone (I can't afford flagship phones)
- 6GB RAM (My current phone has 3GB and switching apps sometimes requires reloading)
- Good Battery life
- Active community (for Custom ROM purposes)
- A Motorola would be nice (I like the Motorola gestures)
- The other specs should be average as I don't use it for playing or any specific thing.

~ Thanks in advance ~

 

[baldybill]

I'm really interested in the Pixel 6a for several reasons, including:
- less bloat
- rootability later to extend the life through Lineage or something

Now I'm seeing some good Motorola competitors, like the the moto G 2022 and G Stylus 2022. The price is about the same, but the specs are alittle better (more RAM, memory, SD slot).

Would these Motorola phones be rootable later?
Any thoughts on which to get?

 

[Fytdyh]

Hi everyone,

I currently have a Moto G6 running on LineageOS 18.1. I would honestly stick to my current phone if the battery wasn't dying and I also get random black screen freezes which is hard to fix since my power button is almost not functional.

I was thinking it's time to get a new phone, I'm quite satisfied with Moto G6 so I would like something similar with a better RAM, here are my preferences:

- Budget phone (I can't afford flagship phones)
- 6GB RAM (My current phone has 3GB and switching apps sometimes requires reloading)
- Good Battery life
- Active community (for Custom ROM purposes)
- A Motorola would be nice (I like the Motorola gestures)
- The other specs should be average as I don't use it for playing or any specific thing.

~ Thanks in advance ~

Moto G82

 

[Lada333]

still has the crapdragon processor and I can't tell if its rootable or not

Sorry, what? Since when are Snapdragon processors horrible for rooting?
On another note, it's usually not the SOC that makes a phone "rootable or not". Samsung usually puts great effort into making their phones as difficult to tinker with as possible.

 

[flyinhawaiian968]

Maybe I should have said crappy samsung phones with snapdragon processors that are almost impossible to root? Exynos? Seems all the variants have some sort of way to root those, but snapdragon? Nope.

Just looked at an s20 5g, developer options is missing the OEM Unlocking menu item, yet the exynos variant seems to have it.

 

[Lada333]

Maybe I should have said crappy samsung phones with snapdragon processors that are almost impossible to root? Exynos? Seems all the variants have some sort of way to root those, but snapdragon? Nope.

Just looked at an s20 5g, developer options is missing the OEM Unlocking menu item, yet the exynos variant seems to have it.

Jesus Christ, I didn't know they could/would remove the OEM Unlocking option. Why only on Snapdragon though?
Your best bet for rooting and flashing custom ROMs would probably be some semi-cheap Xiaomi phone, but I know that's not necessarily what you're aiming for.
It's increasingly difficult to find a phone that is easy to tinker with and has a thriving modding community going for it.

 

[flyinhawaiian968]

Honestly, I don't know why, but its almost always a Verizon variant, and most definitely the US versions that get locked out. Been dealing with this since my first smart phone, an old Samsung Stratosphere. It was a pain to root back then, and its only gotten worse over the years. Its also why I hold on to my phones for so long! Hell, my son still has an S5 that I'm finally looking to replace, but only after I find something that will work for me!

 

[Lada333]

Honestly, I don't know why, but its almost always a Verizon variant, and most definitely the US versions that get locked out. Been dealing with this since my first smart phone, an old Samsung Stratosphere. It was a pain to root back then, and its only gotten worse over the years. Its also why I hold on to my phones for so long! Hell, my son still has an S5 that I'm finally looking to replace, but only after I find something that will work for me!

I'm not from the US, so I'm unaware of how these things work over there, but how difficult is it to buy an unlocked phone?
Aren't there some websites that may be less popular, but do offer legit, unlocked devices? I'm assuming you don't buy your phones straight from Verizon?

 

[flyinhawaiian968]

Heh, got one sittin' right here! Unlocked variant of the Galaxy S10 5G, spent hours and hours trying to find a way to root it, I've given up and just ADB'd the hell out of all the garbage that was sent to it as soon as I threw a Verizon sim card into it.
The only way I could see getting root was to try a Korean firmware and hope it doesn't brick the phone. From all that I've seen and read, the Exynos processors seem to be in everything BUT U.S. phones, at least for Samsung.
Sadly, like I was saying before, its impossible to find a rootable phone with an sdcard slot and wireless charging.
And no, I definitely don't buy from the phone stores, most of them I get off Amazon, mostly because I can return them if they won't work for me.
Playin' with an S20 5G right now (friend's phone that he just replace with something newer), and that too has no unlock bootloader option.
Its ridiculous that we spend all this money on a phone, only to be told we can't do what we want with it!

 

[YayJohn]

Hello, I'm looking for a new phone for myself, the phone I currently have, mi a1 is finally starting to have problems for me after 5 good years, it's screen now doesn't detect certain places after I left it in my trip backpack.

I was really satisfied with my mi a1, it's battery was decent, it was rootable, and most importantly it lasted me a very long while!

I want my next phone to be cheap, 200$ range, the lower the better.
It needs to last me a long time, not to start having problems after only a year or something.
I've been thinking, if the phone won't have oem unlock support, then I'll be alright with it, but if it will I'll probably get a custom rom with regular updates and just stick with it.
The camera needs to be decent, it can even be bad if the phone has oem unlock support, because the pixel camera app is fire!
A headphone jack would be nice since I currently use wired headphones, but apparently there are jack to usb c adapters so it isn't a requirement.
..and that's it!