What phone brand do you like the best?
What phone brand do you like the best?
*In terms of privacy, customisation, camera quality, and battery time.
For the longest time I have only used either iPhone or Samsung. I plan on switching to Android for the next phone I get, but I find that Samsung phones are often too big for me and put too much energy on camera quality (I don’t take many photos). I have started to look into brands such as Nokia and Motorola, and I would like to know what you guys think of them. Additionally, do you suggest any other phone brands aside from them? My biggest priorities are privacy and long battery time. Bonus if the phone can run LineageOS (I have excluded Graphene as they are only compatible with Pixel phones).
Thank you for any answers. Cheers!
I don't get people claiming stock iPhone is private. We literally have very little idea. It's a closed system. It's private if you take Apple's word but all the other manufacturers also have similar claims. Why trust Apple and not them?
On top of that you end up locked into their ecosystem, unable to use most FOSS applications or have cut down versions of them because daddy Apple didn't like some features.
A friend told me there's no point in stealing them as it's impossible to unlock or wipe them, which would give them the edge at least in that respect. Is this accurate?
The irony of using Android is that if you want privacy and security you'll have to buy a Pixel phone. Everything else is either less secure or harder to install alternative systems.
In that case, would you not recommend Motorola? I’m not very well versed on their terms of privacy, and I really like the way they look and how seemingly good the battery is, but if it’s considered unsafe or full of malware then I might need to look other ways.
The problem is that GrapheneOS really, truly, actually is the only way to get even reasonable levels of privacy on a mobile device right now.
That sounds so much like a shill statement, and it seems that way from others too I'm sure. But its true. If you understand anything at all that happens under the hood of an operating system and android in general, GrapheneOS is the ONLY option for actual privacy and security. And the unfortunate part, is that only Pixels are supported by this.
I can't speak for privacy interworkings but Motorola makes it very easy to unlock the bootloader. I'm a fan of Xiaomi as well but my current Motorola is doing everything I need it to do and wasn't expensive at all.
This isn't about malware, it's about how much you value your data and how likely it is for a mobile phone to be lost / stolen. GrapheneOS + Pixel phone is the only true option if you want any kind of ensure that even of the device is lost your data won't be accessed.
Details here: https://lemmy.world/comment/8732695
Why is this a problem? Buy one used if buying from Google is a problem. Then flash.
Yes, there's no problem. I was just stating that the irony is that if you want privacy and security you'll have to pick a google made device because the others will fail one way or another in some important detail.
This irony shows the superiority of Google.
They monopolize without having intention of monopoly.
It's admirable
casts protect
iPhone
In regards to stock systems, I agree.
Been stuck in the convenient ecosystem for a while, and I cope by telling myself Apple makes the bulk of its money with hardware and services. Not ads like Google. But if I would start over from zero, I think Graphene OS and Linux would be the way. But migrating the whole family away from our current Apple line up - I dread that challenge.
This made me laugh
The downside of Google Pixels is that they don't have jack connector and sd slot.
But I accepted the deal just to use GrapheneOS (I bought one used on ebay). Sometimes the battery lasts 3 days without being recharged.
People at GrapheneOS should really focus on some brand that cares about users on the hardware side.
Yup, I honestly don't care about the special features on the Pixel (esp camera), I literally only want it because of GrapheneOS and longer term software support.
I would love it if the GrapheneOS project made their own phone and supported it for a really long time. Maybe coordinate with Fairphone or something, IDK.
Same
another good place to buy a used one is https://swappa.com
Unfortunately, buying from outside US, although possible, is a pain in the neck. You need agreement with the seller AND use a freight forwarder.
Swappa is a US-based marketplace. Sellers located outside the United States cannot create listings on Swappa. International buyers can buy on Swappa if they provide a US shipping address and use a US-based payment source.
Which pixel is getting you that battery life? My 6 has been struggling to make it through a day on GrapheneOS recently.
OnePlus.
I'd never buy Samsung again, they are full of bloat and make it excessively hard to unlock the bootloader and get root access or install an alternative OS.
@[email protected] @[email protected]
I had multiple OnePlus phones and I still think it's the best Android phone on the market with great CP. But I am currently using Moto X40, great experience too.Oh that's good to know, thanks! I've read that from the OnePlus 12 onwards there won't be a localized OxygenOS anymore, only ColorOS, which is full of China-bloat. I'm still happy with the 10 Pro, but when the time comes and this holds true, I'll be looking for alternatives.
Samsung support is also a straight up scam. They'll lie to your face about how they're getting ready to send you a replacement, and then ghost you. I hope the feds sue them too but I'm not holding my breath. We filed a complaint with our state's AG and fuck all came of it.
For me it has to be Fairphone. They are more expensive than the others to buy new but they are more aligned with openness and free software. They receive updates for a long time, are well supported by CalyxOS, /e/os, Linux mobile OSs etc, are repairable, you can carry extra batteries, usually have an SD card slot and two SIM slots and are more environmentally-friendly than others.
i second getting a fairphone, but look into a second battery or a power bank for heavy use.
Don't exclude Pixel phones so quickly. They are one of the most versatile for custom ROMs, and they check all of your checkboxes. I love my CalxyOS Pixel 6.
But no SD card slot. ☹
Or headphone jack
The pixel 6 is a heavy POS. I like the 4a. Its refreshingly & reasonably sized
What phone brand do you like the best?
(I have excluded Graphene as they are only compatible with Pixel phones).
You're asking this on the privacy mag and intentionally/explicitly exclude the best privacy option with no explanation.
Wtf.
GrapheneOS isn’t a phone brand.
It might as well be since it only works on Google Pixels.
If privacy is important, a custom ROM is highly recommended or rather mandatory. Most brands have locked boot loader which can't be unlocked immediately without voiding warranty. Some let you to using some bs proprietary software but only after few months. That was the only reason I had to resort to getting a pixel. So look into all the brands available to you and check their policy on custom rooms before looking into the mobile themselves.
adb debloating is adequate.
there may be additional steps for LOS privacy.If you don't remove play service and shit without being unable to use payment apps and other shut, it's not gonna work for majority. Those are worst offenders that have to be removed for privacy.
Sony. They still have a headphone jack.
Also asus (at least zenphone)
Headphone Jack club
pine64 because freedom.
You can't just recommend Pinephone.
It is at best an half baked device. Phone calls are not that good and I had to manually enable VoLTE and flashed a custom firmware on the modem.I'd love a Pinephone, but that's not happening until it's usable as a phone, meaning:
- MMS
- decent call audio
- reliable wake up from suspend
- decent battery life
I don't even care about the camera working, fingerprint sensors, etc. I literally just want a phone that works reliably as a phone with super long term software support.
it ha physical killswitchs. thats pretty appealing if u need that.
xiaomi has awesome hardware, audio jack, sd slot, even ir blaster.
their privacy policy is bad, but a lot of them have official lineageos (and microg-patched lineage) and it works really really well.
Currently in the process of installing Lineageos on my brothers redmi note 10 pro.
Its a huge pain compared to my phone, mainly because unlocking the bootloader requires an account with his number connected. Then I had to install Windows to use their shitty unlock app, which the requires you to wait up to 30 days for seemingly no reason. Luckily "just" a week for us.
But yeah the hardware is amazing.
yes the unlock process is obtuse as fuck! they do something similar to samsung and their RMM bullshit of having to wait.
luckily, unlike samsung, after its done they wont bother you again.
Its actually so good that the redmi note 8 (with lineageos-mucrog) I had before performed basically the same as my pixel 6a
also their subbrand Poco.
Why exclude GrapheneOS? It's a really good mobile OS, and the creator has given his reasons for only supporting Pixels.
Not under your specs but the Sony Xperia line offers a headphone jack + microSD, can be unlocked, & has flagship specs (1 & 5). The 5 & 10 models are also smaller devices that actually fit in one hand too. This characteristic combo does not come in the other models folks are suggesting. Older models have LineageOS for microG support if you want an ungoogled phone (but beware the stock camera app is trash).
i loved my XZ2 Compact SO MUCH and then all the carriers in my country simultaneously dropped voice calling support for it. i'm still so salty
Because we need innovation, even if we got on just fine then
i daily a Fairphone 4, has neither the best camera nor the best battery life. but it's the most repairable and durable phone i've owned.
i've had extremely good experieces with oneplus phones, dunno about custom ROM support though.
i've also heard good things about modern motorola phones, if the ROM support is there it's worth a shot imo.
Oneplus with lineage os is pretty good but they sorta make it a pain to unlock the bootloader if the phone was not originally factory unlocked.
I like fairphone the best out of all the ones that are currently available, however, my next phone will be a Pixel 8A because grapheneos doesn't support fairphone
Xiaomi and Oneplus have some battery beasts of phones.
I just got a OnePlus 12 and this phone is fantastic. Bootloader is unlocked and you can do whatever you want. Battery is amazing. Charger is insane. Camera is more than decent. Price is very reasonable for what it offers.
As I usually unlock bootloader, I just buy cheap Chinese phones from around 100 bucks, right now I'm using a FreeYond M5 5G. Debloated and rooted. Working like a charm.
Edit: I prefer Motorola over Nokia.
I focus on the OS. However, I like the moto phones. I've had mine for 5 or 6 years and I don't have any reason to change.
My assus zenphone is quite good in a compact package and minimal changes to android.
No idea about customisation though.
Be warned that the latest models ASUS removed the ability to unlock the devices
I've asked a similar question not long ago and the consensus was pixel, even though I had already ruled them out in my question.
I still haven't changed phones but I'm leaning on a nothing 2a, since it's reasonably priced for the storage that I want.
However, I've been looking at phones based on the specs I want and check XDA forums and see how active they are, in the hopes I get a phone popular enough that has long term community support
Conair was always my favorite
I've always liked the Stromberg Carlson Fiddleback myself.
Custom ROM support relies a lot on a phone either being unique in some nerdy kind of way or having widespread community interest (especially appeal to Indian consumers since many community developers are Indian). The Google Pixel and Fairphone lines consistently have great support due to the first reason, while cheaper Chinese brands often have decent support for the second reason. Nokia is in a bad position in both respects - its phones are neither interesting or particularly cheap/good value for money - so its support is generally pretty bad.
If you plan to just use a phone with the stock ROM then they are all equally bad when it comes to leakage to Google. However brands that try hard to force you into their heavily modified Android ecosystems like Samsung and Xiaomi are particularly bad for privacy since they have a ton of extra data collection built in that is either forced or suggested to you quite heavily (many features are locked behind additional privacy policies and account logins). You are better off going with something as light as possible in that case. Since you mentioned Motorola, I'll add that I have a razr 2023 and beyond a few optional apps that I can disable, it is pretty standard Android with no additional data collection or accounts required. Motorola phones can have dogshit software support, though. Like this one I have is less than a year old and it's already taking them 4 months to push an update.
Samsung Ultra all the way. It has top of the world hardware, software support
AND I can customize my phone the way I want.
I'm using a SHIFT6mq with LineageOS. It's similar to the Fairphone (expensive, but repairable, sustainable, good Custom ROM support), but it's got a few different design decisions and much higher build quality compared to the FP3 I had before.
The hardware is wholly unremarkable, but the pixel line supports Graphene. Custom Roms are a necessity if you care about privacy even a little bit, but there are other options.
Unfortunately in many places, illegal searches are the rule, not the exception and as such security is almost as critical. If you need security AND privacy there is simply no substitute.
Motorola hardware looks kinda nice though...
Be careful with Motorola, here's a Louis Rossmann rant about Lenovo/Motorola sucking, and here's the official unlocking policy and procedure he mentioned. Some specific issues to call out:
- need to wait a week before unlocking the bootloader after purchase
- you lose your Motorola warranty
- you cannot sell or transfer your unlocked device (in linked legal agreement)
That's pretty scummy IMO, and why I'm not interested in Motorola devices. I don't intend to ever use the warranty or sell my phone, but I'm not okay with that being a legally binding agreement.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
here's a Louis Rossmann rant about Lenovo/Motorola sucking
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
HTC (Wildfire, Desire Z, [rip!]), Samsung (they are/were easy to flash; S3, S5, S7, A5 2017).
I once had Nexus 5 (by LG [rip!]) - I was disappointed, poor quality.Nowadays, you should have control of a baseband firmware too!
So, looks like the Pixels are the best option.So I’ve gone back and forth between Apple and Android for the past decade and a half: I currently daily an iPhone 12 mini because I like the UI, size, ease of use, and the fact that I don’t use my phone as a multimedia device. If I could do akin to GrapheneOS or CalyxOS on iPhone I’d stick to it.
In the future once my iPhone breaks or finally becomes obsolete, I intend to go to either a used Pixel or a Fairphone. Both are supported by secure OSs but I also dislike how big both of them are.
TLDR: love iPhones, appreciate Fairphones.
Well Nokia is a no no They don't allow bootloader unlock, I would recommend that you check which privacy oriented custom ROM you want to install and check the supported phones they have listed and buy one of those models for installing the ROM
