Hi all! I’d like to replace my old S10e, which was my ideal phone format, with a middle range (inexpensive) phone, in that size if possible. Extra points for a decent fingerprint reader (I’d like to avoid in-screen ones if possible), and perhaps unlockable bootloader.
I’m currently on a Pixel fold 9, for the GrapheneOS part, and I’ve been keeping the s10e as my trusty work phone, keeping the work profile. Sadly the lack of android updates is now being noticed by the security team and they suggested i should move on soon. Since I already have a massive personal phone, I’d like to keep it small for the work one.
Any ideas?
There really aren’t a ton of truly “small” phones these days… a Samsung S-series base model is about as compact as these phones are at this point unless you’re in more Eastern markets, in which case there might be a few more options. You likely won’t get the same level of Android software updates though, that being another reason I’d been looking at Samsung again.
Heard Samsung phones shipping with their OneUI 8 and onwards will not have an option to unlock the bootloader. Not a dealbreaker for many if you dont dvelve into rooting or installing other operating systems on your phone tho.
A sad thing to be sure, though installing custom operating systems is reducing in popularity. I’m all for options, but as newer versions of Android get programs and functions that were previously only available via rooting and custom ROMs, hopefully it won’t be too bad…? I am sad about the potential loss of sideloading though, especially as even iOS now supports it to an extent in certain regions.
Android at its current best is neat, but often vendors will have their tweaked rom which hide or break many of androids functions. For example, the stock MiUI/HyperOS (or whatever xiaomi calls it now) on my Redmi 13C doesnt have the option to view saved wifi networks in its borked settings app.
I hope this, together with custom ROMs seemingly keeping sideloading possible in the future, only helps with their popularity. Alternatively it would be really cool to see the mobile Linux community bloom.
Very true. I just installed LineageOS 22 on a Pixel 2 XL, and on top of being significantly more performant and efficient (as well as app compatibility going up from being on a newer Android version), I have more refined options for features such as the “squeeze for assistant” (I can change more of those settings, as well as even make it not bring up an assistant at all but do something else) and notification light. That much is very cool to see.
And yes, I’d also love to see Linux phones take off, and worst-case scenario, this might end up being the big push for that. After all, Linux on ARM saw a very similar push with Asahi Linux after Apple switched to ARM processors, then the Steam Deck arrived and changed much of the PC gaming landscape. Both of these factors, as well as how Android phones have gotten increasingly capable, point towards Linux phones potentially being the answer in ways even peak Android might’ve been unable to achieve.