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Ask HN: What phone should I buy?

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Ask HN: What phone should I buy?

#1

Post by CrippledTurtle »

Hi HN, I am looking to buy an Android phone. I don't need it to be the latest greatest thing with the best camera or anything, I'm looking for a simple phone that satisfies the following requirements:

1) No bloatware

2) Will be supported for 2+ years (security updates, OS gets upgraded, etc), strong preference for 3+ years]

3) Has a headphone jack

That's about it. It seems really hard to find a phone that satisfies these requirements, or am I just looking in all the wrong places? It doesn't need to be insanely cheap, I'll spend a few hundred bucks, I just feel like I'm getting ripped off spending $800 on a premium flagship phone when I don't really need the latest greatest thing.

Re: Ask HN: What phone should I buy?

#4

Post by nik736 »

You should look into Xiaomi. They produce high quality phones that receive regular updates, even older phones on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. They update security patches very fast and even offer the A1, which is stock Android, for around 200 bucks.

I myself own a Mi5 Pro for 1-2 years now and I still love it and I am not even thinking about upgrading, this thing is perfect even nearly 2 years in.

Also, compared to iPhones these things are simply perfect looking, no camera bump and MIUI is a mix of Android and iOS, which I learned to love coming from iOS.

Re: Ask HN: What phone should I buy?

#5

Post by top256 »

I just got that a huawei p8 lite 2017. I paid it <200$ and it's pretty good. It feels like an iPhone rip off and you need to uninstall a few apps/change some settings in param. Overall I'm surprised that it's that good.

Re: Ask HN: What phone should I buy?

#6

Post by moh_maya »

Something from the OnePlus series, which, if you are comfortable with rooting, you can install a custom ROM and keep getting updates.

Alternatively, you could perhaps buy a nexus 6P? It's on amazon.com now for about 300$.

Re: Ask HN: What phone should I buy?

#7

Post by jamesmp98 »

nik736 wrote: post #4

You should look into Xiaomi. They produce high quality phones that receive regular updates, even older phones on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. They update security patches very fast and even offer the A1, which is stock Android, for around 200 bucks. I myself own a Mi5 Pro for 1-2 years now and I still love it and I am not even thinking about upgrading, this thing is perfect even nearly 2 years in. Also, compared to i…

Just bought an Honor 6X for only like $200. great phone

Re: Ask HN: What phone should I buy?

#8

Post by nextos »

I'd get something that has LineageOS support [1] or, even better CopperheadOS [2].

Copperhead OS is restricted to new Nexus and Pixel devices only, sadly.

Both options are great when paired with F-Droid [3].

I'm eagerly awaiting how postmarketOS [4] develops. Still in its infancy, though. It's basically a Linux distro on top of an Android kernel, so they also need to grow an ecosystem.

If you want something with a Linux userland and quite polished, try Jolla on a Sony Xperia X [5]. Still not fully open, so I prefer the above options.

[1] https://download.lineageos.org/

[2] https://copperhead.co/android/downloads

[3] https://f-droid.org/

[4] https://postmarketos.org/

[5] https://shop.jolla.com/

Re: Ask HN: What phone should I buy?

#9

Post by corford »

Moto G5 Plus (though updates might not stretch to 3 years). Here's a review: http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/moto-g5-plus

tl;dr: stock android with no bloatware (Nougat, though should get at least the Oreo update), fast Snapdragon 625 CPU, big screen, dual-sim, decent battery, good camera and available for ~$320 (or ~$100 less for the basic G5).

I'm about to swap my ageing Moto G2 for one.

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