I've been looking at phones to replace my Pixel 4a as the battery goes and it becomes increasingly silly to get it replaced instead of getting something new. I don't like huge phones, which i consider to be anything over ~6.2". Everything under that is either:

  • A Google Pixel with poor efficiency, thermals, and call reliability
  • A Samsung Galaxy S with a high price, locked bootloader, dodgy privacy, and bloatware
  • A miscellaneous brand with abysmal software support lifespan, variable bootloader lock status, and little to no custom rom support

the ASUS Zenfone 10 would have been honestly perfect for me - sub-6" screen, headphone jack, good performance. But they just haaad to remove bootloader unlocking despite promises to the contrary so now you have to settle for one more OS update and three more years of security updates for something that costs $600+. blurgh.

  • MaoTheLawn [any, any]
    ·
    7 months ago

    tried Xiaomi? I've got a Redmi Note 10S, have had it for probably 2-3 years now and it still runs fresh. Good battery life too. Very cheap.

    It's 6.5 inch though, and the camera isn't great. Think their other versions are smaller.

    Some say there's a lot of bloatware - I've thought that at points but it's like any other phone these days in that regard. It's probably easy to remove although I've never bothered.

    EDIT: just checked, there's a Xiaomi 12 that is 6 inches.

    EDIT 2: huh, apparently to unlock it you have to do a load of bullshit. Oh well.

    • Zvyozdochka [she/her, pup/pup's]
      ·
      7 months ago

      I helped a friend with unlocking their newer Xiamoi device not too long ago and it wasn't that bad, all you have to do is link your device to your Xiaomi account and then download their Mi Unlocker program on your desktop and connect your phone, no more waiting.

      https://new.c.mi.com/global/post/101245