My trusty Samsung Galaxy S7 that I bought in 2017 is bricked and now I must buy a new phone. What are the recommendations of the hexbear community for a replacement? I was satisfied with my elderly phone except that there was a lot of junk that came with the phone that I couldn't delete, and for the last couple years or so I've had to delete an app before I could add an app, so that was kind of annoying. But other than that, I was happy with it, so I don't need the newest coolest thing.
Samsung still produces good phones. The flagships are overpriced but good, you're probably better off with a mid range one like the Galaxy A54.
If you want a phone with less bloat consider a Google Pixel phone, that way you get just the Google bloat not also random manufacturer bloat.
Thanks, I'll look at the Galaxy A54. I'm also thinking about a Pixel phone, but I heard the battery life isn't as good? Or is this just people splitting hairs and the average user wouldn't actually notice a difference?
Just FYI on the a series. I heard the a54 was pretty good, but I wouldn't drop any lower than that. I went from an s7 to an a32 and it felt like a downgrade.
Oh and they changed up the galaxy keyboard from what was on the s7. The autocorrect was shit for the longest time. They did an upgrade that was kinda better, but still not great.
Oh good to know! I figured that after a 6 year old phone, just about anything new would be just as good. That's really helpful to know.
So did I! I got the s7 for gearvr and since I didn't need that anymore, I figured I could just get the freebie smartphone and be golden. Nope. It's not horrible, but it's not better. Bigger screen but lower resolution, stuff like that.
Just to show you how ignorant I am with this kind of thing, when you say "I heard the a54 was pretty good, but I wouldn’t drop any lower than that. I went from an s7 to an a32 and it felt like a downgrade." Is "lower" just "lower quality" or is it "lower quality as expressed by the number"? Like, I have no clue what the numbers mean and the Galaxy A series has so. many. numbers. Am I correct in thinking that, in your opinion, an a[number 54 or higher] is good but a[53 or lower is probably bad]?
Am I correct in thinking that, in your opinion, an a[number 54 or higher] is good but a[53 or lower is probably bad]?
Lol no worries. Yes, as in the model numbers are indicative of their quality and capabilities. The s series are by year/generation, but the a series seem to be in terms of capability and quality. Not even sure about j series, tbh. I actually suspect the lower a numbers are the failed quality control parts of the higher a numbers.
Oh that makes so much sense! I was thinking in terms of year/generation, so I couldn't figure out why there were so many doggone numbers and what on earth they could all mean.
I'm so tired of comparison shopping. People are all, "isn't it great to have so many choices? Choices mean liberty!" and I'm like, "no, fuck choices, this is a pain in the ass."
I actually suspect the lower a numbers are the failed quality control parts of the higher a numbers.
that's pretty typical for production of chips at least, the difference between an i9 and an i5 in terms of the silicon they build it out of is quality control.
The Motorola Edge is like the midrange Pixel with a mid camera and bigass battery. When you set it up it asks you if you want Motorola Bloatware and you just press the "Fuck off" button, unlike Samsung software that's like 99% bullshit you don't want or need on your phone. I got one like a month ago and it's just fine for me, but I'm not like a phone enthusiast.
but I heard the battery life isn’t as good? Or is this just people splitting hairs and the average user wouldn’t actually notice a difference?
Eh it's not great if you're a heavy user but it gets the job done 99% of the time for me.
I usually just buy a refurbished Galaxy that's a few gens behind for $150.
Exactly what I do too, except with One Plus phones.
Mind you, I fucking hate smartphones and use mine only when I don't have a choice.
I've thought about going with refurbished, but figuring out which phone to get and getting everything set up the way I want it is such a hassle that I typically want something that's going to last as long as possible so I don't have to go through the hassle again any time soon, and a refurbished phone just seems like it won't last as long. Or is that just prejudice talking?
I like pixel phones. You can try the pixel a series for cheaper models that are still pretty great
My 4a is still chugging along! It's not being supported past this summer so I'll be swapping to a custom ROM soon, but at least I still have a headphone jack
I just switched from a 4 to 7, mostly bc I got a really good deal on it. Otherwise I'd still be using my 4 as well
My Pixel 3 died 2 months after the warranty expired :( Google pushed an update that apparently just bricked some Pixel 3 and 4s.
I've been buying Xiaomi phones for a while now, historically they've been a good value for the hardware in the midrange. On the high end they've got all the boondoggles. Outside the US there are Xiaomi stores everywhere. Something that has grown on me is their super fast charging, like they had one with 120 watt charging, mine is 67 watt and I can set it down for 30 minutes and pretty much have most of a charge.
Whichever phone you get, you should go through the trouble of running Universal Android Debloater to remove all the crap that comes pre-installed. This dramatically improves the experience of basically every phone.
Any older flagship phone will be a good choice if you're on a budget. Newer phones will have the advantage of less wear on the battery.
The specific suggestion I would have is a Galaxy S21 FE, which is what I'm currently using. If you want one with a 3.5mm jack, then I think the Galaxy S10e is an awesome option (although it's getting pretty old, and so probably won't have good battery life).
Oh thanks for that debloater thing, I'll keep that in mind. Too bad it looks like it can't be used on my equally elderly Amazon fire tablet. There's plenty of junk I'd like to get off that thing. I'm adding Galazy S21FE to my list of products to look at, thanks!
i usually go on ebay and find a new or open box samsung from the previous generation,maybe two generations back. You can get one for $200 easy that way.
It'll take a bit of extra tinkering, but if you get a Pixel you can slap GrapheneOS on it to sandbox all the Google shit without losing apparently any functionality.
Thanks for the suggestion, but extra tinkering is likely beyond me.
I look for the cheapest phone that has the newest version of Android, usually. It always seems like EOL is what forces me to move on to a new phone, so I look for the farthest-out EOL
Unfortunately, last time that meant buying a Pixel, which has been perfectly fine, but it's not as cheap as I'd like
I've thought about going with Pixel this time around, but I'm hesitating because it's more expensive than I'd like and I've heard the battery life isn't as good, though I'm not sure that the difference is actually that severe that a normal user would even notice a difference.
i have a 6a i bought new before xmas last year, im an average dude that doesn't use their phone during the work day that often and i get a solid 18-20 hours of battery life. i am not a power user though, today i have 3 hours total screen time since unplugging a little before 8am.
I currently have the One Plus 8 5G, it's okay, I got it on sale for $300 and it's run fine for the last 3 years. There was a problem for a year where if I turned off the screen the audio would go to shit and there was another one where it wouldn't super charge if it was at 0% battery so I had to keep a normal charger with me. But those were fixed with updates about 10 months ago. I'll probably go back to Samsung when I get a new phone, but for the price it wasn't bad.
In terms of cheap and effective, I have the Moto g
I spent about $150 on mine a year or two ago and it's holding up for everything I use my phone for
I’m honestly a fan of apple, their phones tend to just work, and they have a fairly long support period, my iPhone 7 just stopped getting new updates this fall after 7 years. Still works.
Updates for the OS yes, but lots of new software features no. For example, the iPhone 11 never got the software update for making Face ID work with a mask on, despite being the new phone through most of 2020. There’s always a bunch of random software features not released for older phones, but the Face ID mask update being only for the newer phones was fucking criminal.
I haven’t heard the reasons why. But I was getting good updates for years, and things worked.
The galaxy FEs with the Snapdragon processors are a pretty good buy. Just no headphone jack sadly. The higher end A series phones are also good. Again, Snapdragon over Exynos. Just avoid the lower A series phones and any Exynos processors, they have gotten bad lately. Used to be better than Snapdragon, but are now worse. With a series, 3x is entry level, 5x is midrange and 7x is high end, but not flagship. X representing the second number in the name.
Honor phones are a good option, basically Huawei with Google Apps and services. Though most people heavily into privacy despise Google services, I don't think the average user is prepared to give up stuff like Google maps and the Play Store. Huawei can be a good option as well if you can get them and get Google services on it. But the UI is a bit iffy.
Google pixels are good, but expensive. If they sell a midrange model or last year's flagship it's always a solid choice. Also have issues with 5g and battery life, if 5g is important to you that can be a problem.
Apple is good and "just works", but is expensive and offers less customisation and options. If you can get a clearance sale on an older model, and the customisation doesn't bother you, it's worth looking into.
Thanks! Especially about the processors, I had no idea. I pay no attention to this stuff unless I'm actually looking to buy something, so I haven't thought about any of this for 6 years. I have no idea what's going on lol
Phones with oled screens from 2020 forward are g2g. Oled screens with burn in from before then we’re one of my pet peeves so it’s good to see conclusively that it’s not a problem anymore.
Everyone is gonna say get either one of the big name (google or Samsung) android phones or just buy some super cheap Chinese brand because they’re all made in the same factory. If you’re gonna go android no matter what that’s solid advice.
My advice has always been to look at the apple phones first. They have longer support windows, more parts availability, better security etc. you will almost universally be happier and your carrier probably has a gimmie deal for either an android or iPhone anyway that’ll get you one for free if you just sign a two year contract or whatever.
Seriously, there has never been a better time to switch.
E: had a moment at work and wanted to give a little explanation for how to handle some of the things you ”give up” from android:
Adblocking: use a vpn and a pihole. There is a cost up front ($30 for a knockoff rpi) but you get whole house ad blocking and by using a vpn to your home so that you get zero overhead dns blocking you also get the ability to hide your browsing from whatever network you’re on. Now you can browse pornhub and other blocked sites at work.
That’s all I can think of at the moment, I had a real list in mind but they’ve been turned to air.
that’ll get you one for free
These are all universally bad deals imo. I could get a "free" galaxy s23 with trade in for AT&T. But the AT&T contract would have me paying out another $1000 on the fucking monthly bill before I could unlock it and switch to a cheaper service. Im paying $30/mo for t-mobile. The AT&T plan was like over twice that
That’s often true but when you have no dollars and need a phone that’s what u gotta do.
Thanks! I've been hesitant to switch because the thought of getting used to a different style of phone sounds like a giant pain in the ass. I'll think about it though.
If you have any questions feel free to ask. The most die hard android person I know switched recently and she said the “worst” thing was having to get a handheld to play emulators on and followed it up with “but the games play right now so it’s a net gain.”
I've been liking the Pixel A series since they're cheaper than the flagship Pixel phones but they have all of the good software meme shit like having your phone wait through call center wait times without having to listen to a 10 second jazz loop for three hours, and automatic call screening sh*t
I upgraded to the 5a in 2021 after using a Note 3 since 2013, and it has been going strong for a year now and right now it goes from 100% battery to 60% battery after using it on and off for like 13 hours so it could easily go for 20+ hours probably i just never have the phone off the charger for that long y'know
Pixel 7a is due to release in three days and unless it's more expensive than the 5a and 6a it should be a decent deal and have a good security update lifespan since it just came out
