I want to get one.
I wouldn't recommend any Samsung products these days. I used to be a diehard Galaxy Note Enjoyer, but these days I just recommend getting an affordable Xiaomi.
They’re all made in china so every phone is china phone, this is such a hexbear answer.
The xiaomi is ugly as fuck that camera is terrible. The only Chinese flagship phone I like is the one plus 12 in emerald
I'm not saying it for china-boo reasons. I bought a mid-range Xiaomi on sale and I've been very satisfied with it. I don't recommend Samsung because I've felt their quality hasn't really been improving much over the last few phones of theirs I've had. When I got my new phone I felt like I did when I got a Galaxy Note 4 back in the day. It was cool and interesting, the android skin they use is very good, the charging is absurdly fast, it was cheaper compared to the alternates (it WAS on sale though), it does all the things I need, the screen is fantastic, the camera works for the pictures I tend to take. I'm not trying to divert money to China or something, I just don't like Samsung anymore(but used to) and do like the one(1) Xiaomi phone I've had, for the same reasons I used to like Samsung.
I don't really care about phone aesthetics. They all look like shiny thin glass and plastic things with circles on the back to me.
Yep, I just don't really see the point in getting the latest and greatest most expensive model anymore, the yearly improvements just aren't anything to write home about like they were a handful of years ago. Xiaomi's Redmi line is honestly such a good bang for your buck, the Redmi 13 is like $145 new and is very good considering the price. Xiaomi also lets you unlock your bootloader fairly easily unlike Samsung if that's something that matters to you, which it does to me.
Starting 2025 you are no longer able to unlock your bootloader on xaiomi devices.
Is there a concrete source on this? I tried some searching and I can see rumors of it from a few days ago saying it's coming to the global market since they did it in China, but nothing set in stone yet as far as I can see? It'd be a shame if it does happen because Xioami has always seemed cool with it, they even provide guides on their website on how to install new operating systems.
idk about samsung, but chinese phones are generally pretty great value
The last good samsung phone was the unlocked s5:
removable battery IR emitter ip68 only 72cm screen size
change my mind
only 72cm screen size
Get on the hgh so your hands grow and you can join the big screen leagues
I remember my sister got an S5 when they came out and cracked the screen within a couple of weeks. She had dropped it onto her car seat, it bounced and hit the plastic armrest. It was inside the slim folding case they came bundled with at the time. Might be anecdotal and nitpicky, but for a device that expensive to break with such little force was disappointing to say the least. I think it was a combo of poor reinforcement of the front glass due to its design + older gen Gorilla Glass (as well as somewhat careless use of course).
To flash a custom rom, IIRC you had to unlock the bootloader and even after relocking, Knox wouldn't work so the warranty would be void. And without VoLTE or current Android support, it'd be barely usable today. On the whole, it only really stands out in the context of later Galaxy S devices not having user-replaceable batteries. Samsung still sucked at the time, just less so in that particular area.
The only really good Galaxy S device for its time was the S2. Snappiest Android experience from any vendor & it wasn't even close. S3 was where they started coasting downhill.
To flash a custom rom, IIRC you had to unlock the bootloader and even after relocking,
ah fuck I forgot what a pain it was to use a custom rom past lollipop on the s5
Thank you for changing my mind.
With regard to the warranty couldn't you just re-flash the stock firmware as long as whatever recovery you're using is still working? I have a OnePlus Nord N200 5G and I totally just did that when I needed to after I borked a custom rom installation on it (yes I realize that Samsung devices are different with Odin and what not, but I figure this would still work)
With regard to the warranty couldn't you just re-flash the stock firmware as long as whatever recovery you're using is still working?
I could be wrong but I thought the whole point of Knox was that once you unlocked the bootloader and tripped knox once, you couldn't flip that bit back and manufacturers would know you ran an unsigned os
I haven't used a Samsung since they cracked down on using aftermarket ROMs to extend the lifetime of the phone.
If you are interested in recommendations I would suggest, in this order:
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A Pixel 7a or 8a. This has the best aftermarket ROM support so you can use either GrapheneOS or CalyxOS. These have very good low-level security and privacy controls. For example, disabling network access for apps by default and not having Google services back-end creeping on you.
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A refurbished OnePlus from the last few years. Usually pretty good ROM support, especially Calyx.
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A Xiaomi or Huawei. Less good ROM support but your hardware threat model is decreased, particularly with newer Huawei's. Good quality to price ratio, too.
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I work at a phone store, it's the best phone we sell screen-wise, camera-wise, and battery-wise. I'm sure you've seen the price without a trade in, but you could also buy from a carrier with a multi-year payment plan (which also means your device would be carrier locked); that'll bring your price down like $250 from what I've seen. Check out the XDA Forum page for it and the TWRP website if you want to get into the really cool stuff. As far as downsides I'm not a huge fan of the pen because personally I'd lose it and in the stock software configuration it is full of AI shit. But bottom line it's a fantastic device if you can afford it.
Also in your experience working at a phone store, what’s your ability in kinda lowering the price for a few dollars like is this a thing?
Let’s say I wanted to trade in my phone but then said another carrier was offering me a lower deal, how likely is it that you can offer me a discount and is this even a possibility? I’m not saying like massive discounts but maybe 10$ off my bill a month. Or is it strict you pay what you pay and nothing less
Well, the one I work at is actually a corporate (carrier) phone store so we don't honor lower prices at competitors or anything like that. I just meant that it's cheaper to buy from a carrier because of the 2 or 3 years of payments that also guarantee you stay with the carrier and pay for data for that period of time, so they make their money that way. My store does offer up to $500 off with an eligible trade-in though
I had the note 2 and yeah the pen is a fad. I wish they never added the pen to the ultra but I guess it’s good for whoever needs it. I won’t be using it though, perhaps on rare occasions.
I bought the note 20 ultra when it came out. I'm never buying a new flagship phone again.
I don't need a super expensive phone when I'm just gonna be doing the same shit with it I was 10 years ago.
my relatively new samsung started displaying the water droplet icon that makes charging it impossible. usually it went away after a while (a few hours) but since the last update it just stayed on permanently, effectively making the phone unusable. had to replace the usb port.
my huawei was fine for like 5 years (still usable now because i had to go back to using it), samsung started doing planned obsolecence after less that a year. go to hell samsung.
Yeah of course it's going to be good, it's the flagship Samsung phone along with the Fold series. The camera, screen, and performance will be top of the line. The main question you should be asking is if it's good enough to justify the price you're going to pay for it, it's a pretty expensive phone.
I can trade in my current phone for 1k credits and I’ll just have to pay eight dollars more on top of what I’m already paying. But it’s for a three year contract which seems bad
I have one and it's fine. The stylus is kind of fun. It does smell like burnt plastic if you get really close to it though.
I have a S22 Ultra and I like it. The pen comes in handy for me because I still like to write stuff since.
