i have a oneplus 9 (LE2113, if that matters) and the battery is starting to give. i’ll try to have it replaced when it goes fully unusable but i’d like to already have a replacement in mind so i don’t risk going without a phone for too long. any recommendations?
my current phone has never been slow, so i don’t really care for a more powerful hardware.
i would like one from a brand with as little software bullshit as possible though (i’ve seen the horrors of redmi software and want to stay as far away from That as possible).
and in case anyone is wondering, i’m not brave enough to try rooting my main phone lol.
any help would be greatly appreciated
edit: i don’t know if i worded myself poorly but by ‘rooting’ i also mean installing a third party os. i would like a phone that is not awful out of the box if such a thing exists.
I just got a pixel 9a and installed graphene os. Super easy. Love this phone.
I was in you exact same situation with a OnePlus 9 a few months ago and I got a pixel 9 on sale a bit before the 10 came out and I really like it. Can only recommend as a replacement for the OnePlus 9
tldr: Motorola edge 60 pro
I was in your same situation, was running on OnePlus6T up until literally last month.
My previous phones were the Nexus 5 and the 6T, I tend to keep devices for a long ass time so I always seek phones with the cleanest stock ROM, mobile phones are quite disappointing these days it is either stupidly expensive flagship phones, or cheap phones with a shit load of bloatware or shitty ROMs. Rooting is out of consideration because bank apps and wallet, wallet does work with the right magisk modules but breaks my bank apps and vice versa the modules right for my bank apps won’t make the wallet work.
On top I try to keep a budget constraint of not more than 500ish which took immediately Galaxy and Pixels out of the consideration. Also the latest Nothing phone (which was my considered option) they ask for a high price for what they actually offer. Last requirement, fast charge and twin battery which is mostly the reason why my 6T lasted for such long time.
So I settled for the Motorola edge 60 pro.
Pros: has everything I need, high capacity battery and limited AI bloatware which can be disabled, but aside that the stock ROM is a clean Android.
Cons: the curved screen, there’s no glass protector which fits it and it’s quite exposed for eventual falls, which I partly solved with a cover that flushes with the screen. Disabling the AI also makes the 4th button out of use which I would’ve liked to remap to some other function (or use it as a power button). Last but less important, not a Snapdragon.
Also they reduced the price recently because they’re going to release a new phone shortly, which means probably you can get away with a pretty more than decent phone with around €400.
Some last words: if you feel you want to wait a bit more there’s the Jaguar ROM around for OnePlus phones that is based on the Oxygen OS and bootloader can be locked after flashing so the OS thinks it is genuine. The battery consumption is more than solid compared to lineageos so it might extend your phone life for some extra months
Get a Pixel and install GrapheneOS on it. It is super easy these days, you can do it using just a Chromium based web browser. And don’t worry there is no chance you will brick your device.
I believe we need to consider a more sustainable alternative, as GrapheneOS may not be viable for the long term.
Why? They are working on an non Pixel Phone.
Android itself without the proprietary crap added to it by Google is open source and will continue being so long it keeps using the Linux kernel. This is not going to change as the Linux kernel is licensed under GPL, and if you link against GPL licensed code your own code also has to be licensed under GPL.
The problem GrapheneOS has is not with AOSP going away, but with Google not publishing the device tree for their Pixel devices like they used to, making it impossible to unlock the bootloader, and generally making harder to develop a custom ROM for their devices.
The GrapheneOS team is currently working with an OEM to develop a phone that comes with GrapheneOS from the factory. If that happens and we no longer have to rely on Google hardware for installing it then the problem is solved.
They’re quite close to Pixel 10 support despite the lack of device trees, the biggest problem is if Google decide to completely block bootloader unlocking with future pixels. Hopefully by that time their OEM phone will be out
never heard of a web based os install before, sounds interesting but i still really don’t like the idea of instantly voiding the warranty of a €100+ device.
You are not voiding any warranty. You can very easily revert back to stock if you need to.
Redmagic 11 Pro
If you don’t care about privacy, and are okay with an okay front facing camera to get a ubderscreen front cam. Redmagic 11 Pro is a fantastic phone at a fantastic price. Remember though, in terms of privacy it’s like buying xiaomi or Huawei device.
Personally, if I can’t recommend anything specific, I just recommend nord series to anyone. I’ve also used it myself and the few people that bought it were quite happy.
Do note that it’s a mid-range phone, there are definitely better phones, but for the price they’re pretty much perfect
Get a used Pixel for $120
Fairphone
If OP is in Europe and his budget is 600€, I second this. But I’m concern with the reports that customer care has taken a dive lately.
Gsmarena > phone finder.
Along with Lineage’s supported device list. That’s how I’ve shopped my phones for years.
https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices
GSMarena and Phonearena have been excellent sites.
The Oneplus 15 is super solid this year as long as you can forgive the subpar camera.
iPhone side, obviously don’t get an air, and just get a pro.
It’s very possible that the new Samsung S phone doesn’t come out until late first quarter next year.
Avoid the pixel because the Tensor G5 is literally half as powerful as the other flagship processors. You won’t feel the pain of how slow it is right away, but a few years from now it’ll be awful.
I keep hearing about oneplus 15 being too hot, which is never a good sign when you want your battery to last
It might be too early to say, but yes, I’ve heard that too. Unfortunately they’re one of the few SD8g5 phones out right now, so it may need an update or two to the CPU scheduler. OnePlus seems to be a fairly good OEM when it comes to software. If OP lives in a cold weather climate then overheating is a non issue.
Fairphone is a good recommendation, alongside being repairable and sustainable. If its not present in your region. Look into high end Motorola phones (low-end have bloat).
IMO, Best would be a oneplus. You can remove any ads and bloatware with Shizuku, Canta. It will be familiar, reliable, and last a long time. Considering, your usage habits.
(i’ve seen the horrors of redmi software and want to stay as far away from That as possible).
Yeah, they start to lag within a year of use. All the redmi phones I have checked have lag issues. If you must buy a xiaomi skip the redmi. Don’t know about poco. But, anything not Mi should be avoided. Xiaomi charges a premium for its Mi series for a reason.
If your phone isn’t slow, fix it. If its unfixable, or you just want something newer, get a pixel phone.
I don’t use the computer part of a phone so I just bought a ZTE for 85 bucks.
these days all website run on javascript and budget devices have poor cpu performance which translate in slow loading of web pages.
not to mention the telephone part is crap too, junk microphone, junk ear speaker, weak signal etc.
just for phone calls better i’d get an old nokia dumbphone
Go with a pixel, yes Google is evil and all that but its the least bloatware system.
Bad advice. Every pixel generation has major hardware issues.
software too i unboxed a new pixel, started to set it up and all of a sudden, a lot of system apps started to crash. returned it next hour.
Maybe try installing LineageOS on it.
