Phone Recommendations

Last update : 3/12/2024 (Introducing the Wall of Shame... and some random fixes?)

Introduction

This page used to be my personal device recommendations page, except devices released nowadays tend to be shitty in one of these ways :

• Missing amenities like headphone jack, microSD, and/or user-removeable battery. With the caveat that it's always "and" instead of the "and/or" nowadays.
• Questionable bootloader unlock protocol, if there were any. 3/12/2024 Update : Found a Wall of Shame (archive.org) for bootloader unlocks. It has since made things in the "unknown" brand list even less likely to be un-unknowned for me.
• Questionable repair designs - charging port soldered to motherboard, ultra-powerful adhesive, BTB connectors too close to tiny capacitors, and maybe ZIF connectors?
• Questionable hardware features sending the price up & offering a placebo sense of "innovation" at the cost of generally worse reliability & results (not to mention it might as well be fused to the motherboard despite its alleged modularity). Such as machine learning ay-eye, foldable designs, & under-screen fingerprint scanner. Not to mention the potential difficulty of implementing these "features" in custom ROMs...
• And any combinations of those points above - including "all of the above".
• One more point that gets indirectly combined with everything else above - the shittiness of newer Android & the development hell following it, with only the most dedicated & reputable of volunteer developers being able to keep up & continue offering their stuff. Eventually even they will not be able to keep up & quit the scene (if the development hell won't get them their ever-dwindling free time will - unless the ROM is a full-time job that keeps the developers sufficiently fed). In fact, formatting data in TWRP-based recoveries on A14 (on the Poco F1, at the very least) has gotten too unreliable the last time I tried it out - I even had to use fastboot to format data, something I usually don't do considering I am used to formatting via TWRP.

As for older devices? Well...

• Same missing amenities, except going back beyond 2019 forces me to stick with 60hz displays as well (and maybe microUSB as well). Though back then those aforementioned amenities are still mostly present ‐ at least more common than most others.
• Again, bootloader unlocking. Sure, we get Nothing, OnePlus, & Pixel (though they may also demand network access for OEM unlocking?) with fastboot (oem/flashing) unlock. But then, some brands are starting to kill off their bootloader unlocking programs like ASUS, Huawei (already did), & Xiaomi (about to). And we have those like Fairphone, HTC, Sony, & Motorola that demand your device identifiers (among whatever else) just to dispense the unlocking code (which we can only hope to work as we intended it to), who we can only hope to keep the service up & running. In addition, we have brands that release Android devices without fastboot (or some fastboot commands).
Some secondhand devices do come with its bootloader already unlocked by its previous user, though there's a non-zero chance that user is trying to recoup whatever losses per got from maintaining said troubled shitbar. And by troubled I meant something might have gone wrong with the insides ‐ something that sometimes can only be fixed by microsoldering (and maybe chip replacements).


• Same questionable repair designs. Sometimes also coupled with capacitive buttons between display & midframe. And definitely ZIF connectors, sometimes getting too close to each other (like the original Switch's JoyCons).
• Increased difficulty of finding decent spare parts, especially for discontinued devices. And further price elevations making older devices less sustainable to fix as time goes on?
• Increasing rarity, especially if discontinued. I would not exactly be surprised if any of these old shitbars somehow join the JDM shitboxes (such as the Celica, Lancer Evolution, RX7, or Supra from 2 decades ago?) in becoming so ridiculously priced you'd have to be a devoted wealthy collector with one hell of a connection circle (and/or a fucking daredevil) to even think about getting one. But then again these shitbars were not exactly developed like those JDM shitboxes so... who knows&63;
• Sure, these devices come with older Android. However, most developers nowadays tend to pursue Sisyphean masochism in the most Herculean fashion by going for the latest crap (and sometimes play the cat-and-mouse game just to be "approved" by Goolag who un-approves them just as quickly), issues be damned. Which tends to be a waste of time for those who could use the security additions but not the crap that comes with the latest versions.

And if I ever needed to use these devices as a phone in any matter (like for instant messaging, phone calls, that kind of thing)? Hell take me.

• volte sur!!! ...I mean, the inconsistency of voice over internet (VoIP, VoLTE, VoWiFi, etc.). Inconsistent & non-standard, making it universally questionable to properly implement anywhere outside of stock ROMs. Sure, I could've lived with the tried-and-true voice over 2G, but...
• The global oligopoly of carriers, whose difference between nations only amount to the brand names of the oligopolists (if they even matter) & maybe how fast they execute their "rules". Them killing the still-working older standards (such as 2G, 3G, etc.) in lieu of newfangled stuff barely passing beta tests (the various variants of 5G) & forcing users to purchase worse newer devices & discard old but perfectly good devices all for the sake of being able to use their services. And yes, these carriers hate unlocked bootloaders.
We can also debate about the government (or tyrants occupying a nation) sticking their grubby hands up the carriers as well, with Australia's latest 3G shutdown taking out a good chunk of functional devices that just so happened to be imported from anywhere else.

• Something experienced by the boys (and me if I kept my personal SIM card) : Spam advertisements (calls & SMS of various protocols; with the former being highly disruptive). I would've recommended a permanent Do Not Disturb against numbers outside of their contacts, but then neither could apply it without seriously compromising their jobs & potentially taking me down with them - in fact I am the only one who can freely apply that DND rule, but only because my job doesn't involve me having to interact with customers. But then again I don't exactly have my own SIM card so...
• Even with the carriers' situation somehow mitigated, the app soydevs still roam free & unpunished. Guilty of converting shitty webpages filled with enough bloat to slog all but the fastest & latest shitware into an "app", which also doubles as a parasite by collecting & selling its users' data and demanding its host device to comply with some monopolists' "standards" that can only be properly applied in its own environment. And we are forced to use their "apps" for our daily lives?!

Easy conclusion? Buying yet another device sucks. And I could just dump this page but I have several stuff here that I couldn't just throw out so I'll just keep this one up here. With that, there's the old device recommendation page, with entries I'd rather not throw out. This page ignores all issues of firmware (except for egregious ones like Xiaomi's) as they cannot be either modified and/or audited to become trustworthy.

Just keep using your old device if it still works

I know that this page is supposed to tell you which cellphone I'd recommend, but fuck it - if that thing still works, keep using it. If that thing needs repairs, do it as long as the costs are cheaper than buying another cellphone of similar specifications or greater & you're willing to & able to. If that thing's beyond repair, only then you can come back & re-read what I would have recommended, and make sure whatever you've bought fits what you need.

That said, repairing is not without its issues either.

• The biggest issue of them all - parts availability. The older your device gets (especially if it's discontinued), the less likely you are at finding the parts you need. Of course, if your device is either made with parts exclusive to it (as in exclusively manufactured for it, like curved OLEDs) and/or not officially supported for your nation; even harder. Not to mention the online marketplaces (and its issues), which is unfortunately going to be your most reliable resource - good luck finding decent offline suppliers within your reach.
• And good luck making your own parts. Within what is provided to the modern people nowadays, at best you can get your own backdoor and/or midframe created using a 3D printer or CNC mill. Everything else (particularly the battery & display) is impossible for the modern people without commissioning a company for it - good luck finding them.

Not recommended / avoid

First off, here's the rough list of devices / brands I recommend avoiding.

Apple

Sure, iPhones have those good build quality & record-smashing benchmark performance (breaking their own record obviously). They're also easy to use for the sheeple who's allergic to Android (or more specifically Samsung). However, even with those advantages, I think they're worth avoiding like the plague, considering the issues below :

• Apple offers limited privacy as per their "privacy-respecting corpo" image, though they're also compromising it - for example, in iOS 14, the App Tracking Transparency feature seems useless, since the "do not track" option relies on asking for them not to track - emphasize on 'ask' since it's pointless anyway - trackers will still track even if there's no consent, they'll find a way around it.
OK, there is another new example - CSAM. What seems like a benevolent act to prevent child abuse is actually a way to get in trouble just for storing a photo that someone else (in this case, Apple) thinks are "child abuse".


• Apple also serves their useds' data to various tyrants on golden platters, though they obviously won't be admitting it - remember, Apple is a part of PRISM. Once, they staged a show where they won't share data with a 3-letter spy group & it's what "cements" Apple's "privacy-respecting corpo" image - even though the data is still obtained.
In China, Apple also bowed to their requests by removing all VPN apps from the Chinese App Store, as well as some apps that could help Hong Kong protesters.


• App installations are limited to Apple's App Store, unless you jailbreak them. As for jailbreaking Apple devices, it requires you to rely on some vulnerability that might get patched at any time. While iOS officially allows sideloading, they only allow it in the EU.
• Good luck repairing iPhones - the parts are programmed to bond with the board, which means replacing them without reprogramming the parts could screw their functionality.
Or any Apple devices in general, like iPad & Macbooks. While Macbooks seem easy to repair (at least compared to other mainstream laptops with soldered ports) aside from the battery & keyboard (seeing replaceable USB-C in a laptop is nice; even if you need to remove the motherboard before you can replace them. It's a shame only Macbooks implemented them.), it's not upgradeable. iPads, just like iPhones before iPhone 15, starts repairs by removing the display, which is already a red flag IMO.
2/8/2022 Update : Latest iPhones now bond the cellphone to the part (instead of the part to the cellphone).
18/11/2024 Late update : Apple seems to have changed its mind against repairability by providing an online-only calibration tool (which is better than nothing, but still unnecessary, had it not been for Apple arbitrarily pairing parts) & interesting hardware tweaks for repairability (such as electric adhesive for iPhone 16 battery).


• Almost forgot mentioning the lack of headphone jack, but Apple made this a common trend since iPhone 7 & iPad "Pro" 2020 (for phones & tablets respectively). Sure, we could have a debate about EU demanding 20dB less output killing the jack (at the cost of probably looking like an Apple shill), but the fact that Apple removed the jack & called it "courage" remains, with others following suit.
• In addition to injury of not being able to truly own your device by hardware (serialized parts) and software (no jailbreaks and/or external app installations), Apple also plans to make iPhones a device for rent. As if the fact you don't fully own whatever Apple product you "buy" wasn't obvious.
• Stallman has a more detailed list here (archive.org), in case you don't have enough reasons to avoid Apple devices.

ASUS

ASUS - a brand known for being in both the gaming sector (ROG, Zephyrus, TUF) & consumer sector (Zen-whatever, vivobook). And with some QC issues since the ZS630KL.

15/4/2023 Update : I no longer recommend ASUS phones (even cautiously) since their UnlockTool leaves users' bootloaders on ASUS' whim. Unofficial unlocking methods do exist, but since they don't seem all that reliable, I cannot recommend even that.

General advantages of ASUS :

• Easier than standard (but more annoying due to internet dependency) bootloader unlock protocol (ASUS UnlockTool) (9/10/2023 late update : The unlocker app was deleted & the server no longer supports those requests.)
2/2/2024 Update : ASUS now actively sabotaging attempts at unlocking bootloader. Sure, ASUS, if you just want to commit suicide, why not just immediately implode instead of slowly torturing the crap of your ever-decreasing customers? BTW, redacting this advantage.


• Zenfone Flip series advantages :
• A flip camera (Zenfone 6z - 8 Flip) - the camera has to flip up to take a selfie pic. Sure, the device is more fragile as a result (thanks to extra motors) - but there's no inferior camera module that gets to watch you at any time.
• microSD support

General disadvantages of ASUS :

• Zenfone 7 (as well as 8 Flip) & ROG Phone III lacks an inbuilt headphone jack. The latter kinda tries to escape this by also including an extra USB-C based port for proprietary accessories (and a fan module with USB-C & headphone jack), but still.
• Zenfone 6 (6z) is basically a gamble - you either get one that works fine (more likely if brand-new); works somewhat fine (camera causes reboots once it's opened, in my experience); or is an epic crapshoot (permadeath after some time, without any chance of resurrection other than being sent to ASUS or getting it reballed maybe).
• Every ROG phones historically has a questionable lack of microSD slot - instead opting for dual SIM. While this flaw seems minor considering the existence of the USB-C based proprietary port (and USB-C side ports), I don't think I'd let them off the hook for that. I mean - it's a gaming phone, a semi-permanent external storage is especially useful here.
Non-Flip Zenfones (starting with Zenfone 8) also suffers from this issue, made worse by the fact that it has one USB-C port (at least both Zenfone & ROG (for 2021 & beyond) has a headphone jack).


• While the UnlockTool is certainly easier than fastboot oem unlock, it's certainly more annoying - you need internet connection to make sure it works, & even then, there's a fair chance it'll fail for any reason (such as relocked bootloader, or ASUS no longer providing the services required for unlocking bootloader). Also, this means anyone with physical access can unlock your cellphone's bootloader & wipe your data without having to find a PC. 2/2/2024 Late update : ASUS no longer supports bootloader unlocking.
• Questionable custom ROM support for certain devices - for example, the 5z stands pretty strong with official Lineage & various ROMs (curiously, no custom kernel), while the 6z is pretty much dead, with only OmniROM remaining (debatably) active.
• Questionable quality assurance; with my 6z being an example. Open the camera application & the entire device glitches itself into a reboot. Play for a bit too long (at least until the glitching starts), glitch to reboot.
• With how ASUS releases their kernel sources (in a zip file instead of a git repo), custom kernels had to be rebased every firmware update. This slows down overall custom kernel development, especially if ASUS still supports the devices.

Huawei / Honor

On paper, Huawei (and Honor by extension) has an undeniably awesome spec sheet - enough to arouse my performance enthusiast side. However, as its bootloader are no longer officially unlockable, it is getting a veto from me, regardless of its mouth-watering specs.

In addition, while there are unofficial methods of unlocking the bootloader, they're something between not gratis (DC-unlocker, HCU-client), janky (PotatoNV requiring device disassembly or those paid unlockers not supporting all Huawei devices), or even straight up malware bait.

LG

By default, LG will not allow bootloader unlocking unless you're using the EU variants (officially supported) / US unlocked (might require screwing around with the site). However, with their developer website being now useless, bootloader unlocking is impossible except by using security exploits (such as the LG V30, which will be mentioned below).

The V30 is one of the few LG cellphones to be almost exempted from this list just because it has an exploit for bootloader unlocking (archive.org). But still, development for the V30 is basically dead in the water (except for some soydevs pursuing Sisyphean masochism in its most Herculean forms (by continuously attempting to port the latest Android crap™ up the V30, issues be damned)).

3/10/2024 LATE addendum : LG's mobile division is long dead. A shame they didn't release a bootloader update that converts the unlocking protocol to fastboot oem unlock.

Nokia (HMD)

Similar to Huawei, Nokia doesn't officially allow bootloader unlocking. However, unlike Huawei, Nokia releases their cellphones under the Android One program, which makes them even worse, since Xiaomi & Motorola's Android One cellphones allow bootloader unlocking (Xiaomi even uses fastboot oem unlock). While there could be some unofficial ways to unlock a Nokia cellphone's bootloader, it might involve tearing down the cellphone (or, even worse, using paid stuff).

In addition, Huawei also made it clear that there's no bootloader unlocking for their cellphones, unlike Nokia, as Nokia has a bootloader unlocking site (but it's only for Nokia 8). 12/4/2023 Update : Nokia's bootloader unlock page is dead.

Samsung

The elephant in the room. The biggest Android manufacturer known to date. But not a cellphone brand that I would take, use, & recommend without severe hesitation. However, after hearing a news where Samsung disables the Fold 3's cameras once the bootloader's unlocked, I decided that Samsung cellphones are simply not worth it.

General advantages of Samsung devices :

• microSD for all flagships (except the S6 & Note 5) (until Note 20+, S21 & further no longer included them)
• Inbuilt stylus (S-Pen) on Note series, I suppose? But then again, S-Pen has been converted to a separate accessory for the latest Samsung flagships, so it probably won't matter for long.

General disadvantages of Samsung devices :

• No headphone jack. It started on the flagships since Note 10, and trickled down to the lower-end devices since Ax3. And the 2024 releases all lack the jack.
• Samsung flagships are hilariously overpriced for what they offer, when you're getting them as brand-new (this varies by the marketplace)
I'm not talking cameras, I'm talking overall hardware specs. Battery, SoC, display, the likes. Also, for the price, you might still get ads in the stock OS.


• OneUI (Samsung's latest stock OS) has some malware-like function
A good example would be Samsung Game Optimization Service, re-enabling itself every time it's forcefully disabled (and re-installing itself even after being uninstalled via adb). Fully removing it requires root, which trips Knox.


• Bloatware & spyware aplenty on the stock OS
• Flashing anything not made by Samsung (such as Magisk, custom ROM, TWRP) will trip Knox. Once Knox is tripped, any warranty you have on that Samsung cellphone is immediately void.
• Samsung VaultKeeper - unless it's explicitly allowed, VaultKeeper will cause the bootloader to reject unofficial partitions - even when the bootloader is unlocked.
• Curved OLED on most flagships. Here's my issues on curved displays on general :
• 2 distorted display edges that impair viewing experience, with more accidental touches on portrait.
• Screen protectors are harder to install - especially tempered glass. There are tempered glass that uses UV-curing adhesives to deal with this issue, but they're more expensive & not as easy to install.
• As a general note, exposing more glass to the elements makes the display more vulnerable to fall damage.
• One thing I forgot to mention - these curved displays tend to be more expensive to replace than their non-curved counterparts. Sometimes, it's more expensive than just buying another secondhand device.
• And, it's an OLED panel - battery-saving turned-off blacks in return for a risk at permanent display retention, which is also known as burn-in.
• Most modern Samsung (after S5 / Note 4) cellphone batteries are glued in with plenty of powerful adhesive, making 1st-time battery removals risky without proper tools & ingredients.
• Questionable bootloader unlocking protocol. On paper, it sounded simple :
• Enable OEM unlocking in developer settings (after enabling it via Settings > About phone > Software information > rapid-tapping Build number). Also backup everything that you need to back up here.
• Boot to download mode : power off, connect to computer while holding bixby, power, & vol-down buttons.
• Hold volume up for God-knows-how-long until the screen changes to a warning (or anything indicating bootloader unlocking).
• Accept all prompts for bootloader unlocking. This'll also wipe the phone's data.
• Reboot & set-up the device, and connect it to the internet while doing so.
• Get to developer settings & check if OEM unlocking options exists & are greyed out.
However, in practice, step 3 alone is the most questionable part, as who knows how long it takes for the warning to pop up, if at all.


• Unlocking bootloader on some models disables some of its hardware, such as the camera. Currently, the only known example of this practice is Fold 3.
• No official firmware downloads, with unofficial providers fully taking advantage of this situation to make downloading Samsung firmwares as Herculean as possible.

Sony

Personally, Sony is a brand I personally don't like, especially since they price their devices unfairly (not to mention their PlayStation 3 debacle in 2011 which also featured geohot; which further sours them in my eyes despite not being connected to Android at all). In addition, despite the ridiculous(ly low) secondhand prices (compared to its brand-new prices), Sony has carrier-locked variants (complete with every issue it brings), which further complicates the prospect of getting one.

General advantages of Sony :

• Dedicated camera button for more fine-grained camera controls.
• microSD support
• Front-facing stereo speakers for flagships (except for Xperia 1 AFAIK).
• Decent bootloader unlock protocol; at least for those with unlockable bootloaders. (fastboot oem unlock 0x[unlockcode]; unlockcode requires submitting IMEI to Sony via dev page.)
• Finger-removeable microSD tray, no pins required (the SIM tray might need one since it's stuck deeper).

General disadvantages of Sony :

• No headphone jack for flagships (from XZ2 to Xperia 5, Xperia 1 II brought them back for its successors)
• Overpriced when brand-new, ridiculously cheap for secondhand (the older the cheaper)
• As mentioned in Sony's intro, has carrier-locked variants, which brings in additional issues (no recovery, bootloader unlocking, and/or some fastboot commands). Some credit-based online tools could fix this issue (primarily by unlocking the carrier lock AFAIK), but I cannot speak of their effectiveness since I haven't used them & would rather not use them.
• User-hostile repair designs on some phones (XZ, XZs, XZ1, XZ1C, all XZ2 models, and more that I probably miss) - display-first. XZ1 & XZ2P also has their display BTBs set dangerously close to some small chips that is easily pried out by accident when unplugging the display.
• XZ Premium had a debacle where its charging port BTB (on the motherboard) kills itself randomly, forcing its replacement (which requires microsoldering). I had one (before I started this site, so no XZP content here) & it lasted me 2 years before that BTB issue hit me & killed my XZP.
• Firmware downloads require an unofficial Windows program (XperiFirm) because Sony does not show download links.

Xiaomi / Redmi / Poco

On one hand, Xiaomi's (and Redmi & Poco - but not BlackShark) phones tend to be affordable (for the hardware they offer, at least on the midrange) & popular for developers (which means you should at least get official LineageOS & crDroid). However, on the other hand, unless you get the older Android One phones (which are discontinued, which is a shame considering the bootloader unlocking protocol), you'll be faced with what I can say is the worst bootloader unlock protocol ever - Mi Unlock. It requires a Mi Account, phone number, arbitrary wait time (from 72 hours to 2 weeks - though HyperOS seems to change it to just 72 hours), and a Windows computer because Mi Unlock is Windows-only; as well as Xiaomi's arbitrary blessing if the device is on HyperOS. And if you somehow got your Xiaomi phone stuck in EDL? May God (and/or whatever divine entities you believe in) have mercy on you, because you will need a "Mi Authorized Account" from some unknown provider who'll probably overcharge you for some unbricking... or maybe take it to Xiaomi's service centers where you'll definitely be overcharged for unneccessary motherboard "repairs" (actually a full motherboard replacement). So yeah... I'll just drop this conclusion early on : When buying a Xiaomi phone (or their aforementioned sub-brands), only aim for one with an already unlocked bootloader unless you're enjoying the pain from Mi Unlock. Or, if you're aiming for a specific model but there's no pre-unlocked unit, maybe find a service center that reliably (and preferably on the same day, though that's highly unlikely) unlocks Xiaomi bootloaders (or borrow an Intel computer running Windows and/or phone number from someone else)? Just... never boot EDL. And NEVER get a Xiaomi phone with HyperOS unless you're some honor student in the Xiaomi's "school" (or you could tolerate the pains Xiaomi will inflict you for attempting to escape MIUI/HyperOS & somehow lucked out that Xiaomi has graciously allowed you the bootloader unlock).

General advantages of Xiaomi / Redmi / Poco:

• Good 3rd-party developer support
• Only available on the unfortunately discontinued A series (which I would personally not use, judging by performance alone) : Pixel-standard (best) bootloader unlocking protocol (fastboot oem unlock)
• microSD support (for some devices)
• Competitively priced brand-new cellphones, at least on the midrange.
• Trivial firmware downloads (xmfirmwareupdater.com)

General disadvantages of Xiaomi / Redmi / Poco:

• microSD availability varies by model
• Pro flagships not "Pro" at all (the X3P is closest to become the only exception here, missing only a hand-removable battery). For example, the Mi 10(T) "Pro" lacks what I think are Pro features, such as the headphone jack, microSD, & hand-removable battery.
• MIUI fucking sucks in more ways than one, but here's the privacy hazards :
• Ads inbuilt &##8; enabled by default (they can be disabled, but you may have to dig into some apps' settings to do so.)
• MIUI Analytics
• Soter Service - probably some Tencent spyware, considering how the tyrants occupying China loved oppressing their subjects.
• Facebook & Go-ogle inbuilt (non-Chinese variant)
• Stock ROM / MIUI bloatware :
• MIUI Security - the prime bloatware.
• Integrated "optimizer" that might change settings when used
• Cleaning module on a security app (could be "uninstalled" without fucking shit up though, as long as you know this bloat's package name)
• The entire MIUI Security app can't be removed without causing the entire system to not boot & get stuck on a bootloop
• Again, Facebook & Go-ogle (bloat/spy)ware on non-Chinese variants
• The aforementioned Soter service - probably not a bloat in China, but bloat everywhere else.
• Inbuilt "games", just because.
• User-hostile bootloader unlock protocol (except for A series). (archive.org)
9/11/2023 Update (source | archive.org) : Xiaomi's HyperOS is slated to make bootloader unlocking more unneccesarily difficult, by adding an additional level 5 on Xiaomi's community forum & allowing 3 device unlocks per year for each account. In addition, Xiaomi phones with unlocked bootloaders may not receive HyperOS updates without relocking bootloader. Yunno, muh sekuritah crap. Oh yeah - this also applies to Global.


24/12/2023 Update (source | archive.org) : Xiaomi now demands written excuse & arbitrary quiz (where the user must score >90) in addition to the previously mentioned restrictions above. Wanna be free from Goolag & Xiaomi? Get the fuck back into Xiaomi Academy, be a fucking honor student (and ALWAYS score >90), and maybe headmaster Xiaomi let you graduate from the cage school? To blazes with it, avoid all Xiaomi devices unless the seller's already unlocked their Xiaomi devices' bootloader... though good luck finding one (with a reasonable price & not needing any microsoldering repairs).

2/2/2024 Update (source | archive.org) : Xiaomi's HyperOS bootloader unlocking requirement now allegedly changed to 30 days of Mi Account activity; latest Xiaomi Community App (where you'll apply for bootloader unlocking); only 3 devices per account per year; time-sensitive unlocking "privileges"; and 72 hours of wait time (you better hope your unlocking "privileges" don't end in the same hour as the wait time) after all that. In addition, this all only apples to Xiaomi accounts from anywhere but Mainland China (where there'll be even more restrictions). Remain vigilant, particularly at everyone whose bootloader unlock protocol doesn't start & end with fastboot (flashing/oem) unlock.

12/10/2024 Update : Xiaomi is rumored to kill off bootloader unlocking for everyone (and unlocking seems to require luck, as many reported having reached the application quota limit despite being their first application - might as well be the case?).

3/12/2024 Update : To somewhat balance my tone on Xiaomi's bootloader bullshitry (not that it would have helped - Xiaomi's bootloader protocol started out as the worst in my opinion, and I experienced Xiaomi before I was exposed into other official protocols), HyperSploit is a possible fix for Xiaomi's HyperOS "community" restrictions, but not the arbitrary ≥7 days of MIUI's bootloader unlock wait time, which also demands you to keep the registered SIM card & Xiaomi account stuck inside your device.

3/1/2025 Update (source / archive.org) : Xiaomi only allows its cucks users to unlock one device each year, and it applies globally (both to China & everywhere else). Anyone got a shovel?

• No relockable bootloader for everything but Mi A2
• Anti-rollback "protection" has a history of bricking devices. I haven't encountered it, but still.
• Xiaomi is inconsistent with kernel source code releases - for example, the Poco X3(N)' kernel sources weren't delivered on launch day despite their promises. It's cool now that it's released, but, even so, the source code may have some differences with the prebuilt kernel. Another example is the BlackShark (Xiaomi's "gaming" sub-brand) where they do not release any kernel sources for all of their devices.
• Poco branding is obnoxious, starting with the X3(N).
Well, shit. Here's Poco's India branch branding. Extreme cringe on logo & explanation alert.


• Ignoring the F1 & X3(N/P), most Poco cellphones are probably rebranded Xiaomi / Redmi cellphones.
• Xiaomi can somehow lock cellphones that are newly activated in some "unsupported" regions, if they run stock MIUI. (Link) (archive.org)
• Questionable QC in some cellphones, such as the X3P.
• Xiaomi's firmware is averse to some background tasks, such as music listening (it prevents headset commands from being recognized if the device does not play music in seconds). This flaw persists even in custom ROMs, especially since they run stock firmware.

Carrier-locked devices

Carrier-locked devices may not have the ability to unlock bootloader, putting their life at the mercy of the carrier & their maker. Once either deems them obsolete, you can't extend their life by installing custom ROMs, since there's no way to unlock the bootloader to begin with (except for cracking the sim/bootloader lock, maybe with some credit-based online tool). Of course, some carrier locked cellphones (non-T-Mobile US LG V30 is the only example I could provide) could unlock bootloader (by using an exploit), but they're rare.

An example of how bad a carrier-locked phone can be is the SOV36 Xperia XZ1. In addition to the obvious seal on bootloader unlocking, the SOV36 lacks a recovery partition, making any attempt at resetting it without Android Settings completely null (at least in my personal experience, with a lockscreen pin).

Devices with dynamic partitions

This indirectly translates to any & all cellphones released with Android 10 (and beyond) out of the box. Since cellphones with dynamic partition are currently unable to modify system, vendor, & product partition (aside from installing custom ROMs, for now), you can't just debloat it as you wish. However, there is work done to make super partition read/writeable, so you might want to wait & see.

8/8/2022 LAAAATE!! Update : There's a way to mount partitions in TWRP as RW, allowing modifications to such partitions.

"Gaming" cellphones

These so-called "gaming" phones such as ASUS ROG, Lenovo Legion, Nubia Red Magic, Razer Phone, vivo IQOO, & Xiaomi BlackShark. They're not really gaming cellphones - they're actualy just decent networking phones with some gaming flairs, such as :

• Fast displays, but mostly OLEDs
Sure, OLEDs do have that turned-off blacks. However, in my opinion, having a display that's vulnerable to eventual burn-ins can suck. Why no manufacturers (other than Razer) make "gaming" cellphones with HRR LCDs will always be a mystery (unless some of the answers include planned obsolescence and/or profits).


• No microSD - but dual SIM support. A good feature for "phone" phones, not so much for "gaming" phones (though most Android "games" tend to be online-only nowadays, unfortunately)
Razer's phones are an exception to this since those "gaming" phones support microSD. However, this still doesn't excuse the fact that Razer's phones only has 1 USB-C port (Razer Phone 2 has wireless charging FWIW).


• Questionable bootloader unlock support, if there's any. For example, Razer Phone supports fastboot oem unlock, but demands USB 2.0 for flashing stuff. Then there's ASUS ROG phones, whose bootloader unlocking used to require an app that connects to ASUS' servers for it until ASUS took down the unlock server & the required app. BlackShark... maybe use black magic?
• Proprietary brand-specific features that couldn't be supported by custom ROMs, such as ROG Armory Crate & AirTriggers (in-frame capacitive shoulder buttons) for ROG phones.
• Lack of active development (which are probably a result of the previous 2 points above) - while there's ROG Phone III with some custom ROMs & official TWRP, you're lucky if a "gaming" phone you own have any form of unofficial (let alone official) custom ROMs and/or TWRP. Most "gaming" phones (aside from Razer & ROG; and maybe Legion) doesn't even release their device tree & kernel sources, further complicating any & all attempts at developing it. GSI may cover the lack of custom ROMs, though you'll also have to deal with issues that pop up while you're using it, & you could be the 1st person to face that issue.
• RGB lights that won't be visible to (and/or distract) the user, but present since it's a "gaming" cellphone.
• Flagship-grade SoC that can be found in flagship cellphones, just tuned up for extra benchmark scores (which might guarantee them the "fastest benchmarked Android phone of the year" title before another "gaming" phone, their own successor, or some new flagship with new SoC and/or limiter remover for benchmarks predictably outdoes them in the rat race).
• Added cooling tools to help with thermals, either external (ROG Phone) or internal (Red Magic). Potentially compromises water resistance (which is fine if the the device is easily repairable without heatguns - sucks since it's never the case) & doesn't seem to be properly documented (which complicates supporting those tools on custom ROMs).
• No inbuilt headphone jacks on some of these "gaming" phones
This is currently found on ROG Phone III, Legion (both "Pro" & Duel), BlackShark (up to BS2; BS3 & BS4 have them, but BS5 re-drops the jack), vivo's IQOO, & all of Razer's phones. For a "gaming" phone, this is not a good move. On BlackShark, Razer, & IQOO, the only available physical port is the sole USB-C, so you'll have to either hunt for compatible 2-in-1 dongles, immerse yourself in the game while risking the battery running out without any way to charge it (Qi wireless charging doesn't help here as you need the device to stay still for wireless charging to work), or play & charge without the audio immersion a headphone can offer (or use Bluetooth & suffer from Bluetooth issues). The Legion doesn't fare any better, despite having an extra USB-C port on the side, leaving you at the testing table for dongles (but at least there's still one available USB-C port, so you don't need to search for 2-in-1 dongles I suppose). The ROG Phone III is arguably the best approach, by including an external fan with USB-C & headphone jack (assuming you get a brand-new one). Unfortunately, the fan only works on the ROG Phone III due to their proprietary USB-C-based connector.

Personally, other than the ROG Phone II (since there's some custom ROMs & the ever-important inbuilt headphone jack - 9/10/2023 late update : with ASUS' removal of bootloader unlock, I will no longer tolerate the ROG Phone II.), I can't recommend "gaming" phones, at least until someone out there makes an actual "gaming" cellphone, with microSD, high refresh (and touch reaction speed) LCD, inbuilt headphone jack, & active custom ROM support. (by the way I have a recipe ready for those who thinks they could manufacture one)

Devices without headphone jacks

This is my personal opinion - I cannot & will never (except for the Mi A2 & Pixel 3) use a device without a headphone jack (and device without any kind of ports by eventual extension, should it exists) unless I have a very good reason to do so (though in hindsight neither of the aforementioned devices are good for me). Here's why I won't generally use and/or recommend device without headphone jacks :

• First things first for those Bluetooth shills - having a headphone jack does NOT prevent anyone from using Bluetooth headphones. On the other hand, not having a headphone jack forces the user to pay up for either Bluetooth headphones and/or dongles.
• For wired audio with devices without a headphone jack - USB-C audio is still a mess. Whether they work or not depends on various factors, such as whether the phone and/or audio device has a DAC chip (among others I don't know). Also, most cellphones without headphone jacks (aside from the previously mentioned ROG Phone III & Lenovo Legion) tend to have only one USB-C port, so that one port's going to receive even more use, which leads to earlier port failure. Planned Obsolescence at their finest (and yes, it will get worse - Apple might release a portless iPhone to legally circumvent EU's latest USB-C mandate while also raising their profits; and the market will probably follow suit the year after Apple did it); and we still haven't even talked about the impact on nature.
• Removing the headphone jack for more hardware features (bigger batteries, pop-up cameras, etc.) is one of the most obvious bullshit - any manufacturer (or anyone with the required skills and/or resources) can always add in a headphone jack if they want to. For example, Strange Parts has proven that you could technically add a headphone jack on an iPhone 7. (of course, this also comes with technical issues of their own, which remain unfixed to this day)
Another fine example would be the Zenfone 6 (6z), as it manages to have a headphone jack while also having a flip-up camera, stereo speakers, a 6.4' LCD with thin bezels, & 5000mAh battery. This is an example that proves that manufacturers could always pop in a headphone jack if they want to. Unfortunately, ASUS retconned this by releasing the Zenfone 7 ("Pro"), which is basically Zenfone 6, with slightly bigger build & display, upgraded SoC, 1 more camera sensor, unchanged battery capacity, & no headphone jack.


• One obvious BS why corpos remove headphone jacks is waterproofing, but even that is disproved by the existence of Samsung Galaxy S5 - IP67, user-replaceable 2800mAh battery, & headphone jack... not to mention microSD, microSIM, & AMOLED display (and that weird microUSB 3.0). Sure, it feels about as un-"premium" as the X3(N/P) (maybe less so due to smaller size), but the X3(N/P) is only IP53 (before any kind of repairs) & it has a 5160mAh battery that can only be removed by unsticking the back panel (and negating any ingress protection it ever had), unscrewing the motherboard cover, unplugging the battery module (and getting every other stuff above the battery out of the way), & pulling the battery itself out, which is stuck by a solid adhesive.
• Bluetooth headphones are generally inferior compared to wired headphones in every way (except for mobility maybe) - let me list some of them.
• First of all - battery. Wired headphones generally don't need battery to run (unless it's a wired ANC headphone and/or has some sort of battery-powered audio processor), while wireless headphones need battery to run everything from wireless radios to the drivers. On-ear & over-ear wireless headphones could last over 20 hours since their design allows them to have a bigger battery, but in-ears are not going to last more than 20 hours without a charging case. Oh yeah - they also charge with the same port as your device (usually, unless you get the ones that use Lightning / microUSB), so if your device's battery needs charging & you only have one cable (and/or that cable is also not compatible with your Bluetooth thingy), you simply do not get to charge them.


• In terms of convenience - there's no contest. Wired headphones are a plug & play away from usage, while Bluetooth headphones need some initial connecting before usage, & a re-connecting in the likely case Bluetooth gets turned off on either device for any reason (not to mention it could randomly connect to something else). Some Bluetooth headphones can automatically re-connect to the last device they're paired with (for example; AirPods with an iPhone, albeit with proprietary protocols), but there's plenty that don't. In addition, some Bluetooth headphones (such as Sony WH-CH700N, an over-ear wireless headphone) can be used wired, though you'll need to turn them on anyway just to fully use the headphone, as they usually feature their own sound processors that the wired mode simply doesn't enable by default.
I won't deny the mobility advantage wireless headphones offer (usually, there's no long cable to snag & break), but that still doesn't excuse its other flaws.


• Sound latency, something you don't want to have when you're either playing games or watching videos (maybe ignorable if you're only using Bluetooth for music). That's currently present only on Bluetooth headphones, & even the recent Bluetooth "gaming" headphones can't really fix this issue with their "gaming mode" (it might get fixed in the future, but I don't daily drive Bluetooth headphones).
You could bypass this issue if you're using the headphones' wired mode (if it's supported), but (again) unless you turn on the headphone (depends on the model, though most that I know does it), it won't sound as good as it's supposed to be. At that point, why not just use wired headphones (since they tend to be cheaper & better anyway)?


• Lifelong hardness (or repairability?) - both wired & wireless headphones aren't primarily designed to be repairable, as far as I know. With wired headphones, there's no batteries to replace (unless you're running one with ANC), so lack of repairability might not suck as much (it still sucks, but at least you don't have to risk destroying it every few years just to replace the expired battery). As for wireless headphones, good luck replacing their batteries on your own, as they are not commonly available (and some of them (mainly TWS earbuds) are unrepairable to the point it's cheaper to replace the earbuds themselves). Even if you managed to get one, actually applying it can be a challenge on itself (some headphones have soldered batteries).
23/8/2024 Addition : Someone in iFixit agreed, as seen in this article (archive.org).
29/11/2024 Update : Speaking of iFixit, they rated Fairphone's Fairbuds a 10/10 for repairaility (by including an user-replaceable battery, which somewhat mitigates the 1st Bluetooth issue). Not surprised considering Fairphone, but the rest of the Bluetooth issues mentioned above still applies.



• Not enough? How about some old rant from some redditor?

Devices with soldered charging ports?

And by soldered I meant soldered to the motherboard. Allow me to list why you might want to keep away from them.

• Replacements are essentially impossible without microsoldering, which does require heating up parts of the motherboard (and may even threaten its integrity). In comparison, when the charging port is its own module, you can just replace it without exposing the board to direct heat (indirect heat from removing back panel may apply depending on your device).
• Any methods imaginable to mitigate their issues suck to a varying degree.
• Qi wireless charging... only for charging. And it heats up the device as well, so you may be due for battery replacements sooner than you think. Oh yeah - I forgot not every device natively supports it, but then you can use a Qi dongle, and now you don't have a charging port at the ready.
• Bluetooth file transfers... I'll pass. Just like how I passed over all those "wireless" audio crap & religiously nuked them off my daily driver along with the telephony stack. The same applies to those cloud™ stuff, except I also never relied on one in the first place.
• As much as I prefer microSD over USB OTG, not every device supports them. And those that do can be a mixed bag. exFAT can be shaky when used storage exceeds 50+.
• Those magnetic ports might sound like a no-brainer, but now you have a semi-permanent nub on your charging port, which affects your grip over the device (and sometimes cases get in the way of charging your device). It can easily disconnect when knocked over, which also makes your USB-based file transfers a bit more precarious. And you (usually) need a matching adapter to go with your magnetic port, so good luck finding one if you lose either.

Unimportant points

With recommendations, there's bound to be questionable ones. We're tackling some of them here.

"Vote with your wallet!!!"

Now, look here - I almost wanna agree with you on this one - after all, assuming democracy is truly what it is supposed to be, we might be seeing the "perfect phone" around - especially in my hands. But let's be real here - the market won't provide, especially since the manufacturers never really has to. Heck, those manufacturers keep on limiting options (extinction of 16:9 on phones, widespread 16:9 laptops, cars spouting random unnecessary telemetry to random 3rd-parties, IoT shit, I can go on) as we slowly become more dependent on them.

For example, let's take smartphones, because this page's supposed to recommend it. Headphone jack is supposed to be something all phones come with; then came EU demanding -20dB on headphones & Apple shilling "courage" for killing the jack (and insert any other arbitrary reason why the jack gets dropped?), and suddenly the jack becomes something to actively seek, because they weren't there on the flagship - the option where everything has to be offered. Instead, we keep getting irrelevant stuff (that we never asked for - except for those planted shills over there) such as "supahhelpful ey-aye" & the "best camera of the year" (and more jargons & gimmicks; but you get the gist of it) shoved right up our faces, just because.

Universally recommended

Actually, I cannot universally recommend a device at the moment - there's just no "truly perfect device" out there (perfection is subjective). I now have a projection of my "perfect phone" though it remains imaginary for now.

Hence, instead of truly recommending a cellphone, I'd recommend what you should look for, & in which condition as well. For more tips for cellphones, I recommend going here as well.

Bootloader unlockable

This is the most important factor in selecting a cellphone. However, many brands vary in their bootloader unlock protocol.

Avoid cellphones with non-unlockable bootloaders, since you can't install custom ROMs and/or TWRP without unlocking the bootloader.

Consider getting someone (a friend / family member) to help you if your cellphone's bootloader unlock protocol requires an account & you refuse to make an account for it. This applies to plenty of brands, such as Xiaomi.

Bootloader unlock protocols can be divided into several types, such as :

• The good ol' fastboot oem/flashing unlock - the most ideal, but requires usage of PC & USB cable, & enabling USB debugging & OEM unlocking in Developer settings. This method is used on Pixel, OnePlus, & Xiaomi's A series.
• Company-released unlock code - this is similar to fastboot oem/flashing unlock, but with an extra step : getting an unlock code from the manufacturer. This requires you to manually send the cellphone's identifiers (such as IMEI & device ID) to the manufacturer, who will either send the code to your email or display it. Sometimes (Sony doesn't require an account from the one time I tested it), this requires an account with the manufacturer, which may allow them to abuse the data you give to them. Either way, this method leaves you at the manufacturer's mercy since they can shut down the service at any time.
• Cellphone-based unlocker app, such as ASUS' UnlockTool. The unlocker tool is more convenient since you don't need to use any computers to unlock the bootloader, but this also means anyone can unlock the bootloader as long as they can access the app. Also, you're at the manufacturer's mercy since they can shut down the service at any time.
• Computer-based unlocker app, such as Xiaomi's Mi Unlock. This one is the worst example I can provide, since you'll need a Mi Account (which requires e-mail and/or phone number) to log into the unlocker app. And, to add insult to injury, on your first attempt at unlocking bootloader, you are slapped with at least 72 hours (up to 2 weeks AFAIK) before you can re-try & definitely(?) unlock the bootloader. Obviously, the manufacturer's able to shut down the service (and/or make it as convoluted as possible) as they see fit.
Another (probably better) example would be Odin / Heimdall for Samsung, but I haven't used any Samsung cellphones, so I have no experience about it.

If you can get your phones with its bootloader already unlocked, it's probably better to do so, especially if the device is in an acceptable option.

Custom ROMs & TWRP availability

Even if the device can be unlocked, it won't matter much if there's no custom ROM and/or TWRP to apply it. You could technically use adb sideload, but it's not ideal, especially if you're flashing on the move & away from a PC.

Building your own ROM and/or custom recovery (or a TWRP build) for your device is also an option, if you have enough resources to do so.

One way to check out custom ROM and/or TWRP availability is to check the XDA forum and/or Telegram updates channel for your device. However, the former's cuckflared & the latter is an app-first ecosystem that may not play well with non-app users. My reviews and/or ROM list page do roughly list which device is supported by what ROM, but I admit it suffers from my bias of not recommending shit ROMs, so there's that as well.

Another way to circumvent the lack of device-specific custom ROMs is to use GSI ROMs, but they're less stable than device-specific ROMs, so there's that.

Cellphone Condition

Advantages of getting an used cellphone :

• It's cheaper - imagine getting a flagship from a few years ago for the price of a low-end cellphone, or something like that. Even if it had to be repaired be functional, chances are it's still cheaper (both the price of the device & its spare parts) than the average brand-new midrange.
• The device has been generally used & tested, meaning you're less likely to get a defective unit, aside from the defects caused by the ex-user & such.
• Pre-unlocked bootloader (unlocked by previous user), though not by default - ask around in case it's not mentioned.

Disadvantages of getting an used cellphone :

• Warranty on used cellphones tend to be shorter & harder to claim (or even nonexistent)... if you're even able to claim one. But then again, whoever's visiting this site might have forgotten anything about warranty claiming, so there's that, I suppose...
• If you're getting them from an online (read: botnet/honeypot) market, it may arrive in a worse condition than advertised. This may vary depending on the courier though.
• Accessories (charger, case, screen protector) may not be included.

Advantages of getting a brand-new cellphone :

• Longer & easier warranty, in case you have unwanted defects (assuming you somehow manage to claim them, after all the BS thrown by the company to avoid granting you anything).
• You can find them in shopping malls & such - making it easy to get for normie consoomers who has the "rights" to go there.
• Some guarantees on accessories (mostly chargers / cable at the very least; occasionally cases & screen protectors, though these depend on the brand)

Disadvantages of getting a brand-new cellphone :

• More expensive
• Less environmentally friendly (packaging trash to the box that's left behind, the unused accessories), regardless of whatever greenwashing the company threw around.
• Locked bootloader by default, leaving you at the maunfacturer's mercy on unlocking protocols, assuming there was any.

Warranty

Moving on to what most of us may have in mind - warranty, since we've probably been conditioned to take our device to the service center every time there's an issue with it.

While it's a good thing to have when your device fucks itself up, chances are it's going to be void - especially if you have unlocked the bootloader (or flashed anything custom). So, in this case, don't rely on warranty - start learning how to fix your own cellphone. Only go to service centers when you're absolutely sure you can't fix it (just prepare to be ripped off).

Miscellaneous hardware stuff you care about

These includes "optional" hardware features you'd want to have in a cellphone, such as headphone jack, micro SD, alert sliders, side buttons, & such. My preferences can be found in the personal recommendations section below.

As for more interesting hardware features such as kill switches (Wi-Fi, mobile, mic, camera, & such), you probably won't find them anywhere except for something like Purism Librem 5. While I'm somewhat interested in having this feature, chances are they either won't fully work like expected (disabling microphone won't prevent other sensors such as the gyroscope from recording audio, for example), or questionably useful (physical kill switches are fine & all, but someone with physical access could disable / enable it without you knowing).

Recommended with caveats

Here's the rough list of devices / brands I recommend getting, with a few caveats that can be (somewhat) easily bypassed for the most part.

Personal recommendations

I'll link my cellphone list & cellphone reviews for more details (read : what I've gotten & used personally).

Also, let me add in what I tend to look for in cellphones :

• Headphone jack - the primary decision maker for me. Refer to this section above for more details.
• Unlockable bootloader - see the bootloader unlockable section above. Yet another primary decision maker.
• microSD - not having it sucks, but it's fine as long as the cellphone uses USB-C & has at least 64GB of internal storage. Of course, the primary storage has to be big (the bigger the better, even if there's a microSD slot), otherwise it won't justify the lack of microSD.
• USB-C port, preferably with USB Power Delivery compatibility (though Qualcomm Quick Charge are also fine, since there are plenty of cellphone manufacturers that support it). I never cared about proprietary fast charging abilities that work on only one brand, such as Warp Charging and/or VOOC (both were BBK's proprietary fast charge protocol).
• Whenever possible, user-replaceable batteries (archive.org) like LG V20, Samsung Galaxy S5, and every Fairphones. I've consigned myself to tearing down a cellphone just to remove their battery, but I believe nobody should have to break open their devices just to replace a dying battery every few years.
• Decent repairability, such as replaceable charging port & battery (at least without tough adhesives). I do not like having to rip the display out before being able to replace something like the battery and/or charging port.
• For displays, here's a good look of my preferences since there's plenty of ways for them :
• Due to the varieties of bezels provided, here's my bezel preferences.
• High refresh rates (≥90hz) are preferred, especially if the SoC can push the framerate to match the HRR display. Otherwise, I'm fine on 60hz, albeit a little unsatisfied. Though to be blatant I don't really care either way, so...
• Decent colors. Both LCD & OLED could make them, so LCD > OLED, even with OLED's turned-off blacks (OLED burn-in is a real issue). Besides, OLED is more expensive anyway, sometimes to the point of making the prospect of replacing the display worthless since replacing the entire phone is cheaper anyway.
• I generally don't care for display resolutions, since I can't see any difference from 1080p to 1440p, let alone 4K. As a matter of fact, I watch (downloaded) YouTube videos on 720p - even on a 1440p display.
• I don't really care how high the touch sampling rate is, but I care about how well the display responds to touch input. But then again take this point from some dude who don't know how touch sampling rate translates to display input responsiveness.
• Preferably good audio - stereo speakers are preferred (even better if top speaker matches bottom speaker), the aforementioned headphone jack is a requirement (save for some exceptions such as the Pixel 3). I'm fine with mono, but I'm not going to be satisfied. Picking USB-C to headphone dongles (or a USB-C headphone) can get pretty hard, considering the compatibility issues.
• Good development - Lineage, crDroid, TWRP, etc. TWRP is the bare minimum, since without it flashing custom ROMs (and/or deleting system bloat) is not as easy. 13/2/2025 Update : Unfortunately, I am not referring to ≥A12L, since I do not like going beyond that. A10-A12L is my preference, especially if OSV (the earlier the better).
• Relockable bootloaders (that work with custom ROMs that support it, obviously) are nice & all, but I'm not sure about tossing out every other hardware features just for this feature (considering most phones with relockable bootloaders tend to lack either headphone jack, microSD, decent repairability, or any combinations of these points).

Google Pixels

In contrast to their Goolag & Go-ogle policies, Google's Pixel cellphones are surprisingly open towards modders... at first sight. It's just that Google tends to make Android less user-friendly with every annual "upgrades". Google's Pixel phones also suck where it matters (on the hardware), notwithstanding whatever upstream issue Google brought on themselves (and their users).

General advantages of Google's Pixels :

• fastboot flashing unlock... with an unfortunate twist.
• By far the only cellphone lineup to ever receive support for ROMs with lockable bootloaders such as GrapheneOS & CalyxOS.
• Titan M chip for some added security... with the only catch being it is not properly audited and/or well-documented aside from OpenTitan which hopefully contains the exact same codes as the onboard chip, or if it doesn't have any "extras" like Intel ME / AMD PSP; though so far no one has actually confirmed it (there was some security researchers finding CVE-2022-20233 (archive.org) on Pixel 3's Titan M, but that's not a Tensor phone).
• Trivial 1st-party stock ROM downloads, at least if you don't mind the Google link (which does need cookie, JS, & XHR enabled for developers.google.com).
At least if you're not thinking of the Pixel 4a, which was left with the butchered A13 stock ROM.

General disadvantages of Google's Pixels :

• OTAConfigNoZeroTouchPrebuilt restricting Pixel devices' bootloader unlocking by essentially making these devices demand internet access (and Goolag's servers) before they allow unlocking bootloader.
• All flagship Pixels (aside from the OG Pixels) don't have headphone jacks. The a series (starting with 6a) also drops the jack.
In addition, jackless Pixels do not have dedicated digital audio converters (DAC), which means the only 3.5mm headphone jack adapters (and/or USB‐C headphones) that would work with Pixels are those with their own inbuilt DACs (or active).


• No microSD support on ALL Pixel phones. OTG, internet storage, or risk losing data.
• No dual physical SIM support, in case anyone is concerned about that.
• OLED-only displays, with some models having various issues. For example, Pixel 2 XL's pOLED are quite vulnerable to burn-ins back in its initial release days (and there are actual cases). Software might have somewhat mitigated this, but keep in mind that OLED is OLED & will eventually get some kind of burn-in.
• User-hostile (display-first) repair designs on most phones, except for Pixel 3 & 4 (and their XL variants)
• Google could change partitioning with OTA update - for example, Pixel 3 series went from A/B to 2SI when they received an OTA from A9 to A10.
• Pixels with in-display fingerprint scanners (which means all Pixels, starting with 2021's Pixel 6) require a webapp-based recalibration every time either display and/or fingerprint scanner gets replaced, else the fingerprint scanner doesn't work.
• Since 2020's Pixel 5, Goolag has directly soldered the charging port into the motherboard, making charging port replacements essentially impossible without microsoldering skills. Considering that the sole USB-C port also handles external audio & storage (in addition to wired charging, docks, and any other imaginable uses for USB-C), let's just say that the entire device won't last as long as you want it to unless you have microsoldering skills (or know and/or employ someone who does). Funny hearing Google "supporting" right to repair. While the Pixel 9 series reverted this behavior, Google used too much adhesive (and too strong as well) for the battery & display.
• By far the only cellphone lineup (aside from Samsung with their Exynos) to offer their own SoC (Tensor) since Pixel 6. However, Google's execution can be a bit iffy at times (which explains why this point got moved to the disadvantages), from random overheating to storage issues. And all of those come with less performance than Snapdragon 8 SoCs of the same year. Also, no full independent audit as far as I know.
• Starting with the Pixel 8, its Bluetooth chip could remain activated even with the device powered off, allowing any Bluetooth-dependent tracking network to track any future Pixel phones (and its owners too).

Personally, I refuse to recommend Google's Pixels (if you're a r/privatelife regular and/or TheAnonymouseJoker follower you're not considering Pixels in the first place anyway) since they are generally inferior to most cellphones at their price point (aside from their camera if you consider it). However, depending on your usage case, here is what I can recommend in case you really want to get a Pixel cellphone :

• For starters, if all you want to do with your Pixel is to use it with GrapheneOS, feel free to get one, but get the ones they recommend - you're guaranteed to receive the longest support period GrapheneOS can offer. Unfortunately, this tends to be the latest Pixels, which is definitely not the cheapest.
• Then, for the rest of the custom ROM users, unless there's something you absolutely value out of the Pixel (the camera, display, whatever), I can't recommend getting one - not only there are better options at their price range (and even below), Google could mess up partitioning (such as Pixel 3 from A/B to 2SI), causing further complications in installing TWRP and/or custom ROMs.

OnePlus [3(T); 5(T); 6\

OK, let's face it: OnePlus is basically the US branch of Oppo (BBK by extension) in everything but name. However, this doesn't mean that their older (& unfortunately discontinued) cellphones suck. In fact, the 3(T) & 6 is pretty good (and less problematic than the more advanced Poco F1). 5(T) is probably fine, but I haven't used them & probably won't use them, considering OnePlus' rarity in the region I'm stuck in & lack of well-maintained ≤A12L builds for it other than /e/) is fine enough, provided that you could maintain it yourself (again, it's discontinued) & don't mind trading in microSD for fastboot oem unlock.

General advantages of OnePlus :

• Good 3rd-party developer support
• Alert slider (if you're not counting some Nord cellphones and/or newer OppoPlus phones) - a feature I personally don't use that much (especially since it only deals with notifications), but is appreciated by most who has it, especially iPhone useds.
• Pixel-standard (best) bootloader unlocking protocol (fastboot oem unlock)
• Bootloader relocking support (I haven't personally tested them myself, but so far DivestOS (and Jaguar, at least in OnePlus 6 though it's closed source & the needed files are kept by the developer) confirmed bootloader relocking function on 5(T), 6(T), 7(T), & Nord.)
• Per-app data restriction in OxygenOS?

General disadvantages of OnePlus :

• No microSD (unless you're counting the Nord N10 & N100 which trades away the alert slider for microSD & headphone jack)
• Starting with the 6T, no headphone jack. This is the primary reason why I don't recommend any OnePlus cellphones beyond OnePlus 6.
• All of my recommendations are discontinued, meaning you'll never get a brand new OnePlus cellphone (unless you managed to get one back in the release years / somehow went back in time to get one). Also, repairing these discontinued cellphones through OnePlus' service center can get dubiously expensive.
• Questionable charging speed without proprietary (dash/warp/vooc) charger - OnePlus only started supporting USB PD in 2021 with their OnePlus 9 series.
• OnePlus phones' firmwares are averse to background music controls.
• Questionable official support quality
It's cool that the 3(T) is supported for a full 3 years & receives a somewhat stable final build, though its successors the (T) & 6(T) didn't fare better - currently, its final build's a buggy mess, from what I've heard.


• The return of OnePlus to their Oppo / BBK roots has spawned some questionable devices, such as the Nord series. Also, all OnePlus (or OppoPlus) phones with ColorOS loses bootloader relocking.
• Oxygen OS is a privacy hazard (but then again, so does every stock ROMs). I've only mentioned this now because I didn't use any OxygenOS online features.
OnePlus also have a history of user data leaks.


• Pro devices not "Pro" at all. For example, the OnePlus 7(T), 8, 9, & 10 "Pro" are average flagships at their time without "Pro" features I expect out of one, such as headphone jack and/or microSD.
• OnePlus has fucked up enough that a Telegram channel is made just to document all of them.
• Firmware upgrades require flashing the latest stock ROM, unlike Xiaomi. More wasted time, though unless you're running OnePlus 6 with OOS10 / Jaguar ROM you shouldn't encounter this issue.

Not tried out yet / unknown

Brand(s) I haven't tried out yet at the moment and have no plans on trying out unless there's a good reason for me to do so... which is getting rarer these days.

• Lenovo (Legion) / Motorola
• HTC
• All BBK brands other than OnePlus.
• Razer
• ZTE / Nubia / Red Magic
• Teracube
• Fairphone
• Nothing

Index - cellphone

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