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The Google Pixel 4a!!! I finally had an OLED screen with better colors! Finally had 128gbs of storage. The size is perfect!!! Still use it as a car music player when there is no signal. We need more under 6 inch screen size phones!
I fucking loved my 4a. It was perfect. Sucked when it got a bit wet and ceased to function
Pixel 4a for sure, I love smaller size phones and the 4a is perfect in size.
Yep.
I'm actually upgrading to a Pixel 5 in a few weeks! Lol.
Great size, lighter than many, great specs, and I can run DivestOS on it. And it's less than $150
Essential phone was a huge flop but man was it a nice phone. Ignoring the poor radio issues it had everything you could want plus the ability to attach accessories like 360 camera. And it was almost perfect one hand use sized.
Loved my essential. After moving to a OnePlus 7t pro when Essential died, I'm trying the Nothing phone 2 now and the design language feels very reminiscent of the essential. Just big, but apparently that's unavoidable now :/
Why the 2015 cutoff? There were many awesome phones released prior to 2015.
Nokia XpressMusic was the best, just realized they released a new version of it a few years ago but only in some countries
I think they're looking for modern-ish phones rather than nostalgia about Nokias
My Pixel 5.
I can run GrapheneOS and I prefer the fingerprint reader on the back. And that style of fingerprint reader seems to work a lot better than the ones they put under the screen in the Pixel 6 and up.
Oneplus 6t. Still use it today, in fact typing this comment on it. Been great with custom Roms, has Android 13 on it with newest security updates installed (November 2023). Cost me $75. People look at me weirdd when i say that.
Pixel phones. I've had the 2XL, 4a, 6 Pro, 7 Pro, and 8 Pro. Each one was better than the last. I know some people had manufacturing problems and the Pixel 3 had memory issues. But I've been lucky and never had issues. And the software experience is exactly what I want. Call Screening is awesome.
Can only pick one!
I thought it was obvious: Pixel 8 Pro Each Pixel is better than the last, so whichever has been latest is the one closest to my heart.
I liked a lot about the Sony X Compact, especially the compactness. It had a headphone jack, SD card, unlockable bootloader, and dedicated button for the camera (with half-press to focus and meter like a real camera).
Note 8. I have the Galaxy 22 Ultra and the camera is defective and makes everything blurry. Plus removing SD card and headphone jack is some bullshit.
Samsung s8+. Just a gorgeous capable smartphone for its time.
The one I have now, the Pixel Fold. Folding tech isn't perfect by any means, but damn if it isn't nice to have a small tablet with you at all times not to mention foldy phone unique functionality, like laptop/tabletop mode or folding it like a book for reading (If only I could get a foldy device with an eink screen, it could be the perfect reading device lmao). The pixel unique features are nice too.
Ofc, there was a love before that, but prior to 2015. The Motorola Backflip, damn I wish they would release a modern version of that one :( not the best keyboard to type on, but it was a physical keyboard none the less
Yeah, I'm on a Samsung fold 4 at the moment, definitely gonna be a Fold user for life unless something even better comes along. Can't go back.
I don't know if my galaxy active 4 was before or after 2015, but I loved that thing mostly for the style and the removable battery. Nice to just swap in a fully charged battery and continue on not being tethered to a charger. I got it in whatever they officially called the turquoisey color that year. Usually they were just called "blue" despite very much not being blue, ever. The back panel was so pretty.
https://images.app.goo.gl/xHjrG4nX83Qw4hNeA
Edit: looks like it was released in 2013, but... I still had it until around 2017... so it still counts right? Ah wells, I'm gonna pick it anyway, you can't stop me!
Edit 2: please don't stop me.
S7 edge was the best phone I have ever had. Now it is running lineageos and ocasionally serves as a network debugging tool.
The S8 I got afterwards was horrendous from the first day I used it to it's last. I never factory reset it. I have no idea what caused the issues.
Now I have a S22 definitely my last samsung.
Has to be my Xiaomi Mix 2S I bought in 2019. Selfie camera is at the bottom of the phone, which is weird, but at least it's not a notch camera. Custom ROM support was amazing and it's still a great phone.
Edit: Fingerprint reader on the back too. Always reliable unlike the OnePlus 7 Pro that has one in the screen that refuses to work 50% of the time.
Love the first 3 Mi Mix phones. Such cool devices.
I'd happily buy another one if it was as good as the 2S that I still use as my secondary phone.
Galaxy Note 9. It was the last fully featured phone Samsung made with a headphone jack, an S-Pen, and no display cutout. The only phones that have come out since that are even close to as fully featured are the Sony Xperia phones.
I bought one brand new a few months ago because my S7 died and I couldn't justify dropping $1000 on an Xperia phone. It's an EU model bought from US Amazon so I definitely overpaid, but it's been worth it so far. Definitely holds up imo.
It's obviously not flagship level, but it's still a solid mid-ranger. It doesn't get software updates anymore so officially, I'm stuck on Android 10 and an old security patch. However, I can upgrade to One UI Android 12/13, or whatever the latest AOSP is through the magic of custom ROMs if it ever starts to bother me.
Edit: The only issue I have is that the fingerprint reader isn't as fast as I'd like it to be. I'm not sure if it's common or just a me issue despite searching a bunch so any help would be appreciated :)
I had the note 8 and loved it, I still have it but the screen blacked out. 300$ to fix. I often think about the S pen and miss not having one.
Oof $300 for a repair is rough, especially considering you can get a refurb Note 9 or 10 for less than that (US or EU at least). What are you daily driving now?
S Pen is one of those things that I didn't think I'd use much but I keep whipping out for this or that. It's kinda great!
I switched carriers, so now it's a Samsung A54 5g. It's nice but not the same.
A series are pretty solid. My sis has an A32 and it's great. I'd daily drive one myself if it wasn't for the notch haha
They remind me of the old "S series" samsung rolled out during the start of the smart phone boom. I had an S3 with a life proof case on it. Damn thing was indestructible. When I hot this A54 I noticed the shape similarities and got another life proof case. Would Highly recommend it 🤌 I hoping to get as much life out of this phone as possible
Yooooo I also had an S3. That phone was a TANK! I dropped it on some rocks and smashed the screen once so I had to get a screen replacement but that was the worst of it (and completely understandable). Aside from that it was a fantastic phone and very durable! I had it on LineageOS Android 7 (or 6 idk) before it got stolen :(
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 until they bricked it. Current Samsung ZFold5 is a decent 2nd, though.
Samsung Note 9
That's only three phones. LG V10, LG V20 and Galaxy XCover 6 Pro
V10. Easily. That was peak-smartphone design as far as I'm concerned. Felt like you could pound nails with it.
Yeah, the V10 was such a cool device. Sad that so many died due to bootlooping
Nokia 9 pureview. It was the last Nokia phone that felt "premium" to me.
The LG V40. Its this phone that flew under so many people's radar despite offering a lot at the time. Also just getting it was hard because it never was offically sold where I live.
Also the Huawei Mate 10 (not the Pro). Its such a cool device, again not officially sold here. Its this really neat phone from 2017 with really slim bezzels but also a big 6" 16:9 aspect ratio display (which is amazing for watching YT)
Everyone talking about post 2015 phones. You know which ones I thought were legendary for their time of release? LG Voyager 100000, you could watch broadcast TV on that thing. Next runner up was my first android phone, the Motorola Droid slide phone. I miss smart phones that were being creative. Now it's all the same boring gimmicks.
Nexus 6p. Mine self destructed due to a damned chip flaw, but was the first phone to have a camera that literally floored me. Every thing about the phone was the epitome of "more than the sum of it's parts". Bought a refurb cheap just to get another 2 years despite the known flaw.
I'd say that if most of the Nexus line, but 6p was the best. Absolutely treasure my now-useless but mint Nexus One.
Pixel just haven't quite done it for me, and that saddens me so much.
OnePlus had some great hits. I'm very fond of my Bacon, and and 7 pro. The 8pro was great too, but some of the special was.... less.
Xiaomi Mi max series, big screens with a good ratio. its sad there won't be a max 4.
A lot of modern phones have big screens, but they're made long and thin for handlets.
Nokia 6.1 Bought when released, still in use today. I tried Samsung A13, but that's in disude until Lineage or another rom is available. It's the only phone that survived 1-2 years of use, ever. (Apart from my indistructable Nokia 6130)
Droid Turbo. I miss that thing so much.
I want to love the Unihertz Atom, but sadly it just doesn't work for me.
I got it specifically to have a phone to only call, text and message. But those are the exact things that don't reliably function. It often didn't receive messages or even calls unless the app was opened and in the foreground.
I factory reset it, tried activating and deactivating Unihertz's own energy management app, tried the original versions of Signal/Threema/Dialer/Messenger as well as their FOSS forks/alternatives, tried it with and without Google Services installed...
But whenever I thought it works now, after lots of testing, it would then stop getting the notifications again after a few days, without me changing anything. So eventually I gave up.
If it had worked, it would be my favorite phone. But it didn't. Now it's rooted and I just play around with Android on it.
(By the way, if someone knows how to re-enter deleted IMEI numbers on a Mediatek phone from Linux to get rid of the red warning text overlay, please help!)
I thought about this, and I'm not really sure. A lot of the phones I liked using are before 2015. This leaves me with two options.
The Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact:
I'm still using the XZ1C, it's still fast for what I use it for, and does everything I need. The modem bug annoys me though, and keeps it from greatness. The battery is still really good, even after replacing it with a Chinese battery and 80% charge limit. It's almost the perfect phone. Make it 18:9 and have modern specs with stable software and it would be awesome.
Runner up (The only other post 2015 phone I've used enough and is good enough to like):
I really liked the S7 (Exynos), the last semi good Samsung (until you get to S10e) Although it's kinda slow and didn't work well for cell in the US.
LG v10, honor 8, and my most recent phone, the OnePlus open.