I just wish they were smaller. I'd love to have a Nexus 4-sized phone again.
Sony made compact versions of their flagship phones until somewhat recently. They were good, and even had basic open-source OS support. I hope they revive that product line.
Another thing I'd like to see more of is relockable bootloaders, so that we can have something like GrapheneOS without Google hardware.
This is the main reason why I buy the a series pixel phones. Generally they are smaller. Not small enough IMO, but smaller than the major flagships for sure.
And then how long do you get any updates?
I flash custom ROMs, so get updates pretty frequently, but that is beyond most people's capabilities, for sure. I currently use the OnePlus Nord N200 which i got new for $250 and installed LineageOS 20 (Android 13) on it. You can still tell it's a $250 phone compared to like $1000 phones but the differences aren't noticeable enough to cause me issues and make me want to upgrade.
Idk, I bought a used Pixel and use it with GrapheneOS. 150/200€ often, if you repair it yourself its cheaper.
LineageOS is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many components that will likely not get any updates
GrapheneOS is a great project. I had a Pixel 3a XL with Graphene on it and it was a good experience
For the uninitiated, what's Lineage OS? Is that like a FOSS alternative OS?
Yes. Its basically AOSP (android Open Source Project) with just enough stuff to make the device useable and you have to add everything else on top of it. A lot of custom ROMs use LineageOS as their base and build from that point.
Unfortunately IME it's a no go if you're using banking or government/authenticator apps. (Your mileage may vary and this may change.)
Not how it should be, but how it is.
I think it depends a lot on the app itself. My banking app works perfectly fine, on it with no Google Play services, but I have seen apps that completely will not open at all, except to give an error message, so I know what you mean. That is not specifically a lineage problem as much as its a google play services problem. Yoi can install gapps and those apps will work, but IMO that defeats the point.
LineageOS is a project making AOSP (Android Open Source Project) usable. This means bundling it together, combining it with the right drivers and kernel for specific phones.
They also maintain many of the AOSP apps (gallery, phone etc) and modernize them, which is awesome as Google abandoned them.
LineageOS is not security focused and often less secure than stock Android. It has no Google Apps by default, which means a lot of proprietary Apps that rely on the backends will not work, at all.
There is the option to install "NIK Gapps" or other names, which is just a bundle of all Google Apps, installed as System apps, just as horrible as stock Android is.
There also is microG, which is also a system app and is not Opensource, as it downloads official Google Binaries.
Every System app can read critical device identifiers that you cannot change, and can access all files, as it doesnt need permissions.
LineageOS is a usable Android, often more up to date than what came with the device, but those Devices never have full support for Custom Operating Systems, like relockable Bootloader or full security features. So in the end you have more updates but partly less security, more privacy or none.
Also the Updates that LineageOS can even supply are very minor. Android devices use the Linux kernel but a special version tailored to that SOC (System on a chip). They would need to make a custom Kernel just for that phone, often newer, as manifacturers of those cheap phones have nonexistent Update lifespans.
They dont do that as its a lot of (unpaid) work.
Then there is firmware which is only delivered by manifacturers and signed with their private keys. No custom OS can do that and firmware security holes are very important and a lot.
So LineageOS is a really nice project if you donate to them but still save money. Abusing their hard work to buy cheap devices and get their longer OS support for free is not cool.
And in the end it is incomplete, insecure and nothing to build upon when buying a new device.
Btw, a ROM is only a small part of the firmware that you cannot change. No custom OS is a ROM.
Abusing their hard work to buy cheap devices and get their longer OS support for free is not cool.
This is literally a core principle of Open Source. You can charge money if you want, but anyone is fully entitled to distribute your work for free.
It is not and cannot be abuse.
Not saying we shouldn't donate to worthy causes, but if we're going to call using free software without paying abuse, then there are many technology users to round up.
Do note that although custom ROMs helps provide OS updates, it does not help with any firmware updates to your phone parts as those are vendor released. Once they stop providing those updates, it is no longer secure
I have a OnePlus 3T (2016) that is running Android 11 custom ROM. I use it mainly for some games and browsing. I would never use it as my main phone or use banking apps there though. Don't want to risk all of my data on there.
That's why GrapheneOS only supports phones that are still officially updated.
When you say "it's no longer secure", can you point to an actual vulnerability on older hardware and what the exploits are?
We keep hearing how unpatched phones are not secure but I'd like to hear more about what the actual risk is.
Millions of people use older phones that haven't been updated for years, yet it seems to me that scams are more about social engineering than exploiting software vulnerabilities on phones.
You might like this website! It's quite an interesting website to go through :)
Though to be fair, majority of every day people probably aren't getting their phones hacked. And not every hardware has known vulnerabilities, at least from what I've seen on the website. Also, I don't know if it's true, but I heard that for a lot of exploits, the person needs the phone physically.
Not really my field of expertise though
That only works if there is support for the phone from developers. For many phones there isn't any, both because the OEM did not make their source available and no individual Dev was interested in doing support for it.
If you want a new phone that has support you need to research it first.
Phones with Mediatek processors tend to be the worst for this, because the source code often is not released, contrary to the open source license.
That is a good point. I always make sure that my devices can run lineage before buying them because I don't want to be stuck with a brick.
Article is copied from https://www.androidcentral.com/best-android-phones-under-200
Their recommendations seem a little bit arbitrary though. And Androidcentral recommended 6 models but Gizchina left one out, the Nokia N100. No idea why.
They are all shit they all come with bloat/adware harvesting your data. So may as well get a cheap one if you need to have one. You're getting taken for a ride either way. If you can buy one with a vanilla or hardened and privacy oriented one then thats another story.
When I bought my phone a few years ago, motorola offered one with relatively stock android, no forced install of facebook or whatever, several years of (timely) android updates, and a large battery. A few years down the line, I'm still getting updates and the battery still lasts days.
And it was plastic and came with a cover, so it's survived the occasional fall just fine.
Honestly don't get why you'd spend more on something that can so easily be stolen.
Honestly in my mind the best phone is a used one with lineage, like my oneplus 8t was $130 it's in great shape with 256gb and I'm relatively confident it'll receive updates for years to come from Lineage.
I’m sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but do older phones running Lineage still receive updates? Say, Samsung S9, is it worth installing the OS despite its age? Not too knowledgable on this area, just wanna learn!
This article seems like each piece was written by the companies themselves. Like it says the A15 only.charges at 25w and then uses words like " charges rapidly at 18w" on the next phone. Really shitty writing.
My elderly clients tell me $200 is too much for a phone. They want it to be $50 max. It's always a big hassle
$200 is too much for a phone. That’s why it’s also web browser, Walkman, gaming device, TV, recipe book, accountant, computer … of course, you know this.
Right, but to them it's all worthless features. Except YouTube they like that
Flip phone
Surely they won't complain then...
I got a flip phone for $20. They're not wrong if all they need is calling and possibly texting.
Used Moto G then
I'm currently using a pixel 5a with grapheneos. A little slow, but otherwise great! Usb-c AND a headphone jack? I feel like that gen was far too short.
200 really is enough for a phone if i am being honest unless you need grapheno or camera you are never gonna see a difference.
If you are shopping for sub 200$ buy used. I have bought a Note 9, S10E, LG G8, ... for under 80$ each. Imagine what 200$ gets you.
None of these are getting updates though.
Yeah, buying phones that old is dumb advice
I'm 100% all for keeping old phones running for many years, but buying a note 9 in 2024 is not how to go about doing that
... Unless you put your own OS on it? Think that's still possible in 2024, right?
even that will be out of date. when the oem stops updating a device, there's only so much custom roms can do
I bought Pixel 8 for about $650 and installed GrapheneOS on it. Pretty happy so far.
Although I daily hate the operating system, my cheapish xiaomi has 120w charging and I never knew I'd love that so much! I can charge to 100% in half an hour!
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
