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Ask Slashdot: What's the Best Unlocked Smartphone? (slashdot.org)
Slashdot reader datavirtue writes:
I've tried a lot of phones for extended periods of time. Some of these have included the Samsung S4, S5, S8+, Note 4, S7, iPhone 5, and Huawei Honor 8. I have stayed away from Apple... My favorite phone was the Nokia 920 Windows phone for its fluid performance and simplicity and hardware camera button, but that phone is long gone.
When searching for an unlocked phone after leaving my current job I ordered a Huawei Honor 8 which refused to join a network, and a iPhone 7 which was DOA. This led to my reluctant purchase of a Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra when the Microcenter sales team couldn't find the last Google Pixel they had in stock. Had no idea I was in for such a treat. The Sony Xperia phone experience is well refined and a joy to use.
Are there any other unlocked phones that you know of under $500 that run this good?
Share your own opinions and experiences in the comments. What's the best unlocked smartphone?
When searching for an unlocked phone after leaving my current job I ordered a Huawei Honor 8 which refused to join a network, and a iPhone 7 which was DOA. This led to my reluctant purchase of a Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra when the Microcenter sales team couldn't find the last Google Pixel they had in stock. Had no idea I was in for such a treat. The Sony Xperia phone experience is well refined and a joy to use.
Are there any other unlocked phones that you know of under $500 that run this good?
Share your own opinions and experiences in the comments. What's the best unlocked smartphone?
No, no kidding. You can get a used iPhone 7 for below that price. Battery? Get the battery changed this year, it's still cheap from an Apple store.
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
Had no idea I was in for such a treat. The Sony Xperia phone experience is well refined and a joy to use.
slashvertisement in the guise of a question?
Any phone that you can get with regular monthly OS updates or you can install LineageOS on
when someone asks me to look for a phone i tell them to
1) use GSMArena's phone finder (or whatever their prefer) to search for a phone
2) check the phone they find against the list of devices that LineageOS supports https://download.lineageos.org...
Currently i'm using a Moto E 2015 LTE phone (surnia), but my next phone won't be a Moto - when they launched this model they promised it would have regular OS updates without having to install alternate OSs but then they fucked us and even discontinued all support for the phone. They sold it with a 2 year warranty but dumped its support 6 months after they launched it.
root@127.0.0.1
One of the things i loathe on modern smart phones is the manufacturer's custom UI and the pre-Insalled garbage on them.
This is, why I usually recommend Android One phones (all current Nokia or Xiaomi Mi), or phones with an experience as close to AOSP as possible, like Motorola or Oneplus
Sony builds nice handsets, with a horrible UI, but they offer their Open Devices program with detailed instructions on how to build AOSP and how to install it
I recently purchased a Nokia 2 from Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075FLG6MV]. It's a generic android phone, unlocked, and with an unlocked bootloader. It cost $100 bucks. I'm not in love with it, but, it supports 2 sim cards at the same time, which is really cool, and I'm sure I'll find some use for eventually. ;)
If you're looking for value then G6+ is hard to beat. Looks and feels like a flagship but costs like a burner (nearly...)
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
"Good user experience" is very subjective, and very "how I use the phone!" specific.
Not everyone is looking for the same thing in a phone.
For instance, a recent purchase I made from ebay is a modified Motorola Photon Q.
Normally, this phone is incapable of accepting a SIM card, and is locked to Sprint. However, a simple hardware mod removes the baked on SIM module, and attaches a push-push sim card slot instead.
After that, and enabling carrier unlocking, it will accept any sim, even international.
Why bother? It is the most modern phone with a slide-out keyboard. If you use your phone for more than just making calls (you would be surprised how useful being able to jam on an SSH session while on the go can be) then this kind of mod is damn handy, and not being stuck 6 years in the past as far as android is concerned (Did I mention this bad-boy supports LineageOS? :P) and having a fairly decent hardware package along with that swanky keyboard is fan fucking tastic--- If you are into that kind of thing..
If all you want is to poke at facebook, post photos to instagram, or do all that social media shit-- you will want a more mainstream phone.
So, again-- what EXACTLY are you looking for in a phone?
>"What's the best unlocked smartphone?"
You will have to define what you mean by "best"? Cheapest? Fastest? Most features? Best built? Let's try for cheapest with the maximum features...
My last phone was a $350 Nexus 5. I used it for something like 4 YEARS (replacing the battery once). Didn't regret it a bit. But it is kinda irrelevant now, so...
Now I have a Lenovo/Motorola Moto G5 Plus that I bought in November for $170 at Costco and does almost everything I could want. It is much faster than the Nexus 5, not overly large, yet not stupid thin, has decent battery life, nice screen, is totally unlocked, works on all carriers, has no crapware, the cameras work great (but doesn't try to compete with my professional Sony), has decent sound and functionality, has a real headset jack I can plug into anything, a freaky fast fingerprint sensor on the FRONT where it is easily accessed, and has SD card support so I can have all my music and photos with me. Popped in the T-Mobile SIM card, my SD, added a magnetic USB charger and a gel case, logged in and pulled in the rest of my stuff, loaded Nova Launcher and I was in business! I wish it had an easily serviceable battery and better updates (like to the next version of Android, which was implied but still not delivered), but for $170, I consider it a MAJOR win even if it lasts me only 2 years (it has already been 9 months).
I told all my friends and family about it, and before they sold out a few months later, mot of them grabbed one and like it a lot. Why anyone would want to buy a $1000 phone, especially every couple of years, is totally beyond my comprehension, unless it is just some stupid fashion statement and they have way more dollars than sense.
Heavy HDR in that. You've got a nice piece of art not a photo.
They do a lot of weird tricks in phone cameras to improve image quality. But that seems reasonable for most people. You want to remember an event, not the precise shade of the sky. I have and use both a DSLR and a cheap cellphone. If I just want to remember something, the cellphone is fine. If I want a high quality image, then I use the DSLR, and shoot RAW. Lots of times, though, the cellphone does the job, so why not use it? It's in my pocket, that's convenient. I don't carry my DSLR when I'm on a bike ride, but I do still carry my cell.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
So your iphone 7 was DOA and that's your reason for not using an iphone7? Was it used or something, as that's almost unheard of and of all the phones out there the iphone is the easiest to get service on (especially if you live near a major city).
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Exactly. I've got my phone with me all the time. My DSLRs are heavy, especially if I've brought a lens selection. Thus the cliche 'the best camera is the one with you'. I love trick lighting photography and I'll always use a DSLR for that, but cell phone cameras have come so far they're producing good quality lots of the time.