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Ask Slashdot: What's the Best Unlocked Smartphone? (slashdot.org)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the unlimited-roaming dept.

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?

4 of 284 comments (clear)

  1. advertising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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?

    1. Re:advertising by DeBaas · · Score: 5, Interesting

      possibly, but let my counter that.. Since owning an Xperia (Z compact) as well as an Xperia tablet, I've put Sony on my personal blacklist. Forget about security updates when they don't sell your model anymore. It also comes with lots of bloatware that you can't really remove without the device becoming unstable (I tried). After another push message by Sony's 'social whatever' on Kim Kardashian I got a Nexus 5x and haven't looked back.
      Too bad, the hardware was OK...
      In the same period I updated the firmware on a Sony TV. Afterwards I couldn't get HD channels anymore. Couldn't go back to the latest version since 'Sony wants you to have the best experience' so they don't support reflashing to older firmware.
      I'm done with Sony

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  2. one with monthly Android OS updates by galaad2 · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

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    root@127.0.0.1
  3. Nokia 2 is unlocked, unsure if it's the _best_ by fustflum · · Score: 4, Informative

    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. ;)