Ask Lemmy

The best phone was probably a landline that was shaped like a duck.
It quacked when you had an incoming call.

Pixel 8 with GrapheneOS

cheapest. there hasnt been an innovation since they added bluetooth i care or need.

my phone is [generally] not used for content consumption, i have real machines for that.

Pixel 6a. Changed the OS to GrapheneOS. This is the best phone I've owned.

I have a Fairphone 5. Maybe too expensive for what it is, but hopefully it doesn't have a big evil annoying company behind it and it should hopefully last a while. Still running stock Android on it though, because I don't want to lose Play Attestation or whatever it is called.

Sony Xperia 5 V

Great camera, small size, excellent battery life, removable storage, IP rated, and has a headphone jack. The only thing it is missing is a removable battery.

The OnePlus 7t back when it was on oxygen os 10. Great hardware, perfect software. It was the first phone I got where I didn't need or want to flash a custom rom. Unfortunately, every software update that it got since then felt like a downgrad. After oxygen os 10, oxygen os and Oppo's color os have been going through something of a merge. The result is that oxygen os is no longer as stock-like as it used to be and lots of small convenience features have disappeared in favor of flashy yet useless-to-me features. I have an 8t now and it's fine but I don't think that I'll get another OnePlus.

I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max. It's a nice phone. I like IOS better than I thought I would. I do think the Galaxy I had before it was pretty good though, too. If I didn't struggle so much with the iPhone keyboard, I guess this would be my favorite, but I use my phone so much and the swipe typing is so rough, it's hard to give a full endorsement.

That said, I am probably overestimating how gos typing on Android was. I remember lots of autocorrect issues, but iOS has a bunch of keyboard bugs that make correcting errors even more frustrating than making them in the first place.

Asus Zenphone 10; headphone jack, minimal bloatware, two physical sim slots, good battery, small size so it actually fits in a pocket, finger print sensor on the power button so it's seamless to unlock. Best phone I've had in quite a while

One possible drawback is that I don't think it supports esim or has an sd card slot.

Current: Pixel 6a. Probably the best out of all the phones I've owned. Wish the battery life was a little bit longer.

I do have a soft spot for my first ever smartphone, the Nexus 4. I adored it.

I recently got an Asus zenfone 10. I usually buy midrange phones but this time I couldn't find a good one. I like small phones, and they seem to be an endangered species these days. This one also has a headphone jack which is nice.

Currently using a OnePlus 9 Pro. Best phone I've used? The OnePlus 5t, hands down. Slightly wider aspect ratio in portrait orientation, great screen, camera and fingerprint reader for its day and fantastic 3rd party ROM selection.

iPhone 12 Mini. I loved my 5S and first gen SE and I still can’t understand why phone manufacturers these days insist on making tablets and calling them phones. I just want something that fits in my pocket. I would probably have switched to Android years ago but I haven’t found a single Android phone with a small form factor, decent performance and decent camera.

Currently using a Google Pixel 8, I've been reading up about GrapheneOS.

Why would an average user need to install this over the stock OS?

I've been a fan of the Pixels. I'm on a 7 now, no complaints.

Pixel 7 pro here. They're overpriced at release but if you're willing to buy last year's model they're pretty good.

iPhone 15 pro currently. Blackberry passport was the GOAT though.

US owner of an EU Fairphone 4. It is functionally locked to T-mobile due to AT&T not wanting unlocked devices on their network and the 5G bands dont always line up correctly so calls while driving are tricky. Beyond that, I love the device and can do that cool party trick where you can take out your battery and everyone stares in awe at my organic, free-range smart phone. (That part is a lie, I dont go to parties).

Joking asside, I like having an attempt at an ethically sourced phone, even though it is a finicky device. There is a US redistributor and they sell a model with region appropriate changes and a de-googled cloud backup service, but im not in the market for replacing this thing yet.

Currently using a Galaxy A52s 5G w/ LineageOS... Best phone I've ever used.

This cherry phone with a physical keyboard from the Philippines that allowed you to watch television using an antenna in the top right. However it sadly stopped booting for me.

iPhone 14 Pro. Got it deeply discounted from my carrier when the 15 line came out.

It's ok, but it's a modern smartphone like any other so I have too many dislikes to say it's the best. The phone I think of most fondly was probably my LG Keybo 2

Currently a Galaxy S9+. Battery life isn't the best anymore, and I'm running low on internal storage, but it's still serving me well. I'm not even sure what I'd upgrade to, I really need the SD slot that almost nothing new has anymore.

Best was my old Motorola Droid 2, I miss slide-out keyboards so damn badly.

Samsung Galaxy S20, still doing good work for me.

Nothing really compares to that first iPhone though.

Pixel 4a. I'm too lazy to get a new phone that often. Though, I don't get any proper updates anymore, that sucks. Best phone has always been the current one I use at the time.

Between an Android or an Iphone smartphone.

Anything with Android on it for sure.

When you look at smartphone manufacturers, the only reason you should consider a specific manufacturer besides price (i'm talking function wise) is for any prebuilt settings. Some might have some special kind of battery saving feature among others including opening Android more compared to others. Some phones might have build in local radio support or Bluetooth others likely don't.

Pixel 2 XL was my favorite phone and still works. I'm still on a Pixel 5 because of the physical fingerprint sensor

Samsung Galaxy S10+ stable, battery lasts, all good

Probably 1+ 6t (that's before it was merged). No bloat nice phone.

Or my old BlackBerry before they stopped bothering to test anything and rested on their laurels. I miss the one place portal everything posted its notifications etc. Android is awful for that.

I like my Pixel 7 Pro (current phone) but I have to have a launcher on it because their home screen sucks.

Galaxy Z Fold 5. Before this I had a Z Flip 4. This Fold 5 is probably the best phone I've ever owned. The screen is amazing to watch stuff on, I make music sometimes on it, I played through all of Paper Mario on it, I use it to draw when I'm bored or waiting for someone.

Cheap android phone with custom rom support.