I am on an old Galaxy S3.. i'm rooted and on AICP 6.0.1. My wife recently upgraded to the Iphone 6s+ and so she was asking if i wanted to get a new phone too.. so I started researching... I just don't know if a perfect phone for me is out there... I thought maybe some of you guys / girls can give me some advice based on my requirements:
NEED:
Must work on Verizon network
Android OS
Fingerprint Scanner (decent one, heard bad reviews on the S5)
Expandable Storage (i have a card and want to keep it)
5" to 5.5" screen. (don't want a HUGE phone.. like the V10 but i believe its too big for my hands)
Rootable - need to be able to go to a custom ROM that is debloated
Front Facing Camera (may be silly to say, but i know some lower end phones don't have..)
Bonuses:
Front Facing Speakers
Good Camera
on my radar was the
One Plus 2 but no expandable storage...
G4 but not fingerprint..
G5 but not rootable?
Nexus 5x but no expandable storage and hard to work on verizon?
HTC M9+ but not available in US ?
PRIV , but no fingerprint..
Sony X or Z5 , but couldn't find a Verizon variant..
HTC 10 - Looking Promising.. has all features... Root looks possible but only if i mail it out to be modded and sent back.. little nervous..
so any other recommendations would be GREATLY appreciated! :laugh: :good:
Related
Hi there.
I am planning on buying a new Android phone in place of my old ageing Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE. I'm choosing between the Nexus 5, HTC One (M7) and the Galaxy S4. A "third" option is the G2/G2 mini. One thing that is common to these phones are they all h have Snapdragon processors.
I want to ask about the cameras of these phones as regards the current, latest & most recent software update to them:
1. Which phone between the four you think boots up the quickest?
2. I wont be asking which ones takes the better photos of them all but rather...Are there any good alternative 1st-party or 3rd-party camera app I can install for my new phone?
Thank you.
Gino76ph said:
Hi there.
I am planning on buying a new Android phone in place of my old ageing Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE. I'm choosing between the Nexus 5, HTC One (M7) and the Galaxy S4. A "third" option is the G2/G2 mini. One thing that is common to these phones are they all h have Snapdragon processors.
I want to ask about the cameras of these phones as regards the current, latest & most recent software update to them:
1. Which phone between the four you think boots up the quickest?
2. I wont be asking which ones takes the better photos of them all but rather...Are there any good alternative 1st-party or 3rd-party camera app I can install for my new phone?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go here and read and use search for your answers...http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1620179 or http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2229761
Hi, I can get a deal offer for the s3 at the price of $233. But I have some questions
Is it still worth getting the galaxy s3 in 2014?
WIll it get official android L from samsung (there is already official kitkat right?)
if there's no official android L, does it have official Cyanogenmod support and so will it get android L cyanogenmod?
for future android L custom roms , will there be problems with some drivers? (e.g. my htc desure never got proper camera support on android 4.X roms as the drivers are not available). Are all drivers(and source code) released by samsung for the s3?
how does it compare with the galaxy s4? is the latter worth the price difference
how is camera (important for me) as compared to smarphones in the same price range available today (e.g. xperia sp, galaxy s4 mini)
thx for your time reading my long list of questions and waiting your replies and suggestions guys. Thx
No, no and no, yes and unlikely, yes and no, s4 is better but not by much, camera is good but only on stock rom.
is camera bad on custom roms? and there's no cyanogenmod official support?
yeahman45 said:
Hi, I can get a deal offer for the s3 at the price of $233. But I have some questions
Is it still worth getting the galaxy s3 in 2014?
WIll it get official android L from samsung (there is already official kitkat right?)
if there's no official android L, does it have official Cyanogenmod support and so will it get android L cyanogenmod?
for future android L custom roms , will there be problems with some drivers? (e.g. my htc desure never got proper camera support on android 4.X roms as the drivers are not available). Are all drivers(and source code) released by samsung for the s3?
how does it compare with the galaxy s4? is the latter worth the price difference
how is camera (important for me) as compared to smarphones in the same price range available today (e.g. xperia sp, galaxy s4 mini)
thx for your time reading my long list of questions and waiting your replies and suggestions guys. Thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Absolutely no for the only 1 GB of RAM.
Actually on Amazon is very sold its Neo variant with 1,5 GB, but according to me it's a madness: a newer hardware is highly preferable and x64 architecture is coming.
2) Absolutely no and you are wrong: no KitKat official support for S3, why it should be extended to Android L? It's impossible!
3) Yes, it's promised by Cyanogen team, but never more the bull**** did with CM 10.2, working of course on a stable rom to switch to CM 11 nightlies as soon as possible.
When CM 11 stable is released, you can stay on CM 12 nightlies.
4) Samsung drivers are already released for custom rom, except for the 2-way call recording.
CyanogenMod prefers to use the hybrid and open source drivers, but with a specific BOEFFLA kernel, actually experimental, you can get the official and proprietary drivers, much better than first.
5) Galaxy S4 is obviously greater than S3 under any aspect, its price is about €300-350.
6) S3 has an excellent camera, but in AOSP roms it's not provided of a good stabilization, so pictures are a bit more moving than in stock rom.
Yup I know there are better hardware (obviously.. it is 2 yrs old) but for the price of $233 is it worth it? I don't want to spend more than $300 on a phone.
yeahman45 said:
Yup I know there are better hardware (obviously.. it is 2 yrs old) but for the price of $233 is it worth it? I don't want to spend more than $300 on a phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LG G Pro Lite [emoji106]
Simone98RC said:
LG G Pro Lite [emoji106]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will check this out... if the community of custom roms is active (but 5.5" is a bit too big for me and i hope it has sdcard and removable battery)
edit: are you sure it is better than the S3? looking at the specs, it does not look that great and it's a mediatek cpu ... )
yeahman45 said:
will check this out... if the community of custom roms is active (but 5.5" is a bit too big for me and i hope it has sdcard and removable battery)
edit: are you sure it is better than the S3? looking at the specs, it does not look that great and it's a mediatek cpu ... )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know the Mediatek reputation, LG G Pro under many aspects is the ideal phone for your budget.
On Amazon.it its price is about €250, I think less on a bigger store such Amazon US or DE.
As me you want to root the device and flash a custom rom... LG is the only trademark who guarantee warranty also under root permissions.
Please can someone get me the quaraqumus QS-i9300-KK-v2.6 resumable link
My !"/!&"!= Samsung S4 died on me yesterday. Or, at least the screen did.. Honestly I've been NOTHING but angry with the phone since I buyed it in january. 4G/LTE has never worked (only 3G), ****ty wifi-signal and now the screen that died from nothing at all.. And it kept asking me for it's SIM card.
Anywho, before I baught the ()!"/!)"?!" samsung I had a HTC Desire HD which I actually loved. Yes, it was old in the end; but with the help of custom ROMS and this forum it worked perfectly until I lost it after 4 years.
I _need_ to buy a phone that can be rooted without toooo much trouble (damn Samsung's KNOX too!) and that is well developed for in here.
I'm thinking about these models as for now and is still looking for other options
LG G3 (a tiny bit expensive still)
LG G2
HTC One M7 (M8 is way to expensive for me still, so I'm thinking about the old one)
HTC One M8 (if I by some miraculous way won alot of money... It's sooo sexy!)
Huawei Ascend P7 (not that developed for here on XDA)
Xperia Z2 (a bit expensive)
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
Xperia Z1 (Well developed for..)
Huawei Ascend Mate7 (No custom ROMS yet and so on.. But it seems possible to root, and the UI Huawei ships it with has inbuilt themeing. I'm addicted to pretty phones. Anyone know price-tag of this? It varies SO MUCH online in Norway as far as I can see)
LG/Google Nexus 5 (only 16GB internal memory and no free slot for more.. But will I care?)
Xiaomi Mi 4 (Not that developed for... Yet? Hard to get ahold of when you need the international version?)
Sony Xperia Z Ultra (It's soooo huge, isn't it? I had a S4, and it was HUGE in my small girl-hands.)
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (Still a bit expensive, and then there's the KNOX...)
Oneplus One
Hello guys, I'll keep everything short.
I own Pocophone F1 , Should I switch to essential? What are cons and pros of Essential phone? It's on latest pie right now (I gave my Poco to friend for a week, he gave me his Essential) and fingerprint option is missing from settings, Can it be fixed? Is Camera "That" bad? Is battery better than Poco?
Thank you, please don't ignore this post if you have experience
Mrleonsio said:
Hello guys, I'll keep everything short.
I own Pocophone F1 , Should I switch to essential? What are cons and pros of Essential phone? It's on latest pie right now (I gave my Poco to friend for a week, he gave me his Essential) and fingerprint option is missing from settings, Can it be fixed? Is Camera "That" bad? Is battery better than Poco?
Thank you, please don't ignore this post if you have experience
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had both....both are great but roms on essential are limited....digitizer isn't good and signal strength isn't good on essential....but I loved the small size
No way I don't think it's an upgrade, there are people regretting buying an essential instead of a pocophone.
Their only upgrade is the android q to look forward to.
Camera is still bad.
I'm still wondering if I should get a note 8 because their prices dropped.
(the vr the large 6.3" oled screen and pen looks so nice for around 350-400 usd. Plus the one ui pie is released)
pingufanpoy said:
No way I don't think it's an upgrade, there are people regretting buying an essential instead of a pocophone.
Their only upgrade is the android q to look forward to.
Camera is still bad.
I'm still wondering if I should get a note 8 because their prices dropped.
(the vr the large 6.3" oled screen and pen looks so nice for around 350-400 usd. Plus the one ui pie is released)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There seems to be an issue where you can't use substratum or any software to modify android system
Hi All,
I'm an engineer looking to upgrade a product which uses an old Altel smartphone. I'm experienced in Unlocking and flashing. I have already done a search, but now in 2020, there may be new info.
Looking for suggestions for the best CHEAP android phone which has good custom ROM support for android 7+ (ish).
I need to use the back camera, and connect via wifi, bluetooth, or Cellular Data. It will be tested in the US, but may benefit from support for many globally common 3g and 4g bands.
One last thing. Would love to find something I can still buy a few dozen of NEW, or at least MFG REFURB.
Can anyone suggest suitable phones? So far, been considering late nexus line and early pixel line, knowing they're flash unlockable.
Thank you for reading! Apologies if I hit the wrong section of the forum.
bizzzle said:
Hi All,
I'm an engineer looking to upgrade a product which uses an old Altel smartphone. I'm experienced in Unlocking and flashing. I have already done a search, but now in 2020, there may be new info.
Looking for suggestions for the best CHEAP android phone which has good custom ROM support for android 7+ (ish).
I need to use the back camera, and connect via wifi, bluetooth, or Cellular Data. It will be tested in the US, but may benefit from support for many globally common 3g and 4g bands.
One last thing. Would love to find something I can still buy a few dozen of NEW, or at least MFG REFURB.
Can anyone suggest suitable phones? So far, been considering late nexus line and early pixel line, knowing they're flash unlockable.
Thank you for reading! Apologies if I hit the wrong section of the forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are no *NEW* cheap phones that have custom ROM support unfortunately. But used phone are an option : ) If you want official ROM support (Even to this day!), you can get a Samsung Galaxy S4 for 50$, an S5, Note 3 (Android 9 - 10 support!).
If you want a used phone at 100-150$, you can get a A5 2017, Google Pixel 1, Nexus 6 (Don't buy the 6p)
If you want to get a Brand new phone: Moto G7 and G6 Plus (200-250$). (Theese phones have a more complicated process of modding)
You can check the Lineage OS download Page here: https://download.lineageos.org/ Theese are all of the supported devices.
If you don't want to have any difficulties, you can get a Samsung but be careful with the variants! Get the international or Canadian variant because if you get a US variant, there are no methods of unlocking the device (except for the S5 and less) You can also get the Google Pixel, but do not buy the US variant. Same for the nexus devices...
Your knowledge and help are much appreciated.
Can you offer advice on USB OTG Compatibility with various phones on Lineage? I've had mixed results in the past with stock ROMs.
alexenferman said:
There are no *NEW* cheap phones that have custom ROM support unfortunately. But used phone are an option : ) If you want official ROM support (Even to this day!), you can get a Samsung Galaxy S4 for 50$, an S5, Note 3 (Android 9 - 10 support!).
If you want a used phone at 100-150$, you can get a A5 2017, Google Pixel 1, Nexus 6 (Don't buy the 6p)
If you want to get a Brand new phone: Moto G7 and G6 Plus (200-250$). (Theese phones have a more complicated process of modding)
You can check the Lineage OS download Page here: https://download.lineageos.org/ Theese are all of the supported devices.
If you don't want to have any difficulties, you can get a Samsung but be careful with the variants! Get the international or Canadian variant because if you get a US variant, there are no methods of unlocking the device (except for the S5 and less) You can also get the Google Pixel, but do not buy the US variant. Same for the nexus devices...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bizzzle said:
Your knowledge and help are much appreciated.
Can you offer advice on USB OTG Compatibility with various phones on Lineage? I've had mixed results in the past with stock ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All of the phones I mentioned have OTG capability
Probably almost all phone supported by lineage have OTG. Don't worry about that.
bizzzle said:
Hi All,
I'm an engineer looking to upgrade a product which uses an old Altel smartphone. I'm experienced in Unlocking and flashing. I have already done a search, but now in 2020, there may be new info.
Looking for suggestions for the best CHEAP android phone which has good custom ROM support for android 7+ (ish).
I need to use the back camera, and connect via wifi, bluetooth, or Cellular Data. It will be tested in the US, but may benefit from support for many globally common 3g and 4g bands.
One last thing. Would love to find something I can still buy a few dozen of NEW, or at least MFG REFURB.
Can anyone suggest suitable phones? So far, been considering late nexus line and early pixel line, knowing they're flash unlockable.
Thank you for reading! Apologies if I hit the wrong section of the forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have 2 Samsung Galaxy S3 ( circa 2012 ) and while they are far from new, they are great phones to play around with.
I am far from experienced, but I have enjoyed flashing Custom ROM's , from CyanogenMod, thru various versions of Lineage, and now CrDroid. The newest O/S that I flashed is CrDroid 3.8.9 ( based on Android 7.1.2 - I think! ). Runs great. Stable. Long battery life. Ran ( 'right out of the box' ) without any need to install Gapps.
The nice thing is the Samsung Galaxy S3 is so darn abundant. Seems that everybody has one collecting dust in a drawer. And that means they are cheap ( as in give it away ). All the Samsung Galaxy S3 came with unlocked bootloader ( I think that is the term ) except for the Verizon model.
Icing on the cake is, a fellow from Montreal, alexenferman, is the genious authour of the CrDroid Custom ROM.