Have to replace my phone

[greenlotad]

The software experience with my Moto G4 has been pretty bad for the past year; really slow and things crash all the time. Aaaaand, the charging port just died so I can't put off replacing it anymore. I was looking at phones in the same price range, about $250 (US) and was considering the Nokia 7.1 or the Moto G7+. Then I remembered the Essential Phone existed and found that even though it flopped, they've supported it well. Refurbished models are only $250, so I ordered one. While there is a lot I like about it (the screen, the camera, the way it feels in the hand, having the newest version of android, having a fingerprint sensor, usb-c), there's also a lot I don't (the speaker sucks, whoever refurbished it left a gap at the top between the screen and the chassis that light bleeds through and probably ruins what water resistance it has, and it won't detect my sim card which basically makes it unusable). So I'm going to return it for something else.

 

I'm also thinking of upping that budget to $400 for the Pixel 3a or Razer Phone 2. They're kinda hard phones to compare. The Pixel 3a has the better camera and faster software updates, but other than the camera, the Razer Phone has better hardware all around. I don't really game on my phone, but the screen and speakers on the Razer look amazing. I'm not sure how much I would even appreciate the better camera either. Either is probably a huge step up from my Moto and I'm just looking for something to post on Instagram, nothing fancy. I'm kind of leaning toward the Razer but not strongly.

 

So does anyone have any preference between the Pixel or Razer? Or should I just stick with the original budget and hopefully upgrade sooner than I otherwise would (and if so, Moto or Nokia)?

 

All of this is looking at current prices on Amazon btw

[TheBean]

galaxy s8? its like 350 ish on bestbuy.  I have the moto g5 plus and its basically useless now. everything is so sluggish and everything crashes, the camera takes legit 20 seconds to open. 

 

go with the s8. its a little old but the quality is amazing. you wont get software updates soon, but if you want, you could try for the s9 for 440ish.

as this is a popular phone, you can get gcam ports to make the camera better, you can get lineageOS when samsung stops supporting it (probably not until 2021-ish). 

 

i would personally get the s9

Edited August 4, 2019 by Saksham

[greenlotad]

1 hour ago, Saksham said:

galaxy s8? its like 350 ish on bestbuy.  I have the moto g5 plus and its basically useless now. everything is so sluggish and everything crashes, the camera takes legit 20 seconds to open. 

 

go with the s8. its a little old but the quality is amazing. you wont get software updates soon, but if you want, you could try for the s9 for 440ish.

as this is a popular phone, you can get gcam ports to make the camera better, you can get lineageOS when samsung stops supporting it (probably not until 2021-ish). 

 

i would personally get the s9

I kinda try to stay away from samsung phones. Not saying they're bad, but I don't think they're for me

[Radioactive Snowman]

Pixel 3a is meant to be one of the best phones you can buy in that range, if the camera is important to you I think it’s a good option. I would avoid older androids like the s8, you wont really get anymore updates and that’s a dealbreaker for me personally 

[greenlotad]

15 hours ago, huilun02 said:

There must be some things you really liked and disliked about your G4 when it was fine. So spit them out and I will help guide you to a product that suits YOUR needs and preferences.

 

Also there is no comparison between the Razer Phone 2 and Pixel 3a. The Pixel is nothing but a camera with phone functionality. And a terrible phone while we're at it. Because it has only 4GB of RAM and 64GB of unexpandable storage.

Well, what I liked about the Moto G4 was that it had a close to stock android experience. No bloatware, ran fast enough for the first 12-18 months. But that's a lot more common now than it was three years ago. None of the phones I've been looking at have a thick skin on top like a samsung or lg. Everything else about it was just kinda acceptable. Battery, screen, speakers. Nothing was terrible, but nothing really stood out either. The only part that was bad was the camera. But I think any of these phones, even newer Moto, are going to be an improvement on that. 

 

What I'm thinking now is that I kind of would like something that stands out, I'm just not entirely sure which feature it is that I want. Yeah, the Pixel and Razer are very different products, but they each have one stand out feature. For the Pixel it's the camera and for the Razer it's the screen and speakers. 

[greenlotad]

4 hours ago, Radioactive Snowman said:

Pixel 3a is meant to be one of the best phones you can buy in that range, if the camera is important to you I think it’s a good option. I would avoid older androids like the s8, you wont really get anymore updates and that’s a dealbreaker for me personally 

 While I do want a better camera, my previous phone had such a bad camera that I rarely used it, so while I would definitely use it more that I used to, its pretty hard to gauge exactly how much that is without just having the option available to me for a while.

[greenlotad]

19 hours ago, huilun02 said:

Thing is, software is overrated. 'Stock Android' is overrated. Because you can root to debloat or install custom roms on Snapdragon chipset phones. Often to the point of becoming more 'stock' than even Pixel phones.

 

New Android versions are effectively no more than a marketing ploy to get people to buy new phones. They dont add anything essential at all. There hasn't been a case where the specific lack of 'security updates' has led to a widespread compromise of user devices. It is important to make the distinction that a reported vulnerability is not a realized case of compromise. Else no one should be using Intel processors right now.

 

Focus on the hardware. There is no point in getting a phone that will get updates for 10 years if it can only physically endure 1. Perhaps if you dont know how you want your phone to stand out, then get a phone that will outlast many others. Target phones that have large battery, ample RAM and internal storage. Preferably also with a good chipset. So that it will take a lot more charge cycles before the battery inevitably goes bad. So that it can stave off the eventual slow downs for as long as possible because flash memory slows down as it approaches max capacity.

 

Also it is important to know what carrier you are on because god forbid buying a US phone that cant work in the US.

You can root and install custom ROMs, but that doesn't mean I should have to. I'd be interested in trying it out someday, but I don't want to feel like I'm forced to.

 

On hardware, I'm kinda skeptical. You definitely have a point about battery and flash memory, although information on charge cycles is kinda hard to come by so I don't think it's very realistic to base a purchasing decision on that. But real world performance isn't just determined by SoCs and RAM but also software optimization. I suppose it is true that manufacturers will likely support high end hardware longer because it makes them higher profit margins and that bad optimization won't cripple higher end hardware as quickly as it would lower end hardware. But just buying the top snapdragon isn't going to guarantee that the phone feels fast for longer. The correlation between high end hardware and longevity isn't really a direct relationship.