The hunt for a midrange notchless phone

[karsnoordhuis]

After 2.5 years of use my LG G6 is getting a little bit tired, especially the battery is degrading. With my previous phones i would quickly swap a new battery in but that's not as easy on the G6.

This is why i started searching for a new phone in the 300-400 euro range. Like most people i have some demands when it comes to new phones but when i filter away the ones that do not meet the requirements there seem to be only a couple of phones that remain.

My requirements:

1. No notch, i hate notches or hole punches.
2. NFC, i use this quite a lot actually so it is a must.
3. 3.5mm audio jack. Yes i still use it, no i will not trade it in as this would require me to buy a similarly decent pair of headphones as i have now but bluetooth enabled and that would cost >half of the phone's price.

Nice to haves:

• ip rating. You know, dutch weather is hopeless. 
• wireless charging.
• 5g, this is a low priority one as some parts here still are not covered by 4g and 5g is just software updated 4g for now. the higher frequencies have not been auctioned off.

what remains is quite a short list sadly.

1. Sony xperia 10 II. I really like the design of this phone and its bigger brother, i do not mind the not fully covered screen as that its what i currently have and i still like it. The fact that the screen is OLED and actually decent is a lovely thing. It has NFC and a headphone jack so it meets my requirements. It has 'normal' quickcharge and half decent camera's i believe. 128GB is 4x what i have now so more than enough. It is IP 65/68 rated (no clue what thats supposed to mean, make up your mind sony) The only 'let down' is the snapdragon 665 processor although it is faster than the 825 in the G6 i believe. A strong contender all in all.
2. Oppo reno 2, really nice colour on the back. The pop up selfie cam l think is sturdy enough even though i use it only once a year orso. It has NFC and a 3.5mm jack. Camera's are great apparently coupled to a snapdragon 730 SOC with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. Also has an AMOLED screen. Downsides: VOOC charge so i would have to change charging equipment and it is not IP rated.
3. Xiaomi mi 9T. Also a neat design, little bit more fragile selfie cam but oh well. Also a snapdragon 730 SOC, 6GB RAM, 128GB storage, 4000mAh battery, QC4 support and an AMOLED. All sounds good but again no IP rating whatsoever and apparently the software is kinda crap and it has a slow fingerprint scanner. I really don't mind where it is located as long as its quick.

Do any of you have any other contenders? Please let me know! I would prefer them being availible at a 'normal' shop in the US/EU as this would mean i could get a better deal on it by getting it on contract.

[UpTheDons]

8 minutes ago, karsnoordhuis said:

After 2.5 years of use my LG G6 is getting a little bit tired, especially the battery is degrading. With my previous phones i would quickly swap a new battery in but that's not as easy on the G6.

This is why i started searching for a new phone in the 300-400 euro range. Like most people i have some demands when it comes to new phones but when i filter away the ones that do not meet the requirements there seem to be only a couple of phones that remain.

My requirements:

1. No notch, i hate notches or hole punches.
2. NFC, i use this quite a lot actually so it is a must.
3. 3.5mm audio jack. Yes i still use it, no i will not trade it in as this would require me to buy a similarly decent pair of headphones as i have now but bluetooth enabled and that would cost >half of the phone's price.

Nice to haves:

• ip rating. You know, dutch weather is hopeless. 
• wireless charging.
• 5g, this is a low priority one as some parts here still are not covered by 4g and 5g is just software updated 4g for now. the higher frequencies have not been auctioned off.

what remains is quite a short list sadly.

1. Sony xperia 10 II. I really like the design of this phone and its bigger brother, i do not mind the not fully covered screen as that its what i currently have and i still like it. The fact that the screen is OLED and actually decent is a lovely thing. It has NFC and a headphone jack so it meets my requirements. It has 'normal' quickcharge and half decent camera's i believe. 128GB is 4x what i have now so more than enough. It is IP 65/68 rated (no clue what thats supposed to mean, make up your mind sony) The only 'let down' is the snapdragon 665 processor although it is faster than the 825 in the G6 i believe. A strong contender all in all.
2. Oppo reno 2, really nice colour on the back. The pop up selfie cam l think is sturdy enough even though i use it only once a year orso. It has NFC and a 3.5mm jack. Camera's are great apparently coupled to a snapdragon 730 SOC with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. Also has an AMOLED screen. Downsides: VOOC charge so i would have to change charging equipment and it is not IP rated.
3. Xiaomi mi 9T. Also a neat design, little bit more fragile selfie cam but oh well. Also a snapdragon 730 SOC, 6GB RAM, 128GB storage, 4000mAh battery, QC4 support and an AMOLED. All sounds good but again no IP rating whatsoever and apparently the software is kinda crap and it has a slow fingerprint scanner. I really don't mind where it is located as long as its quick.

Do any of you have any other contenders? Please let me know! I would prefer them being availible at a 'normal' shop in the US/EU as this would mean i could get a better deal on it by getting it on contract.

oppo reno 2 is good apparently . if you have a bit more cash the best is probs the one plus 7 pro.

[karsnoordhuis]

Just now, Ed-petit said:

 if you have a bit more cash the best it probs the one plus 7 pro.

I have looked at it and i do like it but no 3.5mm jack sadly. It is also a bit too expensive for my liking sadly. 473 vs 288 on contract. Bit too much of a gap for me.

[Guest]

How about Pixel 3A? 

[The Torrent]

Oneplus 7tpro. I was in exact same dilemma as you and I decided for this. Problem is it’s out of stock and it should have been back early June but there’s delays... :c

[karsnoordhuis]

3 minutes ago, Konrad_K said:

How about Pixel 3A? 

bit older but i will add it to my list.

3 minutes ago, The Torrent said:

Oneplus 7tpro. I was in exact same dilemma as you and I decided for this. Problem is it’s out of stock and it should have been back early June but there’s delays... :c

looks good and is readily availible here but ouch what a price.

[EL02]

Oppo is usually a little more expensive than xiaomi. The Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro(not the regular mi9t) should be in your budget. Can you give more info on the pricing of both phones?

[karsnoordhuis]

42 minutes ago, EL02 said:

Oppo is usually a little more expensive than xiaomi. The Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro(not the regular mi9t) should be in your budget. Can you give more info on the pricing of both phones?

9T pro 64GB is 402.73 and only availible from 1 store for some reason. 9T 128GB is 310 on contract, 357 without. The oppo and sony are within 20 euro from the 9T

[karsnoordhuis]

13 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

If you can get a 9T Pro for 400, go for it.

 

The others can't compare.

did some research, now i want it but i cant. i just noticed its only availible through a webshop for businesses. and as i dont have a business...