Considering upgrading from Pixel 3a, would wait for Sept, but possible 6a trade-in deal? (& want hand/pocket device with desktop OS that runs VMs...)

PianoPlayer88Key · July 25, 2022

Hi ...

So I've been thinking about replacing my Pixel 3a, probably by sometime in September. For the most part it's functional, although I do have a few issues.

For one, the front camera is way out of focus, due to a crack in the screen and some piece of the corner where the camera is having popped off around the time that crack happened.
Also I'm getting tired of it apparently quickly running out of RAM and closing apps after I've only switch back and forth among 2 or 3 or 4 apps (or reloading web pages in Chrome or Firefox when I switch between more than a few tabs). (And, I've recently been having playlists in VLC playing overnight, and now and then I'll wake up to the phone being silent even though I know it hadn't come anywhere near finishing the playlist. Grab the phone, and VLC isn't even running, and restarting the app doesn't resume where I left off. And if I had neglected to save the playlist, the entire playlist is lost.)
A couple other major annoyances to me are it doesn't support playing multiple audio sources at once (for example if I'm listening to something in VLC and a website I'm visiting decides to automatically start playing audio, which in itself is an abomination, VLC's playback pauses. Also I'd like to be able to have the same functionality in a pocket device that a full desktop PC has, for example running multiple apps and even maybe a bunch of VMs at once, freely resizeable and moveable windows, among other things.

So ... I've been periodically looking at the gsmarena database to see what's out there, or what might be in the pipeline that might be close to what I'm looking for.
Among the things I'm looking for are (in no particular order)

3.5mm headphone jack (I want to be able to use my existing headphones, or if eventually get studio quality headphones, be able to use those too, even if I have to use an adapter. If I do have to use an adapter, then I should NOT have to choose between charging OR listening, I have to be able to do both simultaneously.)
SD card slot. (My 3a doesn't have one, my previous phones did. My 3a does have free backup to Google Photos, but whatever phone I get next won't have that, and I want to be able to not have to rely on it anyway. Also, USB file transfer or even folder browsing is dog slow.)
Plenty of RAM, CPU and storage, for the reasons outlined above about multitasking, etc.
Long-term software support, especially security updates
Gets those updates right away, without having to wait days, (gasp!) weeks, or (horrors) months for updates. (For example, the phone should at least have the newest Android version, and preferably at least one bug-fix update after the same, a couple weeks before TwitchCon in North America, which this year is October 7-9. I believe my 3a had Android 10 before TwitchCon 2019, which was September 27-29. This year, I'd expect Android 13 to be on it by Oct 7-9, which is the dates for TwitchCon this year in San Diego.)

A higher resolution display than 1080p (like 1440p or even 2160p) would be nice, but wouldn't be required, and I'm not willing to pay a lot extra for it.

Also I'm hoping to keep the price out of the stratosphere, and to a more reasonable range. I'm not looking at anywhere remotely close to current flagship territory (like $700-1000+), more like $300-400 or so, maybe up to $500 for a really good deal.

Anyway ... while browsing some things, I came across a couple articles mentioning that when you buy the Pixel 6a through the Google store, they apparently have what looks to be a pretty nice deal for trading in a Pixel 3a, and they even allow for a cracked screen, as long as the phone still turns on which it does.

The Pixel 6a is $449, and even comes with a pair of pixel buds A-series ($99 value), and if I trade in my 3a, Google's store site says I could get $295 for it in its current condition, meaning my net cost would be $154. (Yes, I realize that YMMV.)

So ... while the 6a lacks a headphone jack or SD card slot, and is a bit lacking on the RAM, it still does sound like a pretty good deal for $154 (after I trade in the 3a). (And including pixel buds may soften the sting of no 3.5mm jack.)

So, should I go for it? I have until July 27 at 11:59pm PST to get that trade-in deal, according to .... well just do a google search for Pixel 6a 3a tradein, I can't decide which article to link, several are mentioning it.

Google's site (and others) says that I will need to factory reset my 3a before trading it in, and of course I understand the need for that. (Also I haven't rooted it or loaded any custom ROMs, so I don't have to deal with that.)

(From what I can tell, I pay full price for the 6a, they send it to me, then I have 30 days to send the 3a to them, after which they refund the difference according to its trade-in value.)

Thing is, though, I will want to be able to back up everything from my 3a, and restore it to the 6a. This includes not only the photos, audio, etc that I've loaded on the local storage (which I could probably back up just by plugging in via USB and copying to my PC), and not only the apps themselves (which can be reinstalled from the Play store), but also...

call logs,
text messages
saved voicemails (I have a bunch of them in the T-Mobile Visual Voicemail app),
saved game states, for the games that save to the local device
other app status (like Discord, and others)
and a big one -- my hundreds, possibly thousand or more Chrome tabs - I want to be able to have those open as well. (One alternative that I'd be okay with, though, is somehow loading them into a session on my desktop PC, and saving them as a session in Session Buddy. I'm signed into Chrome on both my phone and my PC.)

-------------------

Also ... earlier, I mentioned wanting to be able to have essentially a full desktop user experience in a pocketable device. I'm not sure if there is ANY smartphone out there that has that functionality, though ... so another idea I've had was getting a cheaper phone (like $100-150, maybe $200), then spending up around $700-1000 or so on some kind of pocket PC (like something from GPD).

Problem with those, is I don't know if they have enough CPU cores/threads for what I want to do. I don't need a lot of single-core performance or high clock speeds, but I do need a lot of threads. I won't be gaming much if at all with it, but I plan on running many Linux VMs, each with Discord running and a few Chrome/Firefox tabs, and occasionally watching 1080p video or streams.

I was just doing a little googling, and it seems most of the units I'm coming up with only come with a Celeron CPU, or at most a 4c/8t 11th gen Intel or older Ryzen CPU, which I think isn't nearly enough. I'm seeing a couple announcements for units that do include an 8c/16t Ryzen 5800U or 6800U, but idk if they're available yet, and they don't have laptop / clamshell designs and lack qwerty keyboards. Well, there is the AYANeo Flip with a 6800U, but it's apparently not launching until Q4, which starts in October.

Looking a bit more, there appears to be the GPD Win Max 2021 with a Ryzen 7 4800U. It only has 16GB RAM though, and while I probably don't need more than 2 or 3 or maybe 4 GB RAM per VM, I do want to run a lot of them. Also, 1280x800 is a bit cramped of a screen resolution for me, I'd really like at least 1920x1080.

I'll also want all day battery life and then some, and am okay with using a portable power bank to charge it a couple times in the day if I have to.

Oh, also, I will need a good 4G/5G internet connection on-the-go for said device, which isn't afftected by any 5GB or 10GB or 50GB tethering / hotspot data cap.

Another device coming up in my search is the GPD Win Max 2, with an Intel 1260P or AMD 6800U. (Looking into that a bit.....) The 6800U / 32GB RAM version looks promising, but a 10.1" screen means the device would be a bit too big, and idk if it'll be available by the time I'd need one around late September.

Speaking of running VMs...

Spoiler

My main purpose for them would be for Discord. I follow about 1887 streamers on Twitch, many of which have Discord servers. I'm currently in about 420 or 440 or so of them spread across 5 Discord accounts. (I want to have the option of eventually joining everyone's Discord server, although I'll need to figure out how to keep the notification spam down. For now, I turn off notifications completely, but I want to be able to set it up so the only notifications I get are if someone @ 's me directly or replies to me (not for "here" or "everyone"), or if the owner / streamer is announcing things, like starting stream, or meetup at XYZ location & time at TwitchCon or whatever.)

Discord limits me to 100 servers per account. Yes, Nitro does allow for 200 servers, but having Nitro on like 10 accounts would get very expensive super fast. I think it'd be better to just have a device that can run at least 20 VMs, each with a Discord instance signed into one of the accounts.
Doing a bit of math ... if I was in everyone's Discord server, and was at the max follow count on Twitch (which I believe is 2000), then each account could be in 100 servers. 2000 / 100 = 20 accounts. I haven't been able to run more than one instance of the Discord app at a time in each OS / VM, hence needing to eventually be able to run 20 VMs.
I've heard that Discord does now have the option of signing into like 3 or 4 accounts per app at least on desktop (idk about mobile), but idk if it allows them to be "active" at the same time, or if only one is focused / active , or how easy (or not) it is to switch back and forth.

Hmm ... I'm not really sure if there'll be anything out there that meets my needs for a pocketable/handheld desktop-OS device for running lots of VMs with an on-the-go internet connection, by September. Maybe I'll just have to settle for a phone again, although there's a ton of things I want to be able to do on the go that I just can't do with a phone, and any laptop larger than about 7" or 8" is too big to carry. (I don't want to carry a backpack or case around with me, I'd store it in my pocket.)

If it wasn't for being a bit too big, and maybe not being available in time, the GPU Win Max 2 (6800U, 32GB RAM) looks the most promising for a handheld device with a full desktop OS that can run several VMs.

Also, I'm not 100% sure yet if I'll be able to go to TwitchCon in San Diego this year (October 7-9), which would be the main reason for wanting a device like that by then. It's only about a 25 minute drive from my house to the convention center, but I think we all know how Covid has affected things, and for me, it depends on how it affects TwitchCon. (If masks, vaccines and/or tests are required, I'm not sure that I would go. I might still consider it if testing would be sufficient, but I don't want to be in a situation where, maybe I buy a ticket ahead of time, then the day of, I test positive and can't go, then can't get a refund or a rain check for the next time or something.) I remember that Comic Con in San Diego, which was just happening earlier this month (not sure if it was this weekend or last) did require masks and either vaccines or negative tests, but TwitchCon in Amsterdam generally didn't require those things (but I think still recommended at least testing, if I remember right.)

Edit: Forgot to mention, one thing that does give me a little hope is, I tested positive for Covid back on July 11 (came down with it a day or two before), it basically has been acting like a routine mild cold for me (so didn't hit me very hard), I just tested negative earlier today, I've heard that you're not likely to get it again within about 90 days, and it looks like October 7-9 might be just within that 90-day window, so maybe I'd be fine to go to TC and not worry about Covid.

Anyway, if I didn't go to TwitchCon this year, then there wouldn't be nearly the urgency to get a pocketable device with a full desktop OS that can run a lot of VMs, but, I should still get a new phone fairly soon, especially considering mine is no longer receiving any security updates. (I would have liked to keep it a few more years, but that might not be a good idea.)

Bleh, I don't like rambling on like this, but I feel if I make short posts, I'll leave a ton of pertinent details out. Anyway, I bolded a couple of the main points, so those can serve as a TL;DR.

PianoPlayer88Key · July 26, 2022

Gonna put this at the top, instead of the bottom (even though I've already typed pretty much everything else)....
I'm leaning pretty heavily toward trading in my Pixel 3a for the Pixel 6a for a phone, then possibly still being in the lookout for a very portable (7-8" screen or so) laptop-style PC device for the other uses. (I may also want to replace my existing laptop (i7-6700K, GTX 970M 6GB, 64GB RAM & have used 370GB pagefile/committed a couple times, 5TB SSD storage, but short battery life, etc) at some point with something that has enough RAM to not need pagefile, much longer battery life, 4-8x the CPU threads, etc, but idk when yet, and that's probably better discussed in the laptop subforum.)

More below...

On 7/24/2022 at 11:49 PM, huilun02 said:

Just get an ultrabook that has a good CPU and amount of RAM.

I would, if they weren't too big. Pretty much all the ultrabooks I've seen have upwards of 11-13" screens, and I'm looking for something more like around 7-8" or so, with a minimum of 8c/16t CPU, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD.

On 7/24/2022 at 11:49 PM, huilun02 said:

Phones running VMs and/or desktop operating systems is not a thing. At least not if you are looking for something that just works out of the box.

Yeah, that's why I'm looking at the option of another device (like a clamshell pocket laptop as in a GPD device or similar) that can do those things. The Win Max 2 would be almost perfect, if it was like 2" smaller. (I don't think it would fit in my standard pants pocket like the original GPD Pocket probably would, and I don't currently wear cargo or carpenter pants. Also I don't want to have to be carrying around a backpack or other sling-worn case, or wearing a fanny pack or something.)

On 7/24/2022 at 11:49 PM, huilun02 said:

Handheld mini computers... I just do not think they are practical. Cant help you if you go this route.

Your phone no longer getting updates, is practically inconsequential. I dont see how changing to the 6a will be a functional improvement, as it is still lacking whatever features you want in a phone. And then transferring everything you want to a new phone looks like a nightmare you will have to solve on your own.

Well, I might be okay with no more OS / software updates, but I'm not okay with no more security / bugfix updates.

Feature updates / OS upgrades can stop when the newest low-end phones with a new OS have all-around higher specs (not just faster CPU, but also more RAM and storage) than what my phone has. (For example, my 3a has 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. I see a phone that launched with Android 12 in July 2022 with 2GB RAM and 32GB storage, and the Samsung Galaxy S III T999 launched with Android 4.0 in June 2012 also with 2GB RAM and 32GB storage, and a 16GB version available. Also, a phone launched with Android 11 in August 2021 having 1GB RAM and 8GB storage, and a phone launched with Android 2.3 in August 2011 with the same 1GB RAM and 8GB storage. So with those two examples, it works out to about 10 years of OS upgrades. When the lowest-end new phone that launches with a new OS has > 4GB RAM and >64GB storage, that's when it might be time to stop OS updates on an older device.)

As for bug fixes and security patches, oh boy. No manufacturer, not even Google or Apple (iOS), comes remotely close to what I want to see for long-term support on that.

I've heard that the Linux kernel still supports the Intel '486 CPU, and at least one current distro (Tiny Core, I think) supports it. If I could get bug fixes & security patches for that long ... of course I don't expect to actually USE a phone for that long, but I want it to not stop getting those fixes / patches until way long after anyone has stopped using it.
My mom, for example, is still using a phone as her daily driver that stopped being updated with Android 5 - Samsung Galaxy Core Prime. When she upgrades, I'll want her to get something that lasts a lot longer. (She's 78 now, maybe it might even be the last phone she ever gets, and still be getting security patches long after she passes away....)

Yes, the 6a is lacking a few features, but I literally don't find ANYTHING under $200 with the same 6GB RAM, 128GB storage, etc, as the Pixel 6a. (And GSMarena doesn't have a way to specify software support timelines, etc, in their search.) I don't think I'd get anywhere near $295 for my cracked-screen Pixel 3a if I sold it myself, which is what Google store's trade in page says I would get if I traded it in for the 6a.

Also, if I attend TwitchCon in San Diego, I won't be able to take selfies until I get a new phone. (I could probably get my current front camera fixed, but I don't think it's worth the cost if I have someone else do it, or time / risk of fucking it up if I do it myself.)

Also I do plan on getting a case for the 6a, if I get that phone. I'm most likely looking at an Otterbox Defender, unless there's something that's better (like, can take a lot more abuse) and similar price (or the same quality and not as expensive).

As for phones a bit more expensive that DO have things I'm looking for (headphone jack, SD slot, 6+GB RAM, 128+GB storage, and I may have forgotten to mention 5G support as I might keep this phone until 6G or even 7G is out, idk yet).... A few that come up, along with some problems, are: (Wow I need to find a better way to organize my browsing... this one Firefox window I'm looking up phones in has 1070 tabs open, yeah, some are pcpartpicker and some are blank tabs, but there's probably still a couple hundred phone / gsmarena tabs open, some maybe duplicates cause i've tried multiple different searches, etc...)

OnePlus Nord 2 Lite - not available yet, unknown release date
Asus Zenfone 9 - no SD slot, but otherwise might be a possibility? idk about timely software updates or long-term security support though.
Motorola Edge 30 Lite - not available yet, also not much confidence in long-term software support
Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2022) - lacking confidence in prompt, long-term software updates
Nokia 8.3 5G - a bit older, may not be supported much longer, also not finding them on sale except through 3rd party sellers or used/refurb.
OnePlus Nord N20 5G - launched with Android 11 several months after Android 12 released, hasn't been updated
Samsung Galaxy A71 5G - a bit older, may not have much left in the way of updates, can't find it new in stock. (There's an A72 5G in GSMarena's rumor mill, but since the A73 5G now exists, with a big difference being lack of headphone jack, I doubt the A72 5G will ever materialize.)

NONE of those, afaik, meet my preference of getting new OS updates by mid/late September (for example, Android 13 by mid/late September of this year), or having very long-term security patch support.

For transferring things, I think Android has a device-to-device transfer feature, and from what I understand I don't send my phone in until after I receive the new phone, so I could hopefully do the transfer that way, at least for some things. It still remains to be seen whether it would transfer all my Chrome tabs over, but maybe there's a way to save and import them to my desktop PC, since both are signed into the same Google account. As for music, photos, etc. stored on the device itself, if those don't get transferred properly I could probably just plug in the old phone via USB and transfer to my PC.

What I'd really like to be able to do is take a full-device backup from the old phone (the equivalent of doing "dd if=/ ...." in Linux, so it gets every bit on every partition of the storage, then restore that backup to the new phone, but I think cloning like that from one phone to another different model (even if from the same maker) would cause a lot of problems. (Too bad it's not as doable as transferring a Linux install ... I've had an SSD in my laptop with an Intel Skylake (i7-6700K, Clevo P750DM-G) CPU that had Linux on it, then later I plugged that same SSD into my desktop with an AMD Zen 3 (Ryzen 9 5950X, ASRock B550 Taichi board) CPU, and it boots up just fine, other than a couple minor things not working properly, maybe sound or something but I forget what.)

On 7/24/2022 at 11:49 PM, huilun02 said:

You might want to separate your objectives instead of asking for a wonder do-it-all pocket device. What is it you intend to operate or access off site? How do you intend to power your devices for the intended duration? Why the insistence on a pocketable solution when its not so far from your current location?

Yeah, like I said above I'm leaning toward two separate pocket devices (a phone and a portable PC) rather than a single do-it-all device.

How I intend to power the devices for the intended duration is probably by using an external battery bank to keep them topped up as necessary. For my phone I have a couple Anker power banks, one with 20000 mAh that I'm currently using, and another with 10000 mAh for which I'm missing the type A to C USB cable that would work with my current phones.

As for a mini laptop (similar to GPD Pocket, GPD Win 2 Max, etc), idk what I would use for that, I'm thinking something with a similar concept though, at least if those can charge over USB and don't require a special laptop plug.

One scenario in which I'm wanting to use a pocketable PC type device is...

I'm tentatively planning on attending TwitchCon in San Diego October 7-9, 2022. (I'm about a 25-minute drive from the convention center, but whether I go depends on some Covid related things. But, assuming I do go...)

I follow quite a few Twitch streamers, and am in a few hundred of their discord servers. Each account I have on Discord is limited to 100 servers, and I can only run one instance of Discord per OS. (If I want to run more, I have to run them in VMs.) I want to be able to quickly switch back and forth between them, which can be done in like a fraction of a second if I have them in VMs, at least on my laptop. (I've heard the Discord app now supports logging into like 4 accounts, but idk if it lets me switch back and forth that easily.)
Often, people that are at TwitchCon might be posting meetup locations in discord, and... yes, I know that trying to find several hundred people over a 3 day weekend might be a challenge, but... I think it might be possible. At TwitchCon 2019, I was able to meet up with about 225 streamers, and I wasn't using discord or social media much at all, I just randomly got lucky and ran into them around the convention for the most part. (There were a few that were in meet and greet lines, or hosting panels, or in the artist alley, among other things, but most of them I just randomly ran into around the convention.)
As for Twitter, I could probably do okay with keeping up with that on my phone, cause some that do attend TwitchCon have posted on there as well.

Also, it would be nice to have a device that could serve as a replacement for my existing laptop (Clevo P750DM-G, with i7-6700K, GTX 970M 6GB, 64GB DDR4-2133, 1TB + 2TB SATA SSDs + 2TB NVMe SSD, 1080p 60Hz G-Sync screen), but I'm not "holding my breath" on that one for the time being. I have been off-and-on wanting to replace it with something a lot more portable and with much longer battery life, so it would be easier to take it with me. (I hardly ever take my Clevo laptop out because of its short battery life, and it's a bit big for that anyway.) And, having better specs (more CPU cores, more RAM, more storage, etc) would be nice, but..... challenge would be finding something with enough RAM so I wouldn't have to use pagefile. (see in the spoiler and look at the "Committed" usage.)

Spoiler

Anyway, looking for a laptop replacement might be better off in the laptop forum. (I just don't know yet if I'm ready to do it yet, other than getting a pocketable device for the use cases I mentioned earlier.)