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Phone Recommendations

Ziaber
By Ziaber
in Phones and Tablets
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Posted

I was wondering if someone could give me some tips.

 

I'm looking for a new phone but I don't want to spend a lot. I currently have a Moto G5plus and its been a good phone for the cost (£200 back in 2017), truth be told if the charge port wasting going on the thing I would probably just replace the battery on it and keep it going.

 

However I am looking at a phone probably around the same price (£200) but I want it to be a powerful phone CPU and RAM wise but I don't really care about camera quality or screen res and refresh rate (1080@60 is fine by me) Its seems when im looking around that most phones tend to only have powerful specs with all added bells and whistles that I'm not really interested in.   

 

After a quick check myself looking at a refurbished sony Xperia 5 sounds like a decent suggestion but would be interested to see what others think.

 

Thanks in advance 

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Posted

Always difficult if you facture in used phones. The Xperia 5 you mention is a good phone,however from what I can find it gets relatively hot and the battery isn't all that great.

 

A quick glance seems to suggest the Redmi Note 11 is a decent sub 200 pound phone (new).

It comes with 90hz refresh rate and a fhd amoled screen to boot, pair that with a 5000mah battery and midclass cpu and it seems great for the price. 

 

My Rig: CPU : 10700K | RAM : Trident Z Neo 3600Mhz c16 32G (4x8) | CPU cooler : NHD15 | GPU : ASUS ProArt 4070 | PSU : Corsair RM850 (black label) | CASE : Corsair 5000D Airflow | Storage : Samsung 970 evo 1TB, WD Black 1TB, Samsung evo 850 Sata SSD | Casefans : Lian Li Unifan SL120 7X|

MOUSE : G Pro Wireless X superlight | Keyboard : Keychron C1- Pro-H1 Gateron Milky Reds

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Posted
On 4/5/2023 at 4:53 AM, Alinz said:

The Xperia 5 you mention is a good phone,however from what I can find it gets relatively hot and the battery isn't all that great.

When did the device get hot, and exactly what apps and services were running on the phone?  Was Google Chrome used instead of Firefox or Fennec?  Was javascripr blatantly allowed to run on all websites with no domain blocking with an addon like NoScript or privacy badger?  Was power-saving mode enabled all the time during battery life testing?  So many factors.

 

I like that Sony actively nearly encourages unlocking the bootloader and explains how to for their devices.  Was battery life ever tested on custom roms Lineage OS, or /e/ os, or even Plasma Mobile or Ubuntu touch?

 

I'm sure, in comparison to other devices, maybe it clearly didn't last as long, but I think if power saving is used, javascript is only enabled on websites that need it, and something besides google chrome is used, it will probably last a lot longer, and get less hot.

: JRE #1914 Siddarth Kara

How bad is e-waste?  Listen to that Joe Rogan episode.

 

"Now you get what you want, but do you want more?
- Bob Marley, Rastaman Vibration album 1976

 

Windows 11 will just force business to "recycle" "obscolete" hardware.  Microsoft definitely isn't bothered by this at all, and seems to want hardware produced just a few years ago to be considered obsolete.  They have also not shown any interest nor has any other company in a similar financial position, to help increase tech recycling whatsoever.  Windows 12 might be cloud-based and be a monthly or yearly fee.

 

Software suggestions


Just get f.lux [Link removed due to forum rules] so your screen isn't bright white at night, a golden orange in place of stark 6500K bluish white.

released in 2008 and still being improved.

 

Dark Reader addon for webpages.  Pick any color you want for both background and text (background and foreground page elements).  Enable the preview mode on desktop for Firefox and Chrome addon, by clicking the dark reader addon settings, Choose dev tools amd click preview mode.

 

NoScript or EFF's privacy badger addons can block many scripts and websites that would load and track you, possibly halving page load time!

 

F-droid is a place to install open-source software for android, Antennapod, RethinkDNS, Fennec which is Firefox with about:config, lots of performance and other changes available, mozilla KB has a huge database of what most of the settings do.  Most software in the repository only requires Android 5 and 6!

 

I recommend firewall apps (blocks apps) and dns filters (redirect all dns requests on android, to your choice of dns, even if overridden).  RethinkDNS is my pick and I set it to use pi-hole, installed inside Ubuntu/Debian, which is inside Virtualbox, until I go to a website, nothing at all connects to any other server.  I also use NextDNS.io to do the same when away from home wi-fi or even cellular!  I can even tether from cellular to any device sharing via wi-fi, and block anything with dns set to NextDNS, regardless if the device allows changing dns.  This style of network filtration is being overridden by software updates on some devices, forcing a backup dns provuder, such as google dns, when built in dns requests are not connecting.  Without a complete firewall setup, dns redirection itself is no longer always effective.

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On 4/7/2023 at 8:30 PM, E-waste said:

When did the device get hot, and exactly what apps and services were running on the phone?

I have no clue. I read some customer reviews, its just something to keep in mind. 

 

On 4/7/2023 at 8:30 PM, E-waste said:

Was battery life ever tested on custom roms Lineage OS, or /e/ os, or even Plasma Mobile or Ubuntu touch?

most people will not go this far for a phone, they just use it as is. Most people will not even touch a launcher. As for the battery life, I've dug into it some more, and some outlets report a full day battery life expectancy. Powerusers might struggle with it, and since the phone would be purchased second hand keep battery degradation in mind.

 

My Rig: CPU : 10700K | RAM : Trident Z Neo 3600Mhz c16 32G (4x8) | CPU cooler : NHD15 | GPU : ASUS ProArt 4070 | PSU : Corsair RM850 (black label) | CASE : Corsair 5000D Airflow | Storage : Samsung 970 evo 1TB, WD Black 1TB, Samsung evo 850 Sata SSD | Casefans : Lian Li Unifan SL120 7X|

MOUSE : G Pro Wireless X superlight | Keyboard : Keychron C1- Pro-H1 Gateron Milky Reds

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