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Is the Galaxy S23 worth $500 more than the Poco F5?

djdelarosa25
By djdelarosa25
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I'm looking to replace my Galaxy S20 FE by the end of the year as its software support comes to an end. I've managed to save up a decent amount of money thanks to a scholarship, and my new phone will be a graduation gift to myself of sorts before I go into med school.   
  
The 8/256 S23 costs ~1000 USD where I live (Philippines). Using my student discount, the price goes down to ~815 USD. I'm going to sell my old S20 FE to my cousin for 90 USD, so the effective cost would be ~720 USD. This could go down if I buy around December and Samsung holds a sale.   
  
On the other hand, the 12/256 Poco F5 can often be found for as low as ~320 USD. This goes down to ~230 USD once I sell my old phone. The 8/256 variant can be found even cheaper, but for a phone at this price point I might as well get the top spec one.   
  
The main selling point for the S23 for me is its size. Everything else is also going to be better of course, but most can be addressed in one way or another in the Poco F5. Better build quality? I'll be using a case. Better performance? I don't game on my phone and the 7+ Gen 2 is pretty close to the 8 Gen 2. Longer software support? I'll be installing a custom ROM anyway. Better cameras? As long as it's good, I'm fine. However, there's of course the little things which make the experience of using a truly premium device different from any sort of flagship killer.   
  
What do you guys think? Should I just save the cash and go with the Poco F5, or should I YOLO and get the S23?

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I have a S22 that I went for solely for its size, since the rest of the hardware ends up being underutilized by me (I mostly use it for social media and rare pictures). However, money was not a problem for me and I opted to spend more in my ergonomics (I really HATE larger phones, and the s22 is already close to unuseable for me).

 

I don't think you can go with custom roms on the S22/S23 lineup, but I may be wrong.

 

If size is really important for you, then go for the S23, otherwise it's better to go with the cheaer option.

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12 minutes ago, igormp said:

I don't think you can go with custom roms on the S22/S23 lineup, but I may be wrong.

^^^ Samsung especially loves locking down their bootloader. Other OEMs too, or they're just unsupported by popular ROMs (I had a Galaxy S6 that I could root, but it was a specific Verizon version with 0 compatibility for any custom ROMs, IIRC other versions of the exact same phone were compatible). If you're set on a custom ROM, then ensure compatibility first, then start weighing the other options. It's usually not as easy as just whacking on whatever ROM you want.

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25 minutes ago, djdelarosa25 said:

I don't game on my phone

Not worth it. For the overall build quality, I think the Poco F5 should be on par with S20fe (less premium than the flagship).

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33 minutes ago, igormp said:

I don't think you can go with custom roms on the S22/S23 lineup, but I may be wrong.

 

21 minutes ago, Zando_ said:

If you're set on a custom ROM, then ensure compatibility first, then start weighing the other options. It's usually not as easy as just whacking on whatever ROM you want.

 

Apologies for not making it clear in the original post, I'm only planning to install a custom ROM on the Poco. I really don't like MIUI. Late and infrequent updates only make it worse. As for Samsung, I'm not in love with One UI but it's still better than MIUI and at least Samsung provides timely updates and long support.

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22 hours ago, djdelarosa25 said:

What do you guys think?

 

Have you heard of https://LineageOS.org, or that basically all Sony Xperia devices, all the way back to a decade ago, can all have the bootloader unlocked, with Sony instructions for each speicific model?

 

https://forum.xda-developers.com

 

is a great resource for learning the available bootloader unlocks, because once the bootloader is free, you can try to load whatever you want, even full Linux.

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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 9/5/2023 at 1:10 PM, djdelarosa25 said:

However, there's of course the little things which make the experience of using a truly premium device different from any sort of flagship killer. 
What do you guys think? Should I just save the cash and go with the Poco F5, or should I YOLO and get the S23?

23 hours ago, djdelarosa25 said:

Apologies for not making it clear in the original post, I'm only planning to install a custom ROM on the Poco. I really don't like MIUI. Late and infrequent updates only make it worse. As for Samsung, I'm not in love with One UI but it's still better than MIUI and at least Samsung provides timely updates and long support.

If you're not gaming, putting on a phone case, and installing a custom ROM, I see zero reason to purchase a flagship/premium phone.

I don't see why anyone needs a new phone from the past few years. Improvements over the years have been very incremental and even camera technology is barely making any improvements.

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My wife still uses s20fe, still a good phone. Everything is still snappy.

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On 9/5/2023 at 1:10 PM, djdelarosa25 said:

I'm looking to replace my Galaxy S20 FE by the end of the year as its software support comes to an end.

If you have unlocked the bootloader, I think it can still be done by tapping the build number several (7) times and enabling

 

oem unlock

 

in the developer settings

 

Then, you can extend the spftware support for your device with LineageOS.  See the xda-developers link

 

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/rom-unofficial-s20-s20u-120hz-lineageos-17-1.4188495/

: 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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4 hours ago, E-waste said:

If you have unlocked the bootloader, I think it can still be done by tapping the build number several (7) times and enabling

 

oem unlock

 

in the developer settings

 

Then, you can extend the spftware support for your device with LineageOS.  See the xda-developers link

 

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/rom-unofficial-s20-s20u-120hz-lineageos-17-1.4188495/

If you read my post, my device is the S20 FE. The ROM that you linked is for the S20/S20U.

 

It's also discontinued and 3 years out of date, being still based on Android 10.

 

There aren't any ROMs worth installing for my S20 FE. Community development is pretty much dead when it comes to Samsung phones.

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