Looking for a new midrange phone for 500 eur

[Zsigazsi]

Hi, 

i'm currently trying to use my huawei p30lite but the worn out battery, laggy ui and games , lack of updates are finally making me upgrade.
I've considered a couple of options around 550eur.: samsung S23, google Pixel 8,  xiaomi 13T pro and Nothing phone 2.
If you have used one of these or any other in a similar pricepont please share your experience.
 

[Anghammarad]

You can get the Xiaomi 12 right now for around mid 300 €.

 

I still daily drive this, well it's not that old ^^ The battery lasts me a full day without fail, it can QI charge, what I mostly use, and I even forgotten it at work a few times, picking it up the next mornig with still 50+% on the battery. 

 

Cheers

Ang 

[PowerPCFan]

23 minutes ago, Zsigazsi said:

Hi, 

i'm currently trying to use my huawei p30lite but the worn out battery, laggy ui and games , lack of updates are finally making me upgrade.
I've considered a couple of options around 550eur.: samsung S23, google Pixel 8,  xiaomi 13T pro and Nothing phone 2.
If you have used one of these or any other in a similar pricepont please share your experience.
 

I would probably get the nothing phone because I think it's cool, but the Pixel 8 is the best option by far

[Zsigazsi]

12 minutes ago, Anghammarad said:

You can get the Xiaomi 12 right now for around mid 300 €.

 

I still daily drive this, well it's not that old ^^ The battery lasts me a full day without fail, it can QI charge, what I mostly use, and I even forgotten it at work a few times, picking it up the next mornig with still 50+% on the battery. 

 

Cheers

Ang 

It would probably work really well for me too but im looking for one that would last me a couple of years 

[Anghammarad]

1 minute ago, Zsigazsi said:

It would probably work really well for me too but im looking for one that would last me a couple of years 

Did that too when I grabbed it for aroun ~ 800 bucks... 

Before that I daily drove my Nokia Lumia 830... which still is in use. But Windows Mobile, you don't get much software for it anymoe... a few pieces I miss on android... SkyMap for example with its features...

Alternate does some blogs for phones in different price brakcets on their site Techrush... perhaps take a look there.

[Zsigazsi]

12 minutes ago, PowerPCFan said:

I would probably get the nothing phone because I think it's cool, but the Pixel 8 is the best option by far

Looking at it specswise the yiaomi looks better but im afraid of the software

 

[OhioYJ]

17 minutes ago, Zsigazsi said:

Looking at it specswise the yiaomi looks better but im afraid of the software

 

The Xiaomi 12? Hop over on xda, and install a different OS. It looks like there a couple ROMs to choose from.  Just a thought? (Read up and see if there are any gotchas that matter to you)

[Somerandomtechyboi]

16 minutes ago, Anghammarad said:

You can get the Xiaomi 12 right now for around mid 300 €.

 

I still daily drive this, well it's not that old ^^ The battery lasts me a full day without fail, it can QI charge, what I mostly use, and I even forgotten it at work a few times, picking it up the next mornig with still 50+% on the battery. 

 

Cheers

Ang 

Ive actually been eyeing the xiaomi 12 pro and the redmi k60 cause theyre about the same price

 

Im assuming the 12 pro would have a better camera? Cause it is a high end flagship

 

16 minutes ago, Zsigazsi said:

Looking at it specswise the yiaomi looks better but im afraid of the software

Theyre perfect if you like custimizing your phone like i do, just unlock the bootloader flash a custom recovery like twrp and flash a different os like lineage or something like that

 

Also these are perfect to buy used cause of how fast they depreciate cause i can buy the xiaomi 12 pro for like 300-330$

[Anghammarad]

18 minutes ago, Zsigazsi said:

Looking at it specswise the yiaomi looks better but im afraid of the software

 

Xiaomis version of android is ok... less bloat that samsung. and then I usually put the microsoft launcher on top. 

[Anghammarad]

11 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Ive actually been eyeing the xiaomi 12 pro and the redmi k60 cause theyre about the same price

 

Im assuming the 12 pro would have a better camera? Cause it is a high end flagship

 

Theyre perfect if you like custimizing your phone like i do, just unlock the bootloader flash a custom recovery like twrp and flash a different os like lineage or something like that

 

Also these are perfect to buy used cause of how fast they depreciate cause i can buy the xiaomi 12 pro for like 300-330$

Yes the 12 Pro has 50+50+50 mp on the back while the 12 has 50+13+15, on the front they are the same.

 

If you want some examples:

 

 

I think I made all of them with the xiaomi 12. The lighting conditions were awful =) that is why I call my appartement "The Cave"

 

Ever tried making a photo with an MS-DOS Smartphone?

 

[BoomerDutch]

I would suggest nothing phone 2.

Because well you will taste of generation of hardware and its oled indentical to apple phone.

[Zsigazsi]

33 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Ive actually been eyeing the xiaomi 12 pro and the redmi k60 cause theyre about the same price

 

Im assuming the 12 pro would have a better camera? Cause it is a high end flagship

 

Theyre perfect if you like custimizing your phone like i do, just unlock the bootloader flash a custom recovery like twrp and flash a different os like lineage or something like that

 

Also these are perfect to buy used cause of how fast they depreciate cause i can buy the xiaomi 12 pro for like 300-330$

I dont want to buy something in this value used also
I'm looking to use it for 3-5 years and i havent loaded any custom roms and i dont know if the software is gonna be there in 4 years.
What are the downsides to custom roms?

[Zsigazsi]

54 minutes ago, OhioYJ said:

The Xiaomi 12? Hop over on xda, and install a different OS. It looks like there a couple ROMs to choose from.  Just a thought? (Read up and see if there are any gotchas that matter to you)

I m thinking xiaomi 13t pro but your point probably still stands altough im not experienced in custom roms

[OhioYJ]

23 minutes ago, Zsigazsi said:

I m thinking xiaomi 13t pro but your point probably still stands altough im not experienced in custom roms

If you're technically inclined it's not a big deal. I haven't run a stock OS since the very early days of Android. In fact that is the guiding factor in me picking a device, can I unlock the bootloader and load a custom ROM.

 

However, be aware, this generally means tinkering. You may need to do things like rooting to get banking apps to work, or HD video to play from streaming services. A different camera app may be needed to fully access the full potential of your phones camera, etc. Each phone is a little different. Earlier days of rooting and running custom OSs were a bit easier. I will say I recently ordered Pixel 8s for all of us here at the house, and both the Mrs and my son both complained about the factory OS, while I was sorting out what to go with on these. So even "non-technical" people can get used or spoiled by some of the features and functionality of a custom ROM with root.

 

Never owned a Xiaomi, but all my devices in recent times have had a way to go entirely back to stock as well. This is probably worth looking at as well. Just to see if it's an option, and a backup up plan.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

38 minutes ago, Zsigazsi said:

I dont want to buy something in this value used also
I'm looking to use it for 3-5 years and i havent loaded any custom roms and i dont know if the software is gonna be there in 4 years.
What are the downsides to custom roms?

You do realize those xiaomi 12 are 800$+ phones right? and the 12 pro was like 1000$ afaik

 

1/3 of the price for a flagship that has a strong camera and probably a good display is a damn good deal imo

 

But if you dont need a particularly good camera nor display or even good specs (if you dont go for a flagship killer like the aformentioned 13t pro) then you wont really see a diff between flagship and midranger

 

2 minutes ago, OhioYJ said:

but all my devices in recent times have had a way to go entirely back to stock as well. This is probably worth looking at as well. Just to see if it's an option, and a backup up plan.

^^^

I think you can back up your entire os in twrp or via an app called titanium backup (needs root access iirc)

[OhioYJ]

33 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

I think you can back up your entire os in twrp or via an app called titanium backup (needs root access iirc)

You can in some recoveries. TWRP can backup the OS. However there are things you are not backing up. However, TWRP is starting to become kind of dated, and less used in some instances unfortunately. For many devices is seems to be a starting point, but in a lot of cases never gets fully functional, and backup is one of those things that seems broken in a lot of instances. I don't have any devices running TWRP right now actually, for example.

 

Titanium Backup is more for apps. Titanium backup is also starting to show it's age (Pro Key owner).  It doesn't work at all anymore for some apps, and the odds of it not working go up drastically in newer versions of android. In fairness though Titanium Backup hasn't been updated since 2019.  For backing up apps, I've switched over to Swift Backup.

 

Speaking of those things "not backed up" , there are things on some devices that even un-brick tools won't restore, as they are unique to each device. This is where XDA helps. Sometimes you can't access or modify them, sometimes you can (mostly you can).  So usually guides will tell you to backup say the EFS partition, or persist partition, something along those lines. It maybe where you IMEI is stored for example, something that is unique to that device. That however, may be getting off into the weeds though.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

36 minutes ago, OhioYJ said:

You can in some recoveries. TWRP can backup the OS. However there are things you are not backing up. However, TWRP is starting to become kind of dated, and less used in some instances unfortunately. For many devices is seems to be a starting point, but in a lot of cases never gets fully functional, and backup is one of those things that seems broken in a lot of instances. I don't have any devices running TWRP right now actually, for example.

 

Titanium Backup is more for apps. Titanium backup is also starting to show it's age (Pro Key owner).  It doesn't work at all anymore for some apps, and the odds of it not working go up drastically in newer versions of android. In fairness though Titanium Backup hasn't been updated since 2019.  For backing up apps, I've switched over to Swift Backup.

 

Speaking of those things "not backed up" , there are things on some devices that even un-brick tools won't restore, as they are unique to each device. This is where XDA helps. Sometimes you can't access or modify them, sometimes you can (mostly you can).  So usually guides will tell you to backup say the EFS partition, or persist partition, something along those lines. It maybe where you IMEI is stored for example, something that is unique to that device. That however, may be getting off into the weeds though.

What custom recoveries do you run?

My info is pretty dated since ive never really gotten the chance to properly tinker with my phones due to no community around em except maybe my samsung a7 2016 where i did flash twrp on it and rooted it then started deleting bloat apps with lucky patcher =p

 

not really too familiar with phone modding and screwing around in the firmware but i have no real fear of tinkering around with phones since i probs wont brick the thing if i follow a proper procedure, even if i do id assume theres probably a way to unbrick it, worst case i dissassemble the thing and swap the board out

[OhioYJ]

9 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

What custom recoveries do you run?

Everything I use still at this point is using Lineage recovery or some derative of it.  

 

There are several forks now of TWRP, the largest one seems to be Orange Fox Recovery. Of course it could just be more popular with the devices I have. From what I've seen with these forks though, and TWRP it's completely up to that maintainer for the device to fix things or add things. So you can still end up with a recovery were decryption is broken, or backups don't work. 

 

9 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

 id assume theres probably a way to unbrick it, worst case i dissassemble the thing and swap the board out

Most cases there is. I know the last several years I had been buying OnePlus devices (until they stopped supporting the development community, and stopped releasing source code like required). On those they don't even need to boot or turn on to recover. My Samsungs as long as you can get into Download mode they will flash. You'd have to do something pretty boneheaded to kill that (I'm going to go knock on wood now...) My Google devices, I've never gotten to an actual brick state? I've had where they won't boot and require a complete reflash, but heck Google even now has a tool to do that straight from the browser. 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

2 hours ago, OhioYJ said:

Everything I use still at this point is using Lineage recovery or some derative of it. 

Yea never heard of lineage recovery

 

2 hours ago, OhioYJ said:

There are several forks now of TWRP, the largest one seems to be Orange Fox Recovery. Of course it could just be more popular with the devices I have. From what I've seen with these forks though, and TWRP it's completely up to that maintainer for the device to fix things or add things. So you can still end up with a recovery were decryption is broken, or backups don't work. 

Im curious what improvements the forks offer over regular twrp

 

2 hours ago, OhioYJ said:

Most cases there is. I know the last several years I had been buying OnePlus devices (until they stopped supporting the development community, and stopped releasing source code like required). On those they don't even need to boot or turn on to recover. My Samsungs as long as you can get into Download mode they will flash. You'd have to do something pretty boneheaded to kill that (I'm going to go knock on wood now...) My Google devices, I've never gotten to an actual brick state? I've had where they won't boot and require a complete reflash, but heck Google even now has a tool to do that straight from the browser. 

Damn oneplus has stopped supporting modders? Welp just another mid phone company i guess

 

Samsung has issues with knox and bootloader unlocks on newer models or atleast thats what i heard, my a7 2016 unlocked bootloader and flashed twrp + rooted without issue but thats a phone from 8 years ago now

 

So basically as long as theres a tool to reflash without having the phone to be on or as long as it can reach a certain state similar to download mode you can unbrick with ease?

 

 

Still pretty dead set on xiaomi as my next phone due to cheap used prices, i mean xiaomi 12 pro for like 300$ is kinda nuts for something that used to cost 1000$ a couple years back, where i would have been looking at a used 10t (pro) or a new 11t pro just a couple years back now im looking at a used 12 pro which has better specs, also considered rog 5s for a moment but there was a forum member complaining about not being able to root them or unlock bootloader anymore

[OhioYJ]

2 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Yea never heard of lineage recovery

Lineage recovery was created by Lineage OS. I think they wanted something consistent, and fully functional.

 

2 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Im curious what improvements the forks offer over regular twrp

Some of them I've seen are primarily cosmetic. However many seem to fix things that are broken in TWRP. I know the little bit I've looked at Orange Fox it seems to add features, but seems to depend on the device on whether they are functional. 

 

3 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Damn oneplus has stopped supporting modders?

They stopped seeding developers with devices, which is fine, and doesn't bother me. What does is not releasing source code. They are legally obligated to release kernel source code. When pushed on the issue, months, and months later they'll release outdated and incomplete source code. Then the process starts over again. 

 

Also unbrick tools used to be routinely "leaked" and easily obtainable for OnePlus devices. They have been making attempts to make sure users can't have these. Thanks to developers, they've made these work anyways.

 

I know their website used to be routinely updated with software as well, which doesn't happen either.