Moi? I use currently a NOTE 20 ultra 5g. Probably my second best phone, I only hate the fact it’s so massive (I miss being able to use just one hand for my phone) and the mediocre battery life for someone like me that watches a lot of videos. But the S pen is so handy those few times you need it.
Currently g42 hawao with calyxos, best past one was nexus 6
Pixel fold
V60
Best phone ever made, headphone jack, beautiful sound, perfect screen, had the extra screen if you wanted, did everything, microsd, no bullshit software, still had docked mode.
Had the z fold 3, was OK, but it was really way too skinny to use folded, and unfolding it all the time was a pain, the pixel fold really nailed the form factor.
Shame google makes garbage software, Samsung put infinite bloatware, but they also had docked mode and charge limit, which this crap doesnt. OTOH at least I can read and use it folded.
Sony Xperia 5 V
Great camera, small size, excellent battery life, removable storage, IP rated, and has a headphone jack. The only thing it is missing is a removable battery.
I once played around with a fair phone. It felt like the best phone I ever played with.
I had an old Motorola that had Android, replaceable battery, and audio connection. It does after 4-5 years when the power button stopped working and they stopped updating the phone after the first couple of months.
Currently using a Galaxy S21 FE. I’m honestly not rhat picky, as long as it’s not apple, and as long as it’s fast enough, as my employers have paid for them. I got this one after being on the wrong side of the country while my phone died, so I had the shop clerk phone up the guy at the head office to confirm that I could just pick one and send them the bill. The S21FE was what was in store at the time, and I was kind of in a hurry, as I was in the middle of a projectrelated field work.
I’ve mostly stuck to Samsung because that’s the (mangled) version of Android that I’m used to. It takes some tampering with adb to remove the bloat, but once done it works really well.
The “best” phone (quotes, because I think that’s highly subjective) I ever had was the Galaxy Note 2. I loved that phone. Great stylus, good OCR, and once it got used to my terrible handwriting, it was much better and less prone to error than typing on the softkeys. The Note 3 through 6 were not available in my country, so I know nothing. And it annoyed the fuck out of me that Note 7 was a safety hazard, because beyond that it seemed like a really good phone. Sadly the later iterations of the Note series seem too cheaply made. Plastic stylus, etc.
Honorable mention: Openmoko GTK 2. I loved it, but the concept of a linux smartphone (or smartphones in general) hadn’t matured completely in 2007, so it wasn’t at the stage where it could replace my dumb phone completely.
Today, as mentioned, I’m not that picky. I feel like most phones are the same, except the ones that are too cheap. There is only so much useful hardware that can be crammed into a phone, and beyond that there are mostly improvements on things such as the camera. The rest comes down to software.
Note 2 was epic, they changed the whole game. Pos cpu though, dropped mine and the note 3 was a huge jump in cpu back when that really mattered.
You can rip my blackberry key2 from my death cold hands.
The best phone was probably a landline that was shaped like a duck.
It quacked when you had an incoming call.How is it that technology has gone backwards in this area?
Currently using a OnePlus 9 Pro. Best phone I’ve used? The OnePlus 5t, hands down. Slightly wider aspect ratio in portrait orientation, great screen, camera and fingerprint reader for its day and fantastic 3rd party ROM selection.
Seconded! My 5T was the best phone I’ve ever carried. I carry the OP11 5G these days and I’ve been really happy with it, but overall I prefer the size and weight of the 5T.
Redmi Note 11
Nokia N-Gage
Probably 1+ 6t (that’s before it was merged). No bloat nice phone.
Or my old BlackBerry before they stopped bothering to test anything and rested on their laurels. I miss the one place portal everything posted its notifications etc. Android is awful for that.
I like my Pixel 7 Pro (current phone) but I have to have a launcher on it because their home screen sucks.
Pixel 6a. Changed the OS to GrapheneOS. This is the best phone I’ve owned.
I’m going to switch it out at some point. Any gotchas?
The phone or the OS? Hardware wise, my only gripe is the lack of wireless charging. I use an aftermarket plug to add it, but it doesn’t put the charge pad quite in the right place, so I sometimes have to put it upside down. It also means the USB-C port is always occupied. That isn’t a huge deal for me as I like to use plugs to keep dust out anyway
Software wise, I’m still running regular Android. I don’t like that there’s no Gallery app. You have to use Google Photos. That coupled with the fact that .nomedia files don’t seem to work mean that the app shows ALL photos on your phone, including some you might want to keep private.
Other than that though, I’m pretty happy with it. Just upgraded mine to 15.
My good condition used 7 pro is arriving tomorrow and I plan on doing the same.
Fantastic. I went with GOS over 2 years ago. It’s been great.
Would this be an overly complex process for those with only some tinkering experience (e.g., I’ve got Linux on my laptop and have a general sense of how terminal/tilix works)? I’ve read the docs but can’t get a sense of the complexity
It’s very easy to install GrapheneOS. All the instructions are laid out on their site. There are two options CLI or a web installer.
GrapheneOS is by far the simplest experience I have ever had with flashing a custom ROM over the years. The web installer is very straightforward.
Awesome, thanks so much! I’ll bump this into the projects list 😁
Pixel 2 XL was my favorite phone and still works. I’m still on a Pixel 5 because of the physical fingerprint sensor
I miss the physical sensor from my 4a. Enjoy the time while it lasts!
I miss the Nexus 6. I loved the large comfortable display and dual front-firing speakers. It does not have modern pros like a fingerprint reader, USB C, or a recent processor. But it also doesn’t have modern cons like an obstructive front camera, 9:18/20 display, or curved glass.
iPhone SE. I would use a smaller model of iPhone, if there was one. I need a phone I can easily take with me, not some aircraft-carrier sized high-tech device ;)
S8+ I thought was the best one that I had till I upgraded
