… I don't think anybody familiar with rooting a phone and looking for custom roms would come to me asking what phone to get, …
Me, for example. While I can do the magic behind the software, this doesn't means I am up to date with regards to what are the trending known good smartphones at any given time. Generally this is easily solved by reading some reviews and visiting the XDA developers forum, but can take much more time without good advice.
With my abilities I can easily help out people get into the rooted ROM thing, yet of course they have to show true motivated willingness to be responsible for their actions without blaming the guru. Only one close friend of me followed the path and, despite not being even remotely so g33k, until now he has done right and has enjoyed some of the benefits of rooting. It just takes a little common sense.
Cheers
P.S.: ask first, shoot later.
—
Please avoid fully quoting lenghty posts, namely with nested quotes. Trim quotes down to the essential. Helps with neatness and legibility. Thanks.
The human mind, and its programming, is at the forefront of a particular battle of The Light vs evil dark forces. Nearly every human being on this beautiful planet “Earth” has some sort of negative mind programming in its mind. And you better take care of your mind programming, or someone else will in this wicked world.
You said it yourself only one friend of yours followed this path, while not by any measure an authority of your caliber, i have been rooting, flashing roms, changing filesystems, kernels and whatnot and since the Galaxy S I9000 the times of supercurio (Francois Simond) and the whole voodoo thing (i among lot of other phones had a flashed ZUK Z2 that i gave to my sister, i agree about the hardware and form factor), i don’t pretend to have your teaching skills either but as soon as i introduce the idea and explain to people what it involves the answer is almost always “thanks, not interested” the vast majority of people IRL have no time or interest for this, it requires a high level of autism, they want OTA updates and in most cases would be better of on AOSP, hence the success of the nexus line (although it lost it’s competitive pricing after the nexus 4) and now the interest for android one.
JamesB, can also be time, I loved to tweak PCs and such, buy now i ant to just use them. Used to adapt Windows untill it was very fast, now I install Ubuntu once and be done with it
For phones, I dont want to walk a path that leads me back many years, just want it to work relatively safe.
Agreed ,although the MIUI rom is quite bloated, since it’s stable i didnt flash any of my 4 xiaomi (the only phones i still own along a ZUK Z1), can’t be bothered with it anymore if the phone works and is patched for security loopholes.
Thanks to a 15% discount coupon, I've just paid 171.82€ for it, or about $211.83. I'm a happy camper!
Cheers
—
Please avoid fully quoting lenghty posts, namely with nested quotes. Trim quotes down to the essential. Helps with neatness and legibility. Thanks.
The human mind, and its programming, is at the forefront of a particular battle of The Light vs evil dark forces. Nearly every human being on this beautiful planet “Earth” has some sort of negative mind programming in its mind. And you better take care of your mind programming, or someone else will in this wicked world.
After my trusty Samsung S7 decided to break (after I left it on my bike rack and drove away I might add ) I bought a Oneplus 5T and have to say that this phone kicks some serious ass.
It’s working on a stripped-down version of the Android OS, so not a lot of bloatware, and it is extremely fast and battery life is phenomenal, will definitely upgrade to another Oneplus when needed.
What is the BLF consensus on Xiaomi smartphones? Quality? SW updates in line with Google Android releases? Battery life day-to-day and overall life? Never had a Xiaomi but would love to buy one at Gearbest.
Also, I am not entirely sure what all the tiny details are among the various models, they do seem similar.
What is the BLF consensus on Xiaomi smartphones? Quality? SW updates in line with Google Android releases? Battery life day-to-day and overall life? Never had a Xiaomi but would love to buy one at Gearbest.
Also, I am not entirely sure what all the tiny details are among the various models, they do seem similar.
My daughter has a Xiaomi phone (and she has used other brands as well) and she is extremely satisfied with it, performs more that its price, so to speak.
I have read somewhere that Xiaomi is putting out a whopping 5,000mAh battery phone!
I used to have 2 of the early Samsung Galaxies, and they were good phones but I think all the latest Samsungs (like the iPhone) are overpriced.
Some people will keep paying a fortune to always have the latest model, but not me.
For the last few years all of my family have been using Oppo and Huawei phones and they are really good for the money.
There are different models for different budgets.
I don’t know how well known they are in USA, but in Australia they are available in most phone stores.
wow, thanks for the input. That is a massive capacity for a smartphone. Will look into this and get a new one.
Yes they are cool… Downside of such phones is weight and thickness. So they don’t look fancy. 350 gr. of weight…
But hey! If you have night shift job they can withstand more than whole shift of gaming and video reproduction, and some of them have power bank function to charge your Iphones or Samsungs or even your rechargeable flashlights
That’s where I love my Note 4. I can have a 13000 mAh battery when the thickness is okay, but I can slim down to the ~3000mAh battery with Qi wireless charging when I need to. It doesn’t get as slim as new phones, and it’s not as fast as them either, but it suits my needs very well….or used to, but now the camera has issues focusing even outdoors.
If you never, ever plan to update your OS, look for a selection of cases or get replacement oats, you can buy just about anything.
Companies like Xiaomi, Oppo, Ulephone and others make good phones but repairs, accessories and software can be iffy.
A two year old flagship from major brands will also work for most people and typically come with deep discounts.
Phones with Snapdragon processors usually get updated more frequently than others. They usually have third party custom ROMs written for them where other processors like Mediatek will have nothing available.
duramax – one thing worth keeping an eye out for: if you’re in the US, most of the Xiaomi (and many other Asian phones) will not work well here because most of our cellular frequencies are different than what is used around the world.
I like my OnePlus 3T, but OnePlus phones have gotten a little less “budget” lately. We recently picked up a Nokia 6.1 (part of the “Android One” program with supposedly fast updates and pure Android) for my wife. It’s not perfect, but it’s a great phone for the money.
A lot of the Xiaomi and Chinese phones take 2 sim cards and can operate on most bands for travelling. It’s something I wish more phones did.
I had to get rid of my Galaxy S5 or pay $250 so I just found a lightly used Galaxy S6 for $180 iirc. I’d never pay full price for these new phones, but the phones from just 2-3 years ago are far from bad.
Really? Top end 26650 cells are half that. Seems hardly credible anything like a normal sized, even phablet phone, could have a battery that large in it.
I have the Doogee phone and it is acceptable, but not perfect. some malware was on there but it disappeared.
Xiaomi looks nice.
I bought one of these (I guess is the X5) and NEVEREVER will buy anything like that again! Due to that malware, it sent messages to “special mobile services” and made pay more than 12€ for those things. I had to ask Vodafone to block messages and I had to install antivirus or something alike to “stop” (put in stand by) those malware functions.
I will only use it again in case I don’t have any other option…
@MascaratumB, the Doogee X5 was known to be the dodgiest phone from Doogee to have ever been sold.
Personally, for budget phones, I would recommend these companies from my experience(and have headphones jacks :D):
- Xiaomi (mostly the Mi Max/Mi A1/Redmi Note series)
- Nubia
- Umidigi (they have slowly been getting better over the years. Slowly, but surely.)
- Nokia (specifically, the Nokia 7 Plus and Nokia 6.1 2018)
- ZTE
That is about it. Oneplus is getting too expensive to be called budget, Huawei phones can’t be rooted/install custom ROMs anymore, etc.
@MascaratumB, the Doogee X5 was known to be the dodgiest phone from Doogee to have ever been sold.
Too bad I only knew that after buying and using it
I only use it now when my Nexus 5 is “out”.
I have to start thinking about a new one, though, so I’m looking to the suggestions on the thread Thanks for those
Cubot Note S is ok with me. Amazon customers are satisfied with it, me too.
Me, for example. While I can do the magic behind the software, this doesn't means I am up to date with regards to what are the trending known good smartphones at any given time. Generally this is easily solved by reading some reviews and visiting the XDA developers forum, but can take much more time without good advice.
With my abilities I can easily help out people get into the rooted ROM thing, yet of course they have to show true motivated willingness to be responsible for their actions without blaming the guru. Only one close friend of me followed the path and, despite not being even remotely so g33k, until now he has done right and has enjoyed some of the benefits of rooting. It just takes a little common sense.
Cheers
P.S.: ask first, shoot later.
Please avoid fully quoting lenghty posts, namely with nested quotes. Trim quotes down to the essential. Helps with neatness and legibility. Thanks.
The human mind, and its programming, is at the forefront of a particular battle of The Light vs evil dark forces. Nearly every human being on this beautiful planet “Earth” has some sort of negative mind programming in its mind. And you better take care of your mind programming, or someone else will in this wicked world.
You said it yourself only one friend of yours followed this path, while not by any measure an authority of your caliber, i have been rooting, flashing roms, changing filesystems, kernels and whatnot and since the Galaxy S I9000 the times of supercurio (Francois Simond) and the whole voodoo thing (i among lot of other phones had a flashed ZUK Z2 that i gave to my sister, i agree about the hardware and form factor), i don’t pretend to have your teaching skills either but as soon as i introduce the idea and explain to people what it involves the answer is almost always “thanks, not interested” the vast majority of people IRL have no time or interest for this, it requires a high level of autism, they want OTA updates and in most cases would be better of on AOSP, hence the success of the nexus line (although it lost it’s competitive pricing after the nexus 4) and now the interest for android one.
JamesB, can also be time, I loved to tweak PCs and such, buy now i ant to just use them. Used to adapt Windows untill it was very fast, now I install Ubuntu once and be done with it
For phones, I dont want to walk a path that leads me back many years, just want it to work relatively safe.
It is done when it is done
How my BLF Specials generally work, please read before asking Qs
The Q8, Exciting a groupbuy for a Premium BLF special high lumens soda can light!
The GT, A BLF special GIGA thrower
The FW3A, a TLF BLF special small, elegant, powerful triple
Lithium Ion safety 101 important read
Sorry grammarlovers, I am a real King Typo.
Agreed ,although the MIUI rom is quite bloated, since it’s stable i didnt flash any of my 4 xiaomi (the only phones i still own along a ZUK Z1), can’t be bothered with it anymore if the phone works and is patched for security loopholes.
Just bought this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/lenovo-zuk-z2-pro/222914891819
Thanks to a 15% discount coupon, I've just paid 171.82€ for it, or about $211.83. I'm a happy camper!
Cheers
Please avoid fully quoting lenghty posts, namely with nested quotes. Trim quotes down to the essential. Helps with neatness and legibility. Thanks.
The human mind, and its programming, is at the forefront of a particular battle of The Light vs evil dark forces. Nearly every human being on this beautiful planet “Earth” has some sort of negative mind programming in its mind. And you better take care of your mind programming, or someone else will in this wicked world.
After my trusty Samsung S7 decided to break (after I left it on my bike rack and drove away I might add
) I bought a Oneplus 5T and have to say that this phone kicks some serious ass.
It’s working on a stripped-down version of the Android OS, so not a lot of bloatware, and it is extremely fast and battery life is phenomenal, will definitely upgrade to another Oneplus when needed.
What is the BLF consensus on Xiaomi smartphones? Quality? SW updates in line with Google Android releases? Battery life day-to-day and overall life? Never had a Xiaomi but would love to buy one at Gearbest.
Also, I am not entirely sure what all the tiny details are among the various models, they do seem similar.
My daughter has a Xiaomi phone (and she has used other brands as well) and she is extremely satisfied with it, performs more that its price, so to speak.
I have read somewhere that Xiaomi is putting out a whopping 5,000mAh battery phone!
Whopping? LOL
We live in era of 10 000 plus mah (real capacity) smartphones with around 200$ price tag
Check this out:
Ulefone Power 5 (13 000 mah)
DOOGEE BL12000 Pro (12 000mah)
Oukitel K10 (11 000 mah)
Blackview P10000 Pro (11 000 mah)
HOMTOM HT70 (10 000 mah)
Oukitel K7 (10 000 mah)
K10000 MAX (10 000 mah)
There are tons of others in 6000 + category
Is that like 5,000+ lumen 5$ flashlights? Or are there really smartphones with higher battery capacities?
I used to have 2 of the early Samsung Galaxies, and they were good phones but I think all the latest Samsungs (like the iPhone) are overpriced.
Some people will keep paying a fortune to always have the latest model, but not me.
For the last few years all of my family have been using Oppo and Huawei phones and they are really good for the money.
There are different models for different budgets.
I don’t know how well known they are in USA, but in Australia they are available in most phone stores.
You can get a 5Ah phone from Xiaomi
- Mi Max 2 or the new
- Mi Max 3
Backside this are BIG phones
All mentioned in my post are real capacity.
The Ulefone Power seems OK
German reviews:
(Normally everything over 80% is a phone I am satisfied. I look also if the screen is PWM free)
https://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-UleFone-Power-5-Smartphone.306104.0.html
Blackview
https://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Blackview-P10000-Pro-Smartphone.30303...
YMMV
Instead of mAh check the runtime test, it depends how power efficienc the phone is.
wow, thanks for the input. That is a massive capacity for a smartphone. Will look into this and get a new one.
Yes they are cool… Downside of such phones is weight and thickness. So they don’t look fancy. 350 gr. of weight…
But hey! If you have night shift job they can withstand more than whole shift of gaming and video reproduction, and some of them have power bank function to charge your Iphones or Samsungs or even your rechargeable flashlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRWtvnI3pcs
That’s where I love my Note 4. I can have a 13000 mAh battery when the thickness is okay, but I can slim down to the ~3000mAh battery with Qi wireless charging when I need to. It doesn’t get as slim as new phones, and it’s not as fast as them either, but it suits my needs very well….or used to, but now the camera has issues focusing even outdoors.
The low mode should be lower.
If you never, ever plan to update your OS, look for a selection of cases or get replacement oats, you can buy just about anything.
Companies like Xiaomi, Oppo, Ulephone and others make good phones but repairs, accessories and software can be iffy.
A two year old flagship from major brands will also work for most people and typically come with deep discounts.
Phones with Snapdragon processors usually get updated more frequently than others. They usually have third party custom ROMs written for them where other processors like Mediatek will have nothing available.
I checked needrom (website) and was amazed how many ROMs there are. Also, I thought Xiaomi has regular updates, at least for a while?
duramax – one thing worth keeping an eye out for: if you’re in the US, most of the Xiaomi (and many other Asian phones) will not work well here because most of our cellular frequencies are different than what is used around the world.
It’s a bit convoluted, but here are a couple links that might help when picking an international phone:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies_in_the_US
https://www.frequencycheck.com/
Thanks! I trusted Gearbest and the “international version” tag. Guess I’ll have to do more research.
I like my OnePlus 3T, but OnePlus phones have gotten a little less “budget” lately. We recently picked up a Nokia 6.1 (part of the “Android One” program with supposedly fast updates and pure Android) for my wife. It’s not perfect, but it’s a great phone for the money.
A lot of the Xiaomi and Chinese phones take 2 sim cards and can operate on most bands for travelling. It’s something I wish more phones did.
I had to get rid of my Galaxy S5 or pay $250 so I just found a lightly used Galaxy S6 for $180 iirc. I’d never pay full price for these new phones, but the phones from just 2-3 years ago are far from bad.
Really? Top end 26650 cells are half that. Seems hardly credible anything like a normal sized, even phablet phone, could have a battery that large in it.
To Air is Human, to Respire….Divine.
I have the Doogee phone and it is acceptable, but not perfect. some malware was on there but it disappeared.
Xiaomi looks nice.
I bought one of these (I guess is the X5) and NEVER EVER will buy anything like that again! Due to that malware, it sent messages to “special mobile services” and made pay more than 12€ for those things. I had to ask Vodafone to block messages and I had to install antivirus or something alike to “stop” (put in stand by) those malware functions.
I will only use it again in case I don’t have any other option…
MY REVIEWS THREAD /// My Flashlight Collection /// YouTube Channel
Mods: 1 / 2 // TIR: 1 / 2 // Others: Biscotti 3 + 1*7135 / Triple TIR w/ XP-G2 /// My Review's Blog (PT) /// OL Contest 2019 /// OL Contest 2020 /// OL Contest 2022 /// GIVEAWAYs: 1 / 2 / 3
Kinda ‘dodgy’ I guess.
To Air is Human, to Respire….Divine.
@MascaratumB, the Doogee X5 was known to be the dodgiest phone from Doogee to have ever been sold.
Personally, for budget phones, I would recommend these companies from my experience(and have headphones jacks :D):
- Xiaomi (mostly the Mi Max/Mi A1/Redmi Note series)
- Nubia
- Umidigi (they have slowly been getting better over the years. Slowly, but surely.)
- Nokia (specifically, the Nokia 7 Plus and Nokia 6.1 2018)
- ZTE
That is about it. Oneplus is getting too expensive to be called budget, Huawei phones can’t be rooted/install custom ROMs anymore, etc.
My very own high current Beryllium Copper springs Gen 3:
http://budgetlightforum.com/node/67401
Liitokala Aliexpress Stores Battery Fraud: http://budgetlightforum.com/node/60547
Too bad I only knew that after buying and using it
Thanks for those 
I only use it now when my Nexus 5 is “out”.
I have to start thinking about a new one, though, so I’m looking to the suggestions on the thread
MY REVIEWS THREAD /// My Flashlight Collection /// YouTube Channel
Mods: 1 / 2 // TIR: 1 / 2 // Others: Biscotti 3 + 1*7135 / Triple TIR w/ XP-G2 /// My Review's Blog (PT) /// OL Contest 2019 /// OL Contest 2020 /// OL Contest 2022 /// GIVEAWAYs: 1 / 2 / 3
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