Hello!
So I've been using my trusty old OnePlus 5T until now, without any problems. I always followed the phone market for replacement but I simply didn't see a phone that would fit me, so I just kept repairing and using the current one.
Recently, after 7 years, the glue inside the screen assembly started to loosen up, which caused a little gap between the OLED panel and touch panel. Moisture got in there, and the OLED panel started oxidizing, leaving a nice purple patch on the side of the screen, that is slowly growing as the panel is powered on. It was my fault ignoring the gap for so long, but here we are.
Regarding my new phone, I have a few "constraints" and preferences that I want to stick to, even they sound stupid or unreasonable. (This is why I simply didn't bother buying another one yet)
MUST:
- Be Android
- Not be Samsung - had some before, don't want to go back
- Have headphone jack - yes, this will narrow the selection quite a bit
- Have OLED screen - anything OLED, doesn't matter which kind
- Be similar size or smaller than OnePlus 5T - the ~160mm x ~70mm is sort of optimal for me.
- Be under 200g, preferable under 180g
- Dual SIM (2 physical cards)
- Something released recently (2022-24), so it still has some support, accessories sold, has more chance to use it for another 7 years.
- NFC
- Be customizable: unlockable bootlooder, option for different ROMs, basically community support...
Preferable stuff:
- Some reasonable camera. I don't use it often, so definitely don't need some Pixel level stuff.
- High refresh rate screen - I don't game on my phone, but general stuff looks nicer
- No under screen fingerprint sensor - Not a big deal, but I know that it's easy to fuck up the software side and calibration, so it can become a pain in the ass.
- Wifi 6 or greater - "ac" Wifi is enough in the current 5T, so not a big deal just future proofing
- IP rating - I take care of my phones but still, it would be nice to not worry about moisture or dropping it in wet stuff.
- Expandable storage - Again, no big deal. I don't use the camera often, so I don't even fill up my current 128GB OnePlus. I usually backup and delete stuff from my phone yearly.
- Extra programmable function button - Not a deal breaker again, but I got used to OnePlus alert slider and I would program a similar button to the same functionality (switching between normal, do not disturb and mute).
Of course it should have a reasonable price too, but I'm willing to pay for a phone that I will use for a long time.
So after all my unreasonable requirements and wishlist, GSM Arena's phone finder comes up with 3 different phones that look interesting:
- Asus Zenfone 10 https://www.gsmarena.com/asus_zenfone_10-12380.php
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redmi_note_13_pro-12581.php
- OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G https://www.gsmarena.com/oneplus_nord_ce_2_5g-11269.php
1. The Zenfone
The Asus Zenfone series was my original choice as next device, I've been following the series for a few years, and I like the phones. Zenfones were unlockable by getting a device specific key from Asus's servers and using that in fastboot mode. As far as I know, this was done by Asus's unlocker app.
However, about a year ago, Asus decided to close this endpoint on the server, and removed the unlocker app from their website. This caused not only new Zenfones but older ones couldn't get unlocked anymore either. You can google this drama if you're interested, or just look at the threads on XDA Forums for Zenfone 10, Zenfone 9 or Zenfone 8. Right now, people are just waiting for someone to do something. Things are happening as I write this.
Besides all of this, Zenfone 10 is basically the perfect phone for me. People say that the software is also a plain Android with optimizations and you can turn off Asus features if you don't like them. This is pretty much the same with OnePlus, and I liked using OxygenOS. But this unlocking bootloader drama is feels bad. Especially that Asus only provides 2 years of software support. I would be happier knowing that I can reflash my phone if I don't like something.
2. The Xiaomi
Never had a Xiaomi before, but all my family and friends had one once in their life. I like the general quality and feature set of the phones and this looks nice just looking at the spec list.
The problem with this phone is it doesn't even have a forum section on XDA, so I don't know how active the community is behind it.
Second, slightly bigger problem: I don't like Xiaomi's OS. never liked the UI layout and custom functionality. I would 100% wipe the original OS from it and go with something else. But of course I don't know if that option is available with this phone.
3. The OnePlus
Nothing particularly bad with this one. I understand that this series is now OnePlus's budget series, so I won't get the fancy Snapdragons and it's the oldest from the all. I think it still looks OKish, community is active, OnePlus allows unlocking so no concerns there.
It doesn't have an alert slider like other OnePlus phones do. Meh, no big deal, but still wanted to mention it.
My biggest "first world problem" with this phone is it having a MediaTek CPU. I used phones with MediaTek CPUs before, they are OK in performance but so hard to work with... Every chip is different, with different drivers, random links for random shitty software, the partition map in a text file that you need specifically for you device to flash it... If you've tinkered with a MediaTek phone before, you know what I'm talking about.
4. Bonus: Nothing Phone
Yes, I know Nothing Phone doesn't have a headphone jack. But it's also kind of like the Zenfone, and I like the LED array on the back. My 5T still has the RGB notification LED and I would prefer something similar. Plus the phone has a community behind it. I also know about the Nothing drama with their messaging app. I don't really care. I would not have used it anyway. And as I said, if I don't like their software, I'll just flash another one.
So, what do you think? Should I give up my headphone jack rule and cry whenever I need to use the adapter with my headphones? What if that little worthless shit breaks? What if I want to charge? I know very well why the headphone jack isn't there on phones nowadays, and I try not to support that direction or products that do this, trying to "vote with my wallet"...
Or should I give up my freedom of choice and let Asus decide when my phone stops to work? Or wait to see what happens at the end of April with the "Asus's statement regarding this issue"? Maybe wait for someone who may or may not find a method for unlocking Zenfones which may or may not get patched by Asus? Is the Zenfone series popular enough that the community can solve this issue? Maybe, maybe not...
Or stay with OnePlus, dive back into the MediaTek world with an already old phone?
Or go Xiaomi and pray for it to not be crap in the long term?
Or fuck it and go Pixel and flash one of the many ROMs out there and cry about the headphone jack?
Thank you for reading this far.