Hi everyone,

Genesis

I have an unused Xiaomi redmi note 6 pro that was standing in a drawer and I wanted to re-use it.

This phone was already running with a custom ROM lineageOS but they do not support it any longer and they’ve also deleted all the ROM files relative to it 🤯 so no way to download again those ROM !

So I tried few other stuff and I landed in bricking my phone. Too bad as it was still in a great shape and condition. What a waste/pollution !!

I’am myself an IT guy, but the unnecessary complexity of the Android phone and what the brands does… etc. make too many steps and I cannot spend ~two weeks to unbrick it.

And additionally to that, when I see what Google planned for us https://keepandroidopen.org/ oh my God. 🤮

So I am looking for a phone[1]:

  • around 100-150€/$
  • screen ~6.50’
  • a mini jack 🎧
  • Easy to install/Flash another ROM ! ( let’s dream, maybe the vendor itself guide/help in order to do so )
  • Bootloader not locked !?
  • Easy to be the root [2]
  • Not need to be the newer model

  1. Floss
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software ↩︎

  2. And by the way, why we should struggle and trick so much just to gain root access? Do are we not the owner of our phones? Why not a simple option that asks to be root? And the user will take its own responsibility for it !? ↩︎

  • TootSweet@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    4 days ago

    I’m really happy with my Pixel 3a. (And I think the Pixel 3a XL is just as well supported by FLOSS ROMs but with a bigger screen.) It mostly checks all the boxes you had in your list, and I think it’s probably the only real option you’re going to find in that price range.

    I ran Lineage for a good while, but I’ve switched to Ubuntu Touch more recently. It’s incredibly well supported by both operating systems and just from what I’ve seen, most FLOSS ROMs tend to support it. (One exception I know of is PostmarketOS, which last I heard didn’t support the 3a very well at all.) Being honest, Ubuntu Touch’s app availability is pretty abysmal. Writing apps for Ubuntu Touch seems more accessible than for Android, though (especially now with the bullshit that they’ve pulled with sideloading restrictions.)

    One caveat: If you’re looking for 100% FLOSS, probably the 3a isn’t what you want. Even Ubuntu Touch uses a bunch of proprietary driver blobs. But again, the options for fully FLOSS-compatible phones seem pretty pricey.