S10e
this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2024
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I mean the pixel a series is great. I have a 6a and my wife has a 7a. But you'd have to compromise on the 3.5mm headphone jack and the SD card reader.
As previously mentioned the Xperia is probably the only option that meets everything except the price. Last I checked the Xperia is like $2-2.5k.
I wouldn't recomend used that much as all phones basically have an expiry date with only having so many versions of android.
Basically Xperia or bust if you don't want to compromise on any of that. See the search results here: https://m.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2022&nWidthMax=71&nRamMin=4000&chk35mm=selected&s4Gs=0&s5Gs=0&idCardslot=1
If you are willing to compromise on size and get a bigger phone, your options open up a bit with low-end phones from various brands, like the Moto G line and Samsung Galaxy A line. For some insane reason, high-end phones lack the useful features of low-end phones like card slots and headphone jacks.
They've been eliminating sdcard and headphone so you're asking a lot now. It's why I'm using a near 5 year old phone with no plans to "upgrade".
Galaxy A71 5G if you're interested. It's not a small phone but it's not Galaxy Note big, and it's got android 13. The only downside is it's lacking a few newer 5G channels in the radio.
No modern phone meets those requirements. Sad, but true.
Phones tend to get bigger screens every generation. 3.5mm audio and sd cards are no longer a thing.
And if security is important you want a recent model that gets updates from the vendor (unles you know what you are doing with customs roms)
Look at Samungs or Google Pixel and see what size she could like. They all have good cameras.
That may be overstating it. Here are 8 recent Android phones with a headphone jack, card shot, and screen no bigger than 6.2".
I didn't check current prices, OS update plans, or camera samples for these.
Ok, so add Sony Experia to the list. You win headphone jack and sd. Cool.
But the size confirms my point. 6.1 inch is not small for people who like small phones.
I like small phones and I agree with you.
OP asked for "relatively smaller", which I took as acknowledgment of the current state of the market where nothing is much under 6".
Agree
I have a phone with a 3.5mm jack and a micro SD slot, purchased about 2 years ago.
See how the phone you're considering scores on Don't kill my app!
Oh, thats why my old samsung phone lasts for a month without usage, but pixel loses 5% per night on airplane.
Pixel 4a fits most of these requirements but its almost 5 generations out of date and has no SD Card, + the extra security requires you to install a custom ROM like Calyx, Graphene, Lineage etc. and the hardware vendors no longer support them, so you dont get hardware updates, only OS.
You can use /e/OS or Muerena or whatever its called now on the 4a though. It kinda looks like iOS
I also like the Pixels and own a 4a. You're right, but I'd advise against buying it, due to it being end of life. You won't get proper security updates anymore. It dropped out of official support, and even some big aftermarket OS dropped support. So even the tinkerers amongst us should think twice before buying it.
I think OP be better off re-evaluating the requirements. They could get some USB-C headphones and buy a device with 256GB of storage. And that'd allow several decent and modern Android phones. Otherwise it's just complicated to find a proper phone these days and it likely includes paying extra and making other tradeoffs, when you could simply buy a pair of new headphones.
I got a Pixel 8a. That's slightly bigger, doesn't have headphone or sd-card but seems to be a nice device.
The asus zenfone would have the headphone jack. Don’t think it has an sd card slot though.
Best I can think of is Fairphone.
https://shop.fairphone.com/fairphone-5
But...
A) I don't know if they deliver to, or even work in, the USA.
B) No 3.5mm jack, but I doubt you'll find one tbh.
I would recommend a Samsung S24, its pretty well built and closest to an iphone as far ecosystems are concerned. There are better android phones, out there but I would start slow if shes never had android before.
What exactly does she need the SD card for? If she just needs to transfer files to and from an SD card, an external reader (via USB) might be sufficient.
3.5mm jack can be substituted with an external adapter too and they're not even half bad.
Both suboptimal of course but small phones that don't suck are rare enough as is.
If size is the most important, get an a-variant Pixel.