Excuse me sir, are you living in the past?
this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2023
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Android
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I don't store that much data on my phone. I rathee play games on a pc. Less risk for me
2 GB RAM will seriously hamper usability with modern (admittedly often bloated) apps, many of which may not even run on Android 8 or 9. No system will leave 1 GB free on average. Why should it? What good is RAM if it isn't used?
Actually I use a phone that has 2 GB of ram and it runs just fine. Event some lite gaming isn't a problem. The only thing you will miss though will be multi tasking because it's basically non existent.
You are right, 2 GB is enough for almost all apps, but it makes switching between multiple apps painful, because it always has to reload the other app(s) when they had been removed from main memory, which happens frequently. I found 3 GB these days to be the minimum for comfortable work (with 2 GB being "just fine", as you said), which is what my tablet has, and I'm glad my phone has 6, which makes it a lot snappier, since I regularly and quickly switch between 5 or 6 different apps. Although most of these are not particular memory hogs (except fennec/firefox), having literally "more than just enough" RAM makes it a lot quicker.
swapfiles can be quite useful if you have a device with 2gb ram or less.
I don't mind waiting a few seconds for an app to load if my device lasts longer. I don't use apps that are "too bloated". The creators should optimize their software if they want me to use it.
no front camera
That sounds impossible, I don't think that even exists now.
Android 8 or 9
Really, next thing you'll want are Windows 7 PCs? All these OSes are no longer supported, no one is going to sell that new.
I unfortunely agree with your first point. I prefer older OSes because newer ones are usually filled with more garbage.
Of course you're allowed your opinion, but what exactly are you referring to by "more garbage"? Are you sure you're not talking about bloatware installed by phone/carrier companies that's completely separate from the actual operating system? Also, just like PC operating systems/there are OSes designed to be extremely lightweight, with low system requirements.
Security-wise, using any older OS is a terrible idea, IMO. As long as any personal information will ever pass through that phone, that is. Even if someone discovered a way to remotely hack your phone, eavesdrop on all your interactions, and steal your information, it wouldn't be patched, even if the vulnerabilities were published. These old OSes literally aren't supported anymore.
With that said, I wish you good luck in what you're searching for...
Actually went through your list again, it's all very outdated specs. Don't think a 16:9 phone even exists now.
the garbage widely known as "security updates"
Have you considered buying a used phone?
There are some pretty good deals on ebay.
Got curious with your specs and I plugged it in to gsmarena advance search filter.
I got 10 results, though most of it was released in 2020. The latest one released (Jan 2022) was Nokia C100 priced at USD59.99. I think it has most of your wishlist, though I'm not familiar with ARM64 architecture and OTG wasn't a filter option.
Good luck with your search!
Thanks. :)
I've read your replies in here. Some of your requests are misguided. You want Android 8 or 9 because anything newer will come with "more garbage"? That simply isn't true, and there are a plethora of useful features that only arrived in Android 12 onwards.
Any bloatware can be dealt with, any animations you deem superfluous can be disabled, you can change out the launcher for something with zero bloat like Lynx.
You simply won't find anything half reasonable to use that doesn't have a front camera. Stick some tape over it if you are worried.
Ignoring the rest, the best deal you will find somewhere within that price range is a Galaxy S20 FE 5G.
I just bought two brand new units for my parents on ebay for $370AUD which = $250 USD.
This was the last flagship (or flagship adjacent) Samsung with a MicroSD slot. Samsung is well catered for by most of the debloating scripts around github via ADB or you can apply root method and get it clean as a whistle.
SOC is a Snapdragon 865, it supports 5G global bands really well, the cameras kick arse but aren't crazy (12MP), it has a really great wide-angle sensor too. It's got a higher refresh rate but low resolution, so the sizeable battery leads to an extremely generous use time. Multiple days for someone like you.
Honestly I'm not sure why'd you'd like to spend $200 on an absolute piece of junk as per your specs when you could spend $250 on a new in-box device that will blow your socks off.
Do you want a dragon as well with your phone?
Such low specs should be easily available on the used market well under $100. As to "no bloatware", see if you can find one supported by lineageOS or another alternative system.
I don't think anyone will make any predictions about the next 8 years. Replaceable battery was fairly common at the time they made phones with the specs you are looking for.
A bigger problem will be "no front camera" (almost unheard of), and USB C on a phone with Android 8 or 9, only 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage. Most of these will be so old that they come with Micro-USB.
Many companies would try to appeal to poorer users. Even if the device has to be filled with adware and data miners.
Infinix be like:
The no front camera is going to eliminate a lot of good target options for you. I've personally had a ton of success using Motorola for budget android phones. In fact, I was exclusively on Motorola for the past 10 or so years until I recently moved to a Pixel.
Your best bet is to get a pixel 6a and flash CalyxOS on it, there is no way you're getting a modern brand new phone (which is what I gathered from other comments), with these requirements. Calyx gets rid of everything you'd call "more garbage", comes with all the tools you'd need for a secure phone and allows you to disable access to hardware such as the microphone and camera. I also read you didn't want custom ROMs.
Here's the deal, any phone made by a company with more employees than two is going to have some sort of data collection in it, if you want a phone that doesn't have any, either get a Linux phone (which won't do anything you want it to) or a pixel with a security and privacy oriented rom on it. Some other options are lineageOS, comes with opt-in data collection, not opt-out, has years of security updates and supports a great deal of modern phones, doesn't come with Google apps by default and if you want, you can disable internet access to apps individually, grapheneOS also exists, similar to CalyxOS. If none of this is good enough for you, then idk what to tell you, but you're not going to find what you're looking for exactly.
The modern android world can't give you a high end 16:9 60hz phone with 2gb of ram, no front camera and 8 hours of screen on time and official security and feature updates for 8 years, that's simply not how it works anymore, you can say you want something like that, but unless you make it yourself it's not going to appear out of thin air.
I hope this post wasn't too rude, but with requirements like these you're setting yourself up for disappointment, I made this post to make you realise how impossible this actually is.
Oh and for DS games, crazy idea, buy a DSi and install unlaunch on it, it'll launch any DS game you want and it'll cost you 40 USD at most
With those specs I'd say go with a used samsung high end from 201x, I'm thinking S4 but there might be better options, around that time period in general. You won't find usb C ports on them though.
I think finding a phone that check all you boxes will be near impossibile
It probably won't last as long or will be very slow. I don't want to pay additional money for a charger. I don't want custom or modified systems because of possible spyware.
I don't fully agree with you but I understand, sadly I think you'll have to compromise something since you're looking for something that is low-tech and high quality, with very specific specs. Let me know what you'll end up with, I'm actually curious about it
@monkey011 You could comfortably get a https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s9-8966.php on ebay for that budget.
Then put this on it https://doc.e.foundation/devices/starlte
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