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Ask HN: What phone model do you currently own?

12 points by redbell ↗ HN
The other day, a video [0] from YouTuber SuperSaf popped up into my YT feed that reveals what phones popular YouTubers are actually using, which triggered my curiosity to see what is it like to be in the HN community.

So, what phone model do you currently use and why? What was your previous model? If you plan to upgrade, what should be your next phone?

For me, I was using an S20+ then I switched to an iPhone XS Max (just to try the Apple experience). My next phone is a blur, moving target but probably will try to experience either the Z Fold 5 or wait for the Pixel 8 Pro.

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0. https://youtu.be/skO3U2sAOTU?si=OIASJ-sZU4minQhV

35 comments

[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 95.3 ms ] thread
GradientInsight
I use the Realme GT Neo 3, if you ask me why the main reason probably was the spec sheet. But if I were to buy another one right now I would probably go for a Pixel just for the camera.

What do you look for in a phone? Right now I only care about battery and camera.

[deleted]
(comment deleted)
plastic_bag
I bought the OnePlus 11R a few days when my phone at the time, the OnePlus 9, developed the infamous green line in just a year of ownership. OnePlus offered me about $400 as that device reached EoL and they were out of spares.

I had to buy the 11R specifically because I could use that money only to buy another OnePlus and I did want to shell out more money for the 11.

What would be my next phone? I don't know. I usually keep my phone for 4 to 5 years and I am biased towards Android. I will see what's in the market after 4 years.

zainhoda
I like small form factor so I use iPhone 12 mini and before that was the original iPhone SE.

Sadly the small form factor seems to be going away so I’m not really sure what my next phone will be.

neallindsay
I have the 13 mini and I love it. Last year was the first year in a long time that I didn't upgrade because I didn't want a huge phone. I haven't decided what I am going to do this year yet.
paulcole
I don’t see why I can’t get at least another year out of my 13 mini. Fingers crossed for a 16 mini and if not then I’ll figure it out then.
JacobAldridge
I’m in a similar boat. Currently using an iPhone 8 (that’s less than 2 years old); I figure the next move will be one of the Minis perhaps?
akasakahakada
LG G5, LG G8, LG V30, LG V50, LG V50S

Reasons: God tier audio quality, SD card support, god tier fingerprint sensor, top tier all round camera hardware, god tier offical panorama & 360degree camera, god tier price/perfoemance, no nonsense lockscreen (omni direction swipe without swipe distance lowerbound)

My next phone: Every phone is a downgrade from LG.

syncbehind
I'm not saying you're wrong, but your use of "god tier" so many times makes it seem like you're being paid to post that.
akasakahakada
Why would a dead company pay me to post stuff?
syncbehind
I know, It's a shame LG no longer wants to make phones. Just saying -it seemed- like it. I also really enjoyed LG phones (G3 - G5 was really good). lol
GianFabien
Used to have iPhones, but the forced obsolescence has driven me to Android phones. Last one was a Motorola Razr/V, currently an Oppo RenoZ. Probably the next one will be an Oppo as well. Middle of the range Oppos have 8+ core CPUs and 3+GB RAM so they are snappy. The cameras are Ok, not iPhone grade, but good enough for me. Samsung appear to be better phones, but at a considerable bump up in price.

I tend to upgrade when the battery doesn't last a whole working day. So far have only dropped one phone.

runjake 

  > Used to have iPhones, but the forced obsolescence has driven me to Android phones.
Which forced obsolescence is this? The average iPhone support lifecycle is approximately 7 years. The average Android device lifecycle seems to sit around 2-4 years, if you're lucky.
account-5
Had my old android for 6 years. Really only replaced it because the battery got bad and the cost of a replacement was about the price of my current phone. But even then I'd expect something as expensive as an iPhone to have a longer support lifecycle. My current £100 Nokia is a bargain if it lasts 2 years.
navjack27
Pixel Fold and I still have my old Pixel 5 just in case.

I've used Pixel phones since the first Pixel came out and I've been in love ever since. I'm also on Google Fi so that might skew things a little bit because everything is just so seamless and it works so perfectly. I love the camera on the Pixel phones and I love the fact that I can get the latest beta updates for Android and that my Android experience is basically as stock as can be. I don't root my phone because it wouldn't give me anything that I don't already have. I use all of the Google features quite extensively so I don't need to like remove anything from the phone.

There really isn't anything I look for in a phone. My current upgrade schedule is... Well, I had the Pixel 1 and then I went to a pixel 2 and then when that stopped getting software updates entirely I bought a pixel 5 and then I bought the Pixel fold and I'm going to keep this until it also stops receiving any updates. Then I'll buy whatever the just launched pixel is at that point in time.

jventura
IPhone 5S for the last 8 years. This model was launched in 2013 (10 years ago). It’s working perfectly fine for what I need from a phone (calls, occasional email, youtube, gps, and web browsing - typing this on my iPhone). I like this form factor so my next one will be an 2016 iPhone SE..

I’m being serious! This works perfectly fine for my usecase. And when I need to do real work, I use my Macbook Pro Late 2013 (8 GB RAM). I’m a CS prof and also web dev, use pycharm, docker and all that modern things. Less is more and I get to save a lot of money!

matt_s
iPhone 12 pro, upgraded 2 years ago from an iPhone 7. I treat my phone like an appliance, there really aren't compelling reasons to upgrade frequently anymore. I'm not on it much, don't do social apps. I usually by used phones and use an MVNO otherwise the costs are nearly as much as a small used car payment.

Why Apple? I'm not a fanboi but really the JustWorks™ thing has a lot of truth behind it with the hardware. Outside of the Apple OSes the only real app from them I use consistently is iMessage. Sure I could probably go all-in on Google's hardware just as easily but making the switch at this point would be too much effort, little reward and I'm lazy. I used to game on Windows and build PCs, even built a Linux MythTV box years ago. I just want my stuff to work, I don't want to waste time tinkering since I have other interests.

swah
iPhone 14 Pro Max but don't love some things about iOS (keyboard is the worse). Actually preferred my S23 - only the camera sucks compared to iPhone, for my use cases.

Also want to get a phone weighting around 170 grams next time.

romanhn
Samsung S9 that I got 5 years ago. Prior to that I upgraded my phone every two years (typically every other Samsung smartphone generation), but the newer phones don't seem to be compellingly better than my S9 and phones these days are eye-wateringly expensive, so there's not been much reason to update while this one continues to work perfectly.
muzani
I'm an app dev and I get access to most models except for Pixel.

I usually buy a higher end Xiaomi/Poco phone, and iPad Air.

Poco punches way above its price range. Gaming tier phones and a pretty screen for a decent price. 120 Hz screen, smoother video than my monitor, whole day battery life, charges to full in 10 min. Camera is good at night, and zoomed in. Macro camera can read the tiny text on money, the kind you'd need a magnifying glass to see.

Downsides: lots of bloatware, camera claims to have a bazillion megapixels but doesn't scale in quality, probably sells my data to the CCP

iPad Air is complementary to it. It's great for all "second devices" use, especially banks and auth if you have your main device rooted. Apple Pencil is amazing. I think most Apple stuff is overpriced and more style than function, but the Apple Pencil absolutely delivers on function. Also nice for signing business docs. The general iPad feels a little too big and heavy for casual use.

dotcoma
Current: iPhone SE 2020

Previous: iPhone 6S

Next: iPhone SE 3rd Gen ?

gsch1
iPhone 7, but I don't care about it.

Just ordered an iPhone 13 because my iPhone 7 is already 6 years old. I just want my phone to work when I need to take a picture or send a message in a hurry.

acolderentity
Samsung Galaxy S8. It's affordable, the battery is good considering how much I use it. I don't need a lot of gigs so it works for me. If it kicks the bucket anytime soon I'll get a Moto.
dj_gitmo
iPhone 8. Most apps still work fine although it's getting a bit slow. I am going to get a 15, mostly for the better camera.
seventhtiger
Samsung S20 ultra. It's been almost 4 years and it feel amazing. I replaced my Pixel when its battery got down to about 6 hours. Unfortunately the Pixel couldn't be fixed any more in my country.

Samsung is really popular here so I'm hoping if I just replace the battery when it gets bad it can last me 4 more years. It's honestly so nice.

an_aparallel
Pixel 6 Pro with Graphene OS...

like the privacy dislike the call quality dislike the speaker sound, either too soft or too loud dislike the camera...seems to downres images sent via text.

the rest of the phone experience is awesome. Though im not so sure the main phone functionality being shit is a win... :/

nicbou
Pixel 5. It's perfect. I broke one and bought another even though the 6 or 7 were out because I love the size.

I'd like an iPhone, but an OS without uBlock is a no-go. The web is unusable without it.

techGranny
IPhone 7, still working but in its last breath. The only probem it has is the battery, it doesn’t last very long and I’ve already replaced it. Hopefully replaceable batteries will solve this issue in the near future, sometimes EU regulations are on point.
electroagenda
Moto G30.

My previous moto G5 worked so well that I will keep using their phones till I notice a quality decrease.

kingkongjaffa
I have the 2020 iPhone SE 2nd gen?

I’m taking a trip to New York soon and I will absolutely want a decent camera so I might spring for an iPhone 15.

siddheshgunjal
OnePlus 7T with /e/ OS. It's comes with SD 855+ which is pretty tough processor. Have been using it for almost 4 years now and not a single hiccup.

Battery life is also good till now. I get around 4-5 hours if Screen-on-time with heavy usage which is satisfactory for me. 855+ is quite optimised processor.

I had OnePlus 2 earlier, which also a good device. But it got damaged due to falling in waterfall.

I'm planning to run a mobile linux on my OnePlus 7T like Ubuntu touch or Postmarket OS (with GNOME shell) but they still do not support my phone model.

Does anyone know if there is any mobile linux that supports OnePlus 7T?

cookiengineer
How does /e/ compare with lineageOS in practice? I'm guessing you're not using mini/gapps either, so I am a little curious. Been using lineageOS since the cyanogen days, and I failed to get /e/ compiled for a bunch of devices due to lack of time necessary to fix the builds or setup all the kernel dependencies etc. They also seem to not have support for anything pre-generic system images so there's that, too.

Any hints regarding apps, builds etc?

From the model overview I always had the feeling that /e/ only focusses on Pixel devices like all the other small ROMs and that GSM / EU device drivers are pretty much broken or unsupported.

siddheshgunjal
My experience with /e/ OS has been good so far and yes you're right, I'm using MircoG and yes, all my banking and payment apps are working fine, Just Uber does not work. Google Maps work fine too with MircoG on /e/ OS.

The main advantage /e/ OS has over other custom ROMs is it's 'Advanced Privacy', which blocks all the trackers from all installed apps at device level (by blocking DNS request). It is very unique to /e/ OS and it works like a charm. You can find more details about it here: https://doc.e.foundation/support-topics/advanced_privacy

And No, /e/ OS does not focus only on pixel device, it's much more flexible than Calyx or Graphene.

For my device, Easy installer support was there, so installing /e/ OS was easy. I have also installed it on my friends POCO F1 using TWRP recovery. You don't have to build it yourself, /e/ foundation hosts pre-built images for all supported devices.

How did I do it without Easy Installer?: 1. Go to this link: https://doc.e.foundation/devices and check if device supported or not 2. If yes, copy its codename (For POCO F1 it's "beryllium". 3. First check if there is stable release for your phone with this link: https://images.ecloud.global/stable/<codename>/ 4. If not, then download dev build for your phone my modifying above link to: https://images.ecloud.global/dev/<codename>/ 5. You can find ".img" file of recovery and ".zip" file for build. 6. Refer this video to install /e/ OS using TWRP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZyqFzsXYek

jakabia
Samsung A52. It was not the fastest or the best model on the market when I purchased it, but it gets the job done. Also I like its great camera.