Smartphones: 5 alternatives to Apple, Google and Samsung

Svenja

There’s more beyond just Apple, Google and Samsung in phones. And since we like to give you options, we would like to introduce you to a few exciting alternatives.

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arcsnim

It would be much better if they use screen instead keyboard on Astro Slide 5G.

luetage

@arcsnim The keyboard is the reason this device exists…

Smetana

What about Jolla and Sailfish OS?

Has compatibility to run Android apps but uses a “normal“ userland including Wayland, connmanager, rpm, etc.

Actually it would be really nice if Vivaldi would publish a native Sailfish build of the mobile browser in Jolla's store.

Hadden89

@smetana

https://forum.vivaldi.net/topic/37576/arm-package-for-sailfishos

Also, very few SailOS models could manage to have a working Vivaldi RPM (as Android 6 is need)

A native app may be very hard, as the mobile version should be rewritten to work on SailOS which sadly is a very niche product (even if I like it) and so probably won't happen.

KimmoJ

Fairphone - also repairable, user swappable battery, and fair means they're actually paying the laborers who make them.

For more mainstream but still alternative - the best Android phone I know of right now is probably the Asus Zenfone 8. It's small, has flagship-level specs and runs a fairly clean (compared to Samsung, anyway) Android.

Vollinger

I'm on the unexciting, but sustainable path of using the old scuffed-up phones my wife and kids toss away, then riding them to their final death.

Hanike

Wow.. you digged some pretty obscure phones!
I'm happy with my Huawei P30... but as a gamer, I'd love to put my hands on a Red Magic or Razer phone.

Hanike

@arcsnim: the keyboard is The main feature of that phone. And it's a great feature for people who hate screen keyboards and use to write a lot on their smartphones.
I can see it as a perfect match for any OneNote/ Obsidian addicted & writers.

zakius

there's a huge issue with "smartphones" market (that actually turned into phablets market few years ago)
so, physically most of available devices is abysmally bad:
elongated screens, nothces, punchholes, rounded screen corners, glassy and slippery backs, thin forms with protruding cameras and everything in size of a football field

there's no choice, it looks even worse than browsers market, where we have promises and hope at least

zakius

@kimmoj: least bad, yes
but... it's still horrible: slippery sides, way too thin to hold comfortably, elongated, punchhole and rounded screen corners, abysmally bad fingerprint reader in completely random place you never hit just right
and it's way too big too

I'm hoping that someone will look at iPhone SE and think "if they can sell it why we can't?" and make, let's say, A3'17 with matte back and sub-flagship modern SOC like 4xA510 + 4xA710, without X cores to reduce the power and heat strain

luetage

@zakius lol
Agree though, phones are too big these days. Mine is about 5 inch and feels like a monster and apparently this Zenfone is 5.9 and considered small… sigh.

zakius

@luetage I bought it due to lack of memory in my XZ2c that was already too big, it's basically impossible to type with one hand even with narrow keyboard due to the width of device itself, and length isn't helping either
but... at least I can answer calls relatively safely, unlike extremely popular poco X3 pro

RealMat0s

I have a Xiaomi, but seeing these phones makes me want to take the leap to have an original and safe product.

I would probably be the sensation wherever I go with a keyboard in my hands.

mossman

@luetage: yesterday I found my wife's old phone from ~2010 in a drawer and had to marvel how compact and comfortable it was in the hand. Literally half the height and half the width of my current phone (and I always try to go for compact phones as well). It was a touchscreen plus a couple of physical buttons - from just before smartphones became the norm, although I remember it's Samsung OS was close to Android for features at the time.

Pathduck

@mossman
Reminded me of this old goodie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCOJvr_ov5w

160ppi screen...

cedricdes

There is also /e/ operation system based on Android Open Source and compatible with many phone models, although installing it is a bit DIY. But they also sell a few phones with /e/ installed (under the brand name Murena) see website e.foundation
Nobody (appart from myself) mentions Vivadi Browser on the e.foundation community forum. And the other way around

Eggcorn

Here's a key question: Will these smartphones get security updates, and for how long will they get security updates?

vkvo2000

My Moto G5S (European XT1794) was the first Android phone not from Samsung. I bought it in December 2017 to replace Samsung Galaxy S2 that already had severly worn main battery and clock battery (yep, it has one!). And I really want to get BlackBerry KEY2 or its successor if one will come, because before I got my hands on Android, I used Nokia Asha 200, the QWERTY keyboarded phone!