4 ms·

Assuming that Apple releases the iPhone 9 with the latest A13 chip for $400 to $500 soon, what will be good Android alternative? Compact size, most powerful chi

Assuming that Apple releases the iPhone 9 with the latest A13 chip for $400 to $500 soon, what will be good Android alternative? Compact size, most powerful chip, affordable. I was eyeing S10e last year. Has anything better been released since?

stu2010 7y ago
Pixel 3A is the most comparable thing. It's a little big, but not as bulky as most flagships.
- tracker1 7y ago
  I was really impressed with the Pixel 3A myself... I'm still holding on to my 2XL, I got a 3A for my daughter last fall after her Galaxy S6 bit the dust. I don't think I'll convince myself to spend over $400-500 (or value equivalent) again... I didn't like spending as much as I did on my 2XL, and the features just don't seem worth it to me. I'm also holding on to the 3+ year mark this time around... my last couple phones really haven't been much of an improvement... Nexus 4, Nexus 6p, Pixel 2XL... each has mostly been out of frustration with failures from the prior generation's battery failure (the Nexus 6p caught fire at the repair site for a battery replacement). TBH, I feel it's time to require user serviceable batteries for all electronic devices with a rechargeable battery, leaning into right to repair on this.
  - tlarkworthy 7y ago
    Yes I moved off pixel after 2XL and switched to OnePlus. I am much happier for it. They are great phones!
    - leetcrew 7y ago
      what's the story on updates for non-pixel phones these days? the main reason I keep buy google phones is for the monthly security updates that seem to go on for at least three years after release, but every year the pixel hardware seems like a worse value.
      - gertrunde 7y ago
        Can't comment on all vendors, but OnePlus at least are reasonably decent. My (two-three generations behind) OnePlus 6T got the February 2020 patches about two weeks ago if that's indication, and has been on Android 10 for a few months maybe? Patches lapsed a bit while they were concentrating on Android 10 though iirc.
        tlarkworthy 7y ago
        My Google phones kept breaking after one year so it feels almost an academic concern to me
        leetcrew 7y ago
        I got lucky, only broken button on my pixel 2 is volume up. probably the least important of the three :)
      - solarkraft 7y ago
        The solution to this I propose to anyone who cares about hardware choice, privacy and software independence is to buy a phone supported by LineageOS and install that on it. You won't have any issues with a lack of updates for a long time, as they're automatically built in the CI for the model and shipped to you via OTA updates. Here's the list of viable phones (anything not on this list I wouldn't consider, in the Android world, anyway): https://download.lineageos.org/ https://download.lineageos.org/
        solarkraft 7y ago
        Bonus: There is a version of LineageOS that works with apps usually requiring proprietary Google binaries without them actually being installed: https://lineage.microg.org/ https://lineage.microg.org/ Have been a happy user for a few months.
    - tracker1 7y ago
      I had the One Plus One (first phone), only switched away when I went to Verizon for better coverage on the road. Is their band coverage for Verizon still partial? Haven't checked in the past year or so, last I checked you could use it with Verizon, but only with LTE bands.
      - tlarkworthy 7y ago
        Dunno I live in europe
- dangus 7y ago
  The Pixel 3A is slow (not saying it’s not a good phone).
BubRoss 7y ago
The last phone I bought was a one plus 6 and the next phone I buy will be a one plus. I don't plan on looking at anything else. Everything is fast and solid. Fast UI, good screen, fast charging, minimal bloat. Decent cameras decent speakers, usb C. No mobile processors stand up to apple's killer custom chips, but without bloated software android phones can get close enough.
LeifCarrotson 7y ago
Most powerful chip is hard to come by in small Android phones and often not really needed/warranted. I think you'll get poorer performance a couple years down the line (which is, I expect, the reason you're wanting the best chip) if you have to deal with Samsung touchwiz and bloatware vs. bare, unlocked Android. The Motorola One lineup checks all my boxes right now: Stock Android with unlocked bootloader, uSD card, good displays, good battery, headphone jack, stays updated, and under $400. I'm mourning the loss of swappable batteries and small displays in the market, but it's the best option I've found.
- AdmiralAsshat 7y ago
  Does it have wireless charging?
- dbspin 7y ago
  They have atrocious support. Bricked a whole bunch of Moto G phones a couple of years ago - by breaking the charging functionality with a firmware update. Just straight up didn't fix it. Thousands of people affected. I'd never consider a Motorola device again.
- Leherenn 7y ago
  Touchwiz has been dead for a couple of years now. The replacement, One UI, is really good, you should give it a try.
bitwize 7y ago
There won't be a competitive Android alternative. The A13 will beat most x86 chips in terms of performance. No other ARM licensee has a chip out that's anywhere close.
- tyfon 7y ago
  That's interesting, is that peak performance or is it sustained performance? I've given up on performance metrics for phones as 99% of them will just overheat within seconds and throttle if you actually try to use the advertised performance. I've never owned any apple product so I'm curious if this is the case for them too.
  - skrowl 7y ago
    It's based on one single benchmark (geekbench) that has widely been discredited when comparing platforms (like x86-64 vs ARM64). iPhones also fare much worse in sustained / multiple run benchmarks due to thermal throttling. In some test run in a loop, iPhones are as much as 1/3rd slower in their 3rd run vs their 1st run due to throttling.
    - callalex 7y ago
      The age old question: does a benchmark that runs for 20 minutes before throttling really represent any real world gains or lack thereof? For example I want a few images/videos to compress quickly before I share them with someone, but I will pretty much never need my phone to chew through gigabytes of data all at the same time. I want a webpage to load within a few seconds but I don’t constantly refresh webpages every 5s for 30mins straight.
ksec 7y ago
Purely in terms of Performance, if iPhone 9, Apple's Entry level iPhone will get an A13, then no Android on the market, including flagship Qualcomm SD 865 will be as fast. DHH and Jeff Atwood ( discourse ) had a rant about the performance of Android on JS Webview rendering.

stu2010 7y ago

Pixel 3A is the most comparable thing. It's a little big, but not as bulky as most flagships.

tracker1 7y ago
I was really impressed with the Pixel 3A myself... I'm still holding on to my 2XL, I got a 3A for my daughter last fall after her Galaxy S6 bit the dust. I don't think I'll convince myself to spend over $400-500 (or value equivalent) again... I didn't like spending as much as I did on my 2XL, and the features just don't seem worth it to me. I'm also holding on to the 3+ year mark this time around... my last couple phones really haven't been much of an improvement... Nexus 4, Nexus 6p, Pixel 2XL... each has mostly been out of frustration with failures from the prior generation's battery failure (the Nexus 6p caught fire at the repair site for a battery replacement). TBH, I feel it's time to require user serviceable batteries for all electronic devices with a rechargeable battery, leaning into right to repair on this.
- tlarkworthy 7y ago
  Yes I moved off pixel after 2XL and switched to OnePlus. I am much happier for it. They are great phones!
  - leetcrew 7y ago
    what's the story on updates for non-pixel phones these days? the main reason I keep buy google phones is for the monthly security updates that seem to go on for at least three years after release, but every year the pixel hardware seems like a worse value.
    - gertrunde 7y ago
      Can't comment on all vendors, but OnePlus at least are reasonably decent. My (two-three generations behind) OnePlus 6T got the February 2020 patches about two weeks ago if that's indication, and has been on Android 10 for a few months maybe? Patches lapsed a bit while they were concentrating on Android 10 though iirc.
      - tlarkworthy 7y ago
        My Google phones kept breaking after one year so it feels almost an academic concern to me
        leetcrew 7y ago
        I got lucky, only broken button on my pixel 2 is volume up. probably the least important of the three :)
    - solarkraft 7y ago
      The solution to this I propose to anyone who cares about hardware choice, privacy and software independence is to buy a phone supported by LineageOS and install that on it. You won't have any issues with a lack of updates for a long time, as they're automatically built in the CI for the model and shipped to you via OTA updates. Here's the list of viable phones (anything not on this list I wouldn't consider, in the Android world, anyway): https://download.lineageos.org/ https://download.lineageos.org/
      - solarkraft 7y ago
        Bonus: There is a version of LineageOS that works with apps usually requiring proprietary Google binaries without them actually being installed: https://lineage.microg.org/ https://lineage.microg.org/ Have been a happy user for a few months.
  - tracker1 7y ago
    I had the One Plus One (first phone), only switched away when I went to Verizon for better coverage on the road. Is their band coverage for Verizon still partial? Haven't checked in the past year or so, last I checked you could use it with Verizon, but only with LTE bands.
    - tlarkworthy 7y ago
      Dunno I live in europe
dangus 7y ago
The Pixel 3A is slow (not saying it’s not a good phone).

BubRoss 7y ago

The last phone I bought was a one plus 6 and the next phone I buy will be a one plus. I don't plan on looking at anything else. Everything is fast and solid. Fast UI, good screen, fast charging, minimal bloat. Decent cameras decent speakers, usb C. No mobile processors stand up to apple's killer custom chips, but without bloated software android phones can get close enough.

LeifCarrotson 7y ago

Most powerful chip is hard to come by in small Android phones and often not really needed/warranted. I think you'll get poorer performance a couple years down the line (which is, I expect, the reason you're wanting the best chip) if you have to deal with Samsung touchwiz and bloatware vs. bare, unlocked Android. The Motorola One lineup checks all my boxes right now: Stock Android with unlocked bootloader, uSD card, good displays, good battery, headphone jack, stays updated, and under $400. I'm mourning the loss of swappable batteries and small displays in the market, but it's the best option I've found.

AdmiralAsshat 7y ago
Does it have wireless charging?
dbspin 7y ago
They have atrocious support. Bricked a whole bunch of Moto G phones a couple of years ago - by breaking the charging functionality with a firmware update. Just straight up didn't fix it. Thousands of people affected. I'd never consider a Motorola device again.
Leherenn 7y ago
Touchwiz has been dead for a couple of years now. The replacement, One UI, is really good, you should give it a try.

bitwize 7y ago

There won't be a competitive Android alternative. The A13 will beat most x86 chips in terms of performance. No other ARM licensee has a chip out that's anywhere close.

tyfon 7y ago
That's interesting, is that peak performance or is it sustained performance? I've given up on performance metrics for phones as 99% of them will just overheat within seconds and throttle if you actually try to use the advertised performance. I've never owned any apple product so I'm curious if this is the case for them too.
- skrowl 7y ago
  It's based on one single benchmark (geekbench) that has widely been discredited when comparing platforms (like x86-64 vs ARM64). iPhones also fare much worse in sustained / multiple run benchmarks due to thermal throttling. In some test run in a loop, iPhones are as much as 1/3rd slower in their 3rd run vs their 1st run due to throttling.
  - callalex 7y ago
    The age old question: does a benchmark that runs for 20 minutes before throttling really represent any real world gains or lack thereof? For example I want a few images/videos to compress quickly before I share them with someone, but I will pretty much never need my phone to chew through gigabytes of data all at the same time. I want a webpage to load within a few seconds but I don’t constantly refresh webpages every 5s for 30mins straight.

ksec 7y ago

Purely in terms of Performance, if iPhone 9, Apple's Entry level iPhone will get an A13, then no Android on the market, including flagship Qualcomm SD 865 will be as fast. DHH and Jeff Atwood ( discourse ) had a rant about the performance of Android on JS Webview rendering.