I'm finding myself rather dissatisfied with the current crop of phones...

I currently have a Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Yes, 2. I like the phone overall, but I'm stuck at Android 4.4.

The current crop of phones, even the "phablets", are all about thin, narrow, and light. They boast big screen sizes measured diagonally, but they're very narrow, so the actual screen area is not impressive; not to mention that it's very hard to type on a narrow keyboard (and I'd prefer to use the Hacker's Keyboard, which crams even more in).

I don't want something thin, narrow, sleek, without a replaceable battery (= the phone won't last more than 2 years) or micro SD slot (or 3.5mm jack, for that matter). I do want one with a real Otterbox Defender type case -- the Commuter case and similar simply don't appear to protect the phone nearly as well (I carry it in a belt pouch). And I'd like to have a screen protector as well. I must be doing something right with a phone that's close to 5 years old that has been dropped a few times with nothing more than scratches on the Otterbox plastic and wear on the rubber outer case. The Note 2 in the Otterbox is a comfortable size for my hands, but I could easily go a little bigger.

What I'd really like is something in the range of 6.5" that's no worse than 16:10 or at worst 16:9 aspect ratio. I don't need an amazingly fast processor since I don't play games at all on my phone, although a decent amount of memory wouldn't be a bad thing. Nor do I want a fingerprint sensor (which appears to be the real reason that Defender-type cases are going by the wayside) or a face sensor -- I'll unlock it with an old-fashioned password, thank you very much. While I'm a serious photographer, I'm not looking for that on a tiny sensor phone; I have other gear for that purpose.

We're currently on Sprint, but that can change. My phone is of course long out of contract, and my wife's iPhone either is or is very close. I'm not going to trade my phone in -- my policy with storage devices that aren't encrypted under my control is that once there's live data on them they do not get resold, traded, given away, or replaced under warranty -- and I don't want to spend a bundle on a flagship phone. I'm fine with buying an older phone as long as it's running at least Android 7. I don't care about having the latest and greatest, but I want to keep it running for a good long time (I replace laptops every 4-5 years because I really need the compute power on those, but not so much on my phone). The current phones appear to be moving farther away from what I want, with the ever-narrower screens.

I have a number of LG V20's on my eBay watchlist; at least those are cheap. But I'm curious if anyone has any other ideas.

 

Sorry I cant offer alternatives since I only pay attention to phones when I need one.

However I can say that I still enjoy my LG v20 and odnt really any desire to replace it. Though carriers just ignored the phone altogether, no updates at all.

 

I actually feel the same. I very worried about the screen sizes. Phones were meant to be used with one hand and not two. Media Consusmption? Get a Tablet.

 

It's not really media consumption (and, FWIW, I have a 12" tablet -- a cheap one). It's more about being able to type on the screen comfortably, using it as a navigation device, and such like. I can't type on it one-hand anyway and don't particularly want to try.

I've sometimes thought that a small tablet with minimal bezel and the ability to be used as a phone (yes, for voice communication) would be ideal. My wife's iPad mini is a little bit too big (in large part because of the bezel), but otherwise that's the right idea size-wise. Then there would still be the problem of finding a robust, armored case.

 

1. All phones have replaceable batteries, but disassembly difficulty varies greatly.
2. Check out Xiaomi Mi Max 3. Huawei Mate 20 X is even better hardware-wise but it's Huawei. They both are the size of 6.4" 16:9 phone, so despite the hateful 18:9 display ratio you at least won't be loosing any horizontal screen real estate compared to older 6.4"-6.5" 16:9 phones. Make sure your LTE bands are supported before pulling the trigger.

I'm personally using a 6.4" 16:9 Xiaomi Mi Max 1 for almost 2 years - it was dropped numerous times and then thrown some, thrashed a number of cases and screen protectors - but the phone itself is still in good condition, rocking latest Android Pie and making great photos with Google HDR+ camera port, lasting days on single charge - despite the fact it cost me $200-something back in the day.

 

I didn't see anything about US availability.

I'm starting to think that the LG V20 might be worth looking at. It has the advantage of being cheap, and it's a 16x9 form factor, with replaceable battery, headphone jack, and an OtterBox case (which I don't see any mention of for any Xiaomi phones).

 

You can buy them online, the real problem is whether they have LTE bands used by your carrier.

I'm personally not completely satisfied with Hacker's keyboard even on 6.4"; typing on 5.7" portait will probably be pretty hard unless you use the compact layout, and landscape won't be stellar either.

There's even more important problem with V20 - old phones are abandoned by both manufacturers and ROM developers, so your device will become insecure to use for anything meaningful pretty soon. Treble addresses this, but to a point. So, regardless which phone you end up with, if you want it to last years - buy a new and very popular model with strong community support, not some old and/or unpopular device.

 

The high end phones are just so absurdly expensive. Not to mention that they're actually moving away from what I want in a lot of ways.

In any event, any of these phones will be a lot newer than my current Galaxy Note 2.

 

(Xiaomi again) Pocophone F1 with SD845 is mere $300 for 6GB/64GB version. On the other hand it's 6.19", and with a notch - but at least microSD & 3.5 are there, unlike most other flagships.

As for frequencies - Xiaomi phones I mentioned support only one of three LTE Bands your carrier uses - B41. B25 & B26 support is missing. They make more expensive phones with your LTE bands supported, but those are also missing microSD slot & 3.5mm jack and have smaller batteries. Huawei supports B26 only; if you decide to go with LG V20, make sure to choose correct model LS997 (Sprint) - otherwise you may end up with a device that completely lacks support for any LTE band of your carrier.

OnePlus 6T & 6 are great flagship devices with full support of your carrier's LTE bands. While having 3.5mm jack, both lack card slot sadly.

You can check frequencies used by different carriers here.

 

LG q stylo is a great mid ranger. Also, the keytwo LE. another great one. I am done with flag ship phones after my iPhone 8 goes away.

 

That looks like a possibility. Just need to find someone who makes a hard shell armored case for it (OtterBox doesn't; I've found cases for other phones but not specifically the Q Stylus Plus)

 

There are a couple of off brand ones. Great thing about the Q is it's ip67 already.

 

ip67?

 

water resistant. the same rating as the iPhone. Not bad for a phone that cost less than 1/4 of the current iPhone.

There are so many awesome mid prices phones now, that Unless you are a massive power user, a flagship is just a huge waste of money.

 

I want the case for protection against dropping the phone. I like the OtterBox because the rim of the case extends above the glass. I want to find a similar case for anything I buy.

 

Like I said, there are a few off brand cases like that. You just have to look.

 

BTW, Otterbox does make a commuter case for the LG q stylo. It may be listed under the stylo 4, but the case is the same.

 

There are many options of rugged rubberized cases for any more or less popular smartphone on eBay, for less than $5.

 

Just wanted to drop in and on att with the dual Sim LG v20 just got the OS update this morning. Haven't downloaded yet but plan to when I get off work this afternoon.

 

That V20 is such a nice phone. I think im going to do what I wanted to do for a while now and gather some older phones for a little collection. I also want every sim enabled blackberry. Being Canadian, and all.

 

Yeah I like my v20 I don't need anything else to be honest. Once support dries up I'll go custom rom but for now nova launcher takes care of me for the most part.

The security update I just got also bumped me up to android 8.0 finally and security level is November 1, 2018.

 

Nice. Nova Launcher even made my OG note feel snappy. But total lack of app support at this point just means it's a no go anymore

 

I prefer aosp like roms but going to wait until someone can have the secondary screen working. I actually use that a lot and enjoy the feature.

When support keels over which is likely considering they ignored the phone up til now since launch I'll likely just have to suck it up and lose the secondary screen if it's not supported by then. Could be working now but haven't checked in a while...

I ride my bike to work so I strobe the flashlight towards the ground, track my mileage for calories burned and also listen to music. Couldn't be happier.