this post was submitted on 23 May 2025
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Android

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[–] Blaze@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

If you are looking for a device smaller than 155mm from at least 2023, you can choose between

  • Google (subpar hardware)
  • Xiaomi (don't allow third-party launchers)
  • Motorola Edge 50 Neo (subpar chipset)
  • Sony (overpriced)
  • Samsung

https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2023&nHeightMax=155&nRamMin=6000&idOS=2

Edit: Xiaomi allows third-party lauchers but blocks gestures navigation.

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

xiaomi doesn't allow third party launchers anymore?? what a shitty change. since when is that?

also, I would rather have "subpar" hardware and a decent OS than trendy hardware and all the bloat and datamining of the world. but that honestly excludes most phones.

[–] Blaze@piefed.social 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

To be precise, Xiaomi OS allows you to change launchers, but you can't use navigation gestures with them, you have to use the 3-buttons. It's a deal breaker for quite a few people, and it's a shame, because besides that the phones are great on paper.

The decision between the hardware and the OS is personal. I got a S23 recently because I wanted a smaller phone, it's great so far.

I considered Pixels for a while, but on top of the subpar hardware the fact that you can't remove the Google search bar from the Pixel launcher is still crazy to me.

I've had a Motorola 30 Fusion for a while, it's a great device. If the Edge 50 Neo had a better chipset, that would have been my go-to.

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

you can't remove the Google search bar from the Pixel launcher is still crazy to me.

yeah that's crazy, but it's relatively easy to fix compared to deep rooted bloat and whatnot in the system. the pixels even have good support for some alt ROMs, that can't be told about most samsungs, so you are basically forced to use their software

[–] Blaze@piefed.social 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I unbloated the S23 quite quickly, it's not as bad as I thought it would be.

Pixels have indeed good support for alt ROMS (the grapheneOS support almost made me get one), but the battery issue seem to happen quite often:

https://old.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/1jorwd3/battery_megathread_april_2025/mnybfar/

[–] Amir@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

After about 13 years of experience with a lot of Android phones, I'm never buying anything other than Google Pixels again. Every other manufacturer just fucks up the software so badly I can't deal with it.

And no this is not an ad, I hate the state of Android atm, but it is what it is.

[–] Blaze@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

To each their own. My main issues with Google is the subpar chipset and the short battery life. Also the fact that you can't remove the Google search bar from the Pixel launcher.

https://www.androidpolice.com/google-pixel-9-needs-great-battery-life/

https://old.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/1jorwd3/battery_megathread_april_2025/mnybfar/

[–] Amir@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You can change the Google Search bar to another search engine, at least in Europe. You can't remove it entirely, but I just tried it and I can set it to DuckDuckGo

[–] Blaze@piefed.social 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

To each their own, but not being able to just remove it just seems weird to me.

[–] Amir@lemmy.ml 1 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

That's a decent complaint, but making that a deciding factor for which smartphone to buy seems like shooting yourself in the food because the cheese was too orange-colored when choosing a sandwich

[–] Blaze@piefed.social 1 points 5 hours ago

The battery life and hardware were definitely bigger factors.