Talk to me about cell phones

So I have been a big fan of LG smartphones because of the excellent built in audio and a headphone port. My LG G8 ports barely holds the charger or headphones and the back is cracked. It is time to find a replacement. So talk to me about Android options. I will probably buy a refurb unit off eBay like I have done the last few times. I want a phone that takes great video. So what would people suggest?

Additional question, can you plug in a USB DAC for headphones and charge the phone?

Edit: have a G8 not G6

So the second question is yes you can. There are many adapters out there. Just search USB c to AUX adapter and you will see it. 

I can say I'm disappointed with the latest Samsung phones. They went cheap on the glass and scratches way too easy vs previous generations. The S20's are the last generation that have the ability to add a memory card to it if that's important. I download a lot of music/podcasts so it's big for me. 

I have had very good experiences with the Moto G line.  I currently carry an older Moto G7 Power.  In Moto-terms, Power means largest battery.  It is a very good battery, easy two days with lots of real use.  I charge it daily but I often go to bed with more than 60% power remaining.  

Moto's G-line is their mid grade line and I find them to be a great value for me.  The camera are just "good" not "great" or "amazing" like some of the top line phones but that is fine for me.  They are also around $200 and not around $1k.  

https://www.motorola.com/us/smartphones-moto-g-family#

I buy the handsets directly from Moto, unlocked.  $200 buys you a lot of phone...new.   

Dig deep into the specs but most MotoG phones do not have NFC.  That is the function that allows for "tap to pay" functions, if that is important to you. 

I've been happy with my OnePlus 6T in terms of capability per dollar, but you'd have to look up reviews from people who know what they're doing as to video quality, and it doesn't have a physical headphone port.

We're a few generations later now, though I doubt that port has returned.

I just replaced my Pixel 4a (knocked it off the counter on accident a few months ago and cracked the screen, and it's an old enough design it wasn't worth replacing.) with a Pixel 6 a few weeks. I buy outright, but you may look at the additional benefits of Pixel pass and see if those are worth it to you.

Pics/video are really good, noticeably faster than the Pixel 4a, 5G is great when not on WiFi, and depending on usage, I can take the phone off the charger from being on overnight and not need to charge it until the evening of the FOLLOWING day. If you're a power user or play games and such, you'll probably only get a full day out of it.

No 1/8" headphone jack, but there are plenty of adapters for that. 

And since I use Google Fi, my phone bill is CHEAP. For last month, it was $26.73. However, if you're the type that uses a lot of data when not on WiFi it may not be as cheap. But since WiFi is pretty ubiquitous, it's not difficult to find a connection if you aren't in your car. 

1) look at Swappa.com instead of eBay.  Great customer service.  Bought a two year old iPhone for the wife through them, couldn't get it on the network cause it had a history of three (?!?!?!?!?!) unpaid accounts attached to it.  Filed a complaint, they snagged the money from the girl's account and when I provided a tracking number they returned the money to them and banned her from selling.

Since then I have bought two or three from them with no issues.

2) Oneplus was good when released, I had the One+, but by now they are kinda just another phone company without the side industry support you see for others (case manufacturers and such)

Pixel phones are pretty solid, usually the best or second best camera on the market at the time of release.

Samsung is who I've gone with for the past two phones.  Pretty happy with their Galaxy S series.

All of that being said, I'd look for storage space on the phone and if you can upgrade it with an SD card, and the best camera you can find.  You'll probably find that for one year all the flagship phones are pretty much the same, and once you get a couple years past their release they are fairly affordable 

Make sure whatever phone you buy supports Voice over LTE, AT&T is dropping service for phones that do not, and I got caught out by this last year because both my cheaper android phones didn't have support for it and got booted off the Network.

SO i swapped to a S20FE and AT&T heavily is subsidising the monthly cost of the phone by 50%, so $20 a month added to the bill but AT&T pays $10 a month of it so i pay only $360 for this phone over 36 months instead of $720, which was good enough for me.

Having a phone with 6GB of ram, a big battery and a high refresh rate screen has basically ruined me. I'll probably never go back to low end phones again.. The $500-700 pricepoint is the sweet spot of good features and value in andoird smartphones right now IMHO, but it's still a bunch of money.

"Great video" limits the selection by quite a lot. A lot of phones use the same sensors, but not the same software to process the video before your camera app of choice sees the video. From memory, the phones with the best video quality tend to be the Samsung and Sony flagships, plus IIRC the current Google Pixel (and iPhones, but you asked about Android).

if you're looking at 4K video, make sure that the phone has either enough storage that you don't fill up with other necessities or has expandable storage.

Re OnePlus - I have a 7T Pro, and I like it (especially the peek-a-boo selfie camera - no notch or hole) - and it shoots decent video, but the video quality of my iPhone X that's a few years older is still better.

With all the phone cameras, the quality issues show up when you're trying to take photo and video in darker spaces. All of them will shoot decent video in bright sunlight.

If I were in the market for a phone that shoots good video right now, I'd look at the Sony Xperia 1 ii/iii or Xperia 5 ii/iii.

In reply to John Welsh :

I have a Motorola G7 Power saved for my "android dash" if I ever get around to one.

Couple comments. Regarding the headphone jack, I gave up on that when LG left the market because I don't expect any of them to have particularly good audio if they did have a jack. I have a Chord Mojo DAC/amp and I will probably get a smaller amp/DAC as well.

I will look at Sony and Pixel. I might consider a Samsung Galaxy S20 FE but I have one as my work phone and I kind of don't want to get them confused.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

Thanks. That is a lot of good info.

I'm in a somewhat similar situation looking for a replacement for my Sony X Compact.  I put a premium on small size and did not want to go back to an iPhone.  I just purchased a Google Pixel 5, refurb (described as mint condition with no marks anywhere on the phone) last weekend.  Purchased via Swappa, supposed to be here tomorrow, so this is still developing. 

Kicking myself lightly for not buying a 5 when it was available new in stores.  Seems like an excellent compromise between larger and or more costly phones.  Mine shipped to me with taxes paid came to $470.  Honestly it seems high but other options for less money seemed like more of a roll of the dice of getting a bad phone.

Keep in mind that with older Android phones, getting OS upgrades can be an issue if you don't put a custom ROM on the phone. Older Pixels (5 and older IIRC) only get two years or maybe three years of security updates and a lot of other manufacturers have similar policies. This may or may not be important to you,  obviously. 

pres589 (djronnebaum) said:

I'm in a somewhat similar situation looking for a replacement for my Sony X Compact.  I put a premium on small size and did not want to go back to an iPhone.  I just purchased a Google Pixel 5, refurb (described as mint condition with no marks anywhere on the phone) last weekend.  Purchased via Swappa, supposed to be here tomorrow, so this is still developing. 

Kicking myself lightly for not buying a 5 when it was available new in stores.  Seems like an excellent compromise between larger and or more costly phones.  Mine shipped to me with taxes paid came to $470.  Honestly it seems high but other options for less money seemed like more of a roll of the dice of getting a bad phone.

That does seem really high considering a new Pixel 6 is $599. 

BoxheadTim said:

Keep in mind that with older Android phones, getting OS upgrades can be an issue if you don't put a custom ROM on the phone. Older Pixels (5 and older IIRC) only get two years or maybe three years of security updates and a lot of other manufacturers have similar policies. This may or may not be important to you,  obviously. 

Correct. After 3 years Pixel's stop getting updates. I've found I typically want a new phone with a fresh battery by then anyway though. 

In reply to z31maniac :

Honestly I would rather have the 5.  That $599 also doesn't include the taxes, making it more like $640.  Phone shipped pre-tax is $430.  Buying from what may (or may not!) be more risky avenues would be closer to $350.

As for updates and how long a specific phone is covered, that's always going to be an issue with Android phones, the Pixel series being the best out of any of them.  Also the 4a and new 5a are still being sold new, which may help keep the 5 in updates longer than it would otherwise.

In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :

The 6 is a pretty huge upgrade from the 5. The 5 was an overall disappointment, with minor upgrades over the 4. 

What is your context for great video? If the bar is g6, that's a pretty low bar and most anything will beat it today. If you want the best video, iPhone is the way to go. If you don't mind having the best, I love OnePlus. Currently using a OnePlus 9, but I just bought my parents OnePlus 8s for 200. You're going to have a hard time finding a better for for 200. What is your budget?

Looking at the DXOMark phone camera listings, you have to scroll for a while before you get to anything by Sony. I'd personally go for the newest Pixel or Galaxy you can fit into your budget. We picked my wife up a Pixel 5A last Black Friday for $400, and that's a sweet little phone. And, since it's a mid-range model, it still has a headphone jack. Because yes, removing the headphone jack is a "premium" feature. 

In reply to lnlogauge :

Honestly trying to stay sub-400. I also just realized it is a G8.

Really I want to be able to use it partly shoot some Youtube stuff over time (will also be using a Micro 4/3 camera as well).

I've run OnePlus pros for the last however many years. I've got a 7 pro as a backup and went to a 9 pro not too long ago. My 7 pro still works great but I like new toys. A refurbished or used pro7 would be a great deal and an awesome phone. All the android, none of the bloatware. 

In reply to lnlogauge :

If the 5 was the same size as the smallest 6 I wouldn't have even glanced at it.  I'm not sure what I'd be looking at instead.  Probably another Sony.  If it's not comfortable in my front pocket I'm not considering it.

I kind of wish I could get a brand-new battery from Sony and a pristine Z3 Compact and go off and run a custom ROM.  But I don't need that kind of science project in my life.

AT&T has the S20 FE for $10 a month for 36 months which is cheaper then I am seeing refurbished phones. Any reason I shouldn't? I have one as a work phone and it is pretty decent. Only thing I can see is possibly mixed up my personal and work phone but if I get a different case it should be ok.

In reply to 93EXCivic :

Different case and different screen color/screen saver should help with keeping them separate.  

I don't miss the days of two handsets.  Would it be possible to point your work handset to a free google voice number and then have that google voice number point toward your personal handset?   

In reply to John Welsh :

Maybe. But I kind of appreciate the two being seperate.

One other thing I did forget to mention, the  OnePlus 9 pro has a hasselblad camera setup and can shoot in 8k. It's hands down the best camera I've ever dealt with.