Coming from a Galaxy Note 4, which of these phone options would be best?

[nuraman00]

I've had trouble from moving on from my Galaxy Note 4, because it has everything I like on it.

It's been hard to find a phone with the same features.

Question: Is Snapdragon better than Mediatek?

Question: Is side mounted finger print sensor easy to use? I'm coming from a front mounted one.

This is what I'm looking for in a new phone:

* Works with AT&T. Preferably 5G.

* RGB LED notification light. Should be used both to display charging status (green = charged; red = low battery), and apps (blue - SMS; white = WhatsApp; yellow = SnapChat; pink = Lyft)

A screen flash or camera flash is not as good of an implementation of notification alerts as a RGB notification light.

Neither is an always-on screen.

Edge lighting is ok, but not as good as notification light. A notification light works out of the box. Edge lighting requires configuring. Plus edge lighting is too distracting.

* Size = about the same length as my Galaxy Note 4, or smaller. Not much bigger. I am going to be very strict on size.

Galaxy Note 4 = 153.5 mm.

This phone was already big enough.

* Headphone jack. I have headphones I like that sound great. I want to keep using them.

* microSD slot.

* Fingerprint sensor.

* Good screen (preferably glass)

* Nice to have: removable battery. The options are getting limited, so I may have to drop this.

For someone that's kept his phone for 7+ years, it's so much easier to replace the battery after 12 - 17 months when the battery degrades.

* Nice to have: Stylus. Coming from a Note 4 phone, it would be nice to have another phone with a stylus. But I also have a Tab S4 tablet with a stylus, so I can always use that instead too.

Sony Xperia 5 IV:

Length: 156
Chipset: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
Battery: 5000mAh
Display: 1080 x 2520, OLED
RAM: 8 GB RAM
OS: Android 12, up to 13.

Sony Xperia 10 IV:

Length: 153
Chipset: Snapdragon 695 5G
Battery: 5000mAh
Display: 1080 x 2520, OLED
RAM: 6 GB RAM
OS: Android 12

Sharp Aquos Zero6:

Length: 158
Chipset: Snapdragon 750G 5G
Battery: 4010mAh
Display: 1080 x 2340, OLED
RAM: 8 GB RAM
OS: Android 11

Have to use edge lighting:

* Galaxy a52s 5G

Length: 159.9
Chipset: Snapdragon 778G 5G
Battery: 4500mAh
Display: 1080x2400, Super AMOLED
RAM: 4 - 8 GB RAM
OS: Android 11, up to 12.

OnePlus Nord N20 5G

Length: 159.9
Chipset: Snapdragon 695 5G
Battery: 4500mAh
Display: 1080 x 2400, AMOLED
RAM: 6 GB RAM
OS: Android 11

Motorola Moto G82

Length: 160.9
Chipset: Snapdragon 695 5G
Battery: 5000mAh
Display: 1080 x 2400, AMOLED
RAM: 6-8 GB RAM
OS: Android 12, up to 13

Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G

Length: 168.9 (too big)
Chipset: Snapdragon 695 5G
Battery: 5000mAh
Display: 1080 x 2460, LCD
RAM: 6-8 GB RAM
OS: Android 12, up to 13

Removable Battery:

Samsung Galaxy Xcover Pro (might not be 5G)

Length: 159.9
Chipset: Exynos 9611
Battery: 4050mAh
Display: 1080x2340, LCD
RAM: 4 GB RAM
OS: Android 10, up to 11

Samsung Galaxy Xcover6 Pro

Length: 168.8 (too big)
Chipset: Snapdragon 778G 5G
Battery: 4050mAh
Display: 1080 x 2408, LCD
RAM: 6 GB RAM
OS: Android 12

Motorola Moto E6s

Length: 155.6
Chipset: Mediatek MT6762 Helio P22
Battery: 3000 mAh
Display: 720x1560, LCD (I don't think it's worth getting a device that's not full HD)
RAM: 2 - 4 GB RAM
OS: Android 9

 

[nuraman00]

How important is it that I get a 5G phone?

I have a limited data plan. Therefore, 90% of the time I use Wi Fi.

I only use data as needed. So shared ride apps; quick lookup of something at a store.

Setting a DVR recording that I forgot to on wi fi.

So most months, I use < 200 MB of data (yes that's MB, not GB).

Will I notice better phone call quality on 5G?

If I don't use mobile data very much, then should I expand my options to non 5G phones?

 

[nuraman00]

Is Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 better or worse than Snapdragon 888?

Seems close.

https://nanoreview.net/en/soc-compare/qualcomm-snapdragon-875-vs-qualcomm-snapdragon-8-gen-1

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

OK... Personally from that list I'd get the sony5 IV (did they really name it that? what is wrong with them...) just because it's the most modern and most likely to get updated

Honestly though, I'd recommend modifying your "needs". MicroSD cards suck, and are rightly dying in high end phones. If you really want wired headphones, get a DAC.You can use an app like holey light to simulate a notification LED. You shouldn't have to make these concessions, but it is worth considering because you're going to have to one day anyway.

5G isn't even remotely important to someone with your use case. If you're planning on keeping it for over 3 years you may want to get it anyway because there's no way to know how things will look in half a decade, but I strongly doubt you will ever need or use it.

the 8Gen1 is a year more modern than the 888, but in daily use the difference is unnoticable, especially if you're used to something as antiquated as the Note 4.

 

[B. Diddy]

Qualcomm Snapdragon chips will generally be better than Mediatek, although the latter have been catching up in terms of performance (especially their higher end Dimensity chips).

My experience with side-mounted FPS is with my Samsung Galaxy A32 5G -- I find it noticeably less accurate than previous phones with a rear sensor (Pixel 3 XL) or under-screen sensor (Pixel 6 Pro and my current Pixel 7 Pro). I have to repeat the unlock attempt more often with the Samsung.

I agree with fuzzylumpkin, 5G isn't that important right now, but pretty much all new phones that aren't dirt-cheap entry-level devices will come with 5G. This question is more important if you're looking at the used/refurbished market.

I don't think you'll find a phone these days that has everything in your wishlist. One phone I didn't see on your list is the ASUS Zenfone 9, which has gotten pretty much universal rave reviews.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Qualcomm Snapdragon chips will generally be better than Mediatek, although the latter have been catching up in terms of performance (especially their higher end Dimensity chips).

My experience with side-mounted FPS is with my Samsung Galaxy A32 5G -- I find it noticeably less accurate than previous phones with a rear sensor (Pixel 3 XL) or under-screen sensor (Pixel 6 Pro and my current Pixel 7 Pro). I have to repeat the unlock attempt more often with the Samsung.

I agree with fuzzylumpkin, 5G isn't that important right now, but pretty much all new phones that aren't dirt-cheap entry-level devices will come with 5G. This question is more important if you're looking at the used/refurbished market.

I don't think you'll find a phone these days that has everything in your wishlist. One phone I didn't see on your list is the ASUS Zenfone 9, which has gotten pretty much universal rave reviews.

I had similar issues with the fingerprint sensor on my S10e, but the ones on my Tab S8 and Flip 4 are flawless. considerably better than the sensors on my S21 Ultra and pixel 6. So hopefully it's an issue that has been resolved.

 

[nuraman00]

Qualcomm Snapdragon chips will generally be better than Mediatek, although the latter have been catching up in terms of performance (especially their higher end Dimensity chips).

My experience with side-mounted FPS is with my Samsung Galaxy A32 5G -- I find it noticeably less accurate than previous phones with a rear sensor (Pixel 3 XL) or under-screen sensor (Pixel 6 Pro and my current Pixel 7 Pro). I have to repeat the unlock attempt more often with the Samsung.

I agree with fuzzylumpkin, 5G isn't that important right now, but pretty much all new phones that aren't dirt-cheap entry-level devices will come with 5G. This question is more important if you're looking at the used/refurbished market.

I don't think you'll find a phone these days that has everything in your wishlist. One phone I didn't see on your list is the ASUS Zenfone 9, which has gotten pretty much universal rave reviews.

Thanks. The Zenfone 9 was ruled out because it didn't have a microSD card slot.

I love the size though, as it's actually smaller than my Note 4 (but still big enough).

 

[nuraman00]

OK... Personally from that list I'd get the sony5 IV (did they really name it that? what is wrong with them...) just because it's the most modern and most likely to get updated

Honestly though, I'd recommend modifying your "needs". MicroSD cards suck, and are rightly dying in high end phones. If you really want wired headphones, get a DAC.You can use an app like holey light to simulate a notification LED. You shouldn't have to make these concessions, but it is worth considering because you're going to have to one day anyway.

5G isn't even remotely important to someone with your use case. If you're planning on keeping it for over 3 years you may want to get it anyway because there's no way to know how things will look in half a decade, but I strongly doubt you will ever need or use it.

the 8Gen1 is a year more modern than the 888, but in daily use the difference is unnoticable, especially if you're used to something as antiquated as the Note 4.

I have no issues with using a microSD card. They've convenient to me, and I like having storage that's not tied to a device.

Ok, just looked at a demo of Holey Light. It seems decent. Still fairly discreet too, unlike an app which lights up the entire perimeter of the phone.

Thanks for confirming that 5G isn't important.

Thanks for confirming that I wouldn't notice much difference between the Snapdragon 8G1 or 888.

Having to use a DAC seems like a hassle. I don't want a setup that takes up more space, even if a DAC isn't that big in itself.

I agree that the naming of the Sony 5 IV is horrible. That naming convention is so confusing.

 

[nuraman00]

So if price isn't an issue, because I keep my phones long term, is there any reason not to get a Xperia 5 IV?

Seems like it has everything, excluding the "nice to have".

 

[nuraman00]

Qualcomm Snapdragon chips will generally be better than Mediatek, although the latter have been catching up in terms of performance (especially their higher end Dimensity chips).

My experience with side-mounted FPS is with my Samsung Galaxy A32 5G -- I find it noticeably less accurate than previous phones with a rear sensor (Pixel 3 XL) or under-screen sensor (Pixel 6 Pro and my current Pixel 7 Pro). I have to repeat the unlock attempt more often with the Samsung.

I agree with fuzzylumpkin, 5G isn't that important right now, but pretty much all new phones that aren't dirt-cheap entry-level devices will come with 5G. This question is more important if you're looking at the used/refurbished market.

I don't think you'll find a phone these days that has everything in your wishlist. One phone I didn't see on your list is the ASUS Zenfone 9, which has gotten pretty much universal rave reviews.

Did any of the phones I listed have a Mediatek Dimensity?

 

[nuraman00]

Also, thoughts on the Moto G Stylus, both the 2020 version, and the 2022 version?

The 2020 one is within my preferred size range, 158.6.

But, compared to the Xperia 5 IV, is the following true?

* I'd be getting a moderately worse display, because it's LCD compared to Xperia's OLED.
* How much worse is its Snapdragon 665? Is the Snapdragon 665 even worse than my Note 4's Snapdragon 805?
* Can its stylus remotely control a camera?

If it can't, then I don't think I'm interested, because it probably can't do much that my Galaxy Tab S4 tablet can't already do.

Compared to the 2022 Moto G Stylus 5G, is the following true?

* Same comments about the display, since it's LCD?
* How does its Snapdragon 480 5G compared to the Xperia 5 IV's Snapdragon? How does its Snapdragon compared to my Note 4's Snapdragon?
* The size is out of my preferred range, at 169.5 mm.

 

[nuraman00]

Any thoughts on either a Sharp Aquos Zero6, or the Sharp Aquos sense 5G?

The Zero6 has an optical fingerprint sensor.

The sense 5G has a front mounted one.

The Zero6 has an OLED.

The sense 5G has a LCD.

Are there attributes that are worse than the Xperia 5 IV?

https://www.gsmarena.com/sharp_aquos_zero6-11846.php

https://www.gsmarena.com/sharp_aquos_sense5g-11845.php

 

[nuraman00]

I'm reading about a problem some have with some Xperia phones, where they get a "too many failed login attempts" error if the phone is in someone's pocket, or someone has their hand in their pocket.

I have never had that problem with my Note 4. It never triggers the fingerprint sensor when I don't want it to.

Can anyone speak to this error? Is it common for other phones too? Is it related to the location of the fingerprint sensor? Or the fingerprint sensor style?

 

[nuraman00]

Are there stores like a Best Buy or something where I can demo a phone in the store? Try the fingerprint sensor, put the phone in my pocket, etc.

 

[B. Diddy]

Did any of the phones I listed have a Mediatek Dimensity?

No -- I was just making a general statement. The only Mediatek phone you mentioned has a Helio P22T, which is ok, but not a powerhouse (and it's getting a little old these days).

I'd say the Xperia 5 IV (geez, what an awkward name!) is probably your best bet. Unfortunately, there aren't many places you can go to try phones that aren't from the major companies like Google, Samsung, Moto, or OnePlus. I can't remember the last time I saw a Sony phone in person -- maybe at Fry's, about 7 or 8 years ago?

 

[nuraman00]

No -- I was just making a general statement. The only Mediatek phone you mentioned has a Helio P22T, which is ok, but not a powerhouse (and it's getting a little old these days).

I'd say the Xperia 5 IV (geez, what an awkward name!) is probably your best bet. Unfortunately, there aren't many places you can go to try phones that aren't from the major companies like Google, Samsung, Moto, or OnePlus. I can't remember the last time I saw a Sony phone in person -- maybe at Fry's, about 7 or 8 years ago?

Thanks.

When there was a work meeting late in 2021, a coworker mentioned how he has a Sony phone, because they don't follow a lot of industry trends. So that piqued my interest last year. I didn't see his phone, but it's the only other person I know right now that has one.

After doing more research, I'm less concerned about the fingerprint sensor now. There's a setting where you can tell it to only detect the fingerprint if the display is on first. That should reduce a lot of potential unintended scans.

Just to help with my understanding of chipsets, do you have a response to this post?

https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=1051908&p=7115057&viewfull=1#post7115057

Lastly, what determines the out of the box colors for a notification light? For example, on my Galaxy Note 4, SnapChat is yellow; Lyft is pink.

Would they behave similarly on a different phone, like an Xperia 5?

I like those colors. They make sense to me, based on those apps' logos.

There's probably a 3rd party app to control the colors. But it's best if I like the colors out of the box, so it's one less thing to configure or install.

 

[B. Diddy]

The Snapdragon 665 is a solid midrange CPU, but the 805 should still be significantly better. The 480 5G probably also won't compare to the 805, although it sounds like it's a good CPU for budget phones, compared with historically anemic CPUs that budget phones used to always get.

I can only speak from what I read about -- I haven't had firsthand experience with most of the devices you mentioned.

 

[nuraman00]

The Snapdragon 665 is a solid midrange CPU, but the 805 should still be significantly better. The 480 5G probably also won't compare to the 805, although it sounds like it's a good CPU for budget phones, compared with historically anemic CPUs that budget phones used to always get.

I can only speak from what I read about -- I haven't had firsthand experience with most of the devices you mentioned.

Yeah that's fine.

I wanted to confirm whether the lower the Snapdragon number, the worse the CPU. And you seem to have confirmed that.

So that means even the Snapdragon 805 on my Note 4, is better than some CPUs on some phones now.
I wasn't sure, because the Snapdragon 805 has a 28mm transistor size, while the Snapdragon 665 is 11 nm.

But I guess still, the higher the Snapdragon number, the better. So the 805 from my Note 4, with its 28 mm transistor size, would be better than the 665 with its 11 nm size?

Also, I confirmed that the Moto G Stylus stylus itself can't remotely control a camera. So it can't do anything that my Tab S4 tablet can't already do.

So I don't want it.

One more question about displays, to further my understanding. In general, are OLED or Super AMOLED better than LCD?

And one more thing popped up: A Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite.

The Note 10 Lite actually had a headphone jack, and expandable storage:

https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note10_lite-10003.php

The drawbacks, compared to the Xperia 5 IV, are that the size is a little bigger than I want; the battery life is a little worse; and it stops at Android 12, compared to Xperia 5 IV's Android 13.

How much worse is the Note 10 Lite's Exynos 9810, compared to the Xperia 5 IV's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1?

I could, get a "nice to have" item on my list, with a stylus. This one is bluetooth capable, so it should be able to remotely control a camera.

In reality, this will be something I use rarely, but it is kind of cool to have. However, if the CPU is much worse, then there's no point.

Some of these tests make the Snapdragon look 2x as good:

https://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/compare_cpu-qualcomm_snapdragon_8_gen_1-vs-samsung_exynos_9810

 

[B. Diddy]

That's a good question about older 800 series Snapdragons vs current 600 and 700 series. I don't know the details about direct comparisons, but I know the 700 series is pretty good, and might be comparable to the older 800 series (although probably not faster per se). The newer chips are also generally more power efficient, so battery drains less and the phone gets less hot.

OLED and AMOLED will typically look better than LCD, with more vivid colors and deeper blacks.

 

[nuraman00]

That's a good question about older 800 series Snapdragons vs current 600 and 700 series. I don't know the details about direct comparisons, but I know the 700 series is pretty good, and might be comparable to the older 800 series (although probably not faster per se). The newer chips are also generally more power efficient, so battery drains less and the phone gets less hot.

OLED and AMOLED will typically look better than LCD, with more vivid colors and deeper blacks.

Thanks. And what do you think about the Exynos 9810, which the Note 10 Lite would have, compared to the Xperia 5 IV's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1?