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#1
Seems I'll have to walk the path of evil and buy an Android smartphone.

I'm looking for an Android phone, which fulfils all the following expectations:
  • Can be rooted and the bootloader can be unlocked [may require manual unlocking]
  • at least 5" display [may be a little less but not much]
  • fluidly running Android 5 (may be unofficial but stable) Very likely upgrades to newer Android versions.
And as many as possible from the following ones
  1. Slide-out QWERTY keyboard available. May use BT, NFC, I2C but should be a slide-out. May be be attachable, may be an extra accessory
  2. Drivers decent enough, so as to be able to set up some alternate OS with libhybris. I want to have an open way to migrate to Sailfish/Ubuntu/Plasma when they get mature enough.
  3. Possible to disassemble and replace broken parts DIY, especially the broken screen
  4. A notification LED or an AMOLED display (both appreciated but not required)
  5. At least 16G of built-in space (32G appreciated)
If a phone satisfies both two first requirements (qwerty AND decent drivers), I may even drop the rest of them.

Price is indeed an important factor for me. But I use phones for a very long time, (have used my Nokia N900 for 5 years now) so I may treat the phone as a longer-term investment.

I'll probably spend some time in the terminal, hence I care about the hardware keyboard. I really hate typing on the virtual keyboards.

You know me, I'm a hacker soul - Debian chroot, ssh, vnc. Linux user. I don't really care that much about the looks of the phone

My phones fall a lot on the floor, so I'm not for an ultrafragile phone. I need a decent camera (my current 5MP/720p N900 is ok. I don't count the megapixels, more interested in overall quality). I don't do selfies, don't care about the front camera at all.

I'm a Google-skepticist, so have nothing against it shipping Cyanogen, AOSP, etc as long as the functionality remains the same.

I know about Fairphone2 which fulfils everything but the hardware keyboard (it was mentioned as a possible extension but nothing real appeared yet). And is quite expensive (525€, plus accessories). Is there any chance it gets cheaper during the next year?

Would you suggest anything? Feel free to ask about my attitude to some functionality, which I care about and which not at all.
Thanks!
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Last edited by marmistrz; 2016-07-10 at 17:00.
 

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#2
all your arguments fit perfectly to Fairphone 2 imho.
But aren't 525€ a bit much just to play Pokemon Go
 

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#3
Originally Posted by mosen View Post
all your arguments fit perfectly to Fairphone 2 imho.
But arent 525€ a bit much just to play Pokemon Go?
Wait, let me DuckDuckGo what Pokemon Go is
You'll more often see the Python shell open than a game on my phone

Anything cheaper over there?
If only there were a slide-out hwkb for FP2...

Yep, it's really a lot. But if I bought 300€ smartphone to last 2 years, maybe it's worth to pay more?
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#4
I think that you'll get very disappointed about Android phones since you've using a N900 for 5 years. A Nexus 5 with mutlirom images may fit your needs best.
 

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#5
Oneplus 3 is a pretty neat device that fulfills most of your needs at a good price.
 

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#6
Originally Posted by jellyroll View Post
I think that you'll get very disappointed about Android phones since you've using a N900 for 5 years. A Nexus 5 with mutlirom images may fit your needs best.
I'll surely be. But I need a phone which can browse the web, comfortably ;/

I'll keep the smash-up in post #7
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Last edited by marmistrz; 2016-07-10 at 10:49.
 

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#7
Fairphone 2:
1. No, maybe when Dirk decides to do TOHKBD for FP2, but it's all speculation
2. Yes, fully working
3. Yes, 10/10 iFixit ranking4. Yes
5. Yes, 32 GB.
Price: 525€: a lot!

LG Nexus 5:
1. No
2. RTC alarms and WiFi hotspot functionality missing under Hybris.
4. Yes
5. Yes, 16G or 32G

2 is not bad but not perfect. Using WiFi hotspot from time to time. Are RTC alarms used in (hacker's) everyday life? How severe are the problems in Hybris, are they hard to cope with?
What about 1 and 3 here?

Price: can find something about 200€ in Poland. Really good!

OnePlus 3:
2. Hybris adaptations data present only for OnePlus X and OnePlus One. Any data I've missed? How good are the drivers for OnePlus 3?
4. Yes
5. Yes, 64 GB!

What about 1 and 3?

Pricewise - 400€

OnePlus (other devices)
WileyFox phones

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Last edited by marmistrz; 2016-07-10 at 20:12.
 

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#8
I vote for nexus or onplus for you, even though I think the note series is the best by far.

iPhone have best web experiance out of the Box, simply becouse that all skilled webdevs make sure to have great iOS support, but it have to many trade offs for you.

One phone is simply not enough IF you want it all

The only issue for us is that even if money is no issue, we simply cant have a professional slider with latest tech. I would easily pay $2000 for a fully integrated slider for note series or iPhone plus.
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I don't trust poeple without a Nokia n900...

Last edited by Dave999; 2016-07-10 at 11:56.
 

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#9
Originally Posted by Dave999 View Post
I vote for nexus or onplus for you, even though I think the note series is the best by far.

iPhone have best web experiance out of the Box, simply becouse that all skilled webdevs make sure to have great iOS support, but it have to many trade offs for you.

One phone is simply not enough IF you want it all

The only issue for us is that even if money is no issue, we simply cant have a professional slider with latest tech. I would easily pay $2000 for a fully integrated slider for note series or iPhone plus.
iPhone?? No, no, no. I want my device to be hackable. Not hard-locked. Heard about fully locked bootloaders on iCrap. No, no, still shuddering.

Dave, do know something about 1 or 3 in case of these two devices?
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#10
There're no BT keyboards for the N5 AFAIK. The screen is not that easy to replace
 

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