Best recent phone hardware for install ?

domubpkm

@tricky Ubuntu Touch is not yet stable enough on the Volla for everyone: this is my case, I don't have internet ! Very annoying ! Annoying bugs need to be fixed. https://github.com/HelloVolla/ubuntu-touch-beta-tests/issues
On the other hand, with the same SIM card, Volla OS, which allows you to install android apps, is very stable and everything works very well. So the Volla experience is still interesting for me now.

tricky

@domubpkm Thanks for sharing this info. Then why this phone is on second place on https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io/ ?

domubpkm

@tricky Indeed, it is my experience, maybe for other users and different SIM cards, there is less of a problem. I specify that my UT tests are on the last RC channel, i didn't try OTA-14 and i don't know if it's work with OTA-14.

GT

@mito77

@domubpkm
I can recommend the Volla Phone with UbPorts (https://volla.online/). It is a versatile phone and quite stable here. I did not encounter any bigger issues.

However, there are some open bugs here:
https://github.com/HelloVolla/ubuntu-touch-beta-tests/issues
I hope that the development team will iron them out.

Here is an overview of the current implementation status:
https://github.com/HelloVolla/ubuntu-touch-beta-tests/wiki/High-level-epic-overview-for-Ubuntu-Touch-port

wgarcia

@htc_tattoo

scienz

@mito77

I just got my Mi A2. I would also suggest the Pocophone F1 which is supported by alot of Custom ROMs and according to a thread I found through googling the support of Ubuntu Touch is getting better.

These two devices are pretty well equipped and you can pretty easily replace the battery because the case is not glued together.

Peter Gamma

For me personally, from the information I gathered here in the forum and on youtube, Xiami Redmi 7, Xiaomi Redmi Note 7, and Xiaomi Poco F1 are low-lost high quality devices with installation instructions for Ubuntu Touch which are convincing because of their clarity. You can find these devices for an affordable price on ebay, and they are powerful devices which although they are not new, but they are still contemporary.

scienz

@peter-gamma
Although the support for the Redmi (Note) 7 seems better, the Pocophone F1 is a much better phone.
I just unlocked my Mi A2 and I'm still unsure whether I'm installing Ubuntu Touch or crdroid.
According to the UBports Installer I have to downgrade my phone first before I can install UB Touch.

One think I want to add is that the Pocophone supports micro SD-Cards while the Mi A2 does not.

Peter Gamma

@scienz Thanks for sharing your experience. The Poco F1 is really a great phone. Recommendation for EEGLAB is for instance octa core processor and 8 GB RAM. Once upon a time such a computer costed thousands of dollars. Now the Pco F1 has these specs and you can buy it on ebay for around 200 USD and wear it in your pocket.

The Redmi 7A is also easy to find on ebay. But according to the developer of the instruction to install Ubuntu Touch, you have to downgrade the Android version before the installation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV3SAWdxhwU&t=1281s

Unfortunately, he turned back to Android, and could not test whether Bluetooth is working. A Wiki for the different Xiaomi models would be helpful which confirms what is working and what is not working.

Peter Gamma

Xiaomi Poco F1 is sold for US $115,50 on ebay:

https://www.ebay.ch/itm/Xiaomi-Pocophone-F1-64-GB-Graphite-Black-Unlocked/324430926662

scienz

@peter-gamma

here are my pros and cons of the Mi A2 and the Pocophone.

Pros Mi A2:

lays better in the hand because phone is slightly smaller
display seems to be a little bit better than on the Pocophone
supported by the UBports Installer
4GB or 6GB of RAM, 32GB/64GB/128GB of ROM
easy to open, 2 screws close to the USB port, case is not glued
replacement parts available on ebay
got a used Mi A2 with 6GB of RAM and 128GB ROM that is in a pretty good shape for 85 Euro on Ebay. I was very lucky. Good used ones are available for around 100 Euro and upwards as of now.
Unlock process more straight forward over fastboot and ADB. No regristration is necessary.

Cons Mi A2:

no Micro SD card Slot
no headphone jack, USB-C to headphone jack adapter comes with the phone
Snapdragon 660 is ok

Pros Pocophone F1:

Micro SD card slot(shared with second SIM slot), headphone jack
Pocophone is still a fast phone with the Snapdragon 845
6GB or 8GB RAM, 64GB or 128GB or 256GB ROM
easy to open, 2 screws close to the USB port, case is not glued
replacement parts available on ebay
very good support for alot of custom ROMs (crdroid was my favorite so far)

Cons Pocophone F1:

display is not bad but the one on the Mi A2 seems to be slightly better
Phone is a little bit bigger
Unlock process is much more complicated because you need to use the Mi Unlock Tool to do it. For that you need a Mi account, a SIM-card and an email adress. In the past it worked best with an Gmail account. There were problems with other mail providers! When you 'apply' for the unlock you have to wait 3 days to actually unlock the phone.
price for a used phone seems to be higher for a used pocophone. Once I was lucky I got one in a nearly perfect shape for 100 Euro. But prices for used pocophones vary between 120 and 200 Euro. The 8GB RAM / 256GB ROM version is much more seldom and also more expensive.

Peter Gamma

@scienz many thanks for sharing your experience .

Peter Gamma

@peter-gamma

pro of Xiaomi Redmi 7 Onclite:

GITHUB where you can write issues:

https://github.com/Vin4ter/Ubports-Onclite-redmi7/blob/master/README.md

this is the simplest WIKI

arubislander

@scienz said in Best recent phone hardware for install ?:

The 8GB RAM / 256GB ROM

What do you mean with ROM? Why would a device have differing amounts of Read Only Memory?

scienz

@arubislander
With ROM some people mean the flash memory. Yes, it is not correct but it is shorter.

scienz

@peter-gamma

BTW, I wasn't succesful installing UB Touch with UBports Installer on my Mi A2. The installation was stuck on the point where you boot into the UB Touch Recovery and the UBports Installer should be copying the UB Touch image file to the phone. I waited 2 hours and nothing happened.
Maybe I should install it manually using TWRP like I saw it in a video.

Peter Gamma

I bought a PinePhone. Shipping time was near to a month, shipping costs where 30 USD through DHL, import taxes where another 30 USD. Then I saw the Xiaomi devices with Ubuntu touch. I live in Switzerland. I bought a Xiaomi Redmi 7 onclite in UK for around 100 USD, and a Xiaomi Poco F1 in Switzerland for 50 USD.

The Xiaomi 7 from UK was sent back by Swiss duty because of the lack of an invoice. Then she sent it by UPC, but to the wrong adress. Now she sends the phone by postal service and sent me the tracking number, and I will soon have the device. Still faster than to wait for a PinePhone.

I sold my PinePhone on ebay before I used it, negotiated with two guys from Italy and one from Brazil about the best shipping method for the PinePhone. But no method was really satisfying.

Finally I could sell my PinePhone to a guy in nothern Italy who wants to make a youtube review about the PinePhone. He will have the phone I guess in a view days. Thanks to Swiss post.

But if Ubuntu Touch works for daily use on Xiaomi devices, why then should one buy a PinePhone? Long shipping time, high import taxes, little power. You can get a Xiaomi Poco F1 on ebay for half the price of a PinePhone if you are lucky, and it has an 8 core processor instead of 4 cores of the PinePhone, and it has 6 Giga RAM instead of the 2 of the PinePhone.

Keneda

@peter-gamma said in Best recent phone hardware for install ?:

But if Ubuntu Touch works for daily use on Xiaomi devices, why then should one buy a PinePhone?

Because :

Open source hardware
Build by open source people
Run pure uTouch, not any traces of androïd and closed source blobs here
You don't need an atomic bomb to run uTouch, and my old MX4 thanks this
Price for a such little "company" is not so high, you can't compare prices from a worldwide capitalist company that product millions of smartphones a year to an open source hardware association that sells its hardware almost the price it costs them...

Peter Gamma

@keneda open source hardware and open source people are fine, but when you look on ebay, it is flooded with Xiaomi devices, and they have a new model every now and then. Do not devices with the best price performance ratio win, and will survive on the long term?

Keneda

@peter-gamma said in Best recent phone hardware for install ?:

Do not devices with the best price performance ratio win, and will survive on the long term?

You can't compare Xiaomi (Monstruously big Chineese capitalist company, billions device each year, enormous profit, economic model based on software obsolescence) and Pine64 (little association of people that design and product open source hardware on a basis of thousands devices, sold quasi without profit).

We don't need more chineese androïd devices that could make skynet alive with its power.

We need open source hardware, with open source software (drivers), with enough power to run smoothly uTouch and all its apps, and get "lifetime" support (with nothing from shi**y androïd).