Which phone model would be best for my requirement?

A Former User

@lakotaubp Thanks, yes I have always kept an eye on the device side. Xiaomi Merlin is not bad in terms of hardware, but the hardware acceleration is not good. My wish list is not that big after all. Of course I'll stay away from trouble I also look here in the forum where I can help. Happy holidays to you too and all the best for the next year. May Ubuntu Touch really be a success, even if I haven't had such good experiences so far. I also found the operation strange at the beginning, but now it's pretty cool. Nevertheless, I would appreciate it if someone could help me find at least one OTG device. If at least rtl-sdr would run but ok UT will convince me sometime

nero355

@dpitti said in Which phone model would be best for my requirement?:

Dear Community, I have the following question: what should I use as the best device?

My guess : Volla Phone

The following is important to me:
It should have hardware acceleration for almost every video format, music

That is a big issue IMHO because :

Ubuntu Touch has no support for it so far.
Supporting it inside a browser running on your PC or Laptop while you are using a random Linux Distro isn't that easy either!

The only thing that works 100% for sure right now is when you use VLC or Kodi for example.

and most importantly it should have a Snapdragon chipset to be able to use FM radio later on.

I am fan of Snapdragon SoC's too but please note that they have their issues too when it comes to closed source blobs and firmware updates and stuff like that...
Basically not any better than recent MediaTek SoC's

But... ehm... why use FM Radio when there is DAB+ and Internet Radio ?!

The use of Anbox and Waydroid is also important to me.

Any Halium 9 model can do that IIRC

Of course, backing up the installed software is even more important because I'm fed up with having to rebuild the system for three days. This is still common practice with Xiaomi

That's a weird one : What kind of issues are you having exactly ?!

Backup of a while phone is still a difficult thing to do without special tools like TWRP as far as I know...

The end device should not cost 400 euros like the Vollaphone, for example. Of course, I don't want to spoil the device, but my Xiaomi is better in terms of equipment.

I have the same issue with many phones that can run Ubuntu Touch unless I look for them as secondhand/used devices!

A Former User

@nero355 Well until now I could only reset the system to the factory settings if there were serious errors. You can forget the Morph Browser, which does not allow you to log in to the backup for Google or what is intended for something like that. With TWRP I have no idea at all.

If I could somehow get my ZTE Blade a6 for Ubuntu Touch to work, I would be happy. I can get the parts as new for less than 100 euros. This is completely ok for the beginning 3GB Ram 32GB internal memory and 8 core CPU. Above all, this is a compromise with the current prices. But well, I'll take my time to look for good used equipment.

Then I could have left the Xiaomi behind until the development is better. Merlin doesn't really go to Vlc Player. That’s another question for you, why are there so many problems?

The project itself is really good, but different from the PC Ubuntu.

Keneda

@dpitti said in Which phone model would be best for my requirement?:

That’s another question for you, why are there so many problems?

Because that's a so big project with so few people to handle it

A Former User

@keneda Yes, but that's not bad. I'm already looking around for something else. Maybe I'll fine a smartphone so that I can still use UT.

nero355

@dpitti said in Which phone model would be best for my requirement?:

@nero355 Well until now I could only reset the system to the factory settings if there were serious errors.

OK, but what kind of errrors or issues ?!

You can forget the Morph Browser, which does not allow you to log in to the backup for Google or what is intended for something like that.

Ehm... what do you mean exactly ??

Are you trying to backup your phone to Google Drive like you would with some Android phones ?!
That's not possible as far as I know...

With TWRP I have no idea at all.

TWRP is pretty much the only option for backups that I would recommend you to take a look at : It's like creating a complete image of a PC or Laptop in case you are familiar with such tasks

If I could somehow get my ZTE Blade a6 for Ubuntu Touch to work, I would be happy. I can get the parts as new for less than 100 euros. This is completely ok for the beginning 3GB Ram 32GB internal memory and 8 core CPU. Above all, this is a compromise with the current prices. But well, I'll take my time to look for good used equipment.

I have seen OnePlus 5T phones for that price so maybe look into those ?!

Then I could have left the Xiaomi behind until the development is better. Merlin doesn't really go to Vlc Player.

There is (sadly) no VLC for Ubuntu Touch as far as I know ?!

That’s another question for you, why are there so many problems?

Because the whole thing is a mess and the Convergence promise is still far ahead of us sadly...

The project itself is really good, but different from the PC Ubuntu.

One day it might be the same thing but for now : It is what it is...

A Former User

@nero355 Yes, I'm still looking for other devices. Thank you for your tip. For Ubuntu I always have system back to get backups. No, I haven't tried anything with TWRP. But the temptation is great

dizzy

I really really love UT!
I have a PinePhone and I will get a PinePhone Pro today, if you can trust DHL, but UT is still a little bit to unfinished on that device. When can we expect it to work properly on PP, or even more important on PPP?
I'm also wondering what device to buy. I was thinking of a Xiaomi Mi A2 but I'm not sure where to find one. I can't find any of the ones on the list...

Lakotaubp

@dizzy No work will begin on PPP until the move to 20.04 is completed please see the q&a 115 Blog for more details.

https://ubports.com/blog/ubports-news-1/post/ubuntu-touch-q-a-115-3800

dizzy

@lakotaubp Thanks for the link!

nero355

@dizzy said in Which phone model would be best for my requirement?:

I'm also wondering what device to buy.
I was thinking of a Xiaomi Mi A2 but I'm not sure where to find one.

I can't find any of the ones on the list...

I have the same issue at the moment and that's why I think there should be some plan when it comes to the phones that Ubuntu Touch is ported to...

Especially now that there are very good low end phones powered by SD480 SoC's which have become a lot faster than they were before and those phones are often shipped with 4 or 6 GB of RAM and up to 128 GB of storage!

Think of the possibilities!