I want to buy Pixel 3a xl
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I'm going to buy a Pixel 3a xl. What to look for when buying. I want to install Ubuntu Touch
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Not a lot really, just make sure the battery is good. Screen burn may be an issue, my Pixel 3a has screen burn (Google across the centre of the screen) but it isn't really noticeable with UT. I would always get a decent phone case. The number of phones I have replaced the screen on due to not being in a case, especially the Google Nexus 4 and Oneplus 3 (very shiny and slippery).
Don't buy a dead phone unless you have spare parts and want to mess about fault finding. I have enough parts from dead phones to make certain phones and tablets viable for repair.
Pixel, Pixel 2's and Pixel 3(a)s screens aren't too cheap and if the battery is dead, replacing the battery without damaging the screen is difficult.Just some of my observations on the Pixel line up of phones.
Big plus though is that using Google Chrome and the Android recovery add-on makes installing the correct ROM dead easy, which then makes installing UT pretty straightforward.
Best of luck. -
@marekf
Hi, I'm not sûre but you have to check that the phone is unlockable because you have to unlock the bootloader as a first step. I remember some network provider sale some phone and they are locked. -
@marekf I went through several Pixel 3a's before finding one that was unlocked for the bootloader. Some sellers don't understand. They might think that an unlocked SIM is the same thing. I don't think so. I found that the easiest was to buy a phone that had originally been sold directly by Google. I requested the IMEI from the seller and then called Google to have them check the origin of the phone. Some people will have better luck than I did. It was a frustrating learning experience for me.
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Just to add to this, I went through the same process of trying multiple Pixel 3a XL phones before finding the correct one. Tried twice on Ebay and then eventually bought another one from Swappa. At least on Swappa, they categorize them as "unlocked". Received the phone and everything works.
Luckily was able to return both Ebay phones, just annoying to go through the process. Avoid Verizon branded Pixel's at all cost.
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@codenul said in I want to buy Pixel 3a xl:
Avoid Verizon branded Pixel's at all cost.
Their support doesn't help because they think that only their software should be installed on the device and even developers should avoid custom roms because the risks for customers bricking their devices is simply too high.
Even if the device is carrier unlocked, the bootloader remains locked!
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I did like this link
How To Unlock the Bootloader of Pixel 3a and 3a XL
https://thetecheaven.com/how-to-unlock-the-bootloader-of-pixel-3a/ -
@carl Hi, I want to buy an pixel 3a xl too for daily driver. Before I buy it i want some kind of feedback about battery life with waydroid, whats work and where are the problems.
Also I thinking between pixel 3a xl and poco x3 nfc, and for now I don't know which one to choose.
If someone could give me answers, thanks a lot!