Thoughts on new devices to sell at OpenMobile?

General Discussion
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As noted before, with iodé only selling devices to European customers, I started https://openmobile.us to sell devices to customers in the USA (I also sold my first phone to a Canadian customer recently, so maybe “North America” is more accurate).

I started by exclusively selling Pixels, as they are all carrier unlocked and bootloader unlockable / relockable. Plus the hardware is quite good and the “price / performance” ratio is quite decent. BUT I think it is becoming more clear that even if that is true, there are several that “just don’t want to look at the Google splash screen” on their phone when they “de-Google”. So I am digging around to try and find what non Pixels I can add that can be reflashed, have decent supply in the 2nd hand market, etc.

Without further ado, here are the models I am considering adding that I would like some feedback on (too expensive? too old? too big? etc). Note the “Antutu 11 / Price” (bigger number is better) which essentially shows you how much “benchmark performance you get per dollar” maybe I should patent that metric :slight_smile:. Of course older models get a better score here because they are … older! but some newer ones get good scores too because they are insane on the specs (but also pretty expensive).

Device Released YYYY-MM NanoReview Antutu 11 Possible Sale Price Antutu 11 / Price Other Notes
OnePlus 9 2021-03 1118041 $279 possible (maybe a bit more) 1441 8GB / 128GB
Pixel 6 2021-10 1019946 $269 USED (already for sale) 1535 8GB / 128GB
Pixel 7 Pro 2022-10 1158921 $369 USED (already for sale) 1105 12GB / 128GB
Pixel 7 2022-10 1158921 $309 USED (already for sale) 1319 8GB / 128GB
OnePlus 11 2023-01 1752044 $489 USED possible (maybe a bit more) 1157 16GB / 256GB
Pixel 8 Pro 2023-10 1414384 $479 USED (already for sale) 1109 12GB / 128GB
Pixel 8 2023-10 1414384 $479 USED (already for sale) 1298 8GB / 128GB
OnePlus 12 2023-12 2341391 $639 USED 1072 16GB / 512GB
Moto G 5G 2024 2024-03 0521868 $219 USED / $269 NEW (already for sale) 982 4GB/128GB

“Unofficial Build with OTA updates” created by me

headphone jack!
Moto Edge 2024 2024-06 0794701 $324 USED / $399 NEW 966 8GB/256GB

“Unofficial Build with OTA updates” created by me
Pixel 9 2024-08 1499601 $529 USED (already for sale) 1070 12GB / 128GB
Pixel 9 Pro XL 2024-08 1499601 $629 USED (already for sale) 1070 16GB / 128GB
OnePlus 13 2024-11 3099952 $779 USED 1361 16GB / 512GB

Bootnote: What those in North America will already know is that the device market is a bit different here than in Europe. Particularly with some more “budget friendly” brands like Motorola, the models common in Europe aren’t available here at all but very slightly different models are available here (and not there). This means that iodé may not have official builds for them, but if they have LineageOS support then I am creating the unofficial builds (and clearly explain this on my product pages).

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I’m not sure if the models differ other than the telecom’s firmware of course but the oneplus range is still a fairly popular choice over here in Britain. Might not be the case over in mainland Europe as the market is similar over there but not exactly the same. This past three months have been quiet for me too but I moved out three in as many days since the begining of this week, so things might just be back on the up. All three sales were low end though (XZ1, XA2 & a 10), but I’m a planning to move up a gear by offering more of the pdx range with a 10 iv, 10 v, and a 5 iv ready to list over the next couple of days.

Will still keep listing the odd low end model though so long as there are still some cheapskates out there that want to try iode. :wink: The demo’ phones keep going out and could be something you could try to generate some interest Rik, however having said that I have had to put the deposit up to £50 from £36 purely because another one has not been returned despite the fact that they are not exactly in mint condition. Generally speaking they are very cheep phones that have been treated very roughly and strangely still work, but even so I have lost 5 so far.

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The Antutu figures for the oneplus phones are very impressive but the problem is that most people just don’t care. Even the manufacturers are beginning to realise that the limitations of portability have been reached and people that buy phones on the basis of what they can do with them rather than status symbols are already satisfied. Only techie’s hold any regard for Antutu and they are more than capable of flashing their own phones.

If you want a phone as a status symbol you buy an Apple. I repaired my niece’s Apple 13 maxpro for her whilst she was away on holiday so I had it for a fortnight. Decided to stick a SIM in it to try to see what all the fuss is all about and was very disappointed. Software wise it had all the things you would expect to see on a similar model of Android but nothing that could be described as a game changer. Hardware wise it was responsive but again if I were to spend the same amount of money on an Android it wouldn’t be noticeably any faster within human senseability. Ergonomically it was awful. Very heavy compared to equivalent Sony, sharp cornered to the point where it began to dig into my fingers on long calls such that I kept changing hands in order to keep a firm grip on it as it was also very slippery. Style wise? It just doesn’t have any. Looks like a copy of those cheep chinese phones you see on Ali X with 20GB RAM and 500Gb ROM spec’s.
Conclusion: You just wouldn’t want one even if it was a FOSS phone.

One niche area I was thinking of looking into is adding a ‘rugged’ phone to the range which seem to be gaining popularity at the moment with outdoor recreational users and people that work in phone unfriendly environments such as farmers, ranchers, construction workers etc.

Finding the right phone is the tough part but could be worth a looking into.

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I mostly agree, and as noted iodéOS or any custom ROM (especially “de-googled”) will be a significant speed boost to any device.

But the reason I am looking at it is that it can be a helpful metric to show me “how old can I go” and sell it in good faith it will serve the customer well. My Pixel 3a XL with an Antutu 11 of 322015 seems plenty fast, for example. That gives me confidence that the lowest speed one on the above list, the Moto G 5G (2024) at 0521868 is fast enough, but a Moto device from about 2020ish will be too slow.

Add to “is it fast enough?” is “does it have enough RAM?”, and that is where 4G starts to show some limitations depending on the user. Younger gen users I observe playing games, etc. get “bogged down” with 4G RAM while also using heavy music streaming apps and running discord all at once :slight_smile: So that is where the concern for the Moto G 5G (2024) comes in. But hey can’t get a headphone jack nearly anywhere else!

Next is “how is the battery?” I can go older with OnePlus devices since their processors and RAM are insanely top tier. But then if I go back to a 2020 device, now I am likely needing to do battery replacements more often, and that is a bit of a pain and of course risk (if damage screen that is the cost of the device as we discussed). But then if I do replace batteries, it has the RAM, it has the CPU and is an amazing device (even at 6 years old)!

Lastly of course is “5G support or not?” My P3aXL doesn’t have it, and that is fine for coverage for now, probably for its useful life (even with my new batteries I put in).

I guess all this shows me the “OnePlus 9” is way more device than I really need, the budget line here, the “OnePlus Nord N20” has 6GB RAM so that is quite decent too. I could even go back to the “OnePlus Nord N200” (2021 4GB RAM but 5G), or instead dropping 5G requirement farther back to the OnePlus 7 (2019: 6/8GB RAM, 4G only, probably needs new battery)! Will people buy a 7 year old device in 2026?

But to the 4GB RAM models I will have to get them cheap and be ready for battery replacements and make sure customers know they don’t support 5G. But as you note, if they can be sold at much lower prices then they are great “take a risk on trying out iodéOS” devices. I don’t think I will be selling a OnePlus 13 or a Pixel 9 Pro for someone to just “dabble” with trying us out!

I’ll probably re-do the above list throwing out all the high end phones. I’ll try to see what list I cn put together for sub $300 and sub $250 prices to not get so overwhelming to look at.

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I agree that replacing almost 3gb’s of Gandroid spyware/bloatware with 1.3gb does improve performance substantially, particularly with the Sony XA2 which only has 3gb RAM but 64gb really has to be the practical minimum for a usable daily driver these days even if you are only trialing it. Also there are a fair amount of low spec’ CR phones appearing on ebay at the moment as FOSS users generally upgrade to better devices. I just put a 10 v on at £150 which is about $200 and the last one I listed sold in about 3-4 weeks, so is good reason to believe that you are probably in the right ball park for first time triers.

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