Thanks for making this! Finding myself shopping for a replacement phone, and so far have decided to settle with waiting unless I see a decent deal on a nexus 6p.

Would suggest also adding whether the phone supports a removable battery/extended battery. That seems to be a feature that is nearly dead on new android phones these days, except for the lg v10 and the moto z (via the moto mod battery case).

Also seconding the 'last update' column - I'm largely trying to forego most of my power-user desires for sd slots/removable batteries for a nexus phone because of just how many security issues with android seem to require it to be up-to-date.

Oh yeah, would also like a 'fingerprint reader' column - it's becoming near-ubiquitous these days though some phones from last year don't have it (e.g. moto x)

"Would suggest also adding whether the phone supports a removable battery/extended battery."

    * Carrier Support (GSM vs CDMA)
    * "Modes" (Frequencies, bands,whatever you want to call it)
    * Sim card size (Normal 3FF, Nano 4FF)
    * Removable Battery
    * Wireless charging (I must have Qi)
    * Fingerprint

Comparison vs other phones (I'd love to compare these vs my Note 3. Yes... 3.) would be nice, but probably a bit beyond the scope of this.

Otherwise, awesome tool.

I'm still using a Note 3, and have been watching but haven't found a good replacement yet.

It's a great phone. User-replaceable battery, great screen, MicroSD slot, poncy stylus that I never use, hardware menu key (seriously Google, I use the menu key all the time). Still works well and fast enough, if not a rocket compared to this year's phones.

I find it disappointing that 3 years after getting the Note 3, apparently all the phone companies have forgotten how to make a new phone that can compel me to put down the money that I'm ready and wanting to spend.

Basically I want a faster Note 3 with a 6.5" AMOLED screen.

I'd be willing to bet I'm not the only one. How can all these companies be so smart yet so brain-dead at the same time?

Have you looked into the lg v20? It's pretty durable, has a big screen, user replaceable cattery and it performs pretty well...

I think the V20 might be at the top of my short list to replace my Note 3. Replaceable battery, SIM slot, Screen size... hell it even has an IR port... I see that TWRP can be installed...

the only question is Qi Wireless Charging... and I'm not liking what I'm seeing...

Although, with that many hits, I may have to just take it anyways.

I have, and it looks nice but I want about a 6.5" screen.

I thought that was a typo! Why 6.5"?

Because why not? I have room in my pocket and 99% of my phone use is internet.

I went from a note 3 to an s7. Like you I never really utilized the stylus, and even though I had 3 extra batteries for my note, I'm still mostly ok with the tradeoff.

The size of the phones is nearly identical.

As you mention, the only thing that I dislike is not having a hardware menu key.. but it's worth looking into as a decent replacement phone.

The one thing I want to replace my Note 3 is a Note 3 that I can put custom roms on (like Cyan).

The problem with the S7 is Samsung isn't as friendly for the ROM tools. The S3 doesn't let me use TWRP so I have to either use Stock or CWM. I've never really liked CWM for some reason.

I'd pay good money for an upgraded Note 3 with TWRP capability.

Thanks but I wanted an even larger screen, about 6.5" or so. I'm just not motivated to switch to a phone the same size.

I have big hands/pockets so why not use them?

Does SIM card size really matter? I thought that when you get a new phone, the carrier gives you a new SIM; at least that's how it's always worked for me (AT&T)

Well, I like being able to just move the sim card between my phones (I have multiple for development purposes)... so while you can "easily" call and have the account switched between sim cards - if all your phones are Micro, then you can just move the card...

if, on the other hand, you have a Micro and the new phone is a Nano... then you'll have to go through extra steps to move between phones.

This, of course, assumes you want to do that more than once when you upgrade to the new phone.

I like switching between my Android and my Windows phone and that becomes more difficult if the SIMs don't match.

Granted, I did find a converter I hadn't thought of looking for before until typing this reply so it's even less needed:

https://www.amazon.com/iPhone-Nano-SIM-Card-Adapter/dp/B009G...

I'm guessing you live in the US? In more modern parts of the world (:)) you usually buy your phone separately from the phone service, so the carrier wouldn't directly know you've bought a new phone. Sure you can buy phones from the carrier, but why would you want to?

You may want to take a look at https://geizhals.eu/?cat=umtsover&xf=148_Android#gh_filterbo... to figure out which Android phones fit your requirements in these regards (caveat: the website's content is partially machine-translated to English, but that doesn't imply the data isn't very carefully curated).

The new LG V20 and the LG G5 also have a replaceable battery.

Yeah, forgot about those! Been taking a wait-and-see approach to LG phones due to all the bootloop issues the G4 (and seemingly some of the v10's) have been having.

I've been happy with the G5. I don't use the LG launcher and keyboard, so it feels close enough to stock Android.

The V20 is looking good so far. Best phone I have owned yet.

Just get a used 6P. They tend to be cheaper.

Prefer anything but Google Nexus because of recent "digital execution by Google" news, I can at lease put the pics, videos and some other data are on SD.

There are better ways of avoiding such penalties. For example, instead of avoiding the product, you could try not to scam GoogleFi.

First I've heard of this. Can you elaborate please?

Those search terms just return a lot of MBa mumbo jumbo

Could be talking about this story from today?

Google Bans Hundreds Of Pixel Phone Resellers From Their Google Accounts https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/11/20/0727240/google-bans...

Google has since "reviewed banned users' appeals and re-enabled their accounts," reports The Guardian.

A couple of months ago I got a new phone. I had a fairly short list of needs:

1. Micro sd slot

2. Supports sprint in the US

3. Supports cyanogenmod

4. Given those, it should be powerful as possible

To my surprise, none of the 2016 flagships were acceptable. The Nexus line did not have a micro sd slot. Samsung s7 did not have cyanogenmod. Oneplus 3 did not support sprint. Most other phones were just not powerful, slow processors, etc.

I ended up settling for a 2015 moto x pure (style in op). Still disappointed that I couldn't get one with an 820 processor. Are my needs that exotic that nobody cares about them? Or have the phone companies just dropped the ball?

I have the same requirements, except I can use GSM. I currently use an older Sony Z-yuga.

Your biggest problem requirement is Sprint. Outside of the US, almost no one used CDMA. The rest of the planet is on the GMS/HSDPA/LTE stack.

I think Sprint and Verizon are the two largest networks in the world that are still on CDMA. Verizon is actually owned by Vodaphone and I think the reason they haven't rebranded their US offering is because all their other companies are on GSM.

The radio question is almost dead.

https://www.amazon.com/Moto-4th-Generation-Exclusive-Lockscr...

(cheap phone with support for big 4 US networks)

edit: Also, Verizon Communications bought out Vodaphone a couple years ago, Vodaphone no longer has an interest in Verizon Wireless.

Verizon bought Vodaphone's share of Verizon Wireless in 2014.

I don't think any demand is exotic on it's own, but to get them all together you have to be pretty lucky.

You'll need a company that can make a water resistant phone with a card slot, or is willing to give up the water resistant feature.

You'll need that company to be able to ship a CDMA version, which is harder when GSM is more common.

You'll need that company to not be a *ick company and have drivers for their hardware.

You'll need that company to achieve all of that and still be able to get a 820 and keep expected margins.

I think that the phone companies are struggling to get a grip on the drivers on the market.

The rather esoteric needs of a software developer is probably not high up on the marketing department's list of USPs... Plus, that it seems as if different regions are wanting different things - like an absurd number of cores, etc.

As an example, I am very fond of Sony. They make the best android phones in my opinion, with a really nice clean design and good support for updates. A plus for me is that it's still a Swedish team that make the phones although they seem to slowly loose the fight against the Japanese mega-corp mannerisms. There is more and more shit pre-installed on the phone, etc.

Unfortunately they peaked with the Z3 - anything after that is a lesser phone in some aspect. ZX is good and expensive as hell but compensates the faster processor and camera with a much much worse battery. X is fast, but is not water proof, etc.

Edit: I don't think the ZX supports CDMA unfortunately.

I don't develop software (not for android, at least). The reasons I need cyanogenmod are

1. Some apps only work on root

2. Stock can have restrictions, like not allowing tethering while cm doesn't have anti features

3. Updates usually far after the manufacturer has abandoned the phone

There's a large community of people using custom roms. Some take it farther than others, but it's definitely not restricted to developers.

Hi there, developer here. Can you please elaborate? Actually I would very much appreciate a really open smart phone with the same customization capabilities that the PC platform provides. However I believe (maybe wrongly?) most customers do not need to have a rooted phone, so I am really interested in the type of application?

I hope that we get an open phone soon (I want to `pkg install $foo`), but unfortunately most endeavors seemed to have failed (Ubuntu Phone, etc.) I always wonder why that's the case.

I'm not entirely clear on what you want elaboration on.

You can get linux on android by using http://www.techradar.com/how-to/phone-and-communications/mob...

Edit: "However I believe (maybe wrongly?) most customers do not need to have a rooted phone, so I am really interested in the type of application?"

EDS for mounting encrypted volumes only works with root, since it needs elevated access to the kernel to mount stuff. That's probably the only app I use that requires root, but there are other customizations that I couldn't do on stock. For example, on my moto x pure the onscreen buttons were in the "wrong" places, and I needed the aicp (it's a ROM) ability to customize which button does what and icons. Mainly I wanted the back button to be on the right and not the left, and the other buttons to be the same as my previous phone.

If it's a custom rom, I expect others to have the same issues I'll have and someone will have developed a workaround or fix. On stock, this won't always be the case.

Then there's the whole "tethering" thing, which can be a big deal when traveling with a phone and laptop. Stock won't let you tether unless your plan allows it, while cyanogenmod or aicp doesn't care.

(Still annoyed that moto x pure, aicp, and ringplus 4g don't seem to mix, and I can only get 3g on anything besides for stock.)

Probably Xiaomi MI5 with cyanogen would fit the bill - not sure about point 2 since I'm in the EU.

I think it's the 5s with CDMA, but whatever it is double check the bands before purchasing an imported phone, especially Chinese.

Looks like it doesn't support a micro sd card.

Ah wait, thats possible - i thought it can mount sd card in one of sim slots like my honor 6 plus could.

HTC 10? Basically a Google Pixel released several months earlier.

Funny, I had a similar conundrum and the same solution (buy a 2015 moto x pure).

LG G5?

I seem to remember looking at that and deciding against it, but I can't remember why.

Honestly, this is why I have always avoided Android devices: because there are too many variances.

- some you can root, some you can't.

- some have 3rd party junk, some don't.

- some get updates, some don't.

Being a fan of free/open source software, I want Android to succeed, but they have turned a good thing into a fucking quagmire.

Variance is one of the trademarks of a successful open source project. It is people taking an existing thing and adapting it to their individual needs. That's what made Linux run on Phones, routers and tiny little gadgets. Sure you cant run Gnome on them but you shouldn't be expecting them to.

If you want a known quantity with common support, buy a standard mainstream model. If you want the best thing for your needs you may have to do some research. It's like picking a Linux distro. I'd rather have variance than only Ubuntu.

Whether the modern Android experience has roots as a free/open source system is becoming a bit of an academic exercise. In a practical sense, useful distributions of Android and iOS are both combinations of open and closed source components.

Android is a lot more open though.

My point is that, for some people, anything which is not fully open source might as well be closed source and arguing about percentages is academic.

The point is that it is a benefit to society as a whole. Android being open source as-is today is hugely beneficial. It has transformed the mobile and embedded/consumer device landscape. I have a hard time believing that the impact to everyone would be the same if it was closed source.

I agree that society benefits from freer software.

But transformed the landscape? It's unquestionable that the iPhone truly transformed the mobile landscape. Closed-source Android has eaten up a huge amount of market share across the spectrum (particularly in low-cost high-volume sales). Open-source AOSP is a relative footnote. It has barely transformed anything.

> - some you can root, some you can't.

Don't worry. At the rate we're headed, soon nobody will root their devices anymore, because practically every app they want to use will refuse to work on a rooted device.

It's pretty easy to spoof a non-rooted phone to these apps though, provided you can install Xposed.

Doesn't work with Android Pay, though.

Do you still trust Android Pay with the news on how Google arbitrarily close people's google account?

This is great! I like how the filtering quickly lets you drill down and find phones that meet your criteria.

My suggestions for improving this would be to add:

- Dual SIM - many buyers, esp. in developing countries and frequent travellers prefer dual-SIM phones.

- Network Bands - many people have a preferred mobile network, e.g. Verizon or T-Mobile in the US, Telstra in Australia, etc. Each of these networks only supports specific frequency bands for 3G and 4G. So I'd suggest adding in a search-based filter which allows a user to find phones that support a particular band, e.g. 28 that their favorite mobile network uses.

The item I'd like to see added to the device infobox is an answer to the question "Can I run my own AOSP on this?", backed up by a link to some wiki or blog post of someone demonstrating it.

Some Sony Xperia phones have AOSP source available: http://developer.sonymobile.com/open-devices/list-of-devices... , would be nice to see them listed.

Definitely. I'm also keenly interested in phones that can run Ubuntu touch, though that list is small.

"Small" is an understatement. The Ubuntu Touch device list [1] lists a total of eight officially supported devices. The Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 are both out of production, and none of the BQ or Meizu phones are listed on their web sites anymore. The BQ Aquarius M10 tablet still shows up on their web site, but it's a tablet, not a phone.

So the short and the long of it is: Ubuntu Touch, as a phone operating system, is dead. It's probably not long for this world on tablets either, considering that the only supported device is a single product from an obscure Spanish manufacturer.

[1]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touch/Devices

Also useful:

https://ubports.com/

Which lists a grand total of two devices with "active" support. Both with caveats. :(

Thanks everyone for the nice comments!

Here is what's in the works. Hopefully answering most of your requests:

- Upgradability (how fast does the phone get official updates)

- Better specs (sent out emails to the companies yesterday)

- Rootability

- Unlockable Bootloader

- CM port available

- Non-stock phones with CM port

Missing from the list of handsets appears to be the Fairphone 2: https://www.fairphone.com/

Requested:

    * Carrier Support / GSM-CDMA / Frequencies-Modes
    * Changeable Batteries yes/no
    * Wireless (Qi or that other one)

Parallel conversation on /r/android: https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/5dzw2h/stockdroids...

Needs a "last update" column - my Moto X Style is near stock, but is on 6.0 and a May 2016 patch level.

You can get nightlies on cyanogenmod.

Yes, and lose access to the IR sensor and gestures (probably)

Slightly off topic, but what I found terrible hard to look up on the specs lists for android phones is support for USB OTG. Some companies disable it, some enable it, and some switch between enabled and disabled between different sub models of the same phone. Sadly, I had to go to stores and ask to put an OTG to check for compatibility.

Just out of curiosity, what do you use USB OTG and Android for? Nowadays I seldom hear about it. I can't think of the last time I saw someone use one!

I use OTG for a MicroSD card reader, and occasionally a mouse and usb keyboard.

Also sometimes for a USB Serial UART connected to an Arduino.

I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

A slightly OT question: does any 2016 Android phone have MHL/HDMI alt mode? It seems to be a feature that became dropped by multiple manufacturers around 2015. I wasn't able to find one in this year's models.

This is fantastic! Both in terms of information provided AND in the way it is displayed and presented. Simple yet extremely functional and easy to use. Very nice

I still regret buying Samsung. So much customized, non-removable garbage.

That's super useful, thank you. I got the Moto G (which is on the list) and will use this to get my next phone when this one dies (non replaceable battery so I imagine 2 more years tops). All the table is missing is how easy it is to root.

There is nothing useful third-party "extra sauce" can add. In fact all the incentives for them are to make the OS worse.

Meh, it's "non-replaceable" in the same manner as the Moto G 1st gen. I had that one from release (non-LTE version) until the day my Moto G4+ arrived from Amazon. About a year ago I replaced the battery for my Moto G1 for ~$20. A crap-load of screws (~15 Torx T4s) to get the back cover off, and one connector and I was done.

Went from about 5 hours of useful time (1-2hrs SOT, had to charge at work just to make it home) with about 2hrs of listening to podcasts to making to dinner time (maybe 12hrs, 2-3hrs SOT).

I figure by the time I need to replace the battery on my G4+, someone will be selling a replacement. Just cause it's not "User Replaceable" doesn't mean that someone with a screwdriver can't replace it.

On a total side note, I'm kinda pissed that the new Moto M is coming out so soon. It's practically the same price as the Moto G4+ and seems to be better. I like the USB-C, rear fingerprint sensor, and metal body. Oh well.

Love it.

When I was buying a budget android phone a few months ago, this was my primary criterion for purchasing. Wish it'd been around sooner.

I am all into finding stock Androids, and the replacement for my stock-Android Chinese eBay special phone will probably be chosen through your site. :) But I think you might want to put some effort into making this site smaller. It's currently 3.3 megabytes for a list of 60 phones with small thumbnails and a list of tech specs.

It is planned but as sibling comment suggests, in the backlog for the moment.

If anyone is interested in the technical details -- I am using an angular-cli version that doesn't support AOT compilation so no tree shaking. Also no Angular Universal, therefore a loading screen.

I hate spinners. And hamburger menus.

I made https://www.prerender.cloud/ and it _might_ be useful here - that is, solving that initial 3.3mb loading penalty for the JS. But it may require removing your loading screen so the screen doesn't flash to loading after the initial prerendered payload comes down.

Sounds excellent to me. I think many modern webpages are 10's of megabytes (which is lame).

I guess the specific audience of people looking for good stock phones might be operating off of a low cost data plan though? Otherwise of the many things the author could work on (improve curation, link to Swappa for purchase), I wonder if shaving a megabyte off the size is the most pressing issue.

Searching on resolution doesn't work

The CPU model is way to indirect a comparison to be useful

I want AMOLED

Aside from that a reasonable attempt at a solution

Will check that, thanks

Ive transitioned over the years from iPhones to Samsung androids then the nexus range, ie gradually closer to stock.

About 6 months ago my second nexus 5 crapped out and as I couldst find any nexus replacements (Im In SEA) I decided to try out the Xiaomi Mi4i. Im now fully converted. Its as big an improvement over the Nexus as the Nexus was over the Samsung. And its half the price of one.

The biggest surprise was MIUI. It rocks and in my opinion a far superior UI than vanilla android. Its also updated really frequently, the last update they did (last week) rectified the only major issue I had with the UI (quick-links on the status menu).

Seriously, I cannot praise this phone highly enough. My only qualm is the performance with while flicking between apps. But hell - its $170!

Availability row would be useful, e.g. you cannot purchase new Nexus 5 any more.

Thanks for making this site. For your 404 page, something along the lines of "these are not the droids you're looking for" would be great, given the site url.

Useful comparison layout, please add battery size & life

Gotta love Moto. The droid turbo was the best phone I ever had. If they could make that with an updated soc and RAM, I'd be all over that.

Surprised they don't list the Sony devices. They are "near-stock", unlockable and I'm pretty happy with my Z4C

Great site! I also want to know if a screen is OLED or not, given the battery savings.

Awesome!

I'll be sticking to OnePlus though, so far they have provided the best environment for their phones to flourish in the custom rom scene.

I'm running latest Android without hassle! ( CM 14 )

Nice work!! Only comment I have about the website is to make the row highlight color a little softer and highlight row transition a little more gradual.

I won't ever buy another Android phone, but I have been looking for a stock Android 7-8 inch tablet for a while. The search continues...

Adding a row about the update situation of device would be nice. 1. Updates promised untill X year 2. Only security patches, etc.

Why does a filterable list need a loading splash and 10 seconds to load? D:

The site won't even load for me. JS and no fallback to plain HTML. Good example of why modern websites suck. A plain text file listing the models would be more useful.

Hi, quoting another comment of mine with an explanation:

> It is planned but as sibling comment suggests, in the backlog for the moment.

> If anyone is interested in the technical details -- I am using an angular-cli version that doesn't support AOT compilation so no tree shaking. Also no Angular Universal, therefore a loading screen.

> I hate spinners. And hamburger menus.

Thanks; I did not mean to criticize too much. The idea of having a list of the devices is good.

I would like to have information if all apps can be uninstalled.

This is really cool. How do you get the data?

I have the g4. Just wish it had a compass.

You will add tablets also in the future?

Yes, though other things are a priority (check out my other comment)

No.

No.