You may or may not be interested in a little personal account of my re-considering my Android needs, If not please ignore me, if so read on.
I have a range of Android devices and am in the process of rationalising my collection into recent models running Android 10 and likely to get upgraded to at least Android 11. I've also decided that any Android device must have LTE mobile data as well as WiFi and preferably I will limit the number to a total of four active devices as keeping more up to date can be a pain. I have also tried to keep commonality in apps across all devices so for example, I use OpenCamera and Simple Calendar, rather than relying on the various manufacturer provided apps.
I obviously need a main phone for calls and texts and I want a small handy phone that is convenient to carry around on the odd occasion I need to. Presently I have an aging Galaxy A3 (2017) running Android 8 and I haven't been able (up to now) to find a reasonably priced phone of similar dimensions to replace it . But now the Google Pixel 4a is coming. Almost the same size as the A3 but with a great camera and a headphone jack which many of the newer phones seem to lack! No SD card but the onboard 128Gb is enough for me so I'm on the waiting list to place a pre-order for UK release on the 10th October! So that's a main phone sorted for a few years as the Pixel 4a will get three years of updates. I'll keep the A3 going as the driver for my Tello drone as it will recognise a USB Xbox compatible game controller and is the only one of my devices so far to do so.
I also have, and am keeping, a 7 inch Xiaomi Mi Max 3 with Android 10. This was the largest screen phone I could find at the time I bought it new at a very reasonable price of £199. It became a sanity saver when I spent three weeks in and out of hospital earlier this year when I used it to watch my usual TV programmes streamed over the hospital's free WiFi. However, owing to the almost 2:1 aspect ratio of the screen, TV pictures of 16:9 aspect ratio render smaller that the 7" size would suggest, but are still very watchable. All my devices hold my CD music collection ripped to MP3s so the Max 3 and my Bose QC15 noise cancelling headphones were a boon to while away the long days lying in a hospital bed with nothing to do but wait for the next meal.
In anticipation of, but very much hoping against, further hospital adventures I decided that a third device a bit larger than the Mi Max 3 but with an aspect ratio better suited to video use was required. The Max 3 is still pretty much the largest phone available but then I discovered, browsing the Samsung site for tablets rather than phones, the 8 inch Samsung Tab A 8 LTE 2019, for the cheap (for a Samsung) price of £169 delivered. This thing is actually a phone, a huge phone! It's like a big A3. It's internal memory is only 32Gb but it takes an SD card and has a headphone jack! There are some other cost-saving omissions such as no compass or proximity sensors but it does have a very sensitive GNSS receiver and the build quality is extremely good for the price. The screen is TFT, not AMOLED and is of limited resolution but is still good quality and because of the aspect ratio TV pictures are much larger than the nominal difference in screen diagonal between it and the Max 3 would suggest.. If you have a need for such a device I can thoroughly recommend this
Amongst some others that I am letting go I have a Uniherz Jelly Pro but I think that I will ditch that once the Pixel 4a arrives. The screen is too small for touch use and the battery life is terribly short. It's a talking point but not much else. I am considering something between the Pixel 4a and the Max 3 but I am not sure that I actually have a use case for an intermediate device. Time will tell!
I have a range of Android devices and am in the process of rationalising my collection into recent models running Android 10 and likely to get upgraded to at least Android 11. I've also decided that any Android device must have LTE mobile data as well as WiFi and preferably I will limit the number to a total of four active devices as keeping more up to date can be a pain. I have also tried to keep commonality in apps across all devices so for example, I use OpenCamera and Simple Calendar, rather than relying on the various manufacturer provided apps.
I obviously need a main phone for calls and texts and I want a small handy phone that is convenient to carry around on the odd occasion I need to. Presently I have an aging Galaxy A3 (2017) running Android 8 and I haven't been able (up to now) to find a reasonably priced phone of similar dimensions to replace it . But now the Google Pixel 4a is coming. Almost the same size as the A3 but with a great camera and a headphone jack which many of the newer phones seem to lack! No SD card but the onboard 128Gb is enough for me so I'm on the waiting list to place a pre-order for UK release on the 10th October! So that's a main phone sorted for a few years as the Pixel 4a will get three years of updates. I'll keep the A3 going as the driver for my Tello drone as it will recognise a USB Xbox compatible game controller and is the only one of my devices so far to do so.
I also have, and am keeping, a 7 inch Xiaomi Mi Max 3 with Android 10. This was the largest screen phone I could find at the time I bought it new at a very reasonable price of £199. It became a sanity saver when I spent three weeks in and out of hospital earlier this year when I used it to watch my usual TV programmes streamed over the hospital's free WiFi. However, owing to the almost 2:1 aspect ratio of the screen, TV pictures of 16:9 aspect ratio render smaller that the 7" size would suggest, but are still very watchable. All my devices hold my CD music collection ripped to MP3s so the Max 3 and my Bose QC15 noise cancelling headphones were a boon to while away the long days lying in a hospital bed with nothing to do but wait for the next meal.
In anticipation of, but very much hoping against, further hospital adventures I decided that a third device a bit larger than the Mi Max 3 but with an aspect ratio better suited to video use was required. The Max 3 is still pretty much the largest phone available but then I discovered, browsing the Samsung site for tablets rather than phones, the 8 inch Samsung Tab A 8 LTE 2019, for the cheap (for a Samsung) price of £169 delivered. This thing is actually a phone, a huge phone! It's like a big A3. It's internal memory is only 32Gb but it takes an SD card and has a headphone jack! There are some other cost-saving omissions such as no compass or proximity sensors but it does have a very sensitive GNSS receiver and the build quality is extremely good for the price. The screen is TFT, not AMOLED and is of limited resolution but is still good quality and because of the aspect ratio TV pictures are much larger than the nominal difference in screen diagonal between it and the Max 3 would suggest.. If you have a need for such a device I can thoroughly recommend this
Amongst some others that I am letting go I have a Uniherz Jelly Pro but I think that I will ditch that once the Pixel 4a arrives. The screen is too small for touch use and the battery life is terribly short. It's a talking point but not much else. I am considering something between the Pixel 4a and the Max 3 but I am not sure that I actually have a use case for an intermediate device. Time will tell!
Last edited:
