Apple actually makes good hardware, believe it or not. The only real shortcomings of the iPhone are the software and the reparability. Say, hypothetically, you could load a custom ROM on an iPhone. It would be my favourite in that case.

We don’t live in a good world, though, so it has to go to Google. It will continue to be Google until Apple fixes their business. I dislike the buttons being on one side, I dislike the gap between display and the border, and I dislike the cameras being covered when I try to get a grip on the back–but alternative OSes exist. The software is everything. I have far more utility here than on the more expensive iPhone.

Though, I have to say that I might genuinely consider an Xperia if they had alternative OSes. Good cameras, headphone jack, nice build… it’s a shame I can’t put CalyxOS on one.

A Pixel with GrapheneOS.

Galaxy A71 5G from Samsung. Budget phone that I got a couple years back.

I’d say the roughly $200 A15 5G I bought directly from them less than a few months ago and didn’t get warranty, but I accidentally went swimming with it and fried the fucker. It was shaping up to be a pretty good upgrade from my A71 phone, but it can’t be much of an upgrade when it’s dead.

I loved my Nexus 4. I also liked my Nexus 5X a lot, although it had debilitating hardware faults and eventually destroyed itself.

I’m on my second Oppo. Decent specs (I like the 512Gb, double SIM slot, superfast charging) and cheaper than anything comparable.