Turns out replacing rounded silicon shells with hard-edge thin plastic on a handheld device, then expecting you to buy a second silicon shell anyway was a very lucrative decision.
In other news, I’m looking into getting a new phone. I don’t really use phones for much other than messaging apps, firefox and the occasional lemmy browse, so lowest possible price is cool. No 1080/4K stuff.
I’d also want to avoid the 2.5 phone lifespan problem, since Moore and his law are dead so durability trumps performance every time.
It’d also be nice if it was supported by alternative OSes like Lineage. Any particular model or model series y’all recommend?
Buy an old flagship. Rocking a OnePlus 6t that came out in 2018, it outperforms many modern low cost phones, and has been extraordinarily durable for me. Can probably get one for under $100. Also, typically have REALLY good carrier support.
I have this silicone case from a random company called Tech22 and didn’t get a single scratch or crack on the screen for 5 years. It only cracked when I spontaneously started sleepwalking, took it out of the case and stumbled extremely drunk and sleepwalking through a construction site. Still works, no major cracks, just some small ones in the corner and some scratches. I’ve dropped it in an industrial dishwasher before, no signs of water damage.
Also a very large modding platform, one of the few non-pixel phones that supports major modifications like Linux for phones because of how much modding goes on with it. This is because OnePlus has recovery features that no other phone manufacturer has, so there is pretty much always a way to unbrick it if something goes wrong. It can always be saved from software shit. I literally wiped everything on the phone, including the USB drivers by accident once. If it was any other phone, I would have been fucked, but Qualcomm has features that let you use USB to control the CPU without using USB. Yeah, fuckin weird, but lifesaving.
If you have any doubts about your ability to flash firmware, the OnePlus 6t is the best answer by a longshot. The only issue I’ve had with it in all my years is that after all this time, abusing the USB port since before I was legally an adult, it’s finally starting to give me some trouble charging. However, I’ve looked into it and replacing the USB port would be pretty damn cheap so I’m not too worried.