[General Topics] fabecoool:
Hi there!

I'm wondering what phone to buy. I've been wondering that for years now and I haven't been able to

ever

find a phone that would meet all my criteria. I think the one I've been most happy with was the Samsung Galaxy S4 (i9505), since I could multiboot it (I hated touchwiz, but there were tons of custom roms for it. Aaah, the good old slimrom times!). However, nowadays, several apps (especially banking) won't let me use a rooted phone even if I try to hide root or circumvent root checks.

Talking to friends, I realize that my requirements are actually pretty standard, and most of them say they have to compromise when choosing a phone because they cannot find a phone that has it all, even if you pay good money for it. I would happily pay premium money for a phone that offers what I want, but I just can't find one, not even on paper.

First of all, I don't care about the design. It can be plastic or metal, I don't care, I only see the practical aspects. Anyway, I usually have my phone in a gel or silicone case. However, that's what many manufacturer try to advertise. Are they really responding to consumer demand, or (successfully) creating it?

Of course, like anybody else, I want my phone to have a good battery life, no lag and to be reasonably resistant. This should actually be a given for all phones.

Otherwise, here are my "requirements":

-	A good camera. This is very hard to achieve, especially in medium to low-light conditions, which is when I usually take my pictures. However, I'm not asking for anything better than what exists now, but I want something in the top range.

-	MicroSD: This is probably why I have never bought a Nexus or Pixel phone. I think google would sell many more of their phones if they accommodated a MicroSD slot reader, but that's for another discussion.

-	IP68: This is now becoming the norm on many phones (especially in the high-end segment). I don't want to go swim with my phone, but as an avid paddler, I'd hate it to have to keep my phone in a water-tight bucket during all my trips. And I want it to survive the occasional quick accidental immersion.

-	Pure Android: The new Nokia phones (marketed by HMD global) look promising, but they don't (yet at least) offer the rest of my requirements (water resistance, etc.). I'm really tired of the "skins" or layers that the likes of Samsung, Huawei and LG force onto the phones (

our

phones), and especially I WANT NO BLOATWARE! Anything pre-installed should be allowed to be uninstalled. Also those customized UIs cause huge delays in update cycles, with the security risks associated, and support for most phones is dropped more or less 2 years after launch, which is outrageous (but again, I digress...).

-	A decent resolution: nothing below full-HD would do. 1080*1920 is a good starting point indeed, and anything above that would be a plus, but not to the detriment of battery life.

-	Pocket size: I don't really care about whether it's a 4.8 or 5.5-inch display, as long as the screen-to-bezel ratio is good. I don't need a Samsung G S8 (I actually don't like the "edge" side bezel-less feature that is now the only option) or the LG G6. I actually like the designs with a physical home button like the new Nokia or the earlier Samsung Galaxy S phones, as long as the bottom bezel is not too thick to accommodate it.

-	Fingerprint scanner: pretty standard tech nowadays.

And that's it! And I cannot find a phone that meets all those basic requirements. Can you? It seems to me as if manufacturer have been trying to emulate Apple by trying to lock you in to their own ecosystems, but they keep failing at it (and then they try again and again). I know absolutely no one that would want to remain with Samsung because they have had a Samsung before (well, maybe my Granny, because it would be too hard for her to learn another "skin"). They don't seem to understand (or to accept) that by using Android, they are merely a hardware provider, which is what they should focus on.

And of course, there are a few extras that would be icing on the cake, but I'm not even asking for them right now:

-	Removable battery: I understand this can be tricky to have alongside IP68 water resistance, but I guess a rethink of the design could maybe help? I'm thinking something in the lines of a detachable battery like our feature phones had, where the battery was actually the lower back part of the phone, but with a rubber seal to protect the contacts. I'm no designer, though, so that might not be viable...

-	Dual SIM: arguably this could be implemented as an hybrid with my requirement of MicroSD slot.

So, anyone can think of a good phone for me? Or is any manufacturer reading this and want a killer product?

Thanks, and cheers!

Fa