[Galaxy S 4 General] spaced<->out:
Sorry in advance for the novel...

Yes I'd already flashed them, so this was a second time. It does seem like it could stop working again.

Up to Dec 2021 I was running unmodded with the stock firmware (Android 5.0.1). One evening I restarted it, and out of the blue it just got stuck in a bootloop.

I had already been thinking about modding, so took this as a sign to start :cool:

Followed your guides to wipe, install TWRP, flash combined bootloader+modem and (eventually settled on) Official LineageOS and OpenGApps.

I found it worked pretty well - loved the modern experience, and I could run up-to-date apps again. I had some minor stability issues (occasional spontaneous reboots, wifi stops working) but these would resolve if I restarted the phone, so I was quite happy with it.

Up to April 2023 I noticed a few times the device didn't boot LOS and rebooted itself into TWRP. I rebooted to system and all worked as before.

On April 14th it did the same, except this time it couldn't boot system at all. It would sit on the LOS boot animation for some minutes, then load back into TWRP. Tried dirty-flashing the most recent LOS update, and various other things but nothing worked. So, the next day I wiped everything and did the 'clean install'; after going through setup it was working again.

A few days later I got stuck in a LOS bootloop again, except this time it didn't seem to reboot into TWRP on its own. I booted into TWRP and dirty-flashed the ROM and it worked again.

Then! On the 24th I noticed the phone acting unstable so I rebooted it. After LOS restarted I noticed the SIM card was not detected. The next day I tried various things (restarting the phone, reseating the connector, electronics cleaner on the connector and SIM tray) but it didn't come back.

By the evening of the 25th, I had the LOS bootloop again too. It was solved again by dirty-flashing and I decided to back off and just get through the week without the SIM and try to fix it on the weekend.

I thought it'd need a hardware fix (reflowing the IC), but I remembered the other symptoms of wi-fi not working and bootlooping, and thought I should try for a software fix first. Which turned out to be fortuitous, as it fixed everything right up!

So for now it's working again, but I consider it could be on the way out so a good time to think more seriously about replacement (though not as urgent as when I thought it might be dead).

Yes, friends and family sometimes express their disbelief also ;)

I like to fix things, extend their life rather than replace them, and fight perceived obsolence, it's kind of a hobby (or maybe obsession 🙃).

The flipside is I probably hang on to things much longer than is reasonable, to the point they end up having no value to sell or pass on to someone else. But I like to purchase and own things outright rather than on plan/subscription, and once I've paid I want to get the most use and value out of it...

You make all true points about the limitations of S4 in 2023. Regarding the storage, basically I use the SD card for all photos and media, and I just be selective about what apps I install (the latest crash actually helped me a bit, it cleared out some cruft).

The rest, I guess I'm just used to it and can be patient with the performance, camera etc. :)

Thanks for your generosity. I can certainly look and research for myself, but happy to take any recommendations and points of view if you are offering :)

I have followed the Right to Repair movement for some time, the laws finally starting to come in the US, and I'd seen a little recently about it starting in EU. I'm in Australia myself, so those laws don't directly apply for me. But Aus will get the trickle-down effect from those larger jurisdictions, so I hope those (your?) lawmakers are able to get it right.

Budget, I'm thinking up to $500 Australian (dollarbucks). Which is comfortably mid-range price (but, see my wishlist of features).

I could go higher, but anything above $500 will really need to justify itself (that said, I am a sucker for the upsell on features 🤓).

For context, retail price for new Samsung Galaxy A14 is AU$379, Galaxy S23 range runs AU$1349 (5G 128GB) to AU$2649 (Ultra 5G 1TB). Of course there can be sales and deals to get $$$ off those.

Desired feature list (as I mentioned before) is largely coloured by what I enjoy about the S4. Expanding upon those points:

Expandable storage - just makes sense to me that I can keep all my photos and media on a removable SD card, then I have heaps of space and they are not trapped in the internal memory if the phone outright dies

Audio jack - because wireless earbuds are a scam 😒

Wireless charging - I modded this into my S4 after the micro USB port wore out after about two years 😒 and kept using it after I replaced the port to minimise wear. Of course USB-C should be more durable, but now I've gotten used to the convenience.

I can take as a given that camera quality, battery life etc. will improve with any new device

And durable/repairable - since I'm likely to want to hang onto it for >5 years/far too long again 😏

Of course what I've since found is that virtually no new device ticks that combination. Flagship models have all abandoned the headphone jacks and SD slots, while entry-level devices don't seem to ever feature wireless charging.

So if I have to rank the wishlist, I can probably de-emphasise the headphone jack (nice to have, but I can still use a dongle), while SD slot is more desirable and wireless charging is the highest priority (since I doubt it can be added-on like I could with S4).

As mentioned earlier, I identified two options having the trifecta of wireless charging + SD slot + headphone jack:

Used Samsung Galaxy S10 series, which were the last to cover my trifecta, run about $350-$450 on the secondhand market. S20 is also an option if I give up the headphone jack. As flagship models, they'll have the better build quality to last longer, and popularity means I can more easily find accessories and parts. On the drawbacks, I don't love Samsung for copying Apple's anti-repair tactics, and the S10/S20 are pushing 3-4 years old at this point and at the end of official software support.

Nokia XR20 is a currently-available handset that apparently has my three features. Retail price is $879 but I've seen discounts down to $670-ish, so I could sit for a bit and wait for the price to hopefully come down on clearance. This way I would get a new, warrantied, supported handset (albeit one at the end of its sales run). Downsides, Nokia isn't popular in our market, so smaller range of accessories and parts supply, and unknown quality.

Although, I saw a review of Nokia G22 that talked about their new commitment to make parts officially available as a pro-repair company, so they might well be the ones I'd like to support.

Thanks for reading (if you read it).

I'd be fascinated to hear other thoughts and if you know of any other options in the market.