I would only buy a device running Android One, because they receive monthly security patches and new Android versions for up to 3 years.

The current options include all Nokia smartphones, Motorola One line, and Xiaomi Mi A line.

For the best hardware and 5G support, I would look at Nokia 9.2 (Snapdragon 8--) and Nokia 8.2 (Snapdragon 7--) releases this year.

The best deal is to buy 6 months after the release, when most Android devices become heavily (30-40%) discounted, but are still quite new.

I prefer Android over iOS because of the freedom to install open-source OS-level ad-blockers, such as Blokada[1], which greatly improve privacy and battery life.

[1] https://blokada.org/

Note that "Xiaomi Mi A" devices are the only ones that are similar to Android One. Most Xiaomi devices have a custom UX and additional weirdness. (Among which is the need to "sign up" online for bootloader unlock and wait for a timeout period. They do this because resellers used to ship bootloader-unlocked versions with "unofficial" mods of sorts, often with customers being none-the-wiser. Not an issue on the 'Mi A' line, for whatever reason.)

> Most Xiaomi devices have a custom UX and additional weirdness.

That's true. Just like Samsung, Huawei, OnePlus, and any other Android manufacturer except Nokia, Xiaomi maintains its own Android ROM, called MIUI[1]. It's not as vanilla as Android One, but at least it also receives monthly security patches.

> Among which is the need to "sign up" online for bootloader unlock and wait for a timeout period. They do this because resellers used to ship bootloader-unlocked versions with "unofficial" mods of sorts, often with customers being none-the-wiser. Not an issue on the 'Mi A' line, for whatever reason.

It's not an issue with Xiaomi Mi A line, because Xiaomi's reputation is not affected as much if there is something wrong with a smartphone that is not running its custom ROM.

Nokia has only recently started allowing to unlock the bootloader of some of the models, and has a similar process[2].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIUI

[2] https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_int/bootloader

According to Nokia: Unlocking a device means you may lose some of its functionalities, including – but not limit to – telephone, radio, audio, video, payment, encryption and DRM.

As with probably all Android devices, unlocking the bootloader breaks the SafetyNet[1].

And any custom Android ROM requires drivers to be able to completely support the hardware of a particular device.

[1] https://www.howtogeek.com/241012/safetynet-explained-why-and...

Why would that break the ability to make phone calls though? Unless they mean now you have the capability to break it, not that unlocking it may break it

Some options, from less effort to more effort : iOS ecosystem.Since Apple is a hardware manufacturer foremost, you notice from the start you aren’t the product. Lots of apps, many of high quality.

Librem/Pinephone : Linux phones. While the hardware is still closed source in certain parts, it’s a step up from what we have now. Librem allows you to install any linux variant you choose.

Zerophone : Build your own phone basically, very cheap to build ($50) , and currently in development.

I can attest that my Pixel 3a received the February update as soon as it was released directly from Google, and I have been overall very happy with this phone. Pixel 3a is the cheapest yet (IMHO) best Pixel phone on the market. It is guaranteed to receive OTA updates and security fixes until at least May 2022: https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705?hl=en

If you don't expect to lose sleep over third party apps (such as Tachiyomi for comic reading) then iphones are spectacular. You won't have as much customization but the experience overall really does explain why Apple is so profitable. Otherwise, Samsung for MST payments. You'll still want a wallet/clip, but there's been more than a few times I forgot my wallet and MST saved me from a wasted trip to the market.

I switched from Android to iOS when my last phone (samsung) stopped getting updates. I miss a couple things: a good adblocker, and the Swype keyboard. I setup a pi-hole at home to take care of ads when I am there, but the iOS swype-equivalent keyboard is nowhere near as good as the real Swype keyboard on android.