Develop Bugs

Noob question: How long a device is supported by lineage?

Hello,
I'm new to cyanogen/lineage, and I become interested because so far the only experience I got with android is a phone that wasn't updated even once by the company (bq) and a tablet that will get stuck on 6.0 (motorola).
Therefore my main concern is to have updates for as long as possible.
I can see that many devices I'm interested in don't list any maintainer:
wiki.lineageos.org/devices/ (can't post links)
Does this mean that those phones won't get any new lineage version?
Is there a way to know if a phone will be abandoned sooner than others?
Is it better to buy well known device than a more rare brand?
Is it better to buy a high end phone used than a basic model new?
Any recommendations? I need a pretty simple thing, 4G is a must and dual SIM would be a nice feature. I'm not that interested in power screen resolution or camera.
Thanks a lot for your answers.

I have seen devices getting removed due to inactive maintainers. So hard to say any time.
I use a Moto Z. It's getting it's first build soon [emoji2]
Sent from my XT1650-03 using Tapatalk

I want add another question to the thread. What will happen with 32 bit processors.
As far as I know, android 7 cannot be installed in any 32 bit processor. Will be the same with lineage? The equivalent version only will be compatible with 64 bit processors?

asimov-solensan said:
As far as I know, android 7 cannot be installed in any 32 bit processor. Will be the same with lineage? The equivalent version only will be compatible with 64 bit processors?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What? Nougat works fine on 32 bit.

axxx007xxxz said:
What? Nougat works fine on 32 bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was sure that I read it somewhere, but it may be that this was comment from a particular brand.
If there is no limitation in this regard I feel more comfortable buying a used device with an older processor.

Suggestion for the next phone after Zuk Z2 Plus

There was a small discussion in the AEX 6.7 thread started by @mcalistri asking for a suggestion to replace his Zuk Z2 Plus with another one. His suggestion was Pixel 3A and Nokia 7.2. I too asked if the OnePlus 6T is a good option. @selvarajrajkanna and @GopalKaul answered both of us and suggested K20 Pro and Pixel 3A. Since it is not good to discuss this in AEX thread I'm continuing that discussion here.
My suggestions and the summary of the discussion:
- OnePlus 7 (but the development is not in a good position; I read a few threads there. Also the 7T is on the way so buying a new one would not be a better idea I think)
- OnePlus 6T (if you want to stay on stock rom because oxygen os is good. - suggested by selvarajrajkanna. I found a few pre-owned 6Ts and also my friend has one, that's why I suggested it)
- Pixel 3A (have better camera and if camera is the only priority - suggested by selvarajrajkanna and mcalistri)
- Redmi K20 Pro (suggested by GopalKaul and selvarajrajkanna because it has latest chipset, 3.5mm jack, bigger battery, etc.)
- Nokia 7.2 (suggested by mcalistri)
- Poco F1 (if on a tight budget - suggested by GopalKaul)
Also please tell if you have any other good options or suggestions in this list. I'll update this post if anything relevant is posted. Our Z2 Plus started with 6.0 and went through 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 without any serious performance issues. So I think Android Q will also work flawlessly. But if any Z2 Plus owner who like to replace it with another one and also expect a legend like Z2 this post may/should help. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post. ?

niyonsv said:
There was a small discussion in the AEX 6.7 thread started by @mcalistri asking for a suggestion to replace his Zuk Z2 Plus with another one. His suggestion was Pixel 3A and Nokia 7.2. I too asked if the OnePlus 6T is a good option. @selvarajrajkanna and @GopalKaul answered both of us and suggested K20 Pro and Pixel 3A. Since it is not good to discuss this in AEX thread I'm continuing that discussion here.
My suggestions and the summary of the discussion:
- OnePlus 7 (but the development is not in a good position; I read a few threads there. Also the 7T is on the way so buying a new one would not be a better idea I think)
- OnePlus 6T (if you want to stay on stock rom because oxygen os is good. - suggested by selvarajrajkanna. I found a few pre-owned 6Ts and also my friend has one, that's why I suggested it)
- Pixel 3A (have better camera and if camera is the only priority - suggested by selvarajrajkanna and mcalistri)
- Redmi K20 Pro (suggested by GopalKaul and selvarajrajkanna because it has latest chipset, 3.5mm jack, bigger battery, etc.)
- Nokia 7.2 (suggested by mcalistri)
- Poco F1 (if on a tight budget - suggested by GopalKaul)
Also please tell if you have any other good options or suggestions in this list. I'll update this post if anything relevant is posted. Our Z2 Plus started with 6.0 and went through 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 without any serious performance issues. So I think Android Q will also work flawlessly. But if any Z2 Plus owner who like to replace it with another one and also expect a legend like Z2 this post may/should help. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In reality I have not suggested any devices ?
Nokia could be a good choice for what I remember about its Zeiss Camera lenses, I could appreciate it on my Nokia Lumia which now it's gone to paradise.
I honestly am tempted to take the pixel 3a but I live in Brazil and here it is more expensive due to the importation taxes.
The K20 if I'm not wrong, is a bit strange to my eyes because it has a lifting camera jumping from the outside of the chassis.
The choice is not so easy also because the old Zuk-Z2 is working extremely well

niyonsv said:
There was a small discussion in the AEX 6.7 thread started by @mcalistri asking for a suggestion to replace his Zuk Z2 Plus with another one. His suggestion was Pixel 3A and Nokia 7.2. I too asked if the OnePlus 6T is a good option. @selvarajrajkanna and @GopalKaul answered both of us and suggested K20 Pro and Pixel 3A. Since it is not good to discuss this in AEX thread I'm continuing that discussion here.
My suggestions and the summary of the discussion:
- OnePlus 7 (but the development is not in a good position; I read a few threads there. Also the 7T is on the way so buying a new one would not be a better idea I think)
- OnePlus 6T (if you want to stay on stock rom because oxygen os is good. - suggested by selvarajrajkanna. I found a few pre-owned 6Ts and also my friend has one, that's why I suggested it)
- Pixel 3A (have better camera and if camera is the only priority - suggested by selvarajrajkanna and mcalistri)
- Redmi K20 Pro (suggested by GopalKaul and selvarajrajkanna because it has latest chipset, 3.5mm jack, bigger battery, etc.)
- Nokia 7.2 (suggested by mcalistri)
- Poco F1 (if on a tight budget - suggested by GopalKaul)
Also please tell if you have any other good options or suggestions in this list. I'll update this post if anything relevant is posted. Our Z2 Plus started with 6.0 and went through 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 without any serious performance issues. So I think Android Q will also work flawlessly. But if any Z2 Plus owner who like to replace it with another one and also expect a legend like Z2 this post may/should help. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to try a new phone after the Zuk Z2, try buying either Pixel 3, or even 7 is a very good option[seeing the development of other one plus phones, 7's development should soon emerge]

akshay pro said:
If you want to try a new phone after the Zuk Z2, try buying either Pixel 3, or even 7 is a very good option[seeing the development of other one plus phones, 7's development should soon emerge]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMHO we should consider first the device as it we find it from the factory, with its default software and O.S., I mean we should consider if it can or can't be ROM customized as second requirement.
For example, for my personal user case, I purchased my ZukZ2 with Chinese ROM, than the decision to flash a custom ROM on it has been almost mandatory.

akshay pro said:
If you want to try a new phone after the Zuk Z2, try buying either Pixel 3, or even 7 is a very good option[seeing the development of other one plus phones, 7's development should soon emerge]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I can get a OnePlus 6T phone (pre-owned, 6-128, still in warranty) for about 75% of that of a new OnePlus 7's price. So, which one would be better? OnePlus 6T or 7? Or any other?

mcalistri said:
IMHO we should consider first the device as it we find it from the factory, with its default software and O.S., I mean we should consider if it can or can't be ROM customized as second requirement.
For example, for my personal user case, I purchased my ZukZ2 with Chinese ROM, than the decision to flash a custom ROM on it has been almost mandatory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. My thought is just opposite. I like almost-stock-ROMs with additional features and the factory OSs never attracted me except for some of their features or something. I flashed the custom ROM the day I got Z2. Before buying it I searched about many devices in XDA which had better custom ROM development support. Also Z2 was a device with almost high-end spec then and I got a huge discount then. That's why I'm looking for a device identical to Z2 of that time.

I would defenately go to k20 pro

niyonsv said:
Thanks. My thought is just opposite. I like almost-stock-ROMs with additional features and the factory OSs never attracted me except for some of their features or something. I flashed the custom ROM the day I got Z2. Before buying it I searched about many devices in XDA which had better custom ROM development support. Also Z2 was a device with almost high-end spec then and I got a huge discount then. That's why I'm looking for a device identical to Z2 of that time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock OS as the pure Android running on a Google Pixel phone, from what I've heard have everything we need to forget about custom ROM.
Our device, thanks to its hardware is still pretty good to offer brilliant service for years to come.
The maior lacks, I IMHO can resume for Z2 are:
1 - A not superlative camera, beside its hw specs which are not the top of the market, probably has not been achieved the very best in terms of firmware and software to manage it at a better level.
2 - A not superlative sound in terms of loudness
Regards,

I don't see any reason to change the device.
Charge the ROM, chahe the screen guard and change the cover or add a skin.
That's the new device for you.

manishgkasera said:
I don't see any reason to change the device.
Charge the ROM, chahe the screen guard and change the cover or add a skin.
That's the new device for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:laugh:

-Deleted-

manishgkasera said:
I don't see any reason to change the device.
Charge the ROM, chahe the screen guard and change the cover or add a skin.
That's the new device for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's how I used my Z2 bro. It has a unique design (all phones where curved then) and it always stayed different from others. But there's one thing that I changed thrice and it was a bit more costly - battery. Also my phone is becoming slow and slow each day. Tried different ROMs, reduced number of apps. The phone is not performing well too. It is taking ages to click a photo. Also the earpiece speaker now started distorting, I've to use headset always for talking. There are other reasons here and there, so I think it is better to change my phone. That's why I asked for suggestion.

I'm also looking for an upgrade to this phone. I bought the ZUK about 3 years ago with the intention of only keeping it for under 12 months. But I ended up sticking with it since I couldn't find a suitable upgrade at the time. After a lot of use it seems the ZUK is starting to show signs of slowing down. It's taking time to open apps and the storage is incredibly slow as prooven by benchmark testing.
Unfortunately my choice for a replacement is limited because I get eyestrain and headaches when looking at AMOLED screens with PWM flickering. The Asus Zenfone 6 looks perfect with an IPS panel, but it is too expensive at £450 here in the UK. The upcoming Realme 5 Pro seems good with SD712, 6GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage for a much more reasonable £190. But I worry about whether this phone will recieve good custom ROM support. There's also the Redmi Note 7 Pro with SD675 but it has a horrible ugly U-shaped notch. Maybe the upcoming Redmi Note 8 will also be decent.

I'm a bit surprised about hear some buddies have the need to replace the battery in their ZukZ2.
My battery, after years of usage looks like brand new, it doesn't presents any sign of longevity.
Furthermore I can't understand how the device appears running slower! We have not any mechanical disk inside it, neither a Windows XP is running here! If your device is slow then try to clean flash after performing a factory reset.
Sirs, are you violenting yours smartphones? Are you using it extensively with gaming and repetitive charging during usage?
May be you should have been more respectful and conservative using the phone now you have to pay the bill!

P650SE said:
I'm also looking for an upgrade to this phone. I bought the ZUK about 3 years ago with the intention of only keeping it for under 12 months. But I ended up sticking with it since I couldn't find a suitable upgrade at the time. After a lot of use it seems the ZUK is starting to show signs of slowing down. It's taking time to open apps and the storage is incredibly slow as prooven by benchmark testing.
Unfortunately my choice for a replacement is limited because I get eyestrain and headaches when looking at AMOLED screens with PWM flickering. The Asus Zenfone 6 looks perfect with an IPS panel, but it is too expensive at £450 here in the UK. The upcoming Realme 5 Pro seems good with SD712, 6GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage for a much more reasonable £190. But I worry about whether this phone will recieve good custom ROM support. There's also the Redmi Note 7 Pro with SD675 but it has a horrible ugly U-shaped notch. Maybe the upcoming Redmi Note 8 will also be decent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't heard of this AMOLED flickering issue till now. Is it a serious issue to consider?

mcalistri said:
I'm a bit surprised about hear some buddies have the need to replace the battery in their ZukZ2.
My battery, after years of usage looks like brand new, it doesn't presents any sign of longevity.
Furthermore I can't understand how the device appears running slower! We have not any mechanical disk inside it, neither a Windows XP is running here! If your device is slow then try to clean flash after performing a factory reset.
Sirs, are you violenting yours smartphones? Are you using it extensively with gaming and repetitive charging during usage?
May be you should have been more respectful and conservative using the phone now you have to pay the bill!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But I changed the batteries thrice, all from Lenovo official service center. I always go to stock ROM between each ROM changes, and clean flash between each updates. It's a bit time consuming sometimes but I know its better. Only a very few times I dirty flashed.
I used it for gaming only in the first year of purchase, now I'm not interest in that, that's why. Also I was always respectful to my phone, since it is the only device I have.
The phone is speedier with old stock ROMs and nougat ROMs, but not that speedier than then. So if I need to use newer version of ROMs and apps I should switch to a newer phone rather forcing Z2 to do all new stuffs.
I remember only a few phone models were capable of taking photos with GCams and Z2 was there in the list right after getting camera2API. Also it took and processed photos very fast. But now it is taking a lot of time even to click a photo.

niyonsv said:
I haven't heard of this AMOLED flickering issue till now. Is it a serious issue to consider?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it only affects a small minority of people, I heard about 10% of users can experience these symptoms with AMOLED panels. It just means you are more sensitive to the flickering than other people. Sadly, the only way to find out is to purchase an AMOLED phone and try it for yourself. That's what happened with me.
mcalistri said:
I'm a bit surprised about hear some buddies have the need to replace the battery in their ZukZ2.
My battery, after years of usage looks like brand new, it doesn't presents any sign of longevity.
Furthermore I can't understand how the device appears running slower! We have not any mechanical disk inside it, neither a Windows XP is running here! If your device is slow then try to clean flash after performing a factory reset.
Sirs, are you violenting yours smartphones? Are you using it extensively with gaming and repetitive charging during usage?
May be you should have been more respectful and conservative using the phone now you have to pay the bill!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was of the understanding that flash storage can degrade over time in smartphones. I probably didn't do mine any favours by constantly flashing ROMs and copying files to it over the course of 3 years. I did some storage benchmarks and I'm only getting 33MB/s sequential write speeds. Random write 4K is even worse at 1.3MB/s average. Surely that's not normal.
https://files.catbox.moe/e1wu3r.png
Can anyone compare against my scores? The app is called CPDT Benchmark in the Play Store.
In regards to battery performance, mine still gives about 4 hours of SOT but that is disappointing when it used to last for 7 hours and 30 minutes. I always allow my phone to run completely out of battery which I heard isn't good for for in the long-term. So perhaps bad charging habits have caused more degradation.

niyonsv said:
But I changed the batteries thrice, all from Lenovo official service center. I always go to stock ROM between each ROM changes, and clean flash between each updates. It's a bit time consuming sometimes but I know its better. Only a very few times I dirty flashed.
I used it for gaming only in the first year of purchase, now I'm not interest in that, that's why. Also I was always respectful to my phone, since it is the only device I have.
The phone is speedier with old stock ROMs and nougat ROMs, but not that speedier than then. So if I need to use newer version of ROMs and apps I should switch to a newer phone rather forcing Z2 to do all new stuffs.
I remember only a few phone models were capable of taking photos with GCams and Z2 was there in the list right after getting camera2API. Also it took and processed photos very fast. But now it is taking a lot of time even to click a photo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really don't know why you had to replace your battery trice, I think it is a very seldom occurrence, nor I can say it happened due your usage, most likely it could be due you purchased a defective device.
About slowing down after time, I agree about the SSD consideration made by our buddy participating to this discussion because I recently red something about SSD since I'm going to replace my laptop HDD but also this kind of issue I believe it's happening seldom in smartphones.
I won't to cause frustrations writing that I've not noticed any slowness on my Zuk Z2 so far, just a little bit when I flashed Nameless kernel which was an EAS kernel.
Now on AEX 6.7 I'm using the default kernel which is giving to the Z2 an extremely fast responsiveness and smooth usability too.
I think I will try to run the SSD performance test suggested by our buddy (sorry I didn't wrote your name to mention it but you sent interesting comments indeed).
I'm sure that there are not many users affected by problems you are facing about slowness and battery, or better, it would be interesting to make a survey here on XDA to know how many people have such problems on their ZukZ2.
Best regards,
---------- Post added at 01:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:54 PM ----------
P650SE said:
Well it only affects a small minority of people, I heard about 10% of users can experience these symptoms with AMOLED panels. It just means you are more sensitive to the flickering than other people. Sadly, the only way to find out is to purchase an AMOLED phone and try it for yourself. That's what happened with me.
I was of the understanding that flash storage can degrade over time in smartphones. I probably didn't do mine any favours by constantly flashing ROMs and copying files to it over the course of 3 years. I did some storage benchmarks and I'm only getting 33MB/s sequential write speeds. Random write 4K is even worse at 1.3MB/s average. Surely that's not normal.
https://files.catbox.moe/e1wu3r.png
Can anyone compare against my scores? The app is called CPDT Benchmark in the Play Store.
In regards to battery performance, mine still gives about 4 hours of SOT but that is disappointing when it used to last for 7 hours and 30 minutes. I always allow my phone to run completely out of battery which I heard isn't good for for in the long-term. So perhaps bad charging habits have caused more degradation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very much interesting comments!
I think I will try to run the SSD benchmark but before I would like to ask you why you say that your results are bad?
Did you compared with another ZukZ2 user running similar environment?
About the battery we also have to take in account the adjustment we could have done to applications (running in background or not) the screen stby after X seconds, the charger we use, in fact there are plenty of chargers around that are not good for our battery but that are being used normally.
In any case your SOT looks very normal to me.
Regards,

P650SE said:
I was of the understanding that flash storage can degrade over time in smartphones. I probably didn't do mine any favours by constantly flashing ROMs and copying files to it over the course of 3 years. I did some storage benchmarks and I'm only getting 33MB/s sequential write speeds. Random write 4K is even worse at 1.3MB/s average. Surely that's not normal.
https://files.catbox.moe/e1wu3r.png
Can anyone compare against my scores? The app is called CPDT Benchmark in the Play Store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is my CPDT benchmark result which looks quite aligned with your, so I think that SSD performance has nothing to do with the slowness of the responsiveness of your Zuk Z2.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Saplin.CPDT
Regards,

mcalistri said:
Here is my CPDT benchmark result which looks quite aligned with your, so I think that SSD performance has nothing to do with the slowness of the responsiveness of your Zuk Z2.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Saplin.CPDT
Regards,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, the result of my benchmark is not visible externally so I'm attaching the screenshot here.
Regards,

Looking to buy the A3 in 2021. Thoughts?

Hey there
A bit late to the party here. I am looking to get a A3 to replace my current phone. I have a POCO M2 PRO as my current phone, however i am VERY dissatisfied with it. Look into the A3 cuz its the only small phone i was able to find. Lemma know if this is a good idea. Oh and if you know about any small/compact/comfortable phone that doesn't break the bank, let me know in the comments.
peace✌

If you are going to flash a rom on it right away then go ahead, using this phone stock is like alpha testing.

Berserker_boi said:
Hey there
A bit late to the party here. I am looking to get a A3 to replace my current phone. I have a POCO M2 PRO as my current phone, however i am VERY dissatisfied with it. Look into the A3 cuz its the only small phone i was able to find. Lemma know if this is a good idea. Oh and if you know about any small/compact/comfortable phone that doesn't break the bank, let me know in the comments.
peace✌
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also bought this phone in 2021 based on the very same reasons as yours. This is the only phone I could find with decent dev support (easy to unlock, root, custom roms to choose etc.), size (I was using an Xperia X Compact, so size is still an issue for me but there wasn't any smaller with comparable features.) and specs. I unlocked and flashed los with microg even before putting my sim card. (And the sad story is this is the second one I bought bucause I lost the first one second day )

Using stock since fall 2019, works great until today, would buy again.

Go with another one.

In my experience, a11 stock is very good. 2 days without full charge and 8-9 hours of SOT. Smooth and fast. The secret is optmize the app configuration. Remove useless app. But first... Don't use official Facebook app. Obviously it's my opinion and my experience. But i'm quite sure that the user with bad experience. Are user with bad use of your device. And my phone stats can confirm what i say

Berserker_boi said:
Hey there
A bit late to the party here. I am looking to get a A3 to replace my current phone. I have a POCO M2 PRO as my current phone, however i am VERY dissatisfied with it. Look into the A3 cuz its the only small phone i was able to find. Lemma know if this is a good idea. Oh and if you know about any small/compact/comfortable phone that doesn't break the bank, let me know in the comments.
peace✌
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my opinion, if I had to change my Mi A3 now, I'd go with a Motorola Moto G 5G Plus, which has more or less the same A3 stuff, with a better display, 5g, better battery but it's also slightly bigger and heavier.
The only thing I don't know is about the software, on the xda page there are very few threads and nobody's talking about major problems with software, I might give it a try if I get sick with Xiaomeme software updates

Phil_gloves said:
In my opinion, if I had to change my Mi A3 now, I'd go with a Motorola Moto G 5G Plus, which has more or less the same A3 stuff, with a better display, 5g, better battery but it's also slightly bigger and heavier.
The only thing I don't know is about the software, on the xda page there are very few threads and nobody's talking about major problems with software, I might give it a try if I get sick with Xiaomeme software updates
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That motorola has an IPS screen with SD765, so not really comparable
But I think this 720p AMOLED screen is crappy (EVEN if it makes this phone faster), but you cannot find a decent 1080p at the smallish 70-72mm width that's not costing an arm and a leg (Sony Xperia 5).
Wait 7 days for the new Poco.

I think that mi a3 is one of the best mid range phone... So i will change it... Only for an high range phone... Probably a pixel... Or a top xiaomi... Also oppo seems very good phones...

wetito said:
In my experience, a11 stock is very good. 2 days without full charge and 8-9 hours of SOT. Smooth and fast. The secret is optmize the app configuration. Remove useless app. But first... Don't use official Facebook app. Obviously it's my opinion and my experience. But i'm quite sure that the user with bad experience. Are user with bad use of your device. And my phone stats can confirm what i say
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How were you able to get good battery life on stock Android 11? Please help me. The battery life sucks on Android 11 on this phone.

Sometimes the ota updates are not successful. So an hard reset can solve much problems. I don't use fingerprint and always on display because drain a lot of battery... I have disabled much of Google apps that are not indispensable for my use... I have limited the background use for some apps... With this optimization i'm very satisfied. But are specific s for my use (social+music streaming... And sometimes YouTube vanced). I hope my post can help you (i'm italian so my English is not perfect)

Best buy of the week! I'm seriusly considering to sell my mia3 at this prince to buy it! Is's an old model... But not the hardware

Does anyone use this OS as their daily driver? What are your experiences and thoughts with the OS?

My Samsung A3 is almost 5 years old and I still use it as my daily driver, I'm thinking about flashing Lineage OS to the device and I'm wondering what anybody's experiences were with using the OS as their daily driver. I will use it mostly for calling, texting and journaling. I also listen to music quite frequently. I don't intend on installing any of the popular apps.

I've been using LineageOS and Cyanogenmod forever. It works wonderfully and I do anything I can with the stock OS and more.

I run LineageOS on my Samsung Galaxy S5 Duos and use it as my daily driver. It's running Lineage 17.1 which is Android 10 (18.1/11 has just become available too) - not bad for a phone launched in February 2014, which is now over 7 years ago!
If it wasn't for this phone only having 2GB of RAM onboard a lay person probably wouldn't notice much difference compared to a more modern mid range phone.
With LineageOS there's a lot less bloat so Storage, RAM, CPU Performance, and Battery Life are all improved.
I went the whole way and the phone is rooted as well and to be honest I wouldn't look back. I bought this phone all those years ago specifically to do this and it's really paid off.
But remember the LineageOS ROMs are specific for each phone. So the first thing to do is to find the support thread here for your particular model and read through it for points relative to your specific device.
I really like the freedom that LineageOS and Root gives me to do whatever I like with my phone, all while getting monthly updates and having a support thread of like minded users (well actually many of them are way more power users than me). Daily driver performance is excellent.
When I buy a new phone it will again be a model that can run LineageOS and be rooted. And I'll do this immediately after purchasing the device. These days that also makes some chinese model phones a good option as they often have a good hardware to price value ratio, but terrible support and updates. So it's possible to use this good value hardware but combined with an excellent LineageOS ROM, support, and updates instead.
Hope that helps

eu7tFeTyT7vfPy said:
My Samsung A3 is almost 5 years old and I still use it as my daily driver, I'm thinking about flashing Lineage OS to the device and I'm wondering what anybody's experiences were with using the OS as their daily driver. I will use it mostly for calling, texting and journaling. I also listen to music quite frequently. I don't intend on installing any of the popular apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's OK if you have A3 2016. But what's your motivation? Playing around? Avoiding Google spying? Impressing friends with new android version?

kurtn said:
It's OK if you have A3 2016. But what's your motivation? Playing around? Avoiding Google spying? Impressing friends with new android version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Avoiding google spying No friends to impress lol!

jmh2002 said:
I run LineageOS on my Samsung Galaxy S5 Duos and use it as my daily driver. It's running Lineage 17.1 which is Android 10 (18.1/11 has just become available too) - not bad for a phone launched in February 2014, which is now over 7 years ago!
If it wasn't for this phone only having 2GB of RAM onboard a lay person probably wouldn't notice much difference compared to a more modern mid range phone.
With LineageOS there's a lot less bloat so Storage, RAM, CPU Performance, and Battery Life are all improved.
I went the whole way and the phone is rooted as well and to be honest I wouldn't look back. I bought this phone all those years ago specifically to do this and it's really paid off.
But remember the LineageOS ROMs are specific for each phone. So the first thing to do is to find the support thread here for your particular model and read through it for points relative to your specific device.
I really like the freedom that LineageOS and Root gives me to do whatever I like with my phone, all while getting monthly updates and having a support thread of like minded users (well actually many of them are way more power users than me). Daily driver performance is excellent.
When I buy a new phone it will again be a model that can run LineageOS and be rooted. And I'll do this immediately after purchasing the device. These days that also makes some chinese model phones a good option as they often have a good hardware to price value ratio, but terrible support and updates. So it's possible to use this good value hardware but combined with an excellent LineageOS ROM, support, and updates instead.
Hope that helps
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Thank you for the detailed response, and for reminding me to check the support thread for my model! I also noticed that the less popular Chinese model phones had better price to hardware ratios and the only thing stopping me was exactly what you mentioned, though I'm doing this to an A3 I'll probably consider buying something of the sort in the future for when I want an upgrade. From your response, Lineage is looking hopeful!

Cheap Phone For LineageOS

Hello,
I was looking for recommendations on a cheap phone to get started with trying out custom OS's and maybe serving as a backup phone. I found a Blu Advance L5 on Amazon for ~$40, but it looks like it isn't compatible with LineageOS and some of the other builds. Not looking for a daily driver, just something to test things out with. Thanks!

f1yankees said:
Hello,
I was looking for recommendations on a cheap phone to get started with trying out custom OS's and maybe serving as a backup phone. I found a Blu Advance L5 on Amazon for ~$40, but it looks like it isn't compatible with LineageOS and some of the other builds. Not looking for a daily driver, just something to test things out with. Thanks!
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I'd recommend looking for a used Google Pixel phone. The 4 and 5 series still has a lot of custom ROM support, including LineageOS. (Google has ended support for the pre-4 models, so I'd stay away from those. Some developers may still be able to eke out some support for them still, but it's not guaranteed.)

f1yankees said:
just something to test things out with
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Other than what @MJPollard said, you can check also this:
https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/
And make sure it is common enough, so support doesn't stop suddenly:
https://stats.lineageos.org/

Thank you both. Any thoughts on something like a Nokia 6.1 or Motorola phones (i.e. something sub $100)?

f1yankees said:
Thank you both. Any thoughts on something like a Nokia 6.1 or Motorola phones (i.e. something sub $100)?
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IMHO, anything that's sub-$100 probably isn't going to be supported for very long. You could get one of those phones, only to find out that it'll never go beyond Android 12 (LineageOS 19.1), or might even be stuck on earlier versions due to the lack of any further software support for the hardware (i.e. kernel and driver updates, which are essential). That's why phones like the Pixel are often good choices, as they'll usually be supported with new Android versions (both officially and unofficially) for a lot longer than the el-cheapos. You may have to pay a few dollars more, but you'll be better off in the long run. (Personally, I've had OnePlus phones for the last few years. First the 3T, then the 7 Pro, and now the 9 Pro. Probably not a choice for you as you're looking for something cost-effective, but OnePlus generally has an excellent shelf life even after official support ends... at least, it did until the OnePlus 10 series, but that's a subject for a different thread. )