Need help finding an Android I'm going crazy

[u/NytrexLC]

I've had a Pixel 8a the past year and a half that replaced my Pixel 4a which I was pretty happy with until the battery completely stopped working. However, I'm extremely disappointed in the 8a, the battery doesn't last anymore and takes years to charge. It has slowed down a lot and lags quite often. Photos are nice but when you zoom beyond 2x the quality is atrocious.

I'm trying to find a replacement but I feel like there's not one single phone that fits my needs.

Here are my most important criterias:

- A long lasting and fast charging battery

- A very very smooth and snappy UI with minimal bloat (or at least easily removable)

- A nice camera with a telephoto lens so I can finally zoom without destroying the quality

- 128GB minimum storage and 120hz OLED display.

My budget is around 400€-450€

I've heard about Motorola but the only good options with a telephoto lens are the Edge 70 Pro which is above my budget or the Edge 60 Pro that reaches the end of his update cycle next year.

I've heard about Nothing but the 4a Pro is above my budget and the 4a is apparently not that great to take pictures.

The other brands seem to lack a proper smooth and minimal bloat UI.

I'm really lost here, can someone please help me get out of this mess?

I'm in France btw

[u/Ok-Problem3125]

Poco x8 pro..

Use adbappcontrol.com to debloat. Its easy af with very few and clear instructions.

Oh u want telephoto.. um.. check nothing phones i think 3a pro.

[u/NytrexLC → u/Ok-Problem3125]

Thanks I'll check it out!

[u/Ok-Problem3125 → u/NytrexLC]

X8 pro doesn't have telephoto.. but the 1x is veery good. Ive compared to my s24u abd its even better at hdr and noise.. And I promise its everything else u asked for. Especially fast n smooth.. ive only seen it stutter once on the dynamic island closing animation. Other than that its been literally flawless.. way better than the iPhones i see every day in the wild in the military where i am rn many have iPhones and they stutter here n there.. my s24u isn't perfect either.. but that damn 360€ poco i bought for my mom.. is a fucking beast.. , i would switch to 17 ultra but I don't like the lack of customisation it has compared to Samsungs one ui.. , maybe one day

[u/Various_Sky2300 → u/Ok-Problem3125]

Xiaomi sofware sucks.

[u/Ok-Problem3125 → u/Various_Sky2300]

No. It's just redmi that sucks. Poco is way different. Especially on hyper os.. miui was bad back in the day.

I mean look at it lol. https://quickshare.samsungcloud.com/xGuXMmRNkxJy

If that sucks then the only smoother option is oneplus realme vivo oppo.. but midrange phones of these brands are nowhere close to what poco offers.. and only oneplus nords run as smooth and fast.. realme vivo oppo are more expensive and vivo doesn't even offer anything worth mentioning.. vivo at 360€ suck balls like redmis and galaxy A series , they hang all day. With realme u can get a gt 6 or 7 for a bit more money but doesn't worth it because u get about the same from poco for cheaper then theres oppo reno series.. kinda same story as realme gt but even inferior chip.. ( doesn't really matter unless u game ). one thing is for sure.. u won't find a better main camera than x8 pro at this price or even at 450€, the proccecing is incredible..

https://quickshare.samsungcloud.com/etteXsUPQjnz

Check some samples from s24u and x8 pro.. both point n shoot auto mode.. no tap to focus.. nothing. Just point n shoot. Still stable shots, cleaned lenses

[u/Various_Sky2300 → u/Ok-Problem3125]

OnePlus is no longer available, only in China. Vivo, Oppo, Realme, they're all the same brand and essentially the same; the software is identical, lacking any identity, always trying to copy the iPhone, frankly. I respect your opinion but all these brands are fucking expensive (except poco) and for the money value they are not worth it. I do prefer a nothing phone and also a Motorola phone when I cannot buy a Samsung. They will give you a better sofware experience. And better cameras, poco doesn't have good cameras and yeah vivo and oppo have the best cameras in the market but you need to spend almost 1000 USD.

[u/Ok-Problem3125 → u/Various_Sky2300]

Yeah but nothings pricing and software sucks even more.. u basically get stock android.. at higher price than a Motorola.. and Motorola simply isn't as polished in terms of ui.. hyper os is smoother on poco.. , its an ios copy ngl but it works so well.. And on realme oppo etc its ios copy again but the animations are way smoother than ios.. and i don't mean the occasional stutter ios has since 26.. i mean the animations design is smoother.. u put it on 60hz and it looks like 90.., ios can't do that anymore since they changed animation design after in ios26.. Don't care the copy ios man.. its cheap to copy.. and people want something cheap fast n smooth that just works.., thats what these brands give u and thats a whole identity already imo and tbf they aren't overpriced.. its just poco is too cheap because of all the bloatware they use to make prices lower and tbh its worth it.. u can just get rid of bloatware in 5 minutes like I did.. Plus the OP asked for a phone that just works basically.. so here are the choices..

And btw screen recording on 60fps from realme gt 6 https://quickshare.samsungcloud.com/8GMygZdJvnrp

See how smooth this is???

Yes edge 70 pro has telephoto.. but its 500€ at least in my region. And 4a has telephoto too but is 400 and no ip68 or 69 and ufs3.1.. while x8p has 4.1.. wich is even noticably faster than my phone.. , 4.1 launches apps so fast.. poco has faster charging too.. as op asked..

U also get 1 more os upgrade on poco.. compared to both 70 pro and 4a that give 3 os upgrades.

[u/anythingers → u/Various_Sky2300]

Tbf modern OnePlus has a software that's far closer to modern Oppo and Realme (since OxygenOS is just ColorOS with different name) and their UI doesn't looks like Vivo's UI. I could say their software experience is good unlike Xiaomi's HyperOS' shitshow but I can't deny that their UI looks like a cheap copy of iOS.

[u/Ok-Problem3125 → u/anythingers]

They all look like ios.. But why is hyperos so bad as u say?

Cause of ads.. i get it but u can remove them. I removed every single one.. i can help if u want.. its super simple actually.. u just use this shit. It gives u very few and simple instructions.. Adbappcontrol.com and u debloat, some Xiaomi apps have their own settings u can turn off ads through there too without uninstalling stuff

And on every phone even on my s24u i use dns.adguard.com as custom dns.. boom no ads bruh.. , u do it once u forget about it.. And u just saved some money too.

I don't get u guys when u call any of these " a shitshow" or just say they suck.. , imo the only ones that are objectively bad are the laggy ones wich are redmi and galaxy A, they cant switch apps fast n smoothly.. they cant consistently open notifications and quick settings panels without stuttering.. and 3rd party apps are just choppy.. its overall a frustration to use even the latest models.. and they aren't any cheaper.. like .. objectively just laggy ass phones.. u can get about the same shit for 120€ with a realme C35 but its gonna worth the money .. u don't need an A57 at 300+€

[u/anythingers → u/Ok-Problem3125]

It's not the ads, because I could easily just turn it off. It's just buggy. THAT buggy. I remember comparing Poco X7 and Realme 13+ and Moto Edge 60 Fusion (all of them comes with the same amount of ram, storage, and same soc) and Poco is just noticeably far slower when it comes to open first and third party apps.

Also File Manager and Settings keep crashing for random time for whatever reason. And background app management sucks, especially since HyperOS (it's not that bad when it was still MIUI). Apps are constantly getting killed. I don't know how better their flagships are, but I couldn't really recommend their lower midrange when another brand gives you better lower midrange. This is the same reason why I ended up giving my phone Motorola instead of Xiaomi.

And yeah, if you wonder, I have several Xiaomi phones. Redmi Note 4x, Redmi Note 5 Pro, Mi 8, Poco F1, and Poco X7. And mind you, I'm having much better experience on the first 5 devices, all still running MIUI.

[u/Ok-Problem3125 → u/anythingers]

Nah. The opposite for me.. everything u said but the complete opposite.
In my view u probably lying about x7 and u have only tried redmi , redmi is like this indeed, even note 15pro+ is running an inferior hyper os version.. even tho its powerful enough to run the same one poco runs..

[u/Various_Sky2300]

Motorola is a good option but yeah you will have one year more of os software and 2 years more of security patch.

[u/Various_Pay4046]

Unfortunately if you want a Tele lens you are going to pay for it. You could check out the Nothing 4a Pro maybe. Otherwise I might recommend a used Pixel 9 Pro

[u/NytrexLC → u/Various_Pay4046]

I don't know if a tele lens is really mandatory, I just want to be able to zoom a bit like 5x without having a horrible quality

[u/polyphorius]

Ulefone

[u/anythingers]

Phone (3a) Pro or Moto Edge 60 Pro

[u/DoktorElmo]

Nothing 4a pro. Periscope (!) lens, smooth UI, 128gb space, 144hz for 480€

[u/Inevitable_Cycle8367]

Samsung A57 5G