Android phones, apps and tablets

and @ChasnotRobert

I couldn't find the setting to change it but uninstalling duckduckgo and then searching brought up the option to choose the default. This persisted even after reinstalling duckduckgo.

Also, installing a new browser (I used opera and then uninstalled again after) also brings up the option if you then do "web search".

There some Black Friday deals on Pixel phones just popped up in a promo email from Google

Saw that too though Giffgaff are doing the same at much better prices on some handsets

My fairly ancient Kindle Fire is in a boot loop of death.
So am looking for a replacement.
This is an old 8" number, I think I would prefer slightly larger (old man eyes) and will be used almost exclusively for reading digital comics or watching films on transport.

Any suggestions on what to look at?

Edit: Anyone jailbreak a Fire 10? I might grab one on BF if it drops enough. I've used Fire Toolbox on my old one to remove the bloat and add Google Play (also, might contribute to my current bricked one, but a risk I happily take)

Annoyingly from what I was reading on Reddit they've decreased the price of the Pixel 9 by £100 but also decreased the money you get by trading your phone in by £100. Think I'll wait before upgrading the 6A

The best deal was the one I posted last week, if they credit my trade in Pixel 7 pro (no reason they shouldn't) then the Pixel 9 Pro will have cost me around £150.

I've been underwhelmed by Kindle tablets, just a bit too annoying to use.

The Galaxy Tab A9 (8.7") can be picked up for under a hundred, the A9+ (11") for not much more.

Yeah that's amazing! I did click through and look but didn't seem to be working for me

how did you manage that then? 7 Pro trade in is showing as £309, which gives net price of £290 after the 30% off the cheapest 9 pro.

The trade in value was significantly higher last week, they're giving me £540 for my 7 Pro. Plus there was Top Cashback which has tracked and a further £70 back in Google store credit. So if you factor that in as well it's sub £100 net.

I see, that's a very good price. The 1/3 off is appalling, but what I didn't appreciate before is that the 9 pro looks largely comparable to the 8 pro, I think the battery is even a bit smaller.

I don't have a trade in, but 499 seems like a decent price, and I can't find any competitors for the money. Might just wait until Tomorrow to see if they chuck anything else in.

499 is for the 8Pro right?

I massively prefer the size and shape of the 9 Pro to my old 7 Pro. It's quite a bit smaller, battery is also much better than the 7 Pro (can't comment on it vs the 8 Pro though).

yeah 8 pro

Looking for opinions please. Maybe moon on a stick.
In the past I have always bought phones for around £100 whether they be new or nearly new used models from the likes of Marketplace.

I like small phones but I want a 5000mah battery minimum. I have a Pixel 4a 4g which has been fine but I am looking for a new phone. Ideally as small as possible. I just the the Mrs a Moto G54 which seem a really good buy but they might be slightly too big.

What small phones are out there? Anything small and around the £150 mark? Anyone have anything for sale? I don't want to go Iphone unless I can get a 13mini cheap. Want to avoid the Chinese brands such as Xaiomi and Huawei as I haven't had good experiences on the past.
Cheers

Pixel 6a with Graphene os installed as recommended by velocio is great

My Motorola sometimes takes a good few seconds to unlock/wake up after I press the button on it. This must be software rather than hardware right? Maybe just a restart and update needed?

Alternatively I'm using a Pixel 4a that I got a battery change at ismash for £40 and then installed graphene.

After getting sick of the whole upgrade cycle nonsense I've decided I'm just going to run this set up for as long as it works for me.

I understand there are potential security issues. But in a real life scenario how much of a real risk is this? I'm happy to be educated if I'm being reckless.

Fortunately no such bad luck for me. They credited me the full value so it's been an incredibly cheap upgrade.

I understand there are potential security issues.

Which ones? Is Graphene not supported on your 4a now?

If my 6a is still running when they drop support for it, I might do the same kind of thing.

I actually forgot about Graphene as I think last time I looked it was end of life for the 4a. There appears to be an extended version so I might have a go at installing over the weekend. Cheers for the reminder!

No worries. I've not bothered with it yet because hassle but at some point the 6a will be flakey enough to force an upgrade and then I might try it out on the older unit.

I have an XCover 5 and an older XCover 4S here that I could try it on but I'm not sure Graphene supports Samsung phones or if it's a hassle to root them and yada yada. Anyone put Graphene on a non Pixel phone?

My Motorola sometimes takes a good few seconds to unlock/wake up after I press the button on it. This must be software rather than hardware right?

Depends on age of the phone I suppose? My g30 (android 12) is over 3 years old from new and getting laggy in similar situations; gboard is sometimes slow to respond when I have a lot of apps open and I have recently found that it stops responding to touch when it's doing a lot of processing, which I fix with a screen lock and unlock 🤔 (particularly annoying whilst driving using googlemaps!)
I might give it a wipe and fresh start soon...

Going back to using one of the XCover phones after using the Pixel is agonising. They're so fucking slow. I wonder how I coped when I had them full time.

Surely they're just slow now because modern software requires a higher spec tech? A few years ago I bet it performed fine, no?