I like using Lubuntu because it's lightweight and feels pretty snappy on my 2009 laptop.

1. Firefox with uBlock origin (a must for browsing the web)
2. Bitwarden (for passwords)
3. FX file manager (fast and powerful file manager)

Honorable mention to Music speed changer (uses an advanced algorithm to change the pitch and speed of locally stored audio with minimal distortion)

#1, #3, and the honorable mention are Android only. This is a huge reason why I stay on Android.

I disabled the Google app on my phone and my phone still seems to work fine

Depends on your budget and location.

Unlimited budget: Sony Xperia 1 V ($1400). Has almost anything you'd want. SD8G2, MicroSD slot, etc.

High budget: Asus Zenfone 9 ($700). Great compact phone with a headphone jack. Alternatively wait for the Zenfone 10 to come out as it's coming out this week.

Or even the Xperia 5 V ($1000), a slightly downgraded version of the 1 V.

Lower budget: Sony Xperia 10 V ($450). Expensive for the specs but you get outstanding battery life, 25-50% more than any other phone on this list. And it's the only budget phone with a telephoto lens.

USA pick: Moto G Stylus 5G (2022). Can be picked up for $250 on Amazon and has excellent all-around specs for the price.

Europe/Asia picks: Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+ ($350) if you want good cameras for the price. However the chipset might struggle with MIUI from time to time.

Xiaomi Poco X5 pro ($300). Good all-arounder at this price.

Xiaomi Poco F5 ($400). Best chipset out of all of these budget phones, at nearly flagship levels.

Late to the thread but here's my thoughts on everything I'd like in a phone. Having just a few of these would make a huge difference in how much I'd want the phone.

Hardware:

1. Standard features like a 3.5mm jack and MicroSD slot.
2. Multiple USB ports (especially on tablets)
3. Thunderbolt port
4. Here's a simple idea: Instead of making a thin phone with a massive camera bump, you make a thick phone with the camera flush with the back, and use the extra space for a bigger battery?
5. User-replacable battery
6. Modules like the modo mods
7. Battery passthrough when charging
8. Upgradable SoC, RAM, internal storage???

Software (here lies my hopes and dreams that will never be manifested):

1. Starting off simple, a feature that lets you manually limit how much you charge your battery.
2. Manual over/underclocking controls for the CPU
3. Separate WiFi/data toggles
4. More control over how big or small icons and text is
5. Easy root access with app makers not getting all "you sus" over the fact that your device is rooted
6. No data harvesting (duh)
7. Better file management (and removing scoped storage)
8. Multiple logins to a phone (like what you can do with a desktop)
9. One app, multiple accounts
10. Just having the software take less system resources.
11. Open sourcing hardware drivers
12. Multiple floating windows like with a desktop OS
13. More than 3 split screen options
14. I'm sure there's a lot more I can't think of now

This almost sounds like what could happen to the Fediverse. It's decentralized just like crypto, but the majority of people won't know or care about how the Fediverse works, they will just want to communicate online.

Here in the US, Motorola phones are some of the best bang for the buck in a market missing many of the low cost Chinese brands. My last phone and current phone are both Motorolas, and I'd recommend them from the $120-$400 price ranges.

You now can't even sideload an app with a target SDK level that is too low. This locks you out of a bunch of older abandoned FOSS apps that often are very lightweight on storage.

I'm ambivalent to most of the UI changes in the Android 12 OS. The only thing I really don't like in the Android 12 UI changes is the quick toggle settings. There used to be 6 where there now are 4, yet it takes more space now.

And the internet toggle is a great example of terrible design: You swipe down, click the button on the top of the screen (with a misleading arrow on it that does nothing), then after a whole second on good hardware (SD695) a menu shows up at the bottom of the screen to disable WiFi and data, but the toggles randomly change position as WiFi networks are found. After to hit the toggle, you have to click out of the menu again. 2 extra clicks and all in totally different parts of the screen.

I have a suspicion this was designed in order to keep you connected to the internet all the time.

1. I can sideload apps. These apps are usually either obscure but useful or FOSS and designed for the user rather than for money.

2. Even the apps officially on the Google Play Store are more powerful, such as emulators and an app using an advanced algorithm to change the speed and pitch of music while having it still sound high-quality. And of course, a file manager is a must-have.

3. The ability to have Firefox+uBlock origin is a must-have for web browsing.

4. More powerful in automation tools. I didn't care too much about this until I found it extremely useful for work.

5. More hardware variety. I hate that you can't get a headphone jack on an iPhone and that the storage markups are absurd. Here I am with a $300 phone with a good performance, 256GB internal storage, a headphone jack, and a MicroSD slot. Bonus: The iPhone notch is incredibly ugly and the way Android does notches and punch holes is way better.

Unfortunately, we are beholden to greedy Google that actively is nerfing Android. Android 11 made it harder to access files, Android 12 replaced the WiFi and mobile toggles an incredibly poorly-designed internet toggle, and Android 14 is gonna restrict sideloading of older apps (which generally use less storage and are more optimized).

Please. Being toxic is not gonna help things.

Try out some incremental games! Some good popular games in the genre are Cookie Clicker, Realm Grinder, Antimatter Dimensions (and its mods), and there's a whole world of little niche incremental games out there waiting to be discovered.