Just bought a Galaxy s20+ ultra refurbished a couple of months ago. Only cost like 300 and had comparable specs to the current $1500 phones.

Wife has to have apple and I couldn't bring myself to buy her refurbished for her birthday... bit the bullet and got an iPhone that was 1 or 2 generations old, still cost like 800-900.

I really like the looks of those TCL NXTpaper phones. They use a matte color eink display that looks amazing.

Google Pixel 6a

Pixel

Pixel 8 sounds like what you're looking for.

Recently got myself a Pixel 7a and it's been a great experience.

rn using a Samsung Galaxy A32, planning to switch to a pixel 7a eventually

Blackberry Key2 because nothing beats a hardware keyboard. Tried it but cant life without one.

Samsung A52. Great battery, 90hz, works with Tello, and is cheap.

Pixel 8 Pro. I'm satisfied of it. The first thing I did was unlocking and the second rooting.

S10+ it's running for me for the last 3 years. Used Samsung's cost like 1/4-> 1/3 the starting price about 1.5 years after release.

They're all pretty much the same, unless you're looking for specific use cases, e.g. camera, outdoors ruggedness, gaming, specific OS build, etc. I stopped getting flagships once I realized my old ones battery started to swell like a cheaper phone. I'm on Android, so I get to replace any app with the one of my choice - I'm particular about data submissions to home and sneaky stuff like autotagging. Now all I look for is a recent android build (for app compatibility), decent camera hardware (I'll replace the app), IP68 and a good price.

6s (2015) here. I know that perfect phone doesn’t exist and mine is getting older with every minute now, battery is a joke even after one replacement few years ago..

..yet for all those years I have trouble finding any replacement, and I am open for any direction that will just feel fine (at least), somehow nothing does.

I am still using Redmi note 5 pro and it's working great!

Pixel 4, probably gonna be on this phone for a while.

S20FE. It was cheap ~500 when i got it and it had all the stuff i wanted (microsd, 120hz, latest chip, 3 cameras, flat screen).

Use Termux on android to run Linux natively with proot

I use a Samsung S21 5G as my daily driver with an S8 as my phone for watching videos because it still has a headphone jack. This is going to be my last Samsung phone though, I can't support their constant injection of bloatware every update, their atrocious customer support, and the removal of good features.

iPhone 13 Pro. Probably going to upgrade to a 16 Pro this fall.