HACKER Q&A
📣 smoyer

What's the best “open” phone that supports 5G?


I'm sure this question has been asked before and given there are constantly new phones being released, it's probably worth asking again.

Is there an "open" phone that's perhaps based on the non-Google Android? What's your experience with your carrier? What are the pros and cons of your system?

Note: Verizon just informed me that my admittedly old phone will quit working when they shut down 4G LTE by EoY 2022. Clearly I'm not using applications that tax the phone's processor or memory capabilities.

  👤 pridkett Accepted Answer ✓
There’s an important note. Verizon (and other American carriers) have no plans on shutting down 4G LTE. Even with c-band and DSS there are still large swaths of the country without any sort of 5G. In addition, devices a as recent as the iPhone 11 from 2019 do not support 5G.

The major American carriers are shutting down 3G. But for that to be a problem you’ve got to go back to the iPhone 5s, which has LTE data, but not for voice (going off the top of my head there, might be a generation off).

👤 hansvs
Maybe fairphone 4? From factory it comes with android 11, but a beta release of /e/OS is now available for it [1].

[1]: https://e.foundation/leaving-apple-google-e-os-is-available-...

👤 opan
Some of the newer OnePlus devices have postmarketOS support, and they all have LineageOS support. However, I've heard that the latest OnePlus phone's 5G doesn't work on AT&T for some reason. Not sure about the other carriers. It seems like a bad time to get a 5G phone. Hopefully things are better in a few years.
👤 Friday_
There is no such thing as open smartphone. Legally you are not allowed to transmit, unless you got liscence. So baseband will be always locked. There are some dumb phones that can thou.
👤 pkulak
Can't you just buy a Pixel 6 and put Calyx on it?

EDIT: Also, Verizon has no plans whatsoever to shut down their LTE network.