Bought 2026 as the cheapest 100 pound phone available now that I don't have any Authy backup I think in case my phone breaks. That's the only purpose.
First impression: sluggish! Epic.
Bought: November 2023.
March 2026: charger cords is not fixing in very well. I can get it with with a bit of force, but it comes out very easily. I can't see anything blocking the charger port, maybe the pin it got pushed in somehow? Happens on all USB-C cords, though it is slightly better on some than others. What a pain. Later I cleaned it with my Swiss knife's wooden pick and it worked wonderfully, there was actually some pocket lint stuck in there somehow and got it back to normal: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtQGhSNBsnU Awesome? While taking of the cover however for cleaning I noticed there's a crack behind the phone under the camera. Funny how the screen is bulletproof, even stronger than the body.
£112.99
Buying October 2023 as an immediate backup phone after the Google Pixel 3a (2020) touchscreen died, and Motorola Moto G6 Play (2018) wouldn't connect to giffgaff.
June 2026: screen stopped working, unknown cause, was seeing low usage. Android splash, Vertical lines and flashing on power on, then black. Didn't manage to recover.
Still working checks: May 2024.
Bought: January 2020 from store.google.com/ for 350 pounds.
GMS Arena: www.gsmarena.com/google_pixel_3a-9408.php
Front camera video on Android 11: about 100MiB / minute. The encoding is however super inefficient, a FFmpeg re-encode without any options reduces it by 1/3.
For Fastboot mode: Power and Volume down simultaneously for 10-15s. It is OK if screen sleeps. On "no command", power then volume up to see options.
2023-10: touchscreen not registering touches anymore. Still displays images. Manage to regain access with wired USB mouse + a simple USB-C adapter. RIP. Will attempt replacement: store.ifixit.co.uk/products/google-pixel-3a-screen-genuine?variant=42388954448071, partly to get Authy access which I had never properly tested... Replaced screen, but at exact same status as before: shows image but no touch. thus I wasted my money and time (minus the learning) something else is broken.
This is crap, became slow very fast. The battery is IMPOSSIBLE to remove!!! youtu.be/kO-RwIQ_i1w?t=162 Battery was 4.163V when thing wouldn't turn on anymore. But topbattery.co.uk/product/original-battery-for-tablet-lenovo-yoga-tab-3-yt3-x50fyt3-x50m-sl20076-2/ says it is 3.6V. What?
Bought for: £159.99.
Type: M374B
www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_g6_play-9002.php Upgradable to Android 9.
2026-08: turns on to black screen: Start Up Failed: Your device didn't start up successfully.
2023-10: unable to connect to Giffgaff. "Network unavailable". Same SIM works in other phones. So annoying. Update APN to match: www.giffgaff.com/help/articles/internet-apn-settings-guide. Went next to a tower and then got signal. So the receiver is much worse than the pixel one. Vibration appears to be broken.
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