Due to 3G shutdowns in Canada coming up in March (S8 not whitelisted for VoLTE) and the top 2 cm of my phone screen no longer responding to touch, I have to upgrade, but I have very particular requirements and a budget of under $500 CAD, ideally. I have loved my S8 to bits. It was my first phone, received for Christmas when I was 11, and I'm 19 now. It's been dropped countless times, it might have been run over by a bike, it's been submerged in water several times, it's got an occasional green line+a permanent white line on the edge, the broken screen has shards of glass fall out from time to time, and some of its internal metal is exposed in the bottom corners. I really hate to see it go, and it still feels like the ideal phone, despite its age, but it's probably time. So I'm looking for a phone that will serve me the same way my S8 has, really. As I understand it, this should not be difficult, as my standards are very low--I've been working exclusively with Android 9 (too old to use my bank's app), 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, 60Hz refresh rate, completely abysmal camera quality, and no security updates since 2021. Basically everything on the market would be an upgrade for me, and you can imagine how it feels for me to see people complain about newer phones "only" having 128GB... I don't have many games (certainly no fancy new ones), I try not to take too many photos, and I don't like too much app clutter (though some of these are habits adopted to save storage). I do, however, have some particular requirements that are difficult to find in new phones: a headphone jack, a height at or under 6 inches, and the front camera located fully on a bezel (not obstructing the screen at all). I've been looking at some of Sony's Xperia models, particularly the Xperia 10 IV, as it's relatively cheap now, only 6 inches, has the headphone jack, and is upgradable to Android 14. Sony phones quickly caught my attention because they seem to fit my criteria with the most consistency, but a lot of them are out of my budget or have poor reviews. This is why I thought to ask here, as most negative reviews don't seem relevant to me when I'm coming from an S8. Taking into account that I'm coming from an S8, is a Sony Xperia worth it? Are there any other phones I should look at, or any models I should definitely avoid even with my low standards for specs? Would anyone even recommend getting a phone that's already legacy since it will be most like my S8? I really like the older Xperia compact designs, but VoLTE is a necessity now. I've also looked at some Unihertz options, but I'm unsure if they'll last me anywhere near as long as my S8 did. I don't mind lesser known companies, as long as the phone can do everything my S8 did but with 4G and a slightly newer Android version (even just 11 would be OK). Thanks in advance for any tips. PS: I just checked--256GB storage is the baseline now? Really? Holy shit.   submitted by   /u/Ok_Cheetah_5240   to   r/Smartphones [link]   [comments]