Next port to buy: 2024 edition
Just un update: as I am now daily driving the Zenfone 8.
- The camera is sh*tty if you don’t disable sharpening, which requires camera2 API and that in turn doesn’t work with video yet
- The vibration is very weak and not steady at calls/alarms - just a nudge + sound
- Wifi is a power hog
I personally have workarounds for each, meaning:
- I am not recording videos now
- I am using an Amazfish device for notifications
- I keep wifi off almost all the time
A couple of things have changed since the original post:
- mal says Android 13 is accessible for porting (but not 12).
- Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro and probably Ultra seem to not have a Virtual proximity sensor
- I have now realized I don’t like small phones. Not because my hands have grown, but the eyes…
Given these, and continuing to seek out better cameras, I have now these three new contenders in my original criteria points:
Xiaomi 13 Pro has 1" camera, OLED D2TW, no jack, Under display FOD, IR port, large battery, no virtual sensor but I would not like to support them, probably not popular and it is notched (btw, I found out that left notch is considerably worse than middle!). So 1+, 2, but not 3, partially 4, yes 5, 6, 7, but no 8, 9 and partially 10.
So it has 6.5 points because middle notch is now 0.5 points instead of 0. And because Xiaomi FOD can be adapted (Asus I couldn’t - so 0.5 there). And because 1" sensor is 1.5 points 
The nice other thing about this device is that one half the price (the non-pro) gets the same chipset/kernel. But there are not any custom ROMs that build the OSS Xiaomi kernel, mostly using pre-built. That’s a red flag.
Fairphone 5 has large enough camera, OLED, no jack, side Fingerprint senor, no IR, good enough battery, real proximity sensor and I support and may be popular, though notched. So 1, 2 yes, 3 no, 4 yes, 5 no, 6, 7, 8, 9 yes and 10 partially: 7.5 points
(Later edit: 1.5 points for “company I would like to support”, for more fairness, see posts below)
The third contender is a small device and it makes the new “I like large devices” screens because… I already have one in my family. Both these criterias would offset a comparison with Xperia 1 IV which would lead the same result: Larger, but I don’t have one;)
Xperia 5 IV - checks 1, 2, 3, 4, not 5, yes 6, 7, 8, maybe/partially 9, and 10. So it has 8.5 points.
| Criteria | Xiaomi 13 / Pro | Fairphone 5 | Xperia 1/5 IV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Camera at least 1/1.7" | 1.5pt | 1pt | 1pt |
| 2. OLED screen with double tap to wake. | 1pt | 1pt | 1pt |
| 3. Headphone jack | - | - | 1pt |
| 4. Fingerprint reader - side-mounted sensor | 0.5pt | 1pt | 1pt |
| 5. Infrared port. | 1pt | - | - |
| 6. Largish battery - 4000+ mAh | 1pt | 1pt | 1pt |
| 7. Real proximity sensor (not virtual) | 1pt | 1pt | 1pt |
| 8. Manufacturer is company I would like to support | - | 1.5pt | 1pt |
| 9. Model is popular enough so it helps Sailfish | - | 1pt | 0.5pt |
| 10. Screen not notched / centered notch for 0.5 | 0.5pt | 0.5pt | 1pt |
| TOTAL | 6.5pt | 8pt | 8.5pt |
So to sum it up:
- The Xiaomi device actually scores a bit lower than my current Zenfone 8, for political reasons (8,9)
- Fairphone 5 is a HUGE leap (from 4 points to 7.5) from FP4
- Xperia 5 IV has the same rank as previously but I am not anymore after very small devices for the eyes.
- ASUS became a no-go so Zenfone 9 (or 10) does not enter the competition.
- Android 13 became frequentable, so other Xiaomi devices enter, better than 12s, plus Xperia 5 IV which now sounds achievable.
(note to self: why am I attracted to that Xiaomi 13 Pro, even after writing an objective score??: )
Actually: picking on FP5, does it have double-tap-to-wake :)?