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Comment by coldpie | Hacker News Reader

But will it fit in my hand??? Still looking for a reasonably-sized replacement for my 2013 Moto X.

My god I can't tell you how much I want this to happen.

Here's an older post of me asking: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12540268

Z5C (350$) or Z3C (250) seems to come up a lot in my search. I'm also tempted by the nexus 5x (probably at my limit at 5.2" but it's only 250ish), and perhaps the new pixel (which is 5" but probably way more than I'm willing to pay for a phone). Another interesting contender is Nextbit Robin, which is 5.2 inches for 230ish and very pretty.

I've been eyeing Xiaomi phones for a while, but unsure that I want to go to the hassle of getting a device that's unservicable in the US.

On another route, HTC one M8 (5" - 170ish!) seems to be an old flagship that still does well, and us now super cheap. I wonder what other similar ones there are.

edit: to be honest I've given up on finding sub-5", and thinking about 5.2.

Is your 2013 Moto X broken? If not, why replace it? Is it more up-to-date software you want? If so, go for one of the alternative Android distributions (eg. Cyanogenmod: https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Ghost_Info). Is the battery bad? That can be replaced. Is it not fast enough? It might be with an alternative Android distribution on it. That phone is only 3 years old so it does not sound like it is in dire need of replacement (if it isn't broken to begin with, of course). I still use a 2011 Motorola Defy, others use devices of similar age. If it still works fine why replace it?

What's the best way to get the battery replaced on one of these?

There's a pretty good discussion about it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MotoX/comments/4pabyq/my_moto_x_201...

You're right! And that's why I'm still using it. It is a little slow, the OS is outdated, and the battery is on its way out. I'm not 20 anymore and I'm no longer interested in mucking about with hacking the phone, so Cyanogenmod isn't an option. Replacing the battery is an option, and I may do that, but I'd rather just save the hassle and upgrade... if anything worth upgrading to existed.

If he updated his OS past Android 4.0 he would not be able to unlock the boot loader. So Cyanogenmod will not be an option.

The z5 compact is a very good phone for your size needs.

Yeah, that and the OnePlus 3 are at the top of my list. The Sony comes with a bunch of crapware and a custom Android skin; not a deal-killer, but a pretty big negative. The OP3 is well reviewed, but still a little too large.

The 2013 Moto X was perfect: flagship specs, 4.7 inches, and basically stock Android. Seems such perfection was a flash in the pan.

I was able to disable the crapware on my Z5C, and the custom skin is a lot less visible once you download the Google launcher, keyboard, etc etc. It feels very much like stock now.

Okay, but I shouldn't have to. Here, we did a bunch of work that you now have to do a bunch of work (and probably introduce subtle instabilities) to undo. No thanks.

I have a OP2, and the screen size irks me a bit. I was on a Moto G 4G before that. Perfect screen size.

This being said, I recently discovered the "one-handed keyboard feature" on my OP2 and absolutely love it. I can finally answer messages while swiping with a single hand.

Screenshot: https://ibin.co/2xCShGbpGdGt.png

Any comments on the tendency for the glass on the back to crack?

I don't know. I don't have it.

Really glad to hear I'm not the only one holding on to this phone. Absolutely perfect form factor, for me.

Other leaks suggest a screen size of 5" for the normal and 5.5" for the XL.

Too big, then :(

I'm hoping the next round will have a 4". They had probably already started production on this round when they found out about the iPhone SE. I'm guessing they'll follow suite as usual.

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