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Comment by beretguy | Hacker News Reader

Does anyone know what is the cheapest (refurbished) smartphone this OS can run on?

Since you are explicitly asking for cheapest: a used Motorola Moto G7 Play can be gotten very cheap. Alternatively, a used Pixel 3a. You probably find something cheaper from Xiaomi, but I'd stay clear as unlocking the bootloader is not pleasant on these devices.

Personally, I would aim a little higher though. I run it on a Pixel 4a and am quite happy. (Don't get the Pixel 4/XL since those do not have a fingerprint reader but only Face Unlock, which the latest LineageOS does not support.)

I tried looking for these phones on eBay - it’s a bit challenging to find unlocked refurbished phone that would work in my region from a trusted seller. Sometimes you have to take the leap of faith with a purchase and hope it works. It’s a bit of a headache…

I use a Samsung S4 mini with it. There are unofficial builds for it, but it's not the most pleasant experience.

OnePlus are my go to

Check out one of the supported Motorola's, they sell cheap brand new.

That's a good tip. I've got a moto g32 (ca. 130 € new) running LineageOS and am happy with it. Only downside is the CPU which could be a tad faster.

Unlocking the phone's bootloader is also not so easy, because you have to register your phone online and the web page is quite finicky. I had to try with different browsers to get the registration form to work.

Yeah, Motorola (which are now a brand of Lenovo after Google bought and sold them a while ago) are good value for money. I owned the Motorola Milestone (Motorola Droid in the US), then the Moto X (smaller version of the Nexus 6), and finally the ultra-thin Moto Z - however I was a bit disappointed with that one because the battery management was totally screwed up after a few years - it used to shut down spontaneously while reporting 60% battery and I wasn't able to reset it.

Can also recommend new Motorolas. Currently on G52 with LineageOS (microg fork) and it feels as good as a factory ROM.

Previously I had a Moto One Action and the system had a few quirks, but overall was OK.

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