u/Slushwave_Enjoyer

Should I get a jelly max if I drop my phone regularly? If so, what cases have you guys found?

There's really not much I can find on the internet about this phone. Does anyone have any thoughts on it? It would be used in Australia.

So it seems there are really only a few options for mobile phones around 5 inches in size. I don't want much bigger. And pretty much all of them are catering to a secondary niche like massive battery life or camera use. Aren't the point of phones like these to be a little lighter? Why do they need 5000mAh+ batteries?

I've been using a Galaxy S10e (5.8inch, 150g) with otterbox case (making it 220g) for 6 years. This is my second - the first lasted nearly 5 years before the battery started to die and the second one is starting to slow down with application reliability and support. I need my phone for work and applications are crashing frequently enough that I can't ignore the long search ahead for a new phone. I drop my phone weekly and have had it fall out of my bag on my bike. Never cracked a screen. Never caused damage to it. The phone is a lightweight tank with all of the ports you need. Wonderful stuff.

My new phone needs to be 4.5-5.5inch, have a headphone jack, micro SD card slot and compatibility with a substantial case that will protect it from drops. It needs to be compatible with Android upgrades so it doesn't start tanking in a couple of years time, or at least have a version that will allow for app compatibility for the next 4-5 years. I'm not buying this phone to prevent doomscrolling as I don't feel like it's a problem for me. Half-decent processing power would be nice. Something comparable to my 6 year old S10e would be good enough.

What I'm after does not exist.

Honourable mentions go to:

Ulephone Armor mini 20 - 300g+ and 25mm thick is not a small phone. If only they just gave it a 4000mAh battery instead of a 6200 one. 230g and 15mm would have been great!

Cubot KingKong Mini 4 - Underpowered processer. Brand without much of a reputation.

Fossibot F116/Lagenio Eagle Pro - 23mm thick is not a small phone, but more importantly this phone seems to be an action cam first and a phone second. Both companies aren't that well established and the screen is smaller than I want.

Clicks Communicator/ Unihertz Titan/Titan Pro - No substantial case options available currently. Technically the only phones that tick all of my options, but not a fan of the physical keyboard.

Ulefone Armor X12 - Only comes with Android 13. Probably won't have support that much longer than my current phone. Underpowered. Bigger and heavier than want I want. (257g without a case).

If I sacrifice the headphone jack I've got 3 options:

1 - Bluefox NX1 - Smaller than I want, no rugged case options, but most importantly I have reservations about the security of their products. The same company, "Welcome", sells phones that have Malware on them - https://xdaforums.com/t/soyes-s23-pro-mini-chinese-phone-from-aliexpress.4681069/#post-89681927.

2 - Bluefox NX2/NXBeta (2nd gen). Better size, but same problems as mentioned above.

3 - Unihertz Jelly Max - Thick and chunky, 16.3mm without a case is pushing it. no rugged case options.

I've driven myself crazy looking at my options and have hit a dead end. I've spent an hour a day over the past 3 weeks scouring what's available. Every YouTube video about these phones are almost always unconditionally glazing them, speaking about how AMAZING they are and it just doesn't seem genuine. And of course there's an affiliate link down the bottom. Very little information about security, support, company communication, parts availability, connection incompatibilities etc. There are also plenty of threads I've found that criticise the customer support of brands like Ulefone.

I wish more people would also speak about how brands like Cubot and Ulefone are almost certainly getting their phones made in the same factory. Their webpages look identical.

Please let me know if I'm missing any or shouldn't be paranoid about putting a significant amount of my personal information on a device that doesn't receive frequent security updates or long-term support from the manufacturer.

Is this just the path I have to take if I want a phone below 6inches?