Cheap test phone

[wooky69]

Hi all. I'd like to pick up a cheap android phone for learning about using custom ROMs and playing with ROMs so I don't brick my Galaxy playing.
Any recommendations of a good model for this purpose, do I need a minimum spec for the phone to be useful?

Cheers.

 

[breadnatty08]

Moved your post to the Android Lounge for more eyes to see.
Most would recommend a Nexus device. If you can find a used Galaxy Nexus or even a Nexus 4, that's what I would go with. They are the easiest to unlock/root and generally have strong development communities.

 

[SiempreTuna]

^^^ +1 ^^^

 

[wooky69]

Well, Try playing around with Motorola E it would cost your around $130-$135 and is having an updated specs, so you can play as much as you like over it ! You can find a number of custom ROMs available for it ! So, best will be try playing around with it !

Is that a Motorola Moto E?

 

[kate]

Is that a Motorola Moto E?

Yes, here is the root forum:
Moto E - All Things Root - Android Forums

I would go with an older Nexus to practice on like breadnatty recommend. Keep in mind that the root/ROM process is different for every phone though.

 

[funkylogik]

On most custom rom download pages, the #1 phone downloaded for is still the Samsung i9100 (international galaxy s2) and they can be found very cheap.
I don't know how this applies to US phones though so I'll agree with the galaxy nexus (pretty similar phone and running kitkat nicely) :thumbup:

 

[funkylogik]

What's your main phone now btw?

 

[wooky69]

I currently have a GS3 i9300 running the installer version of Cyanogenmod 11.
I was about to get rid of the phone after the last Samsung update as it had become really slow and laggy even after a factory reset. Put Cyanogenmod on and all problems are gone and I'm running the same apps as before.

 

[funkylogik]

I'm on same phone mate and it's nearly impossible to hard brick, honestly!
Keep a recent nandroid backup and play away.
When that model cane out, it had a reboot bug (fixed in later firmware) and people were deliberately trying to brick their phone to get a replacement and failing lol.
I flashed a nexus 7 rom on mine by mistake and all it did was format the phone lol, recovery was still there so I just restored my nandroid (saved to sd) :thumbup:

 

[funkylogik]

PS does the installer version give you a custom recovery? (phone off, hold in Power, home and Volume UP and see what it says)

 

[wooky69]

The installer version installed clockworkmod, I made a backup using that.

Don't think I've come across nandroid I'll have a look at it thanks.

 

[dan330]

I have a Sprint Galaxy S3... with a water spot on the screen.
works perfectly.
is rooted and ROMed.

I would like to sell for $120... PM me.

 

[wooky69]

Can you provide a good link where I can read what all the different partitions are for and an app to view them?

Thanks.