buying.md

Caveats are italicized. Stand-out features are bolded.

Note that expensive does not mean overpriced (which is explicitly listed when necessary) - rather that it's just that, expensive (but makes up for it with stand-out features).

LAPTOPS

FAVORITE:

• Framework 13/16 Laptop: Excellent Linux support, best-in-class repairability, quality screen and keyboard. The 16 inch comes with a removable & upgradable 7700XT Mobile GPU as an option. Both are available with AMD Phoenix (7x40U) APUs, and the 13 inch is available with Intel APUs as well. We recommend the AMD option, for the best battery life and performance. Concerning defect rate (though handling for this is fairly good), painful ordering experience.

RUNNER-UPS:

• Thinkpad T14 (non-slim variant): Decent Linux support and a great keyboard. Can often be found used for extremely cheap, with the previous generation often going for 500-700 dollars, depending on configuration. Recent models have seen a sharp decline in build quality and materials, and all Thinkpads after the name format change (from T4X0 to T14 Gen X) have at least one rank of soldered RAM. The newest model always has at least one driver issue on Linux.
• Macbook Pro 14/16: Best-in-class speakers, display, build-quality, and battery-life. Great performance and touchpad, decent keyboard. Poor repairability, unfinished (though suitable for nearly all non-gaming tasks) Linux support. Very expensive. Base (M3 non-Pro) model is essentially useless.

NEUTRAL:

• System76 laptops: Best-in-class Linux support and open firmware (usually). Poor build quality. Often over-priced for the configuration. Laptops are often built on a Clevo chassis, which means post-sales support can be flaky.
• Newer Thinkpads: Good post-sales support and service with fast return times. Decent Linux support. Increasingly unrepairable and user hostile hardware design. The X series has most of the downsides of a Macbook, with none of the benefits. Can be rather expensive.
• Macbook Air (M2): Excellent battery-life. Great build quality. Good speakers and display. Decent keyboard. Slightly overpriced. Worse Linux support than the Macbook Pro. Overheats when the GPU and CPU are taxed at the same time due to complete lack of active cooling.

AVOID:

• Anything made by ASUS, Acer, or HP: Poor build quality, terrible support, and impossible repairs plague these consumer laptops. Avoid at all costs.
• Dell: Cheap. Everything above, plus batteries that degrade extremely quickly.
• Ideapad series: Cheap. Disintegrates.
• Microsoft Surface series: Good build quality. Terrible support for other operating systems. Displays a boot error every time you start the newest models with Secure Boot disabled. Expensive.
• Macbook Pro 13-inch, Macbook Pro 14 (M3 non-Pro base model): Extremely overpriced. The 13-inch has a touch bar. Poor Linux support because no one cares.

PHONES

FAVORITE:

• Google Pixel series: Best-in-class photo camera. Good build quality, decent out of the box software, 7 years of Android updates (Pixel 8 and newer). Parts can be easily obtained from iFixit's website. Excellent support for custom ROMs. Frequently on sale for 200+ dollars off MSRP, making them a great value. The Tensor series has notoriously poor (but still certainly usable) modems (YMMV). Unlocked version lacks mmWave antennas (might be a pro if you like having a connection).

RUNNER-UP:

• Fairphone: Best-in-class repairability. Ethical parts sourcing. Good custom ROM support. Hotswappable battery. 5-year warranty. Not available in the US. Poor camera quality. No CDMA support, check with your carrier.*

NEUTRAL:

• Samsung S-series: Great performance (US-models only). Good battery-life. Excellent video for an Android phone. 7 years of Android updates (S24 only). Parts can be easily obtained from iFixit's website. 4 years of Android updates (S21-23). Expensive. Intl. versions have several issues that have never been resolved. Poor customer service. AMERICAN MODELS (EVEN UNLOCKED ONES) CANNOT BE ROOTED OR RUN CUSTOM ROMS EVER.
• Sony Xperia series: Only phone from a major manufacturer to have a headphone jack. Tweakable camera. Good battery life. Poor software support. Expensive.

AVOID:

• Xiaomi, Redmi, and other Chinese budget brands: Cheap. Ads.
• OnePlus: Terrible software, terrible repairability, terrible build quality, terrible QA. Used to be great, now one of the worst. Some of their phones literally fall apart at the seams.
• Huawei: Does not support US-market.
• Samsung A-series: Cheap. Decent price-to-performance. Unreliable.
• Linux phones: The PinePhone Pro is poorly supported. The PinePhone is slow. The Librem 5 will never arrive, stop waiting.

HANDHELDS

FAVORITE:

• Steam Deck OLED: Best in class color accuracy, response-times and battery life. Parts can be easily obtained from iFixit's website. Ships with Linux. Wide variety of input options. HDR support. Excellent user-experience. Ergonomic. Wide community support. Targeted by game developers. Can only be bought via Steam, and only if your account isn't brand new (you must have spent at least 5 dollars and had your account for more than a week.

RUNNER-UP:

• Steam Deck: Everything above (except the screen). Cheap (can be bought new for 349.99 right now). Slightly worse battery life than the OLED. Terrible screen.

NEUTRAL:

• Legion Go: Wide variety of input options. Good performance. Decent Linux support with active involvement from Lenovo. Requires additional configuration with any OS. Big, high-resolution (1600p) 144hz IPS display. Weird build quality. Poor control precision.
• ROG Ally: Excellent control precision. Excellent performance. Decent Linux support with some involvement from ASUS. Requires additional configuration with any OS. 1080p 120hz IPS display with FreeSync Premium support. Poor battery life. Lacks control options that the Steam Deck and Legion Go have.

AVOID:

• AYANEO: Hard to get a hold of, sketchy, extremely variable QA process with high defect rate.
• MSI Claw: This device is unreleased. The Intel APU used has a maximum TDP of 65W.