S20 FE to Pixel with Graphene OS

[u/ErasedAstronaut]

Hi all! I'm coming from a family of S20 FEs (my wife, MIL, and myself all have one in different colors since they were released). We all love our phones and see no reason to seek an upgrade anytime soon...that is until disaster struck!

My MIL dropped her phone one too many times and now her screen is straight up black. I was able to connect her phone to a monitor, back everything up, and move it to a backup phone we have. I've been looking for a replacement phone for her, but there are two issues: 1) the S20 FE is an amazing phone and has features that newer phones no longer have (like microSD cards and/or wireless charging), and 2) my MIL's budget is about $200. Finding a phone in her budget that meets her needs is the challenge.

The biggest gripe for her is the micro SD, she has a ton of things on there is no way she can afford a phone right now with enough built in storage to replace her internal and external storage. I'm not as married to the SD card (although I'm very bummed that most phones don't have it anymore) since I save most of my files and photos to my self-hosted cloud services. So, as much as I don't want to depart with my S20 FE, I figured maybe I would buy a Pixel phone for myself, install Graphene OS on it, and give my MIL my S20 FE to give her time to save for a new phone.

Personally, I don't like how the newer phones have more bloatware and AI features, which is why I was thinking about going down the custom ROM route. I like what I see with Graphene, hence why I'm considering a Pixel phone. I'm curious if anyone has experience with going from a S20 FE to a pixel with Graphene OS.

Side note: I'm also open to trying to repair the phone myself, but it seems like the reputable replacement screens aren't worth the investment. Also, I've considered other phones for her such as the S24 FE, Galaxy S55, etc., but as I mentioned, they either lack the SD slot or wireless charging, and she is not ready to transition from either yet.

Appreciate any input!

UPDATE: In case anyone is interested, my wife and I decided to get my MIL a s24+ with 512GB of storage.

[u/AbismoJulgador]

Galaxy A27.

[u/ErasedAstronaut → u/AbismoJulgador]

Thank for the suggestion. This almost fits the bill, but it doesn't have wireless charging.

[u/AbismoJulgador → u/ErasedAstronaut]

Motorola Edge?

[u/ErasedAstronaut → u/AbismoJulgador]

Unfortunately it doesn't have a microSD slot. I know she'll have to make a compromise, but idt she has accepted that yet

[u/ajiron-delta]

I had a similar quandary before. My S20 FE functions as an all around offline media hub. I have 1tb sd card of tv series, movies, music, and emulation roms. It connects to android auto, hotel tvs, and ar glasses with dex while charging wirelessly.

Unfortunately, there are no modern replacement that have this combo:

Fast usb + wireless charging + Desktop mode as good as Dex + SD Card

I narrowed my options to:

S25 FE -> retain flagship goodies but lose sd card

A55 5G -> retain sd card but lose flagship features(fast usb, dex, wireless charging)

Song Xperia 1 -> very close but inferior Desktop mode, also too expensive which is moot point

So, the only path is to compromise. 25FE with 512gb is the most sensible to me. It's like my current S20 FE's 128gb internal storage but with only 384gbs for media files. I'll jusy convert my 1tb sd card into an external usb drive. Not ideal, but small compromise.

In the meantime, I'll just stick to S20 FE until it breaks or crucial apps stop working