If there is no issue and the Android 10 version works fine, it should be supported for a long time (2 years or more maybe ? But I can’t be sure). Or until nobody download it.
Anyway unofficial builds will always be possible.
In that case I’ll start looking on Ebay. My Z5 Compact is a great phone, but for some reason nobody has been able to get it working in LOS 16 or 17. The unofficial 17.1 build on XDA - and all the other ROMs there - has problems with the camera so it looks like being stuck on Nougat for the foreseeable future.
When you said the Z3 Compact would be supported in the longer term, I managed to pick one up on Ebay, but the design and build quality are (in my humble opinion ) much less good than the Z5C. The XZ1 Compact looks to be at least as good as the Z5C, and if it’s going to get Pie and Android 10 builds from /e/ then it may be the future for me
Seems like you’re interested in small phones, there are more of us, there is even even a dedicated topic about it on this forum! I’m disappointed too that there are no official LOS versions of the small Sony phones…
Cant agree with you more on the small screen vs big screen argument. The 4 -4.5 in screens were what you can use and manipulate easily with one hand. Was checking the newer models recently and most of them are 6in + That would be like carrying a laptop in your pocket.
@manoj if /e/ is still thinking about collaborations with phone manufacturers on new phones with /e/, perhaps this could be a good niche market for /e/ to provide a unique phone for!
There are some active discussions going on with a Europe based manufacturer. Lets see how it works out. I also agree we should push for small or medium screen devices. Guess manufacturers look at trends set by major players in the market who all like the big screen variants.
Does the “download” statistic includes when we do the OTA?
If yes, at some point this statistic may guide you to the wrong way, let’s take the Nexus 5 which didn’t receive any update since March. So no download since then. However if you guise can see the ping which actually checks the availability of a new update on the server, maybe this is a more accurate statistic to see how popular is the device.