Best MDM for 20 Android phones? Need to lock/wipe remotely when someone quits or loses their phone
Posted by Unable-Perspective-9@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 43 comments
So I'm the IT guy at a small company, we have less then 20 Android phones for employees and zero management on them right now. It's been fine until someone left last month and just… kept the phone.
I need something where I can just hit a button and lock or wipe a device remotely. Also basic stuff like seeing where the phones are and controlling what apps are installed.
I've been trying ManageEngine MDM Plus, it does the job but honestly the UI is all over the place and the price after the trial is annoying for what it is.
Anyone dealt with this for a small fleet? What are you actually using? Is there anything decent that won't cost a fortune for just less then 20 phones?
xendr0me@reddit
Miradore?
Feisty_Quarter_1319@reddit
we used Soliton's Mailzen -no VPN either! I use it for work on my personal phone for Exchange.
AfterEagle@reddit
Surprised you're the first to mention this. I have been using Miradore since 2020 and it has been really really good for android devices. Less so for Apple though...
ShadowTechie20@reddit
For a small Android fleet, I’d keep it simple and avoid anything that feels heavier than the problem you’re trying to solve. You mainly need remote lock/wipe, app control, location, and basic visibility. Something like SOTI MobiControl can handle that well, especially if you want proper control over company-owned Android devices without relying on M365/Intune. It lets you lock or wipe devices remotely, manage installed apps, track devices, and even restrict the device so users can’t just walk away with full access. For under 20 phones, just make sure pricing and setup effort make sense before committing.
Maleficent_Onion4939@reddit
Hi there! I work at Nomid MDM. Your setup is pretty much exactly what we built for!
For \~20 Android phones you'd be looking at around $20/month with us ($0.99/device/month, and it's actually free up to 10 devices if you want to test it out smaller first). Remote lock and wipe, location, app install/removal, kiosk policies, all there. We've put a lot of work into keeping the UI clean and intuitive.
Easiest path is just to create a free account and connect a couple of devices to see if it fits. Happy to answer anything if questions come up.
BlotchyBaboon@reddit
Intune? It's pretty easy to set up.
Feisty_Quarter_1319@reddit
We used MailZen from Soliton Systems - works well on iOS though a bit geared towards MS365. It is good for BYOD.
Unable-Perspective-9@reddit (OP)
we don't have M365
lakorai@reddit
Get it.
Otherwise Mobile iron, MaaS 360, Workspace One Unified Endpoint Management (formally AirWatch).
If you are not using Azure / MS365 you will need to get some sort of identity provider. Okta, OneLogin, Ping identity, Google Identity etc to hook I to the MDM with SAML/SCIM.
intelcorei56thgen@reddit
bro what do you do ?
You know stuff.
lakorai@reddit
Been doing this for 20+ years.
xendr0me@reddit
Well he could be using Entra for identity which is free and doesn't need Office 365 etc...
lakorai@reddit
EntraID is not free for MDM features. You need to be on Azure P1 or higher.
xendr0me@reddit
Read again what I said "for identity"
IceCubicle99@reddit
I'd advise against Mobile Iron at this point. I supported it for many years but it has quickly become a treasure trove of high severity CVEs.
strikesbac@reddit
What do you have? Do you have any management/MDM solution at all?
TechMonkey13@reddit
What do you have?
OregonTechHead@reddit
Honestly, at $22/user/month for bus prem, it's not going to cost a whole lot more than a dedicated mobile MDM.
Plus you get all of the other benefits including windows and office licenses.
Even if you don't use EO, or anything else, you're still coming out ahead cost wise.
BlotchyBaboon@reddit
Maybe check out Mosyle for MDM. We use it for some Apple devices, but I think it does Android.
ben_zachary@reddit
Getting intune license and pushing a work profile will wipe the work portion of the device and you can put security on it. The apps never touch the users side of the phone . Not sure about other apps but for 6 bucks a license you can have full control of the work portion of devices wo messing with the users private data.
Watch a few YouTube videos , setup DNS and you probably up and running in 2h
HistoryOk7552@reddit
Soti Mobicontrol - remote wipe, can see where devices are, can remote into devices to troubleshoot, can limit what settings are available to the end user, can control what apps they can install. You can even pin the device so it can’t be opened if someone runs off with it.
No-Land-672@reddit
We didn’t have M365, so Intune wasn’t an option for us. Additionally, we were looking for a European solution to reduce our dependence on U.S. providers. We are very happy with Apptec360. You can even host it yourself for free, although there is a limit on the number of devices.
turboturbet@reddit
Depending on the country your in the RedMI devices you are going to find they are hard to manage.
Best android MDM i have seen is Soti but this was for enterprise level zebra RF Guns but people swear by it.
Intune is a pain to setup for so little devices.
Ice-Cream-Poop@reddit
If you purchased these from a vendor they have have enrolled into Knox. You can wipe them that way if needed.
If not in Knox and they used a corporate email to sign into Google via Google Workspace, you can remote wipe that way also.
theoneyouknowleast@reddit
Action1 is free for a 100 devices. Haven't used it personally.
GezusK@reddit
Isn't ManageEngine free for 25 devices?
IT-junky@reddit
Hexnode. Easy and straight forward.
Humble-oatmeal@reddit
SureMDM is a good option for both UI and pricing. It works well for managing Android devices, makes onboarding easy, and lets you remotely lock or wipe devices. You can try it out to see how the UI feels
AfterEagle@reddit
I've used Miradore since 2020 and it has been really reliable and easy to use.
PipeOne8414@reddit
Managing Android devices has been a pain, especially with paid solutions like MDM and Intune. The best approach is either super simple or involves logging them all into a Google account you own and not sharing the password. Since it’s a Google account, they might be able to trigger a reset, but at least it’s your account.
Alternatively, move them to Apple in the long run. Managing Apple devices is much cleaner and easier. Android is just meh.
I used to be one of those Apple haters, but the pricing is good now for non-flagship stuff. An A-grade phone costs much less than a staff-issued laptop.
Once a user adds their personal Google account to the phone (non-managed), it becomes locked to their account. If they leave and you can’t contact them but have the device, it’s bricked due to Google lock.
That’s the main reason we moved away from Android MDM solutions.
KING_of_Trainers69@reddit
Recommending shared google accounts is absolutely diabolical advice. For anyone reading this I strongly advise not doing this.
OregonTechHead@reddit
It's right up there with recommending moving to iphones because you don't know how to manage Android.
It's an all around strange comment.
lakorai@reddit
The cheapest iPhone is now $600 for the shit 128gb model.
Enterprise ready Android devices, like the Galaxy A series, can be had for less than half the price.
RottenHeads@reddit
What... No Google accounts.
Lock them either on Samsung Knox Mobile Enrollment or non-Samsung with Google Zero touch. Do this with your vendor. From there enroll to MDM.
Same as with Apple Business.
hughgwayne@reddit
We moved from IBM MaaS 360 to Manage Engine MDM and have been happy.
Expensive_Finger_973@reddit
Do you use Google Workspace? It is pretty good for lite MDM management of phones.
Practical_Shower3905@reddit
Are they samsung ? If so, i remember using knox at an old job... and it was pretty neat.
It's samsung's platform, so we had an insane amount of control.
Unique_Inevitable_27@reddit
For a small Android fleet like that, you could check ScalefusionMDM it’s simple to manage and lets you remotely lock, wipe, and control apps without much hassle.
the_tech_ref@reddit
ManageEngine is a bit much for 20 devices. If you have Samsungs, Knox is the way to go. Otherwise, Miradore is great for small fleets and the free tier handles the remote wipe and lock stuff easily.
If you don't want to spend your week sitting through sales demos, check out The Tech Ref - they handle the legwork of sourcing and coordinating MDM or cellular providers for free. It's a solid way to offload the research part of the job so you can focus on other stuff.
Witty_Formal7305@reddit
Do you have Microsoft 365? If you do Intune is your best bet since its likely included with your licensing.
Its easy to setup and use, but also depending on who makes your phones, look into something like Samsung Knox, its similar to ABM in the sense that their activation servers will force the device to setup with your MDM unless you release it, the basic Knox Enrollment is free you just need to sign up and setup the MDM profile to point to your Intune enrollment profile.
Unable-Perspective-9@reddit (OP)
unfortunately we don't have M365 and most of the phones are Redmi ones with a few samsung
BWMerlin@reddit
We have about 200 Android devices and a handful of Windows devices in Workspace ONE. Works well and will do exactly what you are after.
KING_of_Trainers69@reddit
Business Premium licences include a lot of features, including Intune support for your Android devices. If you're already on MS it's hard to beat and will enable a lot for the rest of your organisation (Defender ATP, Conditional Access, etc).
Miradore is free for up to 50 devices. Never used it on Android, but it was "fine" to use on Windows/iOS when we needed it for a box ticking exercise.