Today, let's take a moment to get to know each other better. We'd love to know:
Which Android devices are you currently using?
What do you love most about them?
What do you dislike?
Whether you're rocking the latest flagship or cherishing a reliable budget device, we want to hear about your experiences. Share the brand, model, and any standout features that make your phone shine. Who knows, you might inspire someone to discover their next Android companion! 🌟💬
Remember, let's keep the conversation friendly and inclusive. Everyone's perspective is valuable, no matter the device they use. We're here to celebrate the diversity within the Android ecosystem and learn from each other.
I loved the size of my Pixel 3a! It's a shame they're hard to fix in my country; I'd rather have a phone that size than the huge ones that seem to be default now.
I still have a 3a, and the battery is definitely losing it. Have you thought about replacing the battery in yours? I'd love to hear your considerations.
What Android devices are you currently using?
Pixel 6 w/ GrapheneOS
What do you love most about them?
That I got it used on a dirt-cheap price, supports GrapheneOS, has really great cameras and I like the unique of it
What do you dislike?
It's made by Google and compared to other phones, the Pixel 6 has a sorta meh battery life. Also GrapheneOS isn't really featureful (it's understandable tho), for example it doesn't provide ultra energy saving mode and the feature which shows in a nice graph how many hours you wasted on certain apps.
Likes: The community, closest modern analog to the Galaxy S5 (my previous device), ability to open, configuring fast charge/PD speed, good custom ROM support, can be flashed with full Linux (PostmarketOS)
Dislikes: Android OS in general. The newer versions have removed so much capabilities that used to be present. I've got some features and feeling of ownership back by rooting, but it's honestly a sad sign of things to come IMO. Stuff is being watered down, removed or restricted to appeal to the masses.
What things are you missing from old Android versions?
I had a realisation recently that I haven't had the requirement to root and customise my FP4. I don't have a terminal app and I've probably forgotten the majority of the ADB commands I used to use!
Maybe I'm just being assimilated into the Google/android eco-system.
Most users don't need to root their device TBH, the stock experience is perfectly fine for the overwhelming majority of people. The ecosystem generally works too, but I personally don't really want to depend on it, given Google's track record of shelving good products, and some of their behaviors I find intrusive.
My few main complaints would be...
Apps can no longer be moved to an SD card easily
The changes made to the file storage API has made accessing SD card data much slower, so things like map apps and games take much longer to load if they have stored their data there (FP3 is 64GB, installed a 512GB sd card, so most apps tend to use the SD card if I haven't manually)
Developers disabling ADB backups for their apps, making it difficult to migrate apps and data to a new device using something like Helium Backup (Google's cloud-based solution works, but only transfers data for apps that save them to Google's cloud. For all other apps just the application itself is transferred)
Call recording is no longer a thing, only system-level apps can do that now (root required)
Google moving my photos to the new device without asking first - I find it kind of creepy TBH, especially when the previous device doesn't have Google Photos or save photos to Google's cloud. On older Android versions this wasn't a thing
Some changes were made in Android 12/13 to fingerprint scanner requirements, and sadly it is no longer possible to authenticate into most banking apps on the FP3 after updating the OS. This change will likely affect all FP owners in the future, as Google's certification prevents the scanner from being used in secure contexts after its manufacturer drops support
By rooting, I have...
Scheduled backups to the SD card, allowing me to rollback an app+data if an update breaks something (this has saved me a few times already 😅)
Slowed down my fast charge speed from 13W to around 2.5W, I still boost it back up if I'm in a hurry
Charging stops at 91% (Most phones have this in the settings, however the FP3 doesn't)
Syncthing uses root access to get around some limitations (I forgot what these are exactly, I think it's the ability to watch the SD card for file changes)
Disabled/removed google apps that I don't want (root not needed, this can also be done over ADB)
Disabled location access for the remaining Google apps... until they force-pushed a Play Services update to hard reboot the device when you do this
A few more things that I can't recall at the mo. Generally I don't interact with root functionality on a daily basis, it's handled in the background by the apps that use it
Galaxy note 9. It's the peak smartphone, no holepunch nonsense, every useful feature, still plenty fast. The only drawbacks are that the battery is starting to wear out, which is fixable with a bit of fuss, and the screen has a little bit of keyboard burn in, only visible on all black screens.
Hopefully you don't get a grouping of dead pixels like my Note 8 developed last year. Ended up with a hole punch style, but on the right-hand side of the display!
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. It's fast, reliable, has amazing battery life and IMHO it's handsome as hell.
The last phone I had was a Pixel 3A which was amazing for what it was, so I got myself a Pixel 7a to see if it was comparable.
I love the fun software on the Pixel 7A, it is great as a work phone [the Google assistant interfaces with phone calls in ways that are mind-blowing] but I mostly find myself on the S22U.
Zero complaints on either, but if I had to choose just one, I'd stick to the S22U if I could afford it.
Pixel 5 because it hasn't died yet. Will probably continue to use it until 2025 or until it dies. Which ever comes first.
I pretty much can only use pixel devices these days because of the software. Flagship Samsung devices may be better hardware wise but their software is so bad and bloated it erases most of the benefits.
Honestly the biggest negative I can think of is the lack of a headphone jack. Yes I still want one. I still remember the time Google launched an ad campaign mocking iphones lack of a headphone jack only to remove it themselves one hardware update later.
Got a 1 iii, love the display and candy bar shape, tiny bezels and headphone jack with expandable storage.
Dislike the limited brightness range outdoors on sunny days, and how the battery dies after four hours of heavy use, lol. (Though I do multitask it hard, so it’s understandable)
A Samsung Galaxy A50, it's my beloved treasure! It was my first phone that I bought with part of my own saved money.
It's pretty usable, to this day. It runs Android 11 but only recently got axed for security updates, so I may get a new phone soon. There's really nothing not to love about it.
The battery has deteriorated though, I can barely get 4-5 hours SOT without using 80-90% of the battery. Also, the adhesive that holds the back plastic panel to the phone keeps coming apart so it doesn't hold anymore, which is kinda nasty. I've re-applied back panel adhesive two times but it keeps happening, presumably due to heat. Never seen this happen to any phone other than the A50.
Using a Pixel 5 as well. Before that I had the OnePlus 6 for 6+ years before I decided I wanted a smaller phone again. While it at times still seems a little slow, it still works great. I replaced the battery about 3 months ago and it has a great battery life again. Running Lineage.
Same. Google's design has taken a step backwards since the pixel 5. Worse battery life, less ergonomic due to fingerprint sensor being in the screen vs the back, and their custom socs have very poor efficiency.
Unfortunately most phones are doing the in screen fingerprint thing now since it's the cool thing to do.
Currently rocking a Samsung Galaxy A53 5G. Bought this to replace my old shattered Xiaomi Redmi Note 8.
I've been using Android phones since a long time. Started out with a Galaxy Y, loved those small phones with TouchWiz 3!
My most favorite phones I've owned over the years have to be my most beloved Xiaomi Mi A1 (probably the best clean stock Android experience I've had), the Pixel 3a, Sony Xperia M, and the Moto G2 2014 (again, with the cleanest Marshmallow experience).
My A53 is good, mainly got it because I've kind of gotten old tired of experimenting with new ROMs lol. I don't plan on upgrading for 4 more years...this phone does everything I need it to, and it's decent enough to last it's promised update life cycle.
I also have the OP7P! Easily the best phone I've ever owned, but the pop-up camera broke for me last year. I'm thinking my next phone might be the Nothing Phone 2, but it does hurt getting a phone that's 4+ years newer and STILL has some downgrades (Screen PPI, hole punch, and no telephoto camera).
Nothing Phone 1 8/256.
A really great phone with a lot of horsepower when needed. Great looking screen, and the design is also really good. Looks like iPhone 13 with its flat screen and sides. I get asked a lot "Is that an iPhone?", to which I reply "It is the new iPhone 15 prototype." :)
Got it on sale on Amazon for 325 euros, best money I have ever spent on a phone with these specs.
Screen fingerprint reader works great, also has real proximity sensor.
I don't use the Glyph lights much as I don't really put my phone face down.
I don't game much, but it had no problem running Genshin and the like.
I'm a big dude, with massive hands and it's the first phone I've used that doesn't give me finger cramps after extended use.
It's still a snappy phone with a good load of ram(12gb), great for multi tasking, has the pen (reduced my sticky note habit by a ton haha) and removable SD storage.
Wish it had an aux port still, have some old pairs of headphones I'd like to use without a dongle. Battery life is starting to go a bit on me, but I did buy it day one. Thankfully I can just replace that myself when I need to ( electronics repair background). I do miss having an IR blaster like my S4 had, used it for all sorts of remotes.
Samsung S23 Ultra. Been using Samsung phones the past few years, since the S10 Ultra, and I've enjoyed using them. One UI isn't the bloated garbage it used to be, and Samsung has added some nice tweaks and features. Also, the Good Lock tweaks are fantastic and I'm surprised some just aren't baked into One UI. Battery life has been stellar too.
The weight is probably the thing I don't like most. Makes a difficult to use one-handed sometimes.
I stopped using Samsung because the bloat. But my last one was a Note 4. I'm really interested in the Fold 5 because the stylus, but hesitant because the OS. If Pixel Fold had a stylus, it would be a no brainer for me.
Which Android devices are you currently using? Pixel 7a and Galaxy Watch4
What do you love most about them? Pixel: Lag-free experience, ability to root/change rom, momthly security updates, Fingerprint sensor
Watch4: Sleek, durable, decent skin
What do you dislike? Pixel: Heat management, No headphone jack/μSD card slot, (I switched from the S10e here are the feature I miss from OneUI: Ability to run multiple apps in resizable windows over top another app, Per app volume control, Device Control [Device battery widget in Notification panel], Swipe Sidebar, Samsung notes ability to lock notes)
Watch4: No ability to silence some apps only, limited 3rd-party keyboard options
Bought it mainly for the 7000 mah battery and this thing can go on for days and charge other devices as well. Overall decent specs for the pric and the long aspect ratio is nice for scrolling lemmy and fits well in hand.
But the biggest problem is its a Samsung bloatware infested mess with minimal user control. I did remove a few really annoying ones with adb commands but I really want to root it or run a custom rom soon. They made the rooting as difficult as possible and formatting everything with backups to root is a tedious task. Samsung isn't what it used to be, I miss the good old days of early galaxy ones I had.
PH-1 by Essential.
I really like the minimalistic aesthetic of the phone. When I bought it, it satified all my needs. Good performance, enough memory for me, not too pricey, it's small and fit in my pockets. It has crappy speakers but I didn't care. An ok camera with good performance in black and white pictures. Even today I really love it except for these big points and why I will change it really soon:
The company doesn't exist anymore and the phone doesn't have updates since some years now. I Could run a different OS but I don't want to dabble in that yet. I changed the battery not so long ago but even new, it has a really small capacity. I wish to keep it until really broken despite of that (and bescause i'm a bit lazy) I like to keep my things during a really long time...
Samsung Galaxy A31, running Android 12. Its far from the latest or most high end tech but its a tough old bird, and does all I ask of it without complaint. Good screen even with a few cracks, 128Gb memory which I've supplemented with a 500Gb SD card for all the music I have downloaded from Deezer. Battery usually lasts two days or more at a stretch. Camera is frankly better than I need. And best of all its got a headphone jack, an absolute necessity. Only downsides are that it wont upgrade to Android 13, 12 is as far as it'll go, and the USB-C socket is getting a bit knackered. Not bad for an almost three year old phone, hope to get another couple of years out of it
I also have a small budget phone I bought overseas to use as a Wifi hotspot, thing called a Dash L4 LTE. I'm now going to press it into service as a music player when swimming. Its small and light, but grossly underpowered, and only runs Android 7, doubt it'd be capable of more. I've put a 64Gb SD card in it again for music, it'll do the job, but i certainly wouldnt want to use it as my primary phone
With the exception of a headphone jack, this phone is the last Samsung "flagship" to have "everything." MicroSD card is a critical feature for me, and until Samsung brings it back in their upcoming flagships, I'm eyeing the Sony Xperia I V, although this device is still chugging along fine. A few slowdowns every now and then, but quite manageable.
Edit: Also forgot to include the Samsung Tab S8 Ultra, which has been a delight as a media consumption device! I managed to make it a laptop replacement, but extra work or altering your routine is necessary. If they managed to include Windows 11 on this thing, it would be unparalleled! But that's just wishful thinking. I also wish the keyboard cover had the fluidity and features of a Macbook's keyboard and track pad, but again, more wishful thinking.
And Nvidia Shield Pro, if that counts. Best streaming device ever, and has a robust app selection from the Playstore!
The software is great, with all of the little quality of life features. Great camera and decent battery, inexpensive compared to other phones.
What do you dislike?
Video kinda sucks, however the Pixel 7 series fixed that. I also dislike how material you is biased: greens are extremely bright while blues are quite dull. The bezels are also insanely chonky.
I got the 64/6 variant for ~$130. I mainly love the good custom ROM support. Has IR blaster, SD card, and headphone jack. Good camera especially with gcam. Great battery life.
Stock MIUI sucks so you really should have a custom ROM. US cell coverage isn't great.
Best things: long battery life and versatile camera (zoom options open up some great creativity)
Worst thing: size and weight. Top tier phones have gotten just a bit too big now. My old Note 10+ was ideally the biggest comfortable size.
BTW my summary on the S23U would be: it's a great all-rounder. You might find a phone that does this one thing better or that other thing better, but the S23U seems to do a very good job of everything. It's definitely by far the most enjoyable user experience of any phone I've ever owned.
Phone is pixel 7,
Work phone is Samsung A52,
Kitchen has hub-thinking of upgrading this to the new tablet,
2 nivida shields in the house,
Chromecast with Google tv modulated around the house and I bring on trips,
Kids have tablets for trips only,
Love the photos from the pixel
Atm i hate 2 things. I'm worried more and more about privacy, and my pixel can't chat lock whatsapp chats yet but my Samsung can for the last 2 months!!!
Pixel 7 because its slim OS and good camera. Would love a stylus though. I've made peace with the lack of headphone jack.
Originally had Samsung since Galaxy S, then left at Note 4 because the bloat was bad. Then Sony Xperia X5 Premium, but the camera was bad. Now Pixel since Pixel 2XL.
For watches, had LG Watch R, then LG Style, Galaxy Watch 4, but ditched Android Wear for a Amazfit Bip S that lasts for days which allows me to track sleeping.
loving my Poco F3 but I recently had to bend the knee to google services and get rid of my lineage OS and install miui.eu.
Most of the apps I use are open source but I still have the need to use banking apps (Gcash especially) that will just not work even with root and microg (the gcash app is bugged itself already).
Pixel 6. Best phone I've owned. Takes great photos, is fast. Looks good. Very happy with it. Worst thing is I guess the fingerprint scanner, but honestly it's such a minor gripe.
I've had no software issues except maybe WPA3 auth.
It's all the same really, but the improved camera is probably worth it. I got a decent pair of Bluetooth headphones now so headphone jack doesn't bug me so much. But I literally only listen to music on my phone when traveling.
The only thing that's killing me now is bad battery life and the low RAM on the pixel 2 XL, so apps get reloaded frequently when multitasking. Battery is easily replaceable though.
I've just seen a lot of overheating and connection issues with the 6/7.
Pixel Fold. I had a lot of concerns about durability with the scare stories the media has reported but everything about it is fantastic. Big fan of the giant viewfinder and using the rear cam for selfies. The reading experience unfolded feels like reading a paperback. Side-by-side apps unlock a whole new productive side.
Im using a 'Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4'. Nothing comes even close to be as good as it is when it comes to productivity, consuming media, playing games and surfing the web.
Same here. Doesn't feel ridiculously oversized, runs smoothly, and most importantly still has a headphone jack and mini-sd card. The last two points were complete deal breakers for me.
Pros: Moto's classically lite skin with sensible additions that can be turned off if you don't want them, great battery, great performance, really just a well rounded device.
Cons: I think I legally have to mention the update cadence, and lack of long-term support, but honestly it doesn't bother me. Android versions haven't mattered much past, what, Jelly Bean? Though longer security support would be nice. Also, the camera can be a little soft, but I don't take a ton of photos so I'm rather ambivalent on it.
Honestly, I paid a good price for an unlocked device that still holds up amazingly well. I'm very satisfied.
I'm using a OnePlus 9 and a Galaxy Tab S7. My tablet is mainly for reading manga and watching series, I'm quite happy with it.
I like some things in my phone, like the camera and the screen, but the battery is kinda awful and since I moved to the US, I may need a new one. It's kinda weird since I had 5G when I arrived but since a maybe a month ago, I just have 4G on ATT. I'm thinking on maybe getting a Zenphone 10 or a S23, any thoughts on that? I'd like to keep using both sims I already use.
I'm still rocking a Mi 9T, and I'm going to keep using it as long as I can find new batteries to put into it. Or until notchless phones with headphone jacks come back.
Currently have a Note 20 Ultra. I like the size and refresh rate of the screen, and its microSD card slot. Not a fan of its processor and battery size.
I'd normally upgrade to the S24 Ultra, its natural successor, but instead I'm waiting for either the:
Fold 6 (if it has a decent camera, the Fold 5 leaks are disappointing)
Surface Duo 3 (same, decent camera)
I can't get a Pixel Fold as I need Miracast tech inside my phone, and I'm not a fan of the Fold 1-4 aspect ratio of the upcoming OnePlus Fold. If they switch to the Pixel Fold style of opening landscape, I'd take another look at their Fold 2
I'm on a Pixel 7 Pro and the Note20 Ultra was my previous phone. I loved that Note. It was one of the best phones and really is still just as good as the Pixel I'm on now. Most of the main selling points haven't changed.
High refresh screen, check
12GB of RAM, check
Great zoom, check
Good battery, check (obviously degraded but I'm referring to when it was released)
Same storage capacity
The main advantage of the Pixel is the camera and a few software improvements but if I didn't get it for basically free from AT&T, I'd have probably kept the Note for as long as possible
I'm currently using a pixel 6 pro. I took a long break from Androids. The last one that I owned was a S9 Plus.
I love the screen with the high refresh rate and it's really responsive. I also love the live translate feature and all of the neat AI tricks that it has as well. I also was very hesitant because I've heard a lot about the battery life being bad, but the battery on mine is really good, as well as the fingerprint reader.
The only thing that I dislike would be the grip of the phone. I played around with both the pixel 6 and the pro and I would have to say the regular pixel 6 has a better grip, but I love the higher refresh rate and display on the 6 pro.
I'm still using my S9. Size is about as big as I want to deal with. Indicator LED is great. 3.5mm jack is great. SD socket for local storage. Camera is still fine. Qi charging is one of the few gimmicks that hasn't turned out to be useless. Screen is drastic overkill. Design is a stupid friction-less glass egg, but that's easily fixable with a minimalist case. Performance is still perfectly adequate.
It's long out of support, but I'm finding the market wildly un-compelling, and will probably just roll with it until something renders it unusable.
Love the dual screen functionality of course but what's more impressive is the fact that the 2nd screen is concealed beautifully such that on first glance, you can't even tell that it's not a normal phone! The primary camera is also excellent.
The software is pretty shit. LG sacked their mobile division 2 years ago and while they have kept their promise of giving this phone Android 13, they've done the bare minimum effort to support it. You couldn't even tell it's android 13, has the same UI and features that they shipped with Android 11. The settings app is also inconsistent, some screens have that stock android feel others have the traditional LG UI. And bugs are plenty. The processor is another weak point, it's not able to keep up in 2023.
Z Fold 3 - because it friggin folds open. I've been team Nexus/Pixel right up until this phone went on the used market for $900. It's the best I've ever had except for missing a headphone jack. Showing off photos, navigating, reading, and split screening are the main reasons to use the inner screens. Primary complaints are crappy apps like discord and Plex that don't work well on the front screen, and I make more typos on the skinny screen's keyboard.
Samsung Tab A 8.0 with S Pen (the Euro one) because it was cheap and I needed a device to watch movies and read books on the airplane, and a Home Assistant dashboard mounted next to my desktop. I don't use it enough to dislike anything about it.
It's really fast and has a headphone jack, and you can get a second-hand one for really cheap (I got mine for ~170$). The preinstalled software sucks, but I've installed LineageOS on it and I'm really enjoying it
The only thing I don't like is that the battery is non-removable
Likes: As it's my first pixel phone I was shocked to see how smooth the OS (13) is, the haptic feedback being everywhere makes the device feel abit more snappier, double tapping the back of the phone as a gesture (it's kind of niche but it's nice to have)
Dislike: It gets toasty lmao (I'm not on 5g of anything so I'm kinda of confused why :(( ), ugly default contact app, so-so battery life
I use two Samsungs: a Galaxy A52s 5G and a Galaxy A23. The features that I use the most is not baked in the OS itself but, KDE Connect. The thing I dislike about both of them is that they have insanely high idle battery drain
Me too, it is so hard to find a flagship phone with rear finger print reader. The on screen readers dont register all the time and when they do there is a slight delay. bought after having a pixel phone the touchui is not as good as the pixel one .On the plus side i like how little Samsung s21 weighs.
Loving my Pixel in general and have loved them, mostly, since the 2XL. The Pixel features, like call screening, are useful. Plus it has a great camera. The Watch5 is just a generally nice smart watch, with smooth operation.
I dislike how slippery the Pixel is. I'm otherwise neutral on everything else. The Watch5 has too much Samsung bloat.
Picked up a Motorola Edge+ (2022) somewhat a month-ish ago after giving a Galaxy S23 a go for almost a month before. I just prefer Moto's experience more, even if updates are sparse and camera quality isn't as great.
Sure, it's notably bigger that what I've long-term used before (Xiaomi Mi 9 and the 2020 Motorola Edge), but the screen is pretty good and even though the Snapdragon 8 gen 1 is meh foe battery life, I'm not too intense on it and it charges pretty quick when I need a top-off.
The Galaxy S23 just wasn't my cup of tea. OneUI's launcher wasn't tunable the way I wanted, using a custom launcher to get my experience back broke gestures (as expected, but still), and it wasn't meaningfully smaller width-wise than the Mi 9, which I went back to for a while after I gave my fiancé my Moto Edge (2020).
It's also pretty damn hard to pass up a brand-new last-gen flagship for $500 plus manufacturer accidental protection 24 months and an extra year extended warranty.
I've been eyeing a Lenovo P11 Pro Gen 2 or whatever to replace my HP x2 Chromebook I got a couple years ago. Just don't need the productivity of ChromeOS anymore, a straightforward media consumption device that I can also use for pen note taking for TTRPGs is all I really need these days, and it looks like it'll fit the bill.
also because OneNote for Android isn't available for ChromeOS (at least it hasn't been afaik) and the app I've been using, Squid, is just kinda ok at the task.
Xiaomi Poco F2 Pro (Redmi K30 Pro). I honestly only really got it because it had a wild discount on AliExpress back in 2020 and wanted to give MIUI a try. However since then I've put TWRP and a custom ROM on it (MIUI isn't terrible but it seems to kill apps far too much and I'm not big on the ads within the actual OS).
I continue to use it because it still performs great and the battery life is pretty good (usually get about 2 days charge on it), and the custom ROM community around it is pretty reliable too. Plus it has a pop up camera so I definitely know when my phone is trying to look at me.
Not really found much to dislike to be honest, though I guess the camera could be a bit better. It's definitely helped along with good software though (especially either GCam or the MIUI camera).
Have you had the connector between the battery and the charging connector fail yet? If not, it might be a good idea to stock up one one. I've had to replace mine once and it might be failing again just six months later.
I have a Google Home Mini, a Google Chromecast, and I'm on my 4th phone powered by Android ... two from HTC and two are Pixels.
What do you love most about them?
The Home Mini and the Chromecast actually don't do too much that is useful for me. They mainly are just there doing not much.
The phones that I have chosen have been delightful. All Android phones are delightful, the cheap free phone that I got when I signed up for Visible (cell service) for my spouse was a piece of garbage. But that's the way that Android works: the developer/manufacturer can roll it to be whatever they want it to be.
What do you dislike?
I don't have anything to put here, but I'm looking forward to some of the responses.
OnePlus 8T - Rooted & running HavocOS. Performance is great, battery is really good and charges quickly, and 120hz display is nice. I have Termux-X11 installed so I can have a whole Linux desktop on external monitor using HDMI out over USB.
My only gripe is the device is large and uncomfortable for one-handed use. I would ideally want the Asus Zenfone 9/10 mainly because of the smaller size but it doesn't support HDMI out :(
I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S22 because it literally was/is the smallest flagship on the market. If there were a flagship option with a 4-5" screen I would probably snap that up immediately.
I love the full-face screen with small symmetrical bezels. Performance is good. Wireless charging. Decent fast charge. Good cameras.
Don't love that it could be smaller. The camera module makes it rock when flat. I wish the back were not glass. Not a huge fan of the One UI stuff, but it's not the worst either.
Man, I miss smaller phones. Still running my s10e. Got a fairphone 4 when I had to renew my contract but quickly got back to the s10e because of the camera and, more importantly, the size. With the s10e's battery starting to really degrade, I'm now looking for a phone and they're all too big! S22 is on my list, which is only slightly bigger than the s10e. Would have bought the Xperia 10 V, if it had a better camera and wireless charging, even though it's sony's low end device, just because it is kind of small. I'm even considering switching to an iPhone SE, just because I can't seem to find higher end small android phones. What kind of hands do people think I have?
Don't go iPhone SE, go iPhone Mini if you do switch. I will not switch, i already tried iOS again recently but there's too many irritating things that sent me running back to Android (please no one ask me to start listing them all). But if it can fit for you, go Mini.
I control a lot of what the device is doing. I am a nerd, hence I want to use it, and because I use it, I am a nerd.
Hate
I spend a lot of time which I could've spent otherwise. Little feature that people show off let me feel like I've got an inferior device. I am talking about auto cropping a thing in an image on ios. At the same time ios can't play an oga file which is more important than apple's playground. It only happens once a year but seeing a friend airdropping something to a stranger feels like I'm missing out. I hate apple for being like shit. Compared to other androids ... no, I don't miss android auto. Pay could be there but not that neccessary. Being able to toggle wifi on or off is actually more important and seeing that even xiaomi etc. Still have the tiles but GrapheneOS doesn't feels like shit.
Browsing the web with mull and vpn is slow compared to other devices with chromium browsers. Selfie camera is a banana. It takes long to start a video and long to stop one. It's difficult to post process on android due to the lack of apps and options.
Recommend it?
Tough call. It depends. Ideologically I'd say yes. For nerds, yes. For kids and young adults, yes if you are strong enough to resist the FOMO that people will give you.
battery doesn't last as long as it used to due to age
non-removable battery
some camera hiccups from LineageOS
The phone works well for everything I need it to do (web browsing, messaging, some light emulation, quick downloads) but it doesn't handle 3d games too well (tried Genshin and it was unbearable). Currently looking for a future replacement for when the battery issues become worse. Might go for one of the Xperia but the prices are a bit too much.
Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite running LineageOS 20 (Android 13) (official).
I feel absolutely blessed by the device maintainers that keep Lineage alive and current on this phone. It runs amazing considering its lower speced hardware.
I picked this phone because it has NFC, an IR blaster, notification LED and a 3.5mm jack!
Not sure how the flagships brands justify leaving those features out
My only complaint is the camera which is very average but I knew that before I purchased so I can't really complain.
You can use Magisk to get around those restrictions of you have issues.
There are also SafetyNet fixes you can flash post Lineage install that get around that sort of thing but it is a back and forth as Google is continually patching holes in their security.
So to be honest a lot of it might stem from the fact that I was on Samsung software for so long I was getting kind of annoyed at all the little glitches and hiccups. In a very cohesive environment and especially having this kind of fold software it always felt like a beta thing.
Or with the pixel feels like there's much more of a enhanced almost iPhone like experience with the full. I can grant that there is less maybe functionality in terms of multitasking and stuff but I really use those features so rarely that I don't miss them
Dad and coupled with the front form factor that's so much better for me and that I can actually take really nice photos and have all the nice little pixel features, its a no brainer for me
Pixel 7 ProAdaptive charging at nightSomehow this phone's GPS loses accuracy to outside of 1 block every few days and needs to be "fine tuned" again in G maps
I got it back at release when they let people stack discounts (paid like 40% the cost of the device). It's still fast enough for everything, a good size, I also got the care plus option with it so swapped to a brand new one earlier this year, want to get another 2 years out of it.
I also have a galaxy tab s6, but haven't ended up using it as much as I thought I would over the years.
There's nothing I dislike really. It's an amazing phone that checks every box for me. I suppose if I could, I would improve the battery life. On a heavy day I go to bed with about 15% battery. Which is too close for comfort for some.
first phone: pink Samsung that 100% didn't run android
second phone: Samsung galaxy Y
third phone: samsung galaxy j series phone 2015-2017 relase date mabye
current: samsung galaxy a32
future: google pixel running calyx os
I like mostly that it's an decent affordable 5G phone that came with a smartwatch on my contract.
What I don't like is its tendency to overheat when the hotspot is on. The specific one I've had has had problems with its charger, but I'm not sure if that's a general thing or a misuse thing or what. My watch also has a tendency to reset and erase itself if you look at it funny.
Overall rating: 3/5 (1/5 being the Doogee I had once that had adware integrated into the OS).
Likes: Most of all price point. But more importantly what you get with it: wireless charging, 5G support, OLED, awesome battery life, Finger print sensor in the frame, decent camera, un-bloated OS, very useful gestures support. Honestly it's the best device I've used out of the box so far. Had Pixels and Samsung's in the past.
Dislikes: not many. Camera can be better especially in low light. Sometimes need to restart Bluetooth because it fails to connect to my watch.
I never get tired of being able to use the front screen for simple browsing and quick access to things and then unfolding the phone to use the main screen for watching videos or playing games etc. I do have a few multi app pairs set up for certain specific scenarios (e.g. I have a Google calendar/Google keep app combo that is great for when I'm meal planning for the week and want to be able to add items to a grocery list at the same time). I truly don't think I would be happy going back to a non-folding phone in the future.
I dislike the battery life of the phone. That's probably my biggest complaint and honestly it's not unmanageable. I've always got a giant 21,000 mAh battery pack in my backpack anyway so charging the phone a bit during the day if I've been hammering the battery watching YouTube for example isn't a problem for me. I'm a ideal world the battery life would be better and this wouldn't be necessary but it's not the end of the world.
The under-display camera on the inner screen is truly terrible also but I almost exclusively use it for video chatting which already is bad quality usually just due to connectivity so it really doesn't bother me. If I were to take selfies (which I just don't do) I would use the camera on the front display. It is possible to unfold the screen and use the main cameras for selfies but as I said, I'm not a selfie taking kind of person.
Galaxy Note 10+ 5G and Waydroid. Might go for a Pixel in the future, idk - not overly happy with my current phone. I love my old Note and wish I could go back to it.
Waydroid is there so I can have Apple Music for Android running on my Linux rig.
Pixel 7 Pro and a Samsung Gear S3 watch (that I hope to upgrade to Galaxy 6 Classic)
The only thing I really miss about my samsung phones (s4, s8, s10e) is that the screen was a whole lot brighter (could see just fine at 50% brightness most of the time, whereas my Pixel requires it to be 80 and up) and that while I prefer dark themes, I really don't like the 'white print on black' because the contrast bothers me. Samsung Themes had all kinds of different colors. Also the size was a lot to get used to, but thats common on just about all flagships now