Android

Pixel 7 Pro, Android 14 Beta. It's sooooo broken. Pixel Launcher doesn't work, so the app switcher won't open. Crashes constantly. Debated buying something else.

What phone are you using?

I have a Pixel 7, Obsidian Color

Are you happy with it? What are its best and worst qualities?

I love the phone. Its my first non low-end android, and I can't see myself going back to an iPhone. I love the assortment of emulators available for Android, and the pixel 7 main camera is very good. The selfie camera could use some work, but picture taking is not what I got this phone for anyway.

Which phones have you had previously? Which were the best and worst of the lot?

My previous phones were an iPhone 11 and an iPhone 5C before that. I have a Moto G pure (low end android) for a little bit, although it was more of a secondary phone instead of something to switch to, as it is very sluggish to use. The iPhone 11 was a good phone, the selfie camera is still better than my current pixel phone. I definitely craved the feeling of freedom I got from my Motorola though, despite its shortcomings. So I went ahead and got my pixel.

How often do you upgrade to a new phone? Very rarely, I might be upgrading more often now though due to pixels having shorter security update Windows than iPhones.

What other Android ecosystem devices do you have? Watches, headphones/earbuds, etc.

None at the moment, although I am planning on getting Pixel buds.

Do you also use any Apple products, or are you Android all the way? (And/or Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, etc.)

For now I am android all the way. I have a Lenovo Thinkpad with Windows 11 on it, I have tried to switch to Linux but my laptops display needs fractional scaling as the dimensions of the screen are different from the resolution. So until fractional scaling gets better on nvidia cards I'll have to stay with Windows.

Dang I wrote a lot 💀

Google Pixel 6. I upgraded from an iPhone 8 a year ago. I love how open the os is, letting me do a bunch more then what's on the app store.

For headphones I have Soundcore Q30. They're decent Bluetooth headphones, that were pretty cheap when I bought them.

I use Windows with WSL. I tried switching to Linux for over a month, but I had too many issues with Windows only apps.

I also love usb-c. Almost all my devices can charge using the same cords. The only exceptions are my laptop with a 200W brick, and my diabetes pump. Nothing I can do about those.

I use a Pixel 5 with MicroG Lineage OS. I like it quite a bit: it's fast, has good battery life, and thanks to Lineage OS, it doesn't spy on me (as much). I do miss having an SD card slot and headphone jack, but those are hard to find anywhere these days, unfortunately.

I don't have a specific upgrade schedule: I upgrade phones when the need arises. My last phone (Nexus 6) was showing its age: it was slow, the battery struggled to hold a charge, and the USB port was worn out. Switching to Lineage OS and a wireless charger helped with these problems somewhat, but it was still time for an upgrade. My phone before that (Droid Razr M) was stuck in a boot loop, so had to upgrade that, as well.

I have an iPad 3 sitting around somewhere, but otherwise, not much of an Apple person. I try to use Linux whenever possible (I know Android isn't a traditional GNU/Linux system, but with Lineage OS and Termux, it's close enough for me).

Just made the change to a Pixel 6a from my really old Samsung Galaxy.

My only requirement was about size. I wanted something "smaller", first I thought about going with a newer Samsung from their mid-range 'A' category, but after seeing how big those things were, I decided to look outside the Samsung ecosystem.

I discovered GrapheneOS and as an open-source enthusiast, I really liked the idea. The professionalism of the dev team and the bloat free aspect of the OS made me get a Pixel.

The size is not that bad, but I wish it would be a bit smaller. So far I'm really liking it. I love the camera of this thing (even without GCam). The physical button placement was a bit weird for me at first, but I've gotten used to it.

I usually abuse my phones till they die, so I was looking for something that would last and I really think that I will be able to go for 5 years with this phone without an issue.

Sorry for the my previous post, I hit 'publish' instead of exiting preview, lol.

What phone are you using?

Samsung Galaxy A11, Android 12/One Ui Core 4.1. I bought it in November 2020, amid a problem with not accessing Whatsapp and communicating with my schoolmates.

Are you happy with it? What are its best and worst qualities?

Yeah. I don't know how to say exactly about the best and worst things about it, I'll just say that at least it's satisfying me.

Which phones have you had previously? Which were the best and worst of the lot?

Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime and Motorola G6 Play. About the first one, it had terrible storage: 16GB, which was small even back then and it was one of the reasons I switched phones. About the second one, it lasted a few years, but as I used it a lot, it ended up with the battery becoming addicted and it stopped working during the pandemic. I still kept it, waiting for some repair, but then I had to give it to another relative.

How often do you upgrade to a new phone?

I use it until it is very old or with some defect. Yes, I know it's kind of weird to do that, but the wages here don't help much in the exchange for a decent phone.

What other Android ecosystem devices do you have? Watches, headphones/earbuds, etc.

None.

Do you also use any Apple products, or are you Android all the way? (And/or Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, etc.)

I have a tablet (Galaxy Tab A, 2019 version. Android 11), two cell phones that belonged to my parents (Galaxy J7 Prime and Galaxy A10, the latter being with the screen broken) and a notebook with Windows 10 that I also bought in 2020 (Samsung Essentials E20). Yes, I'm technically kind of a Samsung fan.

Currently using a Nokia 7.2

Best qualities:

• Cheap
• Has a heaphone jack
• Does smartphone things
• Fell like 5 times from more than a meter of height into a stone floor and is somehow still fine (more luck than skill probably)

Worst qualities:

• Not the fastest
• No more updates :(
• Randomly turns off about once every month at night while charging, which forced me to buy a backup alarm

Before this I was using a Moto G5 plus, which was a bit of a quirky phone. Before that I used my Nexus 5, which ultimately started suffering the power button issues. My Nexus 5 is still a backup phone that I use sometimes, and every time I touch it I wish that they'd release a new Nexus 5 just like the old one but with with newer hardware specs and a better battery. I love how light and small it is, I still love the screen, and I love how it looks.

From this you can probably gather that I don't upgrade phones too often. I also don't have any other Android devices. I did at one point dabble a bit into Android development and made a few silly apps, but that's many years ago at this point.

For my PC's I usually use Linux where I can, and Window$ for gaming and music production (because sadly that's the only way to make these things work reliably).

What phone are you using? Huawei P50 Pro

Are you happy with it? What are its best and worst qualities? Absolutely love the phone, I'm not big on voice assistants or ecosystems so I don't need Google to be connected across all devices and have everything linked together.

As a phone it started out rough, loss of connection very frequently, dropping calls every day. After a few months these issues resolved on there own, which may have been a carrier issue and not the phone itself. Browsing and interacting with it is seamless, games run fast, apps rarely shutdown. The Camera is spectacular, the only rival is my gfs Iphone 13 but both are amazing. The only limiting factor is small amount of unavailable apps due to the lack G.P.S. but I'm not effected I just go to the mobile site instead.

Which phones have you had previously? Which were the best and worst of the lot? Huawei Nexus 6P Huawei P20 Pro

How often do you upgrade to a new phone? Every 3 - 4 years

What other Android ecosystem devices do you have? Watches, headphones/earbuds, etc. Not sure if they count but I have a TicWatch Pro 3 and EVA Earbuds

Do you also use any Apple products, or are you Android all the way? (And/or Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, etc.) Nope, no apple for me, Windows 10.

I've got the Galaxy S22 standard and I like it quite a bit. I've used the Galaxy series primarily since 2012 and my most recent was the S20. It was definitely an upgrade in terms of camera quality, which is one of the main reason I got it. I can take so many more pictures now, but never do. So that says a lot about me :)

I usually go 2-5 years between phones, so this one was quicker than some I've held onto. I don't have any other Android devices and have only once before owned a Macbook Pro (2015 Core 2 Duo, I believe).

• Motorola G30
• very happy! battery life (2.5 days) and weight (prolly due to the big battery)
• a string of Motorolas (I like the fact that it has the purest of the Androids)
• as soon as it shows it is ageing (around 2 years)
• none
• ChromeOS on 2 chromebooks: Lenovo Flex5 and HP 11a na0120nr

edit: typo

Pixel 7 Pro w/GrapheneOS. Being able to control what my phone is sending or not sending + the battery life gain from everything not phoning home is amazing.

Im on my Pixel 6 with calyxOS, which is really great. I really like the fact that i can use android without a google account.

Samsung galaxy S21. I really enjoy it and has worked perfectly. I like Samsung rendition of Android, I feel like it gives me a larger overview of settings and so forth. I've had an iphone 6 and Huawei Mate 20 lite. My problem with the iphone was that i didn't really understand it, and the app library was limited. The Huawei became slow fast, but that might just be because of it being the lite edition. In edition to the Samsung S21 i also own a Samsung galaxy watch 5 and a pair Samsung buds 2. Both these works great, and i really enjoy Samsungs health app wich is how the watch connects to the phone. The buds are even compatible with my windows computer :)

Pixel 6a. Was using pixel 4 before I washed it with my trouser, best phone I have owned. I miss headphone jack. I don't have any Apple products other than a iPad.

Currently, I'm using a Motorola moto g100 and I'm happy with it. Good battery life, nice big screen, much improved performance compared to my last phone. Best phone I've ever owned. The main inconvenience is the location of the fingerprint sensor: I'd have preferred if it was on the front of the device somehow (definitely not on the back -- I often have it lying flat on the table).

I also dislike the fact it can only remember five fingerprints while I have 10 fingers. Who thought that was a good idea? :þ

Previously I had a Moto G5+ and a Moto G. I guess you could say I enjoyed the quality and relative lack of bloatware of these Motorola phones, while being more affordable than some of the alternatives I was considering at the time I bought them.

Going further back, I had a HTC Desire Z (with a slide-out physical keyboard). I picked it as my first smartphone because I was hesitant to get rid of physical keys, but as it turned out I hardly ever used them. Looking back, this one was clearly the worst value for the money.

Since I switched to smart phones I've been upgrading every 3 or 4 years.

Before the smart phone era, I had an Alcatel device (can't remember the exact model). I used that tiny near-indestructable thing for over a decade, only charging it about once a week. It was mostly an "in case of emergency" though, not nearly as heavily used as later phones, because it wasn't really usable as a miniature pocket-computer (like smart phones are). Still, I was pretty happy with it at the time: the only reason I got rid of it was because the '0' button broke, and in my country all phone numbers start with 0.

I also have an LG G Watch (Wear OS). A relative worked at Google when these were handed out to employees but didn't actually want it, so I got it as a gift. It's pretty old now: I've replaced the bands a few times and it won't charge past 70%, but it still mostly works and the battery still lasts all day. I'm not sure if I'll get another smart watch if and when this one finally breaks, though.

No Apple products, and my laptop runs Linux Mint. These days, I only use Windows at work or when helping relatives with tech problems (sigh).

I'm currently running the Pixel 6 Pro with Graphine OS.

Worst thing about this phone is the curved display. Everything else is good enough for me, which is saying a lot. I've had many phones over years and only a few have really been awesome.

In no particular order:

• HTC EVO Shift, EVO 4G LTE, EVO 3D
• Some ZTE Phone with android 2.2
• Oneplus One, 3T, 6T
• Pixel 4, Pixel 6 Pro
• Nexus 4, 5, 5x, 7
• iPhone 4, SE, 7, 12

Edit: format and a device

What phone are you using?

Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Are you happy with it? What are its best and worst qualities?

Absolutely love it. It's only the second Galaxy model to be sold with the Snapdragon chip in 🇦🇺 Australia, after the S22. I had an S21 Ultra (Exynos) and decided to wait for the S23, because of the rumours that the cameras would be improved.

Glad I waited, and also very glad to have an included stylus, because I'm a photographer and designer, so the stylus is bloody useful!

I honestly can't think of an downsides to this phone, I'm so damn satisfied with it.

Which phones have you had previously? Which were the best and worst of the lot?

As noted above, I had the S21 Ultra previously. I actually bought a Pixel 7 Pro when it was released, but after about a month I decided that while it was a great phone with some clever new features, I still preferred my S21 Ultra — so I sold the Pixel 7 Pro and went back to my Samsung!

Other previous phones, let me think... First modern smartphone was the iPhone 3G, followed by iPhone 4, iPhone 5S, HTC Desire, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Sony XPeria V, LG Nexus 5X, Google Pixel, Google Pixel 2, iPhone 11 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S10, iPhone 13 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, S23 Ultra.

Not sure if that order is exactly right... haha.

How often do you upgrade to a new phone?

Usually every year, to be honest, which obviously isn't super responsible either financially or in terms of e-waste, but it really is my number one addiction. 😂

What other Android ecosystem devices do you have? Watches, headphones/earbuds, etc.

Galaxy Watch 4, Pixel Watch, Galaxy Tab S4 (now my son's), Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (now my daughter's), and a Galaxy Tab S8.

Oh, and the Chromecast with Google TV.

Do you also use any Apple products, or are you Android all the way? (And/or Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, etc.)

I have an iPad Pro A12X (pre-M1, annoyingly) for drawing with Procreate, and I still have my iPhone 13 Pro — mostly just for shooting videos for work, since phone gimbals integrate better with iOS than they do with Android (or maybe just Samsung). I also have a work-supplied MacBook Pro 14" M1 Max.

Lastly, I also have a pair of AirPods Pro that I bought for my iPhone but now mostly only use with my Macbook, and a pair of Beats Fit Pro that I absolutely love using with my S23 Ultra. I was tempted by the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, but I really prefer buds with winglets for a more secure fit.

• S23 Ultra
• Best is everything, worst is size.
• Xiaomi and Samsung. I can't compare since they were at completely different price brackets.
• Usually every 3 years.
• Watch, buds.
• Windows but i miss linux

I have a Pixel 4a because I refuse to spend more than $200 on a phone. The battery is starting to not last very long so either I am going to replace the battery or get a Pixel 6a for $200. I'd really prefer to not need a new phone because I like the headphone jack.

Pocophone f1 and I have a xiaomi note 8 as a backup ; because I tend to drop my phone due to carelessness (¯ ¯٥) i have had my screens change twice this year.

LG v60.

I'm still headphones gang, may be the last phone of its time tho

OnePlus 7T

I love this phone. I thought it'd take longer than it actually did to get used to not having a home button anymore, but I adapted in less than an hour. Love how OxygenOS is very close to stock Android. The glass on the back is super slick. Everything is super slick to me. My hands are chronically dry. So I hate all these glass-backed phones.

I've previously used a OnePlus 3, OnePlus One, Samsung Galaxy S4, Motorola Photon 4G, and a Motorola RAZR ve20. I loved my Galaxy. It was my first OLED experience. My OnePlus One felt like kind of a downgrade, but it also allowed me to stop having to sign contracts to get an affordable phone in 2015. Plus, back then, it felt like being a part of something new and exciting. Man I miss Cyanogenmod.

I upgrade basically whenever I need to. The phone I have now is ~3½ years old. The back glass is busted and the battery is starting to lose its life. They will repair it and so I'm thinking of sending it in. I can picture myself using this phone on another 3-4 years barring some kind of carrier stupidity.

No other Android devices. I'm an otherwise Windows/Ubuntu person. Started trying Mint recently. I do have a Fitbit.

I used to have a 4th gen iPod Touch circa 2011 before I got my Photon 4G. iOS 6 ran like crap on it and I was around the corner from building my first PC. I had started using my Android phone for my games and music and such so I just didn't have a use for it anymore. Sold it off and I haven't owned an Apple product since.

S10. It's older, bought refurbished, but probably technically the "best" phone I ever had and it's all I really need tbh.

Current daily driver is a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. Pretty happy with its compact size when folded, and it serves as a mini-tablet of sorts when unfolded. It's also the first phone I've owned that I've not needed to worry about running out of juice midway throughout the day. Though I find its quite hard to find a suitable table stand for it, especially if using it unfolded.

My Android journey began in January 2014 with a Sony Xperia Z1, upgraded from an iPhone 4S with a busted home button. It was a pretty great introduction to the Android world with Sony's near-stock interface (when compared with the dark days of T**chwiz bloatware and whatnot) and lasted until January 2016 when I upgraded to a Sony Xperia Z5 Premium. The lack of an SD card slot of the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 made me hold my nose and get the Z5P despite its Snapdragon 810 SoC, and I endured its abysmal 3.5 hour SOT until 20 months later I upgraded to a red Sony Xperia XZ Premium. This was a really good looking phone and its SD835 SoC was definitely a far cry from the 810 with 5.5 to 6 hours SOT. 28 months of use later and the XZP unfortunately started lagging, which prompted me to try out Samsung. The Note 10+ impressed me with its nearly bezelless screen and s-pen, but the Exynos 9825 SoC was pretty meh at battery life. So another 28 months later and I've upgraded to the SD 8+ Gen 1 Fold 4.

What phone are you using?

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

Are you happy with it? What are its best and worst qualities?

Best is screen. Worst is battery. 3-4.5 hours of SoT. Also, it stutters all the damn time. I know most people using it will say it doesn't, but for me most animations stutter. Every 3rd time I open the Edge panel, and about a third of the times I interact with the device.

Which phones have you had previously? Which were the best and worst of the lot?

Galaxy Wonder, Galaxy S4, Galaxy S7, Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. Galaxy Wonder was pretty bad at the time, and has not stood the test of time. It quickly became unusable. Galaxy S7 was pretty solid but nothing special.

How often do you upgrade to a new phone?

2-3 years.

What other Android ecosystem devices do you have? Watches, headphones/earbuds, etc.

I have the Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds which got the infamous battery drain due to a software update one month after warranty ended and I can't wait to replace them. They don't last over 5 minutes on one charge. If it wasn't for the battery drain, I would keep using them for a very long time. Superior noise cancellation and sound quality.

Do you also use any Apple products, or are you Android all the way? (And/or Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, etc.)

I have an ancient iPad that is unusable at this point, and an Apple TV that I received for free many years ago. Very recently, I started using Android TV almost exclusively. The only feature I really miss is AirPlay.

I am typing this on my Pixel 7 (recommend me a Lemmy app please :D )

I had a 4a before this, I liked the finger print reader way better on the 4a but other than that my 7 is better, its the best and most expensive phone i've ever owned.

Before the 4a I had some random Honor and Huawei phones and I used to upgrade phones almost yearly which I felt was kinda depressing so I figured I should "invest" in a phone I could use for ~3 years.

The only Apple product i've had was some kind of iPod that I asked my uncle to copy cd's onto, it was kinda cool i guess.

Galaxy S23 .. Love the 120hz

Asus ZenFone 8.

I love it, it's a nice bit of kit, and the few gimmicks it has are useful: scheduled charging for better battery life, digital well being stuff to stop me being glued to my phone.

Battery would be a problem for a super power user, but lasts me all day with commuting, reading the web etc. Camera is not on a par with flagships but I rarely take pictures.

Prior to this I had a Huawei until the battery died on me. I upgrade when I have to, I hate consumer upgrade cycles.

I have zero android ecosystem products.

I'm Android/Linux all the way unless work force me to use a Mac, which happens periodically, as part of the great cycle of life.

What phone are you using? POCO F3

Are you happy with it? What are its best and worst qualities? Works and does everything i need, the camera is decent so i am happy about that.

Which phones have you had previously? Which were the best and worst of the lot? Hard to remember, however I will never forget my old OnePlus One... basically started this whole path of Android customization I took.

How often do you upgrade to a new phone? Honestly whenever my old one dies. I am not rich and phones are quite costly these days.

What other Android ecosystem devices do you have? Watches, headphones/earbuds, etc. Just my phone

Do you also use any Apple products, or are you Android all the way? (And/or Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, etc.) Just my phone, however I do have a server at home running Debian 12 and my desktop running Windows 11

Still using my Pixel 2xl from 2018! Longest time with a single phone ever. Still working pretty well but showing signs of the inevitable end of life.

Galaxy S10e. I love the small size of it and the fact that it still has a microSD slot and headphone jack. Its starting to show its age when it comes to battery life and the USB C port not working as good.

I like the Samsung android software with the customization that you get with Good Lock so I will probably stick with Samsung flagship for my next phone. The biggest thing I dislike with Samsung is the amount of bloatware they ship, the out of box experience is terrible and I usually have to spend a day researching what apps to disable with adb to get the phone usable. I will probably upgrade to an S23 next year. I usually buy my phones used when the model has been out for about a year. At a year old its still new enough to have plenty of support left, but its no longer the current model so it sells for less. Its a better value IMO then buying a new mid range phone, especially as there isn't as much advancement year to year in hardware these days. A year old flagship will have better cameras than a new mid range phone typically.