So, I thought I’d kick things off here with some community building.
Quote this post with answers to the below!
What phone are you using?
Are you happy with it? What are its best and worst qualities?
Which phones have you had previously? Which were the best and worst of the lot?
How often do you upgrade to a new phone?
What other Android ecosystem devices do you have? Watches, headphones/earbuds, etc.
Do you also use any Apple products, or are you Android all the way? (And/or Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, etc.)
I have an S20 FE. Literally my perfect phone, and I have no plans to change it any time soon!
Another S20FE here. I’ve had new phone fever recently, but I keep having to ask myself…what exactly am I going to gain from spending almost a grand on a new S23.
Another S20 FE owner here. Got this one through work about 2 years ago and it still runs great. I love the battery saving option so it charges only to 85% which really has done wonders for the phone’s battery life. I don’t use a lot of apps either. Don’t see a reason to upgrade to the latest and greatest.
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Pixel 7 Pro.
I’m generally happy with it, but the battery has been rather bad in that I have issues getting a full day out of it. I’ve also finding overheating issues when in 80+ degree F weather.
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 💀
+1 for fractional scaling issues, it’s why I can’t go back yet (although love seeing KDE finally get closer to full fractional scaling support)
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.
The pixel 7 pro. I have been so disappointed with Google phones in the last few years. I like not having bloat, and as a developer it is good to have a generic phone.
The 7 really raised the bar. I couldn’t live without face ID. I don’t know if I could go back. It is so much easier now.
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.
Galaxy Fold 4. Would have immediately recommended it but this past weekend the inside screen protector cracked down the middle. I need to contact Samsung and see how big of a hassle this is to get it replaced. I’ve only had the phone like 6 months, this really shouldn’t be this fragile
Yikes I’ve only had mine for about a month. So far no issues but keeping my fingers crossed everyday.
Was it just the screen protector or the screen itself?
Do you still notice the fold in the background after a while? Figured that might annoy me
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.
I miss my Z8. It was 1 week short of 2year mark when it died last week. I would advise to you to turn on your auto backup just in case.
And if you use the tachiyomi app, back that up as well.
Pixel 4a 5G. It’s old and overheats like crazy and my Android Auto doesn’t work half the time, but it has all my 2FA for work which is going to be a massive headache to replace when that time finally comes. Probably going with another Pixel though.
you should consider Aegis for 2FA, you can export all your keys to a file (encrypt able) that you can store on a USB!
S22+. Got an insane deal on a like new refurbished model, so it seemed like a no-brainer.
It’s a phone. Most nondescript phone I’ve ever used. Nothing about it is amazing, but no major complaints. Even the battery is fine for me, despite a lot of people complaining about poor battery life on the S22 series.
I was one of those that suffered with the battery on the S22+
ended up moving to the S23 Ultra on a really good deal, only regret is size
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.
Curious why but another phone (which would be on Android 13 or older) vs downgrading P7Pro back to Android 13?
Honestly, I gave it my best shot. I had the Pixel 2 XL and loved it. Upgraded to the 5 and it was slow. Upgraded to the 6 Pro and it was buggy and overheated. The Pixel 7 Pro is giving me problems, too. I’m hopeful Google can get it together eventually, but I’m not going to suffer through it until they do.
I feel your pain as I’m in the same boat. I’m hesitant to update to the latest patch as the current (previous?) one that I’m on seems to be working the best minus the camera flaking out or locking up entirely. It was soooo smooth on 13 I truly regret moving to beta.
I’m on the Galaxy S23.
My previous device was a Realme GT, I really wanted to experiment with these Chinese “flagship killer” devices that offer pretty impressive specs for lower prices. It had some amazing aspects, but also deep deal breakers. I’m happier with the S23.
Though Samsung absolutely burned me twice with their Exynos processors, so if a device is got an Exynos chip I’m not getting anywhere near it.
Pixel 6!
I honestly want a phone with snapdragon 8 gen 2, but I don’t want to go back to getting spam calls all the time. Pixel software is just too good.
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.
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.
I’m on the 4a as well, had it since launch. Agreed about the headphone jack. I will add the one thing I dislike the most is that recording video in HD will overheat the phone and cause it to stop recording relatively quickly.
The thing I like the most is the size. For me it is a good compromise between screen real estate and pocket-ability.
