If I buy the best that either company has to offer (Pixel 8 pro or S23 Ultra)
Which one, in your opinion, would be the best Android experience and why? Would love to know your thoughts.
Samsung only for Samsung dex
For real. When one of my friends dropped his phone and cracked the screen ,we saved it by checking and backing up his stuff through samsung dex. Smart Switch doesn’t work through dex though, so we still had to guess where the buttons were on an all white screen to work it through the phone.
I didn’t realize til shopping around recently that most flagship phones’ type C ports are only usb 2 instead of USB 3 like the Samsung S series phones. I reeeally wanted HDMI out in case I needed it in a pinch, too.
Pixel = stock Android, latest firmware, able flash to more privacy oriented rom.
Samsung = Long support and feature rich, but can also be bloated.
Samsung. Always Samsung. I’m perfectly happy with my A54
deleted by creator
Pixels historically have a lot of weird hardware issues, like the modem underperforming, bad antennas, poor fingerprint sensor, overheating, and so on.
I don’t know if the Pixel 8 lineup has them too, but I would search around pretty heavily on that and see first.
I love my Pixel and would always choose it over Samsung, but yuuuup. Lot’s of wierd Software issues too.
Can’t forget the time when they shipped a PIN recovery mode that allows you to enter the PUK for whatever SIM card is inserted … while also allowing you to hot swap sim cards. 😂
The Pixel is like any other Google product, half-assed and supported only when they feel like it. My Pixel 6 was vulnerable to an attack needing no user input because Google waited a week past the disclosure deadline to put a patch out from a vulnerability their own security group originally found. The phone also maybe couldn’t have called 911 for a few weeks. The phone looking dated and having a slow as hell finger print sensor are on me, but the former are Google being shitty.
Yeah I thought really hard about getting a Pixel 6a as my next phone (on a budget), but the specs aren’t that great for the price, plus all the bugs I keep reading about are turning me away from Pixels in general.
I bought an iPhone a few weeks before the Pixel I have for work and at this point two years later the iPhone feels brand new and the Pixel feels old. Idk why but the os feels sluggish, I have more frequent app crashes and worse cellular service despite being on the same carrier for both, although that could be AT&T 5G which the pixel has but my iPhone plan doesn’t not.
I’ve been on one plus phones for years and then switched to pixel 4a 5g, then pixel 6a.
I just switched to a samsung galaxy s23 ultra and I am loving this device.
I uninstalled a bunch of the Google and samsung bloatware.
Lots of hate for Samsung in here… I actually just switched from Pixel (and before that Nexus phones) to Samsung for the first time ever, because the Z Flip 5 is everything I’ve ever wanted in a phone form factor.
No regrets so far, had it 2 weeks now!
In don’t think its hate, but Samsung’s are Androids only by technicality. Yes, theyre running Android, but everything that makes Android Android has been changed, theyre not a representation of how Android actually is other than using the same apps.
In the distant past, yes, but I’ve got my Z Flip 5 set up to use all the Android standard applications and settings. It was trivial to do
The Pixel is the far superior product as far as I am concerned: Faster, more stable, no bloatware and the best camera around.
But, and this might be a big but for some, if you need repairs or service outside of insurance you are SOL. There’s not a lot of companies doing Pixel repairs and if they do the parts are insanely expensive. I needed a screen replace and it cost almost as much as the phone itself in parts and labour. And the end result is a screen that gets dirtier and a non-functioning fingerprint sensor. Not optimal.
Awesome phone, but pray you do not need service.
I’ve had so many problems with pixels it’s not even funny. Never had an issue with Samsung. I think Google makes poor quality devices.
Ah, also as a professional photographer I can promise you the cameras are better on Samsung devices.
Ah, also as a professional photographer I can promise you the cameras are better on Samsung devices.
Thanks your your feedback, that is interesting.
The one thing pixel is better at in my expeirence is the digital zoom, I can get insane detail at 20+ zoom levels that I could never even approximate with a Samsung.
Also, battery life on the 7 series is pretty bad. My old 3a had awesome battery life, but since then Google started making their own SoC. They still use some third-party chips which they don’t control, and it’s affecting power efficiency. I’ve heard rumors that they’re expected to have better control of power consumption around the 9 series.
All that being said, I love my Pixel 7a, but I frequently have to top it off to last me a full day. I can handle that, but if you don’t have access to a charger during the day I’d consider other options.
Samsung has a bunch of proprietary crap I always hated. Most especially the Knox protection that prevents rooting or custom ROM installation easily.
My sister has the newest Pixel and it’s practically stock Android. It’s Google’s flagship phone, too. Unfortunately I don’t have my own hands on experience with it to offer more details, but I’d choose the Pixel over a Samsung.
Haven’t had a samsung phone since the note 3, but I remember having issues with unlocking the bootloader, I think you had to use some 3rd party tool because samsung provided no guide in their manual. With nexus and pixel phones it’s really easy so them I can definately recommend.
https://flash.android.com/welcome
Nothing like is available for other OEMs.
I can see a reason to get either a pixel or Samsung, can’t really go wrong with either. Personally I use a Samsung for the customization of OneUI and better processors but occasionally I do envy the camera on a pixel phone and the stock android layout. Main advice if you were to get either is to try to buy it used instead of new.
Honest question what customization does OneUI have that you can’t do on a Pixel?
Samsung has a set of tools called good lock, where you can customise OneUI with such ease. The only thing I miss about my pixel is the weather and which song is playing on the AOD screen. Now samsung allows widgets on AOD buts it not the same thing.
Just a few examples I use on my S23:
- Hiding the alarm and VPN icons from the status bar
- Charging the battery to only 85%
- Rearranging/deleting the camera mode favorite buttons (Photo, Night Mode, Video, …)
- Creating folders in the app drawer of the default launcher
- Option to customize the long press of the power button (I set mine to the flashlight)
Charging the battery to only 85%
I wish all phones had this.
All phones have this. What you see as 100% is not absolute maximum capacity.
It’s not 85% either
I can’t stand iOS, but I’d rather use an iPhone than a Samsung phone. Not kidding. Get a pixel.
Absolutely agree with you
Samsung fucks up their version of android, most notably killing background apps no matter what setting you change, but OneUI is by far the best UI I’ve ever used in a phone. Very confused on whether it’s open source or not, I see open source licenses and a a community driven GitHub page for it but it’s also samsung. Still the UI is awesome
I’ve just recently switched from a Galaxy S10 to a Pixel 7 as I wanted to see the “vanilla” experience, as well as be closer to upstream for software updates. My S10 still works great, though the battery needs replacement (at the time, it had already broken the glue on the back glass and was still expanding – didn’t realize until I took it out of the case for cleaning)…
With my S10, I had to really fight to get it to let me use Google’s apps over the Samsung ones; which whole annoying is doable. So far, the only things I really miss from Samsung (and notably the UX):
- The sidebar/panel with an additional set of predefined apps
- Replaced with Panels
- The volume/silent switch in the notification shade
- The Bixby button (for custom actions)
- Physically smaller phone, but that’s not a huge deal
Overall, I’m happy with the experience so far; though I dunno if the “Pro” model of anything is really worth it.
Am not really sure what you mean by “had to really fight to get it to let me use Google’s apps”? I’ve been a Samsung user for years and I have never even once ran into situation where wrong application would start. Not only that, I started using Samsung’s Email application last year because GMail stopped downloading attachments, a known issue they never fixed.
Part of the difficulty may have also been because it was my first foray into Android… at the moment I don’t have a specific example, but I seem to remember setting defaults was straight-forward; but either they were not always respected by certain interaction prompts, or some similar behavior.
As for GMail, I’m also no longer using the app and instead have opted for Spark (personal mailboxes) & Outlook (exchange, work)…
- The sidebar/panel with an additional set of predefined apps
