Greetings, Android aficionados! 📱👋
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.
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Currently using Pixel 6a
Likes Price to features especially with the high trade in value of a pixel 3a
Dislikes Fingerprint reader doesn’t work with a glass screen protector
Cell phone reception seems weaker than it should be.
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.
Samsung galaxy s21+ as my phone
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.
Lava t81n
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).
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!!!
Using: Motorola Edge + 2022
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.
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 using a OnePlus 6
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
Pixel 7
Great value for money, excellent camera, no bloatware and great battery life for my use case.
Best Android phone I’ve owned to date.
Fairphone 3
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
Poco X3 NFC
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.
- Which Android devices are you currently using?
- What do you love most about them?
- What do you dislike?
Device #1: Google Pixel 6a
Likes: Affordable. Decent screen size (not overly large). Clear and readable. Checks most of the boxes for features I want. Great camera quality.
Dislikes: cellular modem isn’t the greatest, especially poor in fringe areas. Screen not quite bright enough to read in direct sunlight. Battery life could be better. Can get warm at times when doing intensive activity (streaming videos, recording video). Wish it had a true zoom lens like the flagship phones.
Device #2: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet
Likes: big screen, great for reading magazine style content, videos, web surfing. Awesome battery life. Expandable storage.
Didlikes: Samsung’s implementation of gesture navigation is slow and awkward compared to Google’s. Wide-screen aspect ratio isn’t the best for portrait orientation (I’d rather have 4:3). Also hard to find a case that fit. Not enough internal storage.
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.
OnePlus Nord N200 with LineageOS 20 (Android 13) with no google apps package installed.
