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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Pixel 4a. The perfect size phone and though the battery is losing its life a little bit, I’m going to keep it as long as possible.
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.
I’ve thought about it, but to be honest, I’m more likely to trade the phone in and get money off a new one.
But hopefully that shouldn’t be until next year.
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
Guess I’m the only one with a Sony Xperia phone.
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)
I’m just waiting for the shipment email for my Xperia 1 V.
For me it’s the rectangular front display, no notches, no hole punches, no nonsense. Just some small bezels which also house front facing speakers. Everyone has gotten so acclimatized to “bezel-less” displays for the sake of not just being last years model that you lost stereo speakers, and added a literal black mark to accompany lost display area.
Then you throw in a 3.5mm audio jack AND expandable storage <insert fry take my money gif here>
I’m in the camp that you don’t need to refresh a design over and over again, especially “just for the sake of it.”
PS: I’m not particularly happy to pay the price I did for the phone which has, in my mind, basic features. However, the other option is to pay for a phone with less capabilities than my current phone.
I would actually love a Sony, since Hardware and feature wise they seem great. Good form factor, SD card and headphone jack.
But the high price and especially the short software support just turn me off.
Samsung Note20Ultra. My favorite phone to date. Fell in love with Spen, smart select, and Samsung Notes!!
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.
Nice! I’m on an S23 Ultra and my only complaint is the lack of an unlockable bootloader on the North American variant.
Yeah that’s been almost my only complaint for my last 3 Samsung phones… Damn north american models!
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.
Galaxy Note 10+.
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.
Yeah, Ah pretty my other comment, I reckon it was the ideal sized large phone.
Moved to an S23 Ultra this year, which is an awesome phone, but is a bit too hefty at times.
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.
Z fold 4 here.
Likes: the folding obviously lol but I also like samsungs software.
Dislikes: fragile and the camera is shit.
Which Android devices are you currently using?
Oneplus 7 Pro
What do you love most about them?
Having a pop-up camera probably, clean uninterrupted screen.
Having an unlockable bootloader and non-oem roms is pretty nice too.
What do you dislike?
Probably the rounded glass screen edges.
Stock roms are utter trash.
Have 256gb storage, but microsd expansion would be nice.
Would love to run CalyxOS or GrapheneOS, but understandably there’s no build for this phone.
Edit: Detail. Also probably won’t consider changing phone until Google foldables get good and can de-google with a aftermarket rom.
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 S23+ Because I don’t want any Chinese brand.
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 drank the Samsung Kool-Aid. Pretty tasty.
- Samsung s22 Ultra
- Samsung Watch 4
- Samsung s6 tablet
The only thing I don’t like is the lack of Root on my Samsung devices. I spent several years as a Lineage OS user and having root access was amazing.
OnePlus 9pro
Like: it is fast, clean, it has a Silent/Vibrate/Ring switch, good screen.
Dislike: no headphone jack, the Snapdragon 888 isn’t efficient, it heats quickly and it isn’t good for the battery life.
