Android

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.

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 💀

I'm using a trusty Samsung Note 9! It's definitely showing it's age but it remains sturdy enough for me to use. Really not liking the performance drops, especially in rhythm games and my keyboard where inputs suddenly don't get registered.

Before this phone, I had a Note 5 that was traded in for this phone. In some ways I miss the home button but in others the new pen features are quite nice.

As you can probably tell, nothing has moved me to do another upgrade but it's really tempting. Like the performance drops are quite bad but I think I just need to reset my phone.

I have a portable touchscreen monitor exclusively for emergency monitor space and rhythm games. Paired with my Linux laptop it's been pleasant, especially with some tools to sync my notifications and messages in any network.

Pixel 6a

What phone are you using? Pixel 4A

Are you happy with it? What are its best and worst qualities? Very happy with it. It's still very quick - never felt a slowdown, it, was and still is cheap to buy, has a good enough camera, good enough battery life, love the back mounted finger print scanner, and is a good size.

Only real downside is it's at the tail end of google's security update support.

Which phones have you had previously? Which were the best and worst of the lot? Smart phones only - Moto X, nexus 4, nexus 6, essential phone, pixel 4a. Liked all of them, but I think moto x I liked the least & essential phone I liked the most.

How often do you upgrade to a new phone? When my previous one is broken or the OS gets too slow.

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

Do you also use any Apple products, or are you Android all the way? (And/or Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, etc.) No apple products. I won't pay premium prices and I'm pretty set on the Google eco system for better or for worse. Have a few windows OS computers either that I built or use for work.

Reminds me of the olden days of r/Android where threads like this were a blast!

What phone are you using?

Following in the footsteps of Captain2Phones, I am simultaneously using a Google Pixel 6a and a OnePlus 7 Pro.

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

Pixel 6a is the best phone I've ever used, including flagship iPhones. I love the camera bar design and the whole look of the phone's rear while I don't particularly like the chunky bezels and the hole punch. I have been spoilt by the fantastic uninterrupted curved display (yes, you read it right. I like curved screens) of the OnePlus 7 Pro. It's smooth and the cameras are great. I love the animations and the overall look of Material You. It's a really good phone.

As for the OnePlus 7 Pro, it was the best phone I had ever used until they ruined it all with their subpar software updates which made the phone literally a chore to use. I still use it and like it, but the experience it heavily marred by the atrocious software experience of the new OS which is nothing like OxygenOS.

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

Have had flagship iPhones for several years until I got the OnePlus 7 Pro. The Pixel has to be the best phone, a shitter Micromax that I had a decade ago has to be the worst.

How often do you upgrade to a new phone?

Every 2/3 years.

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

Not a big fan of smartwatches. Well, a big fan of the smartwatch tech, but not a big fan of wearing one over a traditional watch. Have several fitness bands made by Android OEMs (though none of them run Android) and several true-wireless earphones and headphones by Anker and Soundpeats that I use with my Android devices as well as my Windows devices.

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

Not at the moment. But my next computer will be an MX Macbook Pro.

I'm using the OnePlus 9 Pro right now, and I'm really happy with it. I switched from iPhone X to OnePlus in August 2022. I thought iPhones were better for 5 years, and I was wrong. I had iPhone 5, 5s, 6 and 7 before. Usually I upgrade to a new phone every 2 or 3 years. My Nothing Ear(1) and PC on Linux fits into the android ecosystem very well

Phone I'm Using:

Samsung A50

Am I Happy with it:

Yes, it has been fully capable of performing the daily tasks that I throw at it. Only downsides really is that it no longer receives support from Samsung.

What Phone Did I have Previously:

My previous phones were a LG Q6 and I believe an iPhone 6 or 7. Honestly as much as I love Android, the iPhone was leaps and bounds better then what the LG Q6 was able to provide. That's mainly more a statement of how bad LG was at making actually interesting phones that were good.

How often do I upgrade:

My A50 is a hand-me-down so atm I don't really decide when I get a new phone lol.

What other Android Ecosystem Devices do I have?

If it counts, Google Home Mini (have had it for quite a few years)

Do you have any Apple products and/or Microsoft, Linux, etc...

No, I don not own any Apple products of any sort. I own an Xbox Series X, a Windows Laptop from Asus, a Google Home Mini along with a Amazon Alexa (well technically that wasn't mines originally I'm just "borrowing" it because it was just left disconnected.) Lastly I have a pair of Jabra Elite 3's which have been pretty good.

What phone are you using? Pixel 7

Are you happy with it? What are its best and worst qualities? Love it. Works really well and great camera. No issues I've had so far after a year. Would've been nice to have a headphone jack, but not a big issue.

Which phones have you had previously? Which were the best and worst of the lot? Moto Max, pixel, pixel 3a, lots of others

How often do you upgrade to a new phone? Every few years recently

What other Android ecosystem devices do you have? Watches, headphones/earbuds, etc. Shield TV, Fitbit, pixel buds pro, fire tablet

Do you also use any Apple products, or are you Android all the way? (And/or Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, etc.) My kid has an iPad for speaking but that's it. Everything else is android and the PC is Windows 11pro

What phone are you using?

One Plus 8

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

I am happy with the phone. I've had it for the past almost 3 years and it has served me well. The thing I love the most about this phone is the specs and the custom ROM community. 3 years later and this phone still holds up very well. It handles everything I throw at it; even the occasional Genshin Impact. The custom ROM community is also very active. My phone is still in good condition after three years. Battery is still holding up. I get about 5-7 hours SOT wifi on light usage. When using data and heavier usage (maps, spotify, max brightness) I get around 3-4 hours of SOT which isn't that bad for a three year old phone. I plan on replacing the battery and using custom roms to extend my phone's life.

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

s5, j7 prime My s5 was a hand me down from my mother. The phone worked fine but the the display would glitch out and turn off. The j7 prime was just garbage after about 6 months of usage. It was laggy as hell and I'm not sure how I survived with that phone for three years. It was definitely the worst out of the two.

How often do you upgrade to a new phone?

I don't upgrade phones until the one I am currently using cannot handle my daily usage, or breaks. When my phone is no longer usable, then I am considering either going back to samsung or going pixel depending on if the charging and efficiency gets better.

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

I have a galaxy watch active 2 and galaxy buds plus.

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

I do not currently have any Apple products. I am using a windows pc and my laptop is dual booting windows 10 and ubuntu (windows just in case I have software that doesn't work on linux).

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.

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.

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.

• 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

Galaxy S23 .. Love the 120hz

I'm using an LG V40 and I love it. The best phone i've ever owned. Love the dual screen case, love the headphone jack and it's incredible DAC, love the rear fingerprint sensor. it's the perfect phone for my use case. I've previously owned the LG V30, and the LG V20.

I basically only ever upgrade if my phone breaks. The only other android device I own is my NVIDIA shield that runs plex etc.

No apple devices for me, except i guess my work laptop but that's not really mine, and i certainly wouldn't buy a macbook if i was in the market for a laptop.

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.

Galaxy S10, though its battery is having me look in the market for a replacement. Attempted to replace it with a pixel 6a which was a horrid handset and do not plan on giving google another chance

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.

I use a pixel 6a, switched over to it from an iPhone 11. I wanted something that worked better than my iphone on Google Fi. I had a ton of issues on Fi with my iphone since it was technically in beta like the cellular settings getting reset. I had a moto g power before and that thing was trash, it worked fine for a while but as soon as you start installing apps it just chugs. The pixel 6a is good enough for me to say I will never buy a non-Google Android phone ever again. The pictures are crazy good, I don't even know how, the sensor is old, software magic I guess.

I also have an m1 Mac mini and a gaming PC running endeavour OS. So far the Android phone works much better on a Linux ecosystem for obvious reasons. No smart watches or anything though, haven't dipped my toes into that space. I will say I was extremely hesitant to move to Android from iOS, iOS is so solid from a stability and compatibility perspective, Apple really has that down to a science. However since switching to a Google created Android phone, it's a night and day difference from my past experiences on Android.

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.

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

Samsung S22. Got it for super cheap on an offer. It's great. I have two issues with it.

1. The battery can be better. It can last a day on normal use, but if you play videos etc. it runs out pretty fast.
2. You can't disable the clipboard history. Have to manually clear it once in a while. It's the one thing I hate about OneUI.

unihertz jelly 2

Using a Pixel 5a, running CalyxOS. No problems with the phone and no plans to upgrade any time soon.

Samsung S22.

Samsung is the one manufacturer with the best camera in a small form factor. Everyone else sacrifices the camera in their smallest model.

The fact that One UI's quick toggles now look better than Android's is a bonus. I still can't get over the ginormous rectangles that the quick toggles became.