Hold on tight, we are almost back...
Previously on Lemmy: Sony
Past Discussions:
I thought we should restart the brand discussion with something more popular to give this community relaunch a bit more oomph. So, Samsung it is.
I've never really used a Samsung phone much before, despite them being so popular in the States. Have friends who used them, they usually look nice and high quality, and the Galaxy S Active are the only high-end phones I know that doesn't shatter when you look at them wrong without a case, so, props to Samsung.
There are may reasons I don't like Samsung phones: Hardware fuse disabling Knox on bootloader unlock, Exynos vs Snapdragon models, the mandatory Bixby button, the Galaxy Note 7 that really blew up. To me, Samsung phones are trying so hard to go against what makes Android good, which is the customizability to do whatever you wanted. Android is everything; Samsung is just Samsung.
Personally, I think Samsung is only worth buying at the very high end for the Galaxy S series. I've heard that A series have gotten better, but there always seems to be better choices from Moto/Pixel/Chinese brands on Amazon that it's not worth considering their low tier offering.
What should we do next week? I'm thinking Microsoft, just to make fun of them for the very idea of making a Surface Duo 2.
FAQ:
The phones are good, hardware wise. The software is awful. I cannot get used to their awful Android skin.
I especially like their A-series; they're solid phones for a good price. Although currently I think OnePlus Nord is a better alternative, especially software-wise
Damn, OneUI is my favourite Android skin lol. I thought that was a pretty popular opinion on the Android side. So many features with good updates is a win-win for me.
I'm always surprised to see people claim oneUI is awful. TouchWiz was absolutely awful but imo oneUI is one of the few android skins that actually improve the experience significantly.
My only complaint is that some settings enable ads in various parts of the interface (but they can be disabled so it's not a dealbreaker) and that they absolutely ruined Game Launcher. That being said the beta Google Play Games launcher is very good and has basically replaced Game Launcher for me.
I'm using an s20 FE 5g so no ads. But I feel like I use enough oneUI specific stuff that I'd find it genuinely difficult to switch to another company.
I'm in the same boat with my Note20 Ultra. I'd have a really hard time switching to a different manufacturer after using this phone for the last few years.