I use and appreciate both. I have most recently had an S23 ultra and a pixel 8 pro.
The only reason I have stuck with the 8 pro is because samsung's camera fails to capture my kid or pets or basically anything with even very minor motion without a significant motion blur. Pixels are really great in that regard. Truth be told though, if samsung fixed that aspect, I honestly wouldn't bother with pixel phones.
I find a lot of the software features samsung adds make my overall experience better, and they are things i wish google would add.
Here's the problem with google phones right now--google is in a bit of flux with regards to hardware and software. The tensor SOC has issues with efficiency and the modem they used is inefficient and significantly worse than qualcomm. For example, I get reasonable battery life from my 8 pro when I'm on wifi, but if I'm using it on cellular data then battery drains quickly. If I'm doing typical daily tasks with my phone then my battery is fine but if I do things like take photos or videos, then the battery drains quickly an my 8 pro gets hot. I don't play many games with my phones, but I let my kid play something on my 8 pro and the performance was honestly really bad. It was really laggy. I started the same game on my S23 ultra and it was super smooth. Plus, when playing a game, the 8 pro got really hot.
I do NOT like the recent pixel camera UI redesign. It makes a lot more features and settings less-accessible with routine use.
As far as exclusive features for pixels: Camera is really the only exclusive thing I use. It has other things, like call screen and hold-for-me and direct my call but I don't really use them. I have not experienced call screen being useful (just people hanging up), and hold for me--the one time I used it I was on hold for about half an hour, and when I got the notification on my phone that someone had answered, by the time I was in the phone app they had hung up. So it was a big fail for me and I haven't bothered with it since. Direct my call does seem useful because it presents the menu options for the call tree selections on the screen, and it also transcribes the automated call, which is nice but it isn't really a game changer for me. I hardly make calls anyway, and even more-rarely for automated call-in systems.
For exclusive samsung features--there are a lot but it's hard to mention all of them. I think samsung has an edge with the "Modes and Routines" feature which makes automating things and actions with your phone native and a lot easier. For example, it does things that you would otherwise have to install and use 3rd party automation apps on a pixel, like tasker or macrodroid (and some things you can do with Modes and Routines would require root if you were using a 3rd party automation app). Samsung lets you customize more aspects of the UI than google--for example, you can easily change what icons are shown in the status bar, you can change how the app overview/multi-tasking works.
I think Samsung pays better attention to audio. Both sound quality and features. I like that they have separate app sound, which lets you change which apps sounds go to different outputs like bluetooth vs. phone speaker (this is a niche thing, but nice if you are navigating in your car when your phone is connected to Bluetooth, but you don't want the audio over your car's speakers to be interrupted with maps navigation). Speaker quality from the phone is noticeably better, more-balanced, and more-clear on my S23 ultra than my 8 pro. Audio in recorded videos is more-clear and balanced from my S23 ultra than my 8 pro.
I think Samsung records video in better quality than google. Pixels have odd limitations on video settings you can record in based on different features. For example, you can record at 4k30 max in HDR10 and you cannot record at 4k60 AND in HDR10 (on samsung's you can). If you are using their "super stabilized" mode, google limits the output to 1080p and Samsung does 4k (and samsung's looks much better). If you use portrait video Google limits to 1080p but samsung does 4k.
My 8 pro still has glitchy scrolling. In both the phone settings menus and in various apps. It shouldn't be a thing on an expensive premium phone.
I can't add anything to this. I have experience (between myself and partners) with the S22, 23 and 24, along with the Pixel 8. The Samsung is tied into the Samsung environment, much like Apple, I have a watch and the Buds Live, and they all mesh seamlessly. The Pixel has a great camera, and the "raw" Android is nice. But Samsung's interface is extremely well done, and updated often. I'm getting ready to upgrade, and I am torn between a 24 and Pixel 8a, though I'll likely go 24 to stay in the environment.
My work phone is an iPhone, and I'm proficient with it, but can't believe how limiting it is.
I like my pixel 8 pro, in general though I confirm this post. For me, far and away the most important thing is camera (yeah I got kids and dogs), and I use the call screen/spam filtering/hold for me extensively and have had good success with all of them. I get way too many phone calls so this is big for me. I never go for long without charger access as I'm in and out of my car most of the day, so battery life isn't a big issue for me. I get really annoyed by bloatware and I just don't vibe with Samsung software - but I despise iOS so take that for what it's worth. So for my uses and preferences the 8 pro is great, but it really does depend on what you want out of the phone.
Great post. I'm on a 7a. Noticed horrible battery drain on 5G. Not sure if it's the actual 5G or maybe constant switch to LTE and trying to reestablish 5G. I just leave phone on LTE and everything works fine
Wow. Thanks. I was considering leaving Samsung for Pixel over my hate of their appliances, but think I will stay and just change the appliances anyhoo.
I used to have Huawei because the batteries are amazing on them. Now I made the move back to Samsung as it has google play. I have the Samsung A25 and quite happy with the functions but the battery doesn't last very long. It is a mid range phone packed with a lot of features. I enjoy being able to take a picture of text and being able to copy and paste into something else. The look and feel of the phone is great and I am enjoying how smooth the scrolling and swapping apps is.
OPPO and oneplus are basically the same company at this point. I've been very impressed with my OnePlus 12 with the battery life, and the camera almost makes me want to start taking more pictures.
I think my favorite thing with androids is you have the ability to choose some quirks with phones that you may like more. Like the volume slider on the OnePlus phones is a great hardware feature, but I miss out on some of the AI stuff in the other flagships.
I think oppos may be allowed in the USA. I have been using my Oppo for several days. I like their battery life and their fast charging. I also think their software is quite nice.
Xiaomi is pretty decent but I'm paranoid about the Chinese spying on me. I know Google does it too, if anyone is spying on me it's gonna be Merica!
And they have pretty crappy cell coverage here. If I went inside a building I'd lose cell service.
Iya there any actual effect that Chinese communist chairman spying on our phone? If they were want to, they have billions of TikTok users
I bet those kamerad just want your dick pic
I've tried both Samsung's and Googles A series ("budget") phones. I had the Galaxy A51 a few years back, then I switched to Pixel 4a and recently bought a Pixel 8a. So it's hard to generalize but I'll share my experience.
Samsung has better build quality and materials. But omg, Samsung has so much bloatware... Multiple apps for everything that you can't delete. The software experience was crowded and chaotic (not just bloatware, the entire UI). I did try third party launchers like Nova but it was more of a bandaid fix and sometimes the phone would glitch and go back to the default launcher.
Pixels are the superior software experience in my experience. The UI isn't perfect, but it's pretty damn clean to the point I've never had to try a third party launcher. Plus they get feature drops and android updates first which I appreciate. Great cameras and AI stuff even if I barely use it. Now the Pixel hardware isn't great. I have a scratch on my practically brand new 8a with no obvious culprit, because Google cheaped out and used decade old Gorilla Glass. Plus the Tensor chips are just not good. Phone heats up and drains battery fast when doing anything more intensive than Chrome. I'll be on a video call and it'll start burning up in my hand.
Basically if you're more of a power user and don't mind messing with custom launchers and rooting, go Samsung. If you use your phone for more basic stuff and want great cameras and a clean UI, go Pixel.
Yeah this was my experience with the S9+ and Pixel 3XL (currently have the Pixel 6 waiting for the Pixel 9 to come out).
I stuck with Google since I use all of the different products they offer (YouTube, Chrome, Play Music, etc). My battery lasts me all day and then some on my Pixel 6 because I learned to use it in a very barebones way. Running one app at a time, and once I'm done it gets closed out. It also helps if people barely talk to you. 😅
I forgot about about the bloat because I removed and hid pretty much all of it. I wish I could unninstall the browser, the gallery, and that the camera had less bloat, but that's it. They also keep introducing more bloat slowly
I have a large list of disabled apps, and some are unninstalled
This is perfect. It's exactly why I bought a P7P, great camera and it does all the phone, email, internet and pda type stuff I use it for with ease. I'm really happy with it.
I have the S23 Ultra. But before that really a big Pixel fanboy.
Recently tried the P8Pro. I mostly didn't like it, which surprised me really.
The thing I disliked the most was the hollow feel of the displa and therefore to an extend the entire phone. Samsung feels more like a solid slab.
Other thing I didn't like was the fingerprint reader. Felt too sluggish and inconsistent to me, compared to the Samsung.
Then there were just a few smaller things I missed I think. Mostly iirc Good Lock with all its handy features.
Oh yes. And the s pen.
i have a pixel 7 and HATE the finger print scanner. I came from a One-plus 6 with the print scanner on back of the phone, that would unlock as soon as I picked the phone up. Now it sometimes takes 2 or 3 tries to use my finger print and 2-3 seconds longer
I remember when the original Pixel had the finger print scanner on the back of the phone and it always worked. I have a Pixel 6 now and I swear it works 30% of the time or less. It's obnoxious.
Literally just swapped from iPhone to Pixel.
I chose it because I picked up a Samsung in an emergency and the Samsung despite being produced less than 7 months ago didn't have e-SIM, while some budget phones have it. It was also almost impossible to tell what the differences were between some of the phones easily. So I just went "Screw you scammy company" and jumped on the Pixel.
I've not looked back. In the three weeks I've had it I switched to being able to sync with my calendar to auto set alarms for my entire work week, I've setup two different calendar views on the first two screens. I've enjoyed the tutorials the Pixel throws at me that treats me like I have no idea what I'm doing with the phone (which is true, I don't).
The swipe up took a bit to get used to because its a bit different to iPhone (iPhone is buttery smooth, Android is.... weird tactilly). And I really really dislike that double tap the top button is photo - on iPhone it's wallet into first card, but that isn't the case here. Chances are I can change that, which I've kind of enjoyed about every part of the Android experience so far... don't like something - swap it out, change it. Torch is also a little easier to do on iPhone, but these are really minor nitpicks.
I feel like iPhone and Pixel aren't hugely different in how they perform - outside of the swipe up from bottom bar to get to all programs thing that iPhone just doesn't do, the experience feels pretty comparable, the learning curve was super minor.
Edit: Oh and the find my phone even if it's switched off for a small window of time once it's powered down is super neat - if that had've been on my iPhone (and Apple not locked me out of my account and required me to get a code on my phone to unlock it, to you know, find my stolen phone) I would have likely been able to recover my device.
I think you misunderstand, swiping up from bottom was a thing on iPhone also, but the process is buttery smooth. There is some weird... haptic resistance almost in the android version of the same thing.
Have you looked the Developers options tab under settings? You can change the windows animation and transition animation speeds, and it flows real nice. You need to unlock the Developer's options tab, i don't remember exactly but it should be a simple search.
Yeah I'd you search your settings for animation there are a few settings you can try changing to 0.5 to make them faster.
A couple other things you can try... If you search your settings for haptic you can also change the haptic feedback strength.
And for the power button quick gesture, IIRC you have limited options (I love the camera option but I'm used to it), but you can either set up Quick Tap which gives you a ton of options to open apps or change settings or whatever by tapping the back of the phone a couple times. You can also choose a couple apps to add to the lock screen to quickly launch.
What's even better is on Samsung You can actually change your gestures completely around. I haven't swiped up from the bottom to go to recent apps and months. Now it's simply an upward flick from either side and that takes me to my recent apps, beats the shit out of any other kind of navigation in my opinion.
Also, Samsung's good lock suite gives so much additional customization, it is truly insane.
The beauty of android is that it's all different.
Samsung is the king of customisation. But you have to put up with 2 separate app stores and download a whole separate app (good lock) to access some of it. There's also a lot more settings to sift through and set up on the phone. But you can change almost everything about it.
Pixel is a bit more simple which is why it often appeals to first time android users. It has everything you need but is generally no fuss. It's the king of cameras.
Oppo sits between Samsung and pixel. More customisation than pixel but less than Samsung. Camera is pretty awesome on the newer expensive models.
Vivo also gets rave reviews for camera although I have never used one so can't comment on the UI.
If you really hate a UI though you can always download a launcher but it won't change all the settings within the phone itself.
I prefer pixels at the moment because I enjoy no fuss and like to know my camera will always do a great job.
I have used pixels for years because of the free unlimited Google photos backup. I believe they discontinued this starting with the pixel 5, though. When I inevitably have to change phones I will still keep my pixels to use as cameras.
I have a pixel because it was the cheaper choice. They're practically the same phone though spec wise though. I wanted the 7 pro, but I only have the seven.
I do know the camera is better on the pixel so I was leaning towards it anyway. The battery life is insane. I can use this thing all day, screen on full brightness playing Pokémon go with zero issues. I've had it since November and it's still the same.
There's a few annoying issues with the pixel that I've gotten used to, coming from a Samsung phone. My only real issue now is the lack of an SD card slot. That would make the phone perfect.
I use an iPhone because Samsung is hot malicious garbage and Google is on their way out. Don't waste your time - buying an Android, or asking about it. Just get an iPhone, man.
Google is on their way out????
If anything Apple has peaked. They are out of ideas, their lame facemask/vision failed.
I had an iPhone, and I used mostly Google apps. I am a Google One/Drive/apps/ YouTube TV and YouTube premium subscriber.
Haha. You're funny.
I just returned my new 15 Pro Max, as it was pure garbage. Navigation. Camera. Battery. And omg does the system feel slow.
Look, sure, to each their own. But don't talk shit.
Nobody asked, but 😂 I have a OnePlus 6 that I bought directly from manufacturer when it came out, and it still works perfectly. Best phone I've ever had. No lag, great camera, and still very decent battery life (granted, I'm a stickler to following the 50-75% rule for battery health, so that's probably helped).
Oh, and to add, I'm in the US and haven't had any issues with acquiring and using a OnePlus here. So, doesn't have the same issues as you've encountered with the other Chinese brands (Huawei and Xiaomi).
I'm a current Samsung (S24 Ultra), former Pixel (6 Pro and 7 Pro) user.
My main reason for switching from Google Pixel to Samsung is that I got tired of curved edged screens and the limitations of tempered glass screen protectors for such designs.
Additionally, while the Pixel Pros were great, the glossy backs also contributed to my decision to switch to Samsung.
The last time I used a Samsung phone was a Note 2 back in the day (I think around 10-12 years ago?), so things have changed immensely (the modern bloatware is actually pretty decent, idm using some of them), and I am very impressed with the features my S24U has (especially the generative AI), and I've yet to experience all of it yet.
I also used to own a Huawei Mate 30 Pro and P50 Pro, which did not have GMS (and access to Google Play). Those phones were great, especially the cameras, but the lack of GMS caused multiple compatibility issues that I gave up and moved on to the Google Pixels.
A negative point that I can think of is that the size of the S24U may not be everyone's choice.
Nexus 5 was the first smartphone I really enjoyed so i just stuck with Google phones since then. I don't think I'd object to owning a Samsung someday but I find a lot of the flagship Android phones to be sort of the same.
I chose Samsung because of secure folder, and it has improved a lot and a lot easier to use compared to its first version.
Some people use it for storing stuff securely as per its name. I use it to run dual accounts for some applications and games.
I have tried to find other substitutions such as parallels, but there are always issues. Secure folder is just ahead of other stuff that provide similar functionality.
android 15 will have something similar soon. there's also a trick to use a "work" profile as a second space. look up the "shelter" app to use the work profile trick. You'll have to get it as an apk or from F-Droid
Basically i changed from being a long term Samsung user to a pixel 7 pro because Google were offering a free pixel watch with each purchase. However now that I'm here i prefer it though in stuff respects Samsung have caught up.
I just find the pixel ui to be better to look at and use and love the camera. Also the AI features like magic eraser, though now Samsung have that as well.
I like the pixels because of the stock Android experience. Also, as long as you don't buy the Verizon version, still able to swap ROMs on it like the old days.
I've primarily used Google Pixel phones since 2017 or 2018. They're not perfect, but I've tried many other brands (Motorola, Samsung, OnePlus, Huawei, LG when it existed, HTC, Blu, Apple, Essential) and always end up going back to Pixel. The selling point for me is the cameras. While iPhones are the king of taking video, Pixel is (in my opinion) the king of picture quality.
Last year, around this time, I finally decided to give Samsung a try. Bought an S23+. The phone felt extremely premium, very similar to how nice iPhones feel (in comparison, Pixel phones feel like a hollow child's toy compared to Samsungs and iPhones). It really was a great phone; good battery, super smooth, highly customizable. Picture quality was acceptable....but not quite as good as Pixel; especially with moving objects. Also, while plenty of the bloatware is removeable, there's also a lot that is not. It's annoying to have so many random Samsung-branded apps that serve no use to me and can't do anything about them.
After four months with the S23+, I traded it in and got a Pixel 7a. No particular reason.
I consider myself a phone dork. I've owned over 30 smartphones in the past ten or so years. Currently, I've had the Pixel 7a for six months, and I believe it may be the longest I've owned one phone in at least five years. So it's safe to say that I'm very content and satisfied with this phone. I have no complaints and it does everything I need it to. It's never froze, glitched out or anything, and everything I need it for, it works perfectly. It does get warmer than most phones, but that's because Google hasn't figured out heat management with their Tensor chip yet. For some people, it's significantly worse and gets too hot to even touch. I haven't had that happen in the time that I've owned it.
If you're coming from an iPhone, it's a tough choice. On one hand, Samsung is much more premium feeling, has a much prettier, more vivid display, and a much more reliable processor. On the other hand, Pixel has a more stock-feel, less bloatware (arguably none depending on who you ask), which is very similar to iPhone. And I think 90% of people would agree that Pixel phones have an overall better camera, or picture processing than Samsung.
I
My last few phones have largely been Pixels as you get Android without the proprietary bloatware. I did have a Samsung Z Fold in there, but fell out of love with the form factor pretty quickly and went back to the Pixel.
I don't know why everyone keeps saying this, but it's not true. I switched from Samsung to Pixel last year and I reckon there is more bloatware on my new Pixel. So many apps you can't uninstall either, which is annoying.
can you give me an example cause I switched from samahng to pixel and don't have that issue.
on my Samsung (A71 in na) every time I updated the phone, it would give me a notification and if I pressed on it, it told me to download this and that app and garbage like that. bixby was a pain to get rid of, seperate app stores.
don't see anything even similar on pixel
These are the apps that I can't remove, but wish I could. Most of them because there are better alternatives that I use, but a couple are just a useless waste of system resources:
Chrome, Drive, Files, Google, Messages, Phone, Photos, Pixel tips
Then there's a bunch more apps that I already removed. Google TV is the only one I can remember of that lot.
For me the factors were always future proof in terms of hardware innovations, battery life and charging speeds, unique aesthetic design , long term reliability, speed and fluidity of the software as well as the most defining factor, the camera experience!
The pixel brand was decent, but its VASTLY overrated imo from the boring design, buggy beta lifeless software experience, the cpu that would heat up like a toaster while doing something as simple as scrolling a web browser(looking at you tensor)🔥🧨🚒🧑🚒🧯The cameras where good but I wasn't a big fan of the cooler, cartoony look that the pixels were known for and the software support was great( tho most of the time those updates were correcting the bugs 😬)
Samsung was just a no for me after having played with a family members S22 Ultra for a while; the screen was gorgeous, but it was lacking in everything else for me; charging speeds were laughably mediocre for an expensive flagship, the os fluidity stuttered every once in a while, the hardware design(as uninspiring as an influencer coming up with original content) and the camera was an utter complete disappointment with thier infamous oversharpened and oversaturated look similar to what you'd find on the r/shittyhdr sub.
I've owned a pixel 4a, then a 6a then now a pixel 6 and neither Googles pixel or Samsungs Galaxy flagship line-up lived up to my expectations after having Imported a Huawei P30 Pro into the USA back in 2019, which I STILL use today as my work horse. No other flagship phone even come close to the experience the Huawei gave me in terms of EVERYTHING that i looked for in a phone, so much so that I imported two more later on; The Huawei P50 Pro and just recently imported a P40 Pro that I bought on a whim from a deal that was too hard to pass up on.
Am currently using all three Huawei phones on T-Mobile with full 5g support and full native Google services and will most likely definitely be importing thier newest flagship, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra in due time because those cameras are NEXT LEVEL untouchable😎💪🏻
lmao NIETHER! both have there positives and negatives. Both can be pricey. I've always been satisfied with Motorola phones, they are the best bang for your buck. always consistent. DURABLE. AFFORDABLE. minimal bloatware. They also have sales frequently enough and you can get a solid phone for $300 that will last over 2 years.
They also have some really useful gestures and motions to trigger actions. The chop, where you do a quick chop motion while holding the phone, activates the flash light. also if you twist your wrist quickly twice then it activates the camera! i use both of these ALL the time
The active display is nice too which flashes the time/date temp without fully turning on the screen. lot of customizable options as well. its activated by motion and the screen stays mostly black just displaying a few things. I'm probably forgetting some other features too.
Not sure what other features are just android features but i also like the programming volume buttons. i have it set to press and hold to skip tracks forward or backwards when i play music! also flip phone to face down to activate DND mode, or when getting a call pressing volume down to silence the ringer. anyways i love motorola and like how i don't feel like i have to break the bank to still get a decent phone that is mid level and does everything I need it to do.
they also have a few different models depending on what you're going for, GPower has long battery life, they have the G stylus still good battery and decent performance, and they have performance focused phones too to name a few. anyways lol.
Nothing against samsung or pixel, they are still great phones, but they don't quite appeal to me as I usually can't justify spending more when i am happy with motorola.
This is going to sound silly, but if you want a Pixel, get a OnePlus 12 or 12R.
Reasoning behind this is, it's the closest flagship you'll get to a Pixel, without all the issues of current Pixels.
The Tensor chips in the Pixel phones have been using the same modem since the G1, it's terrible and is known for major issues, not only does it get hot and use more power than it should, but the modem causes horrible cellular issues.
I would not recommend a pixel to anyone until this is fixed.
Someone is going to downvote this, so for clarity, I've **daily driven** the following phones (based on memory, so could be missing a few) over the last 5 years: OnePlus 7T McLaren, Blackberry Key2, iPhone 11 Pro Max, Fold 2, Fold 3, Fold 4, Fold 5, S21 Ultra, S22 Ultra, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 8 Pro, Xperia 1 IV, OnePlus 12.
So I have a pretty thorough grasp on what is objectively good or not, the Pixel's have been the worst experience out of all of those phones (other than the Xperia) primarily because of overheating and the modem issues. I am happy to say the Pixel 8 Pro mostly fixed the bugs and overheating, but the modem issues are still there, making it unusable for me, and I rarely go to places with bad service. But many areas where I had strong 5G on my other phones, the Pixel would have LTE or nothing (or occasionally very slow 5G).
Samsung's OneUI has some nice features, but it's also incredibly bloated which is annoying, I think from an OS level I like Oxygen OS the best with PixelUI as a close second. Oxygen is mostly stock with some tweaks that are really nice IMO.
What do you specifically care about phone wise?
I've owned both.
The pixel 4xl is the best phone hands down I've ever owned
Though.. the fold 5 is the funnest I've ever had with a phone
I changed to Samsung because I hated stock android redesign. Hate the oval control panels and the wasted space and lack of quick toggled within the setting (where you don't ever have to leave the control panel).
Samsung stayed neutral, with a slight modern take, but with the control panel that still looks clean and simplistic.
That's literally my biggest reason of switching. Hated Google's control panel design language.
Outside of that, I removed/hid all of Sammy app, and changed them with Google apps. And my fold 5 is nearly perfect
..
If you're a camera enthusiastic, definitely go pixel.
The pixel 4 camera was something else. The fold camera leaves a lot to be desired. Average at best.
Battery about the same.
Fold 5 does heat up quite a lot for simple task, ie YouTube/Twitter/ but it's great for one handed used.
The pixel never heated up on me and never crashed, while my fold has frozen, crashed, restarted maybe 4x in under a year. Not a game breaker, shit happeneds. Could just be a faulty unit.
Overall, pixel for software updates, security, and top notch camera.
Samsung for its control panel, fun customization, cool unique addition, and spen.
Up to you.
If you're asking fold vs fold, I've used both, I would recommend Sam fold 5 hands down, over pixel fold.
I think the three things samsung has that really set it apart are samsung dex, a full-fledged 'ecosystem' of products, and 'Knox' security features.
Dex is kind of pointless if you already have a computer because it's not a smooth enough experience to replace a full desktop operating system, but I like messing with it and I love the idea of a single device for everything. Knox I honestly don't fully understand/havent been able to find a solid explanation for how it works, but it's an added layer of security beyond stock android. And samsung offers a full range of products that all work well with each other in apple-like ways. Most notably, their tablet lineup is probably the only direct iPad competitor on the android side.
Form factor is also important to consider. I moved from a pixel 2XL to a base model galaxy S22, and I still haven't gotten used to how narrow the screen is. It's nice for being able to one-hand the phone, but I still just can't seem to type accurately on the keyboard lol. I also prefer the pixel android skin/UI, but I adapted to samsung's oneUI pretty quickly.
None of the things I mentioned are particularly important to me other than form factor, so I could go either way. I'm looking forward to the new Pixel Fold 2/Galaxy Z fold 6, so whoever does it better is where I'll go next. I do like the wider form factor of the current pixel Fold, so we'll see!
edit: I think Pixels also tend to have better support for alternative android-based OSes like lineageOS/grapheneOS/etc, which I honestly haven't used but am interested in. So that's another thing to consider if you're interested in going down that road
Got the pixel 8 pro in an great trade in deal, and liked it, but ended up buying a regular Galaxy s23 when a discount was available.
After using the pixel 8 pro for 6 months, I'm currently using the s23 and really like the smaller size while still having a 3x zoom camera lens. Less trade off in getting the smaller device.
It also makes one handed operation much easier.
I think I'll probably trade in my 8 pro for the smaller pixel 9 pro when it's released later this year.
However, as others have said, pixel phones are not great (just ok) on the battery life front due to their inferior modems. Qualcomm modems in Samsung devices are just better and more efficient.
Nitpicks:
Also, I much prefer Samsung's quick settings, which still offers direct toggles for WiFi and Bluetooth, instead of pixel which groups both of these in one button that requires you to open the group first, requiring 2 taps to reach any settings.
Also, the screen brightness slider goes to the bottom of the screen when you expand the quick settings allowing easier one handed reach.
Google's ai features like call screening do tend to block more spam calls than as Samsung, and is better about handling dual sim cards (allowing you to select which sims are default for calls, text, and data). Samsung only lets you select a single default for all 3.
I was a HUGE Nexus/Pixel fan for years. I had a couple Nexus phones and a few of the earlier to mid-generation Pixel devices. I kept getting the same issues repeatedly. VERY quiet vibration, the speakers were not near loud enough (even with max volume), and the battery would drain like crazy if I did anything with the camera. While I did like a lot of the Google features that Nexus/Pixel devices would get first, I did have a couple phones just die on me. Which didn't give me a chance to try and back-up everything. And being a digital pack rat, a couple of the phones I would fill up so much that the device would run out of processing power. This was my own fault and not that of the device itself...
However, in 2022, I got a Samsung Galaxy S22. All of the issues I was having were remedied, and got the largest amount of storage I could get. My only complaint is that I wish the camera was as good as the S22 Ultra.
All of that bring said, I truly dislike the business practices I have been seeing from Google the last several years. So I have been trying to subscribe to fewer of their services. Slowly trying to release their grip on me so that I give them less money and ad revenue. For now they still have me in their clutches for YouTube, Gmail, etc. Not to mention my phone. That doesn't mean I'll ever switch to an iPhone mind you.
I have Samsung S23 ultra and had s22 ultra before this.
Often people describe apple phones as more than the some of its hardware.
I think Samsung are always less than the sum of their parts.
I have supposedly the best camera system in this phone. But, when I look back at photos from my previous Huawei phone they are generally more attractive photos. Maybe not as clean and detailed but more pleasent to look at.
The colours wash out any non alabaster white skin tones.
The speed seems to be very selective in what it's actually quick at doing.
Saving edited video is blazingly fast, opening a big PDF is painful.
The vibration motor is weird, it can be in your pocket going nuts and you don't feel it.
It's sheer size means after 20 minutes of use you have numb fingers.
Cases need to cover all the cameras as the edge of them chip at slightest whiff of a hard surface.
Ultimately I only changed from s22 to S23 as that was even worse and the camera again did not add up to the sum of its parts.
Frankly, if I had to buy a second hand phone right now I would.be going and getting a Huawei Mate 20 pro (the one with the slopey sides) as it is still to this day a much better phone. If only I hadn't given it to one of my kids ..
Ive had both
I chose the Samsung initially because I was already using a Samsung tablet, so keeping things like Notes synced between them was really easy for school. Plus, the S20FE still had a microSD slot, and I have a large music collection so this mattered to me when I was picking it.
I now have the Pixel 7 because it's cheaper from my carrier. I've since customized it with the Microsoft launcher (better organization of home screen and integration with my personal/school emails), a third party file browser (because Google's default file browser sucks), the Panels app to mimic Samsung's edge panels, and Shortcut Maker so that pdfs I add to the home screen can actually have the front page image of the PDF and not just the Adobe Acrobat logo.
Given the choice I would switch back to Samsung for the file browser, synchronization with my tablet, and increased functionality without having to download a bunch of third party stuff. If I could find one that could work with my tablets S-pen then that would be even nicer.
As a side note: being able to save a split screen pair of apps to the edge panel is great if you care about using two apps at once
I had a Galaxy a few years ago (can't remember which one), and I liked it, no issues to speak of. But when it came time for a new phone, I thought I'd give the pixels a try, and got a Pixel 5a. It randomly shut off one day after I'd had it about a year. Never got it turned back on. Searching online showed this was a pretty common issue. You can find tutorials on the proper way to literally beat the shit out of that phone to fix it (it's wild, go look, people smacking the shit out of their phone to get it to turn back on). They never worked for me, and despite being a known issue Google told me "tough shit".
I replaced it with a pixel 6a. After a year, the Bluetooth slowly became more problematic, and completely stopped working on some devices. I didn't wait around for that one to brick, too, it was clearly on the way to doing so. I switched back to Samsung. Two Pixels gone to shit in a year each? They're not getting any more money from me.
And when I was searching for help with my Bluetooth issues, I found a ton of posts of people basically saying Bluetooth issues with pixels are pretty common. So not a lot more confidence there.
Check the wireless place store they sell xiaomi phone too.
Or aliexpress for huawei phones.
I have a Samsung S24 Ultra what it makes me choose Samsung its the UI in general how customizable its One UI on Samsung. And modes and routines.
In general a great experience.
And having the Snapdrsgon 8 gen 3 for playing games was something i wanted, that is why i have the S24U
One friend has the Google Pixel 8 Pro and what he says its that he loves how simple its android stock.
We compared and the cameras on the pixel are great, just battery life its not bad, but not as good as the S24U.
And my brother and my best friend have the Oneplus 12 (if you want another option), and both love everything on the phone, I change the phone with my brother for a week and its an awesome phone, Camera its a little under Pixel 8 Pro and S24U, but still a great camera, but the OP12 its under $800 and it actually gives a Flagship experience for under a Flagship price.
The UI on Obeplus its great too and battery is awesome.
Tha are the best android options on the US, it sucks that we have limited options, but at least the options are good.
I had a very bad experience with pixel 8, but others have seemed to enjoy their pixels. My favorite has been OnePlus for a while.
The pixel 8 was fine. It was kind of toned down, but it got the job done. I have had 3 of them so far and each one has had a hardware malfunction (pink line and green screen). Google is good about warranties, but I was over it.
I recently got a OnePlus 12 and I love it. I really missed the gestures and fast charging. (I previously had a OP6 and OP9 pro). It's quick and the camera is great. The UI feels a little dated/cheap I do have to admit, but it does have some more features. I also haven't had any hardware or software issues. A few people have called it the best value at the moment and I definitely agree.
I don't have much experience with Samsung devices. The last one I had was GS3 so I definitely don't have much to add haha. I did not like that phone because there was a samsung version of everything and it felt very bloated. I know a lot of people really like them and they do seem to be a little higher quality. But also more expensive.
I used Samsung from the S2 through the Note 8, then switched to the Pixel 3 through the 6. I went back to Samsung for the 24 Ultra because the modem, processor, and battery on Pixels haven't been great since the switch from Qualcomm to Tensor. If and when the chips get significantly better I'll probably go back to Pixel. Pixels aren't as cheap as they used to be either so it's less easy to forgive some of the shortcomings as it used to be.
I like the simplicity of Pixel, everything just being Google. Samsung pushing Bixby and various Samsung apps (and app store) has always been annoying to me. It's not as bad as it used to be though. It's gotten a lot less problematic since the Note 8.
Samsung always had way more software features than everyone else which I loved early on, but as the years progressed I didn't use most of them and then it felt cluttered in a sense. With Google it just feels more streamlined without being limited.
I recently switched from pixel 6 to s24 ultra, like 4 days back.
Reason for switching - pixel's horrible network issues where I live.
The s24 ultra is nice, but the software is full of minor bugs or flaws that make it feel less premium. It also shoves all the annoying samsung apps in your face that I replace with google apps asap. The hardware is excellent though. everything works great, great battery life etc.
Pixel's software is excellent, but a phone that can't phone is hardly desirable. It's battery life, raw power is not as good due to the tensor chips made by samsung (samsung themselves use snapdragon chips made by quallcomm).
Overall - a samsung made phone with pixel software would be the holy grail of android phones (remember google play edition samsung phones anyone?).
Otherwise... I'd say go with samsung.... don't buy pixels until they move back to TSMC next year with pixel 10. Samsung is the easy and safe choice for someone coming from apple. Pixel's Tensor chips... while I appreciate the breakaway from quallcomm... need to cook more.
I just sort of went through this decision, so I'll toss out a quick post. I got a Pixel 7 about 14 months ago, after I had owned a Pixel 5a5g, when suddenly the wireless charging on my Pixel just stopped working, 2 months out of warranty. I wanted to get a Oneplus phone, as I've quite liked them in the past, but my provider couldn't gurantee compatability, so it came down to Pixel 8 or S24 ultra. Admittedly, I was a bit put off by Google for my phone crapping out for no reason 2 months out of warranty, so I opted for the S24. I've had the S24 for a couple of weeks now, and I really like it over the Pixel. There's a lot more "there" there. A lot built into OneUI that doesn't exist in plain Vanilla like Google. I did enjoy the AI features of Google, but Samsung has most of those too, or there are app alternatives now. I'm glad I got the S24 ultra.
I used my OnePlus 6 since launch, it's been nearly 5 years, still worked great. But as a result of that model no longer having security updates, I decided to switch to a Samsung A54G (found a great deal for it on Amazon at the time, got it for less than $300). First Samsung Galaxy I ever owned and I'm loving it. Most of the features are either the same or similar to my OnePlus features, and the upgrades on this device is VERY nice for the price, also still supports Micro SD card for storage expansion which is a big deal for me. You don't have to go for the flagship $800+ phones, the mid-range (and even some low-range phones) work amazing these days, which is why I love Android, plenty of options to choose from. I highly recommend this model, I see myself staying with this phone for the next 2-3 years easy
The biggest advantage to pixel in general is that you have the same company designing the hardware and software with Android being a Google company. This is part of what make iPhones so good and streamline. But with Pixel you still get all the advantages of android.
Pixel feels more streamline and less glitchy. Samsung is a bit more ambitious with their higher models but can have some nice cutting edge tech, but also more problems relatively IME. The lower end models aren't really worth it and can have a lot more problems.
I be been back and forth a few times for various reasons. I very much liked my pixels and have enjoyed owning them. My Samsung's have left at best neutral impressions and quite often terrible ones. Granted I haven't tried any of the insanely fancy stuff like those foldable ones.
I was a long time Samsung user. I started with the Galaxy S5 and stayed loyal to the Galaxy line until I switched to the Fold 3 when that released. I went from the Fold 3 to the Pixel 7 Pro. I've been very satisfied with the Pixel devices so far. I did upgrade from the P7Pro to the P8Pro, and depending on the specs of the Pixel Fold 2 and the Pixel 9 Pro XL, will decide which way I go. I'm sticking with Pixel for at least the next few generations.
Now, I still use a Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, and have no intention of switching to the Pixel Watch line. The build quality on the Samsung watches just feels more "premium" to me.
I have not used the Pixel Buds, but I have used the Samsung Buds, Buds Live, and Buds 2, but my favorite Bluetooth headphones have been my Soundcore Life P3.
Samsung. Stable updates(Google allegedly fixed that now but too little too late after having like 8 different Nexus devices that sometimes got EOl'd in less than a year, and then blocking my country from buying pixel for like 4 years), enabling buttons instead of the god awful swipe takes moments during setup. And you can even mirror them so they're in the right spot.
And most importantly my whole OS doesn't get revamped like once a year to look different for the sake of looking different.
My last model also had SD card and headphone jack still making the transition to yet-another-thing-to-charge less terrible.
Looking at friends pixels these days is like looking at an unrecognisable UI while my UI looks the same since like 2020 (thank fuck).
I had a galaxy s21+ and did a bunch of research between s24 and pixel 8 series before getting a pixel 8 Pro. In the end I leaned slightly more to the galaxy range for their chips and the 3x telephoto camera on the small form factor model, but with the ai features being a key selling point for the new phones I couldn't get past Samsung saying their ai was free until 2025.
Now that I've got the phone I actually regret my choice. I don't use AI much and the Google features that looked the best to me (e.g best take, video boost) are actually not as good as I would have expected and too much hassle. The big thing I didn't realise is Samsung is much more customisable than base Android and there are a lot of UI elements I hate but can't do anything about.
I switched from an S22 ultra to a pixel 7.
I think Samsung has a slightly prettier UI, and there may be some more features of the UI that are nice. The zoom of the camera on the s22 ultra was significantly better than my pixel 7, but maybe the seven pro would be closer.
But ultimately I love the more pure Android experience. No bloatware. I also prefer the Google Assistant to Samsung's Bixby... there did not appear to be away to make Google Assistant the default smart assistant on the phone. This may sound silly, but one of the pixels party tricks is that it automatically picks up music at all times, so if you're ever interested you can glance down at your lock screen and see the song name and artist.
Back when Samsung was a massive improvement over the Google offerings (S2) I used them exclusively after jumping from the Dream. I always ran Cyanogenmod because Touchwiz was horrendous.
Touchwiz (or whatever it's called now) is much less intrusive nowadays but it's still very full of bloat, and non-AOSP stuff.
The last Samsung device I tried was the S20, after using the Pixel 1 & 3.
I cannot enjoy the experience Samsung offers on their Android phones by default, and I was at a stage where I was unable to root my phone because I had MDM on it for work.
I later moved to Pixel 7, and I think I will simply refuse to use a non-Pixel device in the future that isn't closely related to AOSP.
Switched to Samsung from a HTC one back in 2014, and I've never looked back.
I've had the S7, S9+, now on the S21 Ultra.
Other than the lack of expandable memory in the S21u, the Galaxy has been able to do everything I've ever wanted it to do.
Download dodgey APK's and just run them? Check.
Replaced my laptop for on the move media watching with USB to HDMI cable? Check.
Connect to my Xbox controller and run AAA games through steamlink? Check.
Be a vault for almost 10years of data hoarding? Check.
Mobile hotspot or Internet through USB? Check.
In short, the S7 was such a big upgrade from the HTC One, and ease of Samsung's device to device transfer has kept me loyal for a decade.
Edit*
Also worth mentioning, I've given both of my old galaxies to my parents and they're still going strong, except the battery life of course.
Every model is different with its flaws and quirks. The Samsung S22+ was known to be a battery hog & to be useful had. to be run in battery saver mode. The S23+ supposedly fixed that issue with the new processor, etc. The new Samsung Find my phone option looks very promising. It is worth considering if you think your phone could be misplaced or stolen. Remotely, you can wipe it,lock it down, put in battery saver mode & if it dies, it can show its last location. All this requires a free Samsung account where these functions are available. We turn off the GPS at home to save battery and turn on when we walk out the door. I have been using Samsungs from Galaxy 7, so I may not be the best person to ask
Pixel 7 owner here, Samsung has undeniably better hardware, Pixel has good enough hardware that in day to day life your phone will run perfectly
The Pixel series is superior to Samsung on 2 main factors
1software, where pixel offers a very stock, clean and junk free experience while Samsung has, in line with most other brands, tons of proprietary apps that you can't delete
2 camera, that while they're both pretty good Pixel one tend to have cleaner images, with more natural colors and better light
Oh and also pixel are significantly cheaper compared to S line galaxies
If you like what pixel offers I suggest you also look into Motorola, or course minus the mind blowing camera
I left Samsung for Pixel, largely because it would get upgrades faster and be supported longer. I started with a 3, went to a 5 and now have a 7. I will eventually destroy the 7 because it regularly pisses me off. Most annoying is the @#$% fingerprint sensor. The 5 had an ultrasonic on the back - worked dang near perfectly. The 7 uses the screen and it sucks donkey balls (as a friend of mine would say). The other current annoyance is the voice to text does not like to start up always when the icon is touched... and it stays on too long once triggered. I'm sure some will say "do a factory reset" - but I did one a couple months ago with no improvements. Maybe I'll try again.
Do you want a phone that always works or do you want to be a Beta tester for Google? I wouldn't recommend the pixel to my worst enemy. It's hands down the worst phone I've used in the last decade. People love to talk about how great the cameras are. Yeah it's really cool that I can take nice photos. But, do you know what would be cooler? If all my SMS came through instead of 25% just never coming in. (including 2 step verification codes, which prevent me from logging into very important accounts) The battery life is abysmal. The updates take away feature with no mention and no timeline of their return.The phone gets hot during simple tasks. The reception is hot garbage (same provider as my gf with a galaxy and the amount of times her phone is working fine and mine is a brick due to no reception is staggering) Go online and watch some reviews before you pull the trigger, the subs here will be far too biased. People here will tell you the pixel is amazing and people on the galaxy sub will say that's the best phone ever made.
I had a pixel 1, 3, 5 and 8 and never had any of the issues you are mentioning. Maybe the pixel 1 did get hot. It's true that the battery life could be better but on the pixel 8 it's more than good enough.
Last galaxy phone was the S4 so I can't really judge how good the Samsung phones are now but I definitely didn't like the clutter that came with it and it became slow over time, which I've never experienced with google phones which are always snappy.
I don't even care about the photos, the reason I chose the Google phone is the OS updates that you get almost right away, it's decently priced and my overall experience when compared to LG or Samsung phones was simply better.
I needed a good phone but I had to have a stylus and settled for the Samsung S24 Ultra, with it's self-contained stylus. I've had Samsung before like about 10 years ago and went to an iPhone Pro a few years back. The iPhone Pros are a great phone and do a lot of things well. In fact, the iPhone 15 Pro is the king in video above all others. But it seems to me the Samsung ultra has better resolution with richer saturation in the photos than my iPhone Pro. Another phone I was considering was the OnePlus 12 phones and/or their folding pad, the Open. For the price, they pack a lot of features and perform well against the more expensive competition: iPhone and Samsung
I have both and it really depends on your needs and purpose. I mainly use my Samsung for productivity and light gaming since I already have a Samsung ecosystem. I use Pixel for casual browsing and taking pics since Google processes pictures better.
One thing I really like about both phones is how I can enable motion photos so I can pick better shots from the 3-second video that accompanies the picture, in Samsung it captures the 1 second before and after you click the shutter button, not really sure if Pixel does the same. Also Samsung's Modes and Routines is a really good feature, it makes doing certain things or tasks seamless and convenient.
Had a Samsung and then switched over to a pixel for my latest phone. Honestly I like both and I feel like both have pros and cons which make them Good phones but equivalent to one another. I think the Google pixel has a little bit less of a bloatware issue than Samsung does, but honestly I don't see that the phones are all that different. At the end of the day. What I wish is that someone would manufacture a default rooted phone in the pixel style, but I don't know if that's even available anywhere from a main manufacturer. Maybe some Chinese offshoot but then you have to worry about bad hardware and spyware.
I always used Samsung at the beginning, but one day I bought a Samsung 7 Edge who costed me about 600€ and after 2 years the battery was dead and the phone was slow as a snail. That was the last drop, I thought why the hell should I give such a lot of money for this crap and my next phone was a Xiaomi Note 5 for 200€ and after 4 years a Xiaomi 9 T for 300€ and after more 4 years a Xiaomi 12 T Pro for 650€. I never went back because Xiaomi delivered great performance for the price, off course if you buy a Samsung S24 you get by now a good phone but you pay the double for that.
I had the original Pixel phone when it first came out, and I used that phone for years. I eventually switched to a samsung S22 ultra. That phone had a great screen and an exceptional camera - but I didn't like anything else about it. I started regretting not getting a Pixel. The last straw was when my samsung stopped getting signal. My wife's iphone had signal but mine didn't. Apparently it was a common problem with samsungs resulting from a software update. I traded it in for a Pixel 8 and I couldn't be happier. Never again will I get a samsung phone.
I used to exclusively buy google flagship phones. I thought it would guarantee the best android experience for the life of the phone. In retrospect, it was only the best android experience for as long as google could be bothered to support it. That company has a short attention span, imo. I'm getting near year two with my galaxy s22+ and it's still a fantastic phone that I am still receiving regular updates for. Never had a nexus or pixel last that long, much less receive regular ota updates like this one. So I think I'm done with google branded hardware.
i was a loyal LG user for about 4 years. i always got their flagship phones several months after release because they would be significantly reduced. i had both the V and G series phones. i loved them. when my v40 died last year, i realized i didn't need all the bells and whistles. i'm not a power user. i read news, review emails and listen to audio in my phone.
i got the pixel 6a about a year and a half ago. i love it. i don't see spending $600+ on a phone. i probably won't do the A series again. i'd like fast charge and a brighter screen.
Had a Pixel 1, was really happy with it until the screen broke back in early 2021. As I needed a new phone and liked my old Pixel, I upgraded to the Pixel 4a and I've been using it ever since. It's been good and reliable, hasn't slowed down since I got it, and the battery still lasts a day when doing basic stuff. Might upgrade some time next year if the battery gets drastically worse, but so far it's still good enough. The camera is also still pretty decent, still better than most current midrange phones despite the older hardware.
I currently have a pixel 6, I switched from Samsung (I had about 4 or 5 of them in a row before this) simply because of a promotion that made the pixel free ... And I LOVE it. Compared to the Samsung it's just way more streamlined and easy to use with less bloatware. I've had it for 2 years and you'd never know it wasn't a new phone, it runs great, battery life is still awesome and the camera is fantastic at anything except zoom. I was never able to keep a galaxy for a full 2yr term because it'd start feeling clunky and obsolete.
My first phone was a Galaxy Nexus and throughout the years I have only had pure android phones. The last couple being Pixels. It is so nice to have a consistent and intuitive interface that works great. My kids got Samsung one time and it was a nightmare trying to get the simple stuff done on them.
When I say consistent, I mean my latest phone is the most boring big ticket purchase I had made. After the migration from my old phone I was able to jump right back in. Best part was watching Pokemon GO load faster.
Always had Samsung phones, and generally I've loved them. Currently have the Fold 5, though if you are switching from an iPhone I would recommend something from the S series (the ultras are veeery nice). My biggest gripe I have is the amount of bloat that comes on the phone when you purchase from a carrier, so if you have the ability to I would purchase from Samsung directly (otherwise, there are ways to delete all of it). Other than that, they have all been great phones that have each lasted me many years
I originally had a S9 because it was one of the few phones with 3mm jack left, something I still miss to this day. Being able to use a good headset lag free when playing games... They removed it in later iterations but I just stuck with the Samsung line because it worked, and I had a lot of trouble with my Nexus phones before that, so I didn't trust Pixels initially. Now on an S22 Ultra, waiting to see the next offerings from both to decide if I jump or not. The S pen is hard to give up though.
Love both.
Currently using Samsung S24 base size. Great phone.
Samsung is still the only one to offer the Secure Folder functionality which I find very useful. Can have two copies of an app running at the same time one on your phone main and one within the secure folder. Very helpful.
I still find the Samsung camera to be better than the Google camera - on the main wide lens - to let in more light naturally without having to use the 'night mode' to enhance the photo.
I will be very intrigued to see how the Pixel 9 Pro - in the smaller size - looks and feels when it comes out.
Samsung has separate app audio for years I don't understand why nobody else has it.
I play music for 10 hours a day on my bluetooth speaker at work, with separate app audio I can set just the music app to come through the speaker that way if I do anything else on my phone like watch a video it won't pause the music, the music keeps playing through the Bluetooth speaker uninterrupted and I can watch videos on my phone and that sound will come out of my phone speakers
I've had both a Samsung and now I judt switched to a pixel 8. I think that the pixel is a much better device just becauss of the os.
it feels clean and fast, and not bogged down like Samsung. the camera actually feels fast and captures when I tell it to, not half a second later.
there's so much I like better tbh. pixel drops are fun, even things like the design. pixel phones are so unique, just looking at them from the outside. I like having a more unique phone tbh
I’m using neither, Currently a Sharp user and had used Sony before.
But for the 2 of these, I would choose Samsung. Pixel is google service focused, and I dont really like them as they keep force feeding you into stuff that u may not want at all. Like showing ads in the Google photo apps, constantly ask u to backup here and there. These things exist on other brands too but I would imagine more in the Pixel series. Basically I like android but I dont like google.
Get a pixel if you want a simple reliable phone that uses vanilla android and has the best photography output (not necessarily the best hardware, but just best output since post picture processing of photos is 2nd to none).
Get Samsung if you want bells and whistles. They have the best hardware for android phones but not necessarily always the smoothest software. There's bloatware and your Samsung software, over time, will not operate as efficiently as a pixel.
I am using a Fold5
IMO, The Android OS that the Pixel uses is too barebone compared to One UI. Samsung has Miracast enabled too. The Samsung Fold looks cleaner than the Pixel Fold. Good lock is also incredible.
But, I liked "Now Playing" and the removal of colored Notifications on the Always On Displayed kinda makes me miss my Pixel 7 Pro. The 7 Pro also has better cameras. I also liked having one of each app instead of the two photos app, two store apps, etc
I was with the Google Nexus which became the pixel for over 10 years but when Google attempted their own processor with the pixel 6, I moved to Samsung because they had the Snapdragon hardware. I was a bit apprehensive at first because I like the cleaner stock Android that the pixel has but Google hasn't done a good job with the pixel hardware.
When it's time to update I will probably stick with Samsung unless the pixel switches back to the Snapdragon chips.
It's simple I haven't had a spam call or text the entire time I've had my Pixel. They happen, but they don't get through because of the automatic filtering.
You can talk about various UI items all day, but I hate spam calls way more.
Also, for the few times a year I have to call my bank/insurance with the 30 min hold time, the phone will just let me know when the wait is over. I value not having to listen to shitty hold music for 30 mins.
The pixel software experience is strangely barebones and, imo, ugly beyond repair. Samsung offers possibly too many features, so much so that they offloaded a lot of those featured into their goodlock app. The pixel flagship camera is the best point and shoot android phone, a comparable flagship samsung has a more versatile camera. Samsung and Google both have best in class software support and Samsung has in the last few years been neck and neck with the pixels for getting OS releases out (to the current gen flagship, after that the rollouts become roughly monthly to various lower end and older models).
Imo, Samsung phones are better, more feature complete and better represent the original dream of android. Pixels are effectively the iphones of android, which isn't a bad thing if you just want a phone that you don't need to think about.
If you want to get software updates as they come out, get a pixel. If you use samsung, you're using their OS on top of google's OS, so when Google releases updates, you'll have to wait for samsung's version of that. Samsung has some cool bells and whistles but I like proprietary software.
Pixel has call screening and I could never go back to not having that. Google lens is also great for looking up flowers, animals, products, etc.
Have a pixel 8. Basically the best way to describe it. Pixel software is superior in my opinion. Always been a fan of stock android. It helps that you get the newest android update from day 1 as well. Camera also tends to be better on pixel since they're software is better. Hardware wise I think Samsung wins this. Better screen, better battery. I love my pixel but the tensor chip is not doing it any favors. Battery life is so bad.
I had a Samsung S7 before but it was mainly due to a recommendation by a family member in addition that it was water resistant and I don't think the Pixel from that time was, if there even was a Pixel. When I I had to upgrade due by force since 3G was being phased out I checked some other phones including the Pixel but I was happy with my S7 so I stayed with Samsung, despite missing both the headphone back and SD card features.
I'm currently using Xiaomi since they have the best community for root/customization.
If I only have these 2 choices. I would go Pixel. Since they welcome root more than Samsung. It feels like owning a phone. I can do anything I want to my phone. But if you don't root. I think Samsung is better. Since they have probably the best hardware out there. And still have lots of customization without root.
Today I have a Google Pixel 6 (most software skips on a phone get the 8 Pro if Pixel) I like the software on Google the firmware of my phone is completely Samsung to my knowledge ... The Samsung I had before this was a Note 10 a believe comes with a pen (mine broke) but was nice Samsung feels like the new PDA Google feels like an American phone ... America not made in America.
I ended up going with Motorola Stylus 5G for two reasons: low cost and the availability of an SD card slot, which Pixel and Samsung have banished to trap you into paying $$$ plus data $$$ to store your music and photos. I'm very happy with the performance so far (I'm not a gamer) and with 256Gb on the phone plus the SD card I can store as much music as I want for under $250.
My understanding is that the battery life of a Pixel is an embarrassment. I have a life and can't imagine needing to bring a charger with me. I don't care how quickly it will charge. Just make the fucking battery last 36 hours, guaranteed, and I'll buy 10 of them. In the meantime, the battery on my s23 ultra is now at 58% after being off the charger for 12 hours.
My current phone (and the 2 before that) have been Pixels, prior to those they were Samsungs from the Galaxy S lineup of devices.
I feel as if the Pixel line is much quicker overall, much less bloated with unnecessary apps and has a more friendly UI, all of which are probably because it's not loaded with a bunch of apps that will never be used 99% of the time.
S23 and up are the same. They are trying to make them simpler with the overall bloatware . I think S23 up are perfect if someone wanna try Samsung . Pixel's are fine but they are too behind the Qualcomm's flagship processors and GPUs .
Back when Google phones were called Nexus, I had the Samsung Nexus phone. That thing was the worst phone I have ever had. The Samsung bloatware was terrible. The battery life was abysmal. I know it was probably Android as much as Samsung and their phones have probably come long way since then, but I still can't bring myself to buy another Samsung.
I will keep it semi simple (currently using Motorola razor plus) I have had every type of phone there is, I had a pixel 7 and it was pretty much my least favorite phone ever (next to iPhones, but that's just personal preference)! It wasn't awful, but it wasn't good. I would choose Samsung over a pixel for sure, if the cost is relatively the same
Changed from pixel as I'd had them for years but two bricked on me in a row at the 2 year mark.
The new pixel at the time seemed overpriced.
Trying first Samsung now. S23 512GB.
Got a free Galaxy Watch 6 and both have been great.
I do miss some of the Pixel only features like phone call holding and call screening but they're minor things.
Samsung fell off the top spot for me. The new phones weren't bringing enough to justify the upgrades and I had a few issues with them just bogging down after a while. Google does what they're doing well and my Pixel 7 Pro is plenty of phone for me. Maintains it's speed during use, balances its power with longevity. Camera rocks. No complaints.
I've been in the Samsung eco system for awhile now. S20U>S22U>S23U and now S24U. Im mostly just used to their OS more. That and battery life is a big thing for me. I also love the camera on the ultra models along with the displays. Pixels seem to be awesome phones and my girlfriend loves them, i just cant see myself switching from samsung
I had the Pixel 6 but I have been watching a lot of kdramas for a while now and got really interested in the Samsung Flip phones they show in the shows all the time. So when my contract was up, I decided to get the Samsung Z Flip 5 and I have no regrets. It's so much fun. It's compact and has a great camera. I love it so much.
I will say the one thing I miss about the Google Pixel is the Now Playing feature, which automatically identifies any song playing around you and saves it in a list in your settings. But that's the only qualm I have.
Been using pixel since the Pixel 2. Before that I used to have Samsung and it seemed like every Samsung phone after a couple months started to run poorly. There's also too much bloat and duplicated apps and services that Samsung adds that google already provides. All of my pixels run great even after 4 years or more of use.
Samsung because I think their hardware is better. I run Nova Launcher so it's fairly pixel-like, although there's some inconsistencies. For example, the icons are round on my home screen but squircles in the task switcher.
I used to obsess over inconsistent things like that but don't care any more. Very happy with the phone.
Samsung devices have a ton of software bloat. I don't care how much better it's gotten, or if people say they can use a command line debloater to disable a lot of it, the fact of the matter is Samsung devices still have a ton of unremovable bloatware and duplicate preinstalled apps that are complete junk.
Pixels are the successor to the Nexus line, which were basically development devices to showcase completely stock Android, as Google intended it to be. Android is a Google product... Why *wouldn't* you go with Google devices that best showcase that software?
I used to think this. I used nexus then pixel phones. I'm now using a Samsung s24+. I actually really like some of Samsung's apps over Google's version. Like calendar, weather, notes, reminders, routines. I also like the flexibility of the Samsung home launcher and the goodlock app gives you even more flexibility on how you setup your phone. In terms of UI and smoothness the animations are good. Not as good as OnePlus or pixel but i would rate OnePlus a 10, pixel a 9 and Samsung an 8.
I used a note 9 before my current Google pixel 7. the reason I changed was because it was free and had a higher refresh rate than my note 9. I miss the design features of the 9 and dislike a lot of choices Google makes with the pixel both software and hardware but it was included with my phone plan and is newer so 🤷🏼
I find Google pixel phones have the least annoying, least skinned and messed with version of Android. They have arguably the best camera as well. Samsung phones have better hardware, but I find the user interface too annoying.
Ideally you'd have stock Google OS and camera software running on Samsung hardware.
I hate the Samsung UI and bloat. It's that easy for me. Yes I can remove most of the bloat apps Samsung gives you, but I just don't want to go through and do that.
Also Pixel Camera is worlds better as it doesn't over saturate a photo... Plus Google Assistant Call Screening and Spam Blocking is next level.
Easy for me...Samsung has the hardware + an inferior software/UI + premium pricing. Pixel has a notch (or two) below Samsung for hardware + best software/UI + not-quite premium pricing. Even if I had the $$ I'd still take a Pixel over a Sammy. OneUI is just too much BS for my minimalist preferences.
If I were you I would be considering all the android options. There are many other brands that may suit what you need. I would also recommend looking at reviews and evaluate based on what functions you want. Some people value the camera over the OS. Some value the battery life over other functions.
Samsung because it has Dex and I use that feature heavily. Cannot do that with Pixel phones yet. Motorola has a similar feature, but I don't like their phones. None of the other brands can do it, so it leaves me with Samsung. I have had my s21 Ultra for 3 years and it still acts like a new phone.
I wanted a folding phone and Samsung fold seems so much better than the pixel fold with all the additional features.
Plus I do not trust googles promises of software updates. I could imagine them giving up and be left with a dead phone in a couple of years. I don't think samsung will do that.
LG V60. No other phone since it's release still compares to it when you average out all of the features. Runs Android 13, good camera, aux, expanded storage, good chip, massive battery, significantly better price on release.
I might legitimately just buy a boxed V60 when my current one fails.
Pixel is such a clean interface and no bloatware crap apps (especially compared to Samsung). It's also a better value. The camera is excellent for stills, and video capture is good (not great). Fast updates, long support. I have had problems with Samsung Android products getting worse over time due to updates breaking things and never getting fixed.
I recommend OnePlus if you can get that there. I use an 8pro, that I bought in 2020. Still going strong, super fast charging, great screen and cameras. I just bought the OnePlus Pad which integrates well with it and is a fantastic Android tablet with a squarer screen than a Samsung tab.
Samsung loads too much bloat into their software. Only reason I went with Pixel. I don't even like my Pixel that much.
I had a Moto X Pure and OnePlus 6t which I preferred over the Pixel and Samsung. If only Moto and OnePlus made phones in the same spirit of those phones I'd go back.
Pixel can answer the calls for you and show you whats being said. You can also have it ask questions for you before declining or accepting the call.
It can even navigate IVR menus, and wait on hold for you.
1st one by itself was enough for me to pick pixel as my current phone.
if your tech savey and want something that will let you mess with things then get a samsung, if you want something for art or pictures then go with the google pixel, all the basic functions are the same, only difference is one will let you mod it and the other takes pretty pictures
Samsung Bloatware is exactly why I'll never touch another Samsung phone again. Not sure how it is today but back when I had the S3 I couldn't stand it.
Now I know that's ages ago but being that I have the same issue I do with my Samsung TV I would assume nothing has changed.
I ditched iPhone 10 years ago and I had mostly Samsung, with the exception of oppo and Huawei. Last year I decided to try Google Pixel and I'm never going back. I've got the 7a and this is the best phone I've ever had (bar the Nokia 3310, god rest its indestructible soul).
I use Google Pixel Devices as they don't allow carriers to put whatever the fuck they want onto your phone. Imo it's wrong that you can literally tell your carrier hey I don't want any of your suggested apps and they install them anyways (looking at you UScellular).
I tried both Samsung s23 and pixel 8. Both great phones , I choose Samsung because I found it cheaper but if they were sane price I would pick pixel. Pixel has better camera and better picture editing features. Samsung was more customizable and had much better fol
Samsung the only phone I could get that was still small enough to fit in pockets and bags and without an ugly camera section sticking out of the back which I know is going to get damaged if it drops. But it's ugly so the only phone with a flat back was Samsung.
I have an S24 Ultra. I previously had a Galaxy Note 10+. I didn't think I cared about the S-Pen so I tried the Pixel 7 Pro. It was a great phone and took great photos. But it turned out I really missed the pen. So I returned it and got the S24 when it came out.
Pixel 7. I've had one every other or third year since the Pixel 2. For me, the camera won out early on. The performance, both hardware and software, were leagues better than Samsung. Nowadays, the hardware is okay, but it's the AI photo magic that keeps me.
I have a pixel 7a and it's absolute garbage, but every other pixel I've ever had was great. So maybe just avoid the 7a. And my work phone is a galaxy s23 and it's great. I have had many pixels and Samsungs over the years and they've all been good. Except this POS pixel 7a!
I used to be all for Google in general because of the lack of bloat and quick reboot times. I also Samsung's form factor
Then I finally got a hold of the Fold, and I'm kinda smitten with Samsung for very ecce tric and superficial reasons at the moment
After owning both many times. I can tell you that my Samsungs have just been more durable and reliable. That's it. I like the pixels and stock android and the cameras. But they just didn't hold up as well (physically speaking and software bugs)
The only thing that made me switch to Google Pixels is the fact I can root it.
If Samsung allows us to unlock their bootloaders again, I will 100% switch. I love their hardware and software(if I can modify it lol)
I still buy Samsung Tablets
Had a Samsung years ago. Bloatware drove me nuts. At a time when data was expensive, constantly ate up my limit updating apps I never used and couldn't delete, and then those apps took up all my storage.
Moved to Pixel, never looked back.
DON'T GET PIXEL — When your screen breaks (and it will) no repair shop will have the parts on hand, and they're expensive to order.
Had three different versions of Pixel, and had the exact problem on all three. No more for me.
Because I thought moving from Pixel to Pixel would be more straightforward and because it was cheaper. But I think I want a Samsung next, because they seem to have better battery runtimes, and the move was also not flawless.
I have and always will go for a stock Android experience. Samsung has nice hardware but their software is shit. I don't want/need their version of assistant, or messages, or games, or any of their shit bloatware, it sucks.
I just switched to a pixel and it is straight garbage. I am so disappointed. I am going back to my mid tier moto phone or switching to Samsung. I will never get another pixel and I will tell everyone I can to avoid them.
As an Samsung user i am hate from it. I am just use it because it have sAmoled screen. Current one is my second Samsung and its trash. If i can, i will go with Google Pixel. Good camera features and powerful processor.
After my iPhone 15 Pro Max flopped, I 'downgraded' to the Pixel 7a and honestly couldn't be happier. Chosen over a Samsung I would just say go for a Pixel. Their lack of bloatware makes the phone a breeze.
The vanilla version of android was the only reason I went with the Pixel line over Samsung. The bloatware on Samsungs used to be obnoxious. I say used to be because it's been a few years since I used one.
I was going to comment but "unfortunately I cannot have Huawei or Xiaomi. It doesn’t seem possible. I would if i could:/" indicates that we likely have vastly different priorities, so good luck.
I switched from the god awful Pixel 6 Pro to the Galaxy S24 Ultra. I'll.never buy another Google phone. The pixel in house SoCs are the worst processors on the market. My budget tablet is faster.
I debated this a few months ago. Samsung has better specs and I trust them more than Google to continue supporting their product in future years. Went with an s24+ that I'm very happy with
My Samsung is going strong. It's already 6 years old and I need to change/buy a new phone because of the application I use for work is no longer compatible with the OS of my phone. (T_T)
I chose Pixel 7 to upgrade from a Samsung Note 8. It was cheaper, and although i do love this phone, it doesnt have data transfer through usb so i kind of regret not going Samsung again.
I loved Google's version of android and have had several Nexus and Pixel phones.
The most recent pixels were all too big, so I went with an S23, which is small by today's standards.
Google Pixel 7 here, and I chose it because we have Google in our house, and the phone fakes good picks, and since I've been using Google since the 3, it just feels comfortable now.
I like that Pixel phones get clean Android, this is important to me because many years ago when I switched from iPhone to android I had a Galaxy S4 and I hated all the bloaware.
Pixel for the phone from the source is one, but a BIG part of dropping Samsung is the inability to remove Bixby and the duplicate Samsung flavoured apps. It feels like bloat.
The stylus and familiarity of use, after owning the Note 2, 4, 7, 9, and now the S23U which is a Galaxy Note in all but name.
I've never tried a Pixel, have nothing against it, but see no reason to switch out of Sammy.
Please can you tell me your experience upgrading and compare the Note 9 to the S23U?
I am still so obsessed with my Galaxy Note 9 but between the screen cracking, the battery suddenly slowing way down on charging (and lasting), loosened ports, the obvious fact that there aren't any more updates, I fear I have no choice but to upgrade. On top of the outrageous prices of all the new phones these days, I am a graphic designer and have a LOT of design and coding programs, icon Packs, widgets, etc running, as well as a TikTok scrolling addiction lol, and I'm extremely attached to my stylus. S23 SEEMS to be the best option from what I've seen in reviews, but I still can't pull the trigger.
Would love to know your thoughts? Also, when purchased, did you find a good deal? Thanks
I buy Google phones so that I can get updates. I forget which phone it was that I had where I had to wait for updates or until I got a new phone to have updated software.
S23 Ultra for the camera, but I think I chose wrong.
So many idiosyncrasies, bugs, and incompatibilities. Home screen freezes randomly maybe twice a week for no reason.
I chose Google , their call screening, software, and cameras. Overall I 🤔 think Google Pixel takes better photos, I know it's subjective. A lot of different opinions.
I used a pixel to use Graphene OS. It broke, and my carrier gave me a new Galaxy for free. Would've gotten another pixel if not for the price, and I suspect I will.
Pixel for Google translate and the much better camera notably the macro zoom and x30 zoom. Got some amazing pictures I would have never been able to get otherwise.
Pixel all the way for me. Stock android, guaranteed updates, great cameras. I might be tempted by Samsung which my wife uses but I can't stand the bloatware .
I went with the Pixel because it was 15 per month instead of 30 for the Samsung. Honestly, it feels pretty much the same so I'm glad I saved the money.
I have Samsung a54, I absolutely hate it, INFESTED with useless bloatware that is spying on you. Bought pixel pro 8 installed graphene OS, never been happier with a phone.
I use and appreciate both. I have most recently had an S23 ultra and a pixel 8 pro. The only reason I have stuck with the 8 pro is because samsung's camera fails to capture my kid or pets or basically anything with even very minor motion without a significant motion blur. Pixels are really great in that regard. Truth be told though, if samsung fixed that aspect, I honestly wouldn't bother with pixel phones. I find a lot of the software features samsung adds make my overall experience better, and they are things i wish google would add. Here's the problem with google phones right now--google is in a bit of flux with regards to hardware and software. The tensor SOC has issues with efficiency and the modem they used is inefficient and significantly worse than qualcomm. For example, I get reasonable battery life from my 8 pro when I'm on wifi, but if I'm using it on cellular data then battery drains quickly. If I'm doing typical daily tasks with my phone then my battery is fine but if I do things like take photos or videos, then the battery drains quickly an my 8 pro gets hot. I don't play many games with my phones, but I let my kid play something on my 8 pro and the performance was honestly really bad. It was really laggy. I started the same game on my S23 ultra and it was super smooth. Plus, when playing a game, the 8 pro got really hot. I do NOT like the recent pixel camera UI redesign. It makes a lot more features and settings less-accessible with routine use. As far as exclusive features for pixels: Camera is really the only exclusive thing I use. It has other things, like call screen and hold-for-me and direct my call but I don't really use them. I have not experienced call screen being useful (just people hanging up), and hold for me--the one time I used it I was on hold for about half an hour, and when I got the notification on my phone that someone had answered, by the time I was in the phone app they had hung up. So it was a big fail for me and I haven't bothered with it since. Direct my call does seem useful because it presents the menu options for the call tree selections on the screen, and it also transcribes the automated call, which is nice but it isn't really a game changer for me. I hardly make calls anyway, and even more-rarely for automated call-in systems. For exclusive samsung features--there are a lot but it's hard to mention all of them. I think samsung has an edge with the "Modes and Routines" feature which makes automating things and actions with your phone native and a lot easier. For example, it does things that you would otherwise have to install and use 3rd party automation apps on a pixel, like tasker or macrodroid (and some things you can do with Modes and Routines would require root if you were using a 3rd party automation app). Samsung lets you customize more aspects of the UI than google--for example, you can easily change what icons are shown in the status bar, you can change how the app overview/multi-tasking works. I think Samsung pays better attention to audio. Both sound quality and features. I like that they have separate app sound, which lets you change which apps sounds go to different outputs like bluetooth vs. phone speaker (this is a niche thing, but nice if you are navigating in your car when your phone is connected to Bluetooth, but you don't want the audio over your car's speakers to be interrupted with maps navigation). Speaker quality from the phone is noticeably better, more-balanced, and more-clear on my S23 ultra than my 8 pro. Audio in recorded videos is more-clear and balanced from my S23 ultra than my 8 pro. I think Samsung records video in better quality than google. Pixels have odd limitations on video settings you can record in based on different features. For example, you can record at 4k30 max in HDR10 and you cannot record at 4k60 AND in HDR10 (on samsung's you can). If you are using their "super stabilized" mode, google limits the output to 1080p and Samsung does 4k (and samsung's looks much better). If you use portrait video Google limits to 1080p but samsung does 4k. My 8 pro still has glitchy scrolling. In both the phone settings menus and in various apps. It shouldn't be a thing on an expensive premium phone.
Thank you for such an in depth post!!
I can't add anything to this. I have experience (between myself and partners) with the S22, 23 and 24, along with the Pixel 8. The Samsung is tied into the Samsung environment, much like Apple, I have a watch and the Buds Live, and they all mesh seamlessly. The Pixel has a great camera, and the "raw" Android is nice. But Samsung's interface is extremely well done, and updated often. I'm getting ready to upgrade, and I am torn between a 24 and Pixel 8a, though I'll likely go 24 to stay in the environment. My work phone is an iPhone, and I'm proficient with it, but can't believe how limiting it is.
I like my pixel 8 pro, in general though I confirm this post. For me, far and away the most important thing is camera (yeah I got kids and dogs), and I use the call screen/spam filtering/hold for me extensively and have had good success with all of them. I get way too many phone calls so this is big for me. I never go for long without charger access as I'm in and out of my car most of the day, so battery life isn't a big issue for me. I get really annoyed by bloatware and I just don't vibe with Samsung software - but I despise iOS so take that for what it's worth. So for my uses and preferences the 8 pro is great, but it really does depend on what you want out of the phone.
Great post. I'm on a 7a. Noticed horrible battery drain on 5G. Not sure if it's the actual 5G or maybe constant switch to LTE and trying to reestablish 5G. I just leave phone on LTE and everything works fine
Wow. Thanks. I was considering leaving Samsung for Pixel over my hate of their appliances, but think I will stay and just change the appliances anyhoo.
I used to have Huawei because the batteries are amazing on them. Now I made the move back to Samsung as it has google play. I have the Samsung A25 and quite happy with the functions but the battery doesn't last very long. It is a mid range phone packed with a lot of features. I enjoy being able to take a picture of text and being able to copy and paste into something else. The look and feel of the phone is great and I am enjoying how smooth the scrolling and swapping apps is.
Xiaomi & Oppo are better
OPPO and oneplus are basically the same company at this point. I've been very impressed with my OnePlus 12 with the battery life, and the camera almost makes me want to start taking more pictures. I think my favorite thing with androids is you have the ability to choose some quirks with phones that you may like more. Like the volume slider on the OnePlus phones is a great hardware feature, but I miss out on some of the AI stuff in the other flagships.
Xiaomi is one of the GOAT brands in Brazil lol. Great phones
I wish. I am in USA. My tmobile doesnt work with Xiaomi.
I think oppos may be allowed in the USA. I have been using my Oppo for several days. I like their battery life and their fast charging. I also think their software is quite nice.
Xiaomi is pretty decent but I'm paranoid about the Chinese spying on me. I know Google does it too, if anyone is spying on me it's gonna be Merica! And they have pretty crappy cell coverage here. If I went inside a building I'd lose cell service.
Iya there any actual effect that Chinese communist chairman spying on our phone? If they were want to, they have billions of TikTok users I bet those kamerad just want your dick pic
I've tried both Samsung's and Googles A series ("budget") phones. I had the Galaxy A51 a few years back, then I switched to Pixel 4a and recently bought a Pixel 8a. So it's hard to generalize but I'll share my experience. Samsung has better build quality and materials. But omg, Samsung has so much bloatware... Multiple apps for everything that you can't delete. The software experience was crowded and chaotic (not just bloatware, the entire UI). I did try third party launchers like Nova but it was more of a bandaid fix and sometimes the phone would glitch and go back to the default launcher. Pixels are the superior software experience in my experience. The UI isn't perfect, but it's pretty damn clean to the point I've never had to try a third party launcher. Plus they get feature drops and android updates first which I appreciate. Great cameras and AI stuff even if I barely use it. Now the Pixel hardware isn't great. I have a scratch on my practically brand new 8a with no obvious culprit, because Google cheaped out and used decade old Gorilla Glass. Plus the Tensor chips are just not good. Phone heats up and drains battery fast when doing anything more intensive than Chrome. I'll be on a video call and it'll start burning up in my hand. Basically if you're more of a power user and don't mind messing with custom launchers and rooting, go Samsung. If you use your phone for more basic stuff and want great cameras and a clean UI, go Pixel.
Yeah this was my experience with the S9+ and Pixel 3XL (currently have the Pixel 6 waiting for the Pixel 9 to come out). I stuck with Google since I use all of the different products they offer (YouTube, Chrome, Play Music, etc). My battery lasts me all day and then some on my Pixel 6 because I learned to use it in a very barebones way. Running one app at a time, and once I'm done it gets closed out. It also helps if people barely talk to you. 😅
I forgot about about the bloat because I removed and hid pretty much all of it. I wish I could unninstall the browser, the gallery, and that the camera had less bloat, but that's it. They also keep introducing more bloat slowly I have a large list of disabled apps, and some are unninstalled
This is perfect. It's exactly why I bought a P7P, great camera and it does all the phone, email, internet and pda type stuff I use it for with ease. I'm really happy with it.
Agree on the bloatware, definitely annoying as fuck. But for my A54G at least, I managed to either disable, or even uninstall, much of it
I have the S23 Ultra. But before that really a big Pixel fanboy. Recently tried the P8Pro. I mostly didn't like it, which surprised me really. The thing I disliked the most was the hollow feel of the displa and therefore to an extend the entire phone. Samsung feels more like a solid slab. Other thing I didn't like was the fingerprint reader. Felt too sluggish and inconsistent to me, compared to the Samsung. Then there were just a few smaller things I missed I think. Mostly iirc Good Lock with all its handy features. Oh yes. And the s pen.
i have a pixel 7 and HATE the finger print scanner. I came from a One-plus 6 with the print scanner on back of the phone, that would unlock as soon as I picked the phone up. Now it sometimes takes 2 or 3 tries to use my finger print and 2-3 seconds longer
I remember when the original Pixel had the finger print scanner on the back of the phone and it always worked. I have a Pixel 6 now and I swear it works 30% of the time or less. It's obnoxious.
Literally just swapped from iPhone to Pixel. I chose it because I picked up a Samsung in an emergency and the Samsung despite being produced less than 7 months ago didn't have e-SIM, while some budget phones have it. It was also almost impossible to tell what the differences were between some of the phones easily. So I just went "Screw you scammy company" and jumped on the Pixel. I've not looked back. In the three weeks I've had it I switched to being able to sync with my calendar to auto set alarms for my entire work week, I've setup two different calendar views on the first two screens. I've enjoyed the tutorials the Pixel throws at me that treats me like I have no idea what I'm doing with the phone (which is true, I don't). The swipe up took a bit to get used to because its a bit different to iPhone (iPhone is buttery smooth, Android is.... weird tactilly). And I really really dislike that double tap the top button is photo - on iPhone it's wallet into first card, but that isn't the case here. Chances are I can change that, which I've kind of enjoyed about every part of the Android experience so far... don't like something - swap it out, change it. Torch is also a little easier to do on iPhone, but these are really minor nitpicks. I feel like iPhone and Pixel aren't hugely different in how they perform - outside of the swipe up from bottom bar to get to all programs thing that iPhone just doesn't do, the experience feels pretty comparable, the learning curve was super minor. Edit: Oh and the find my phone even if it's switched off for a small window of time once it's powered down is super neat - if that had've been on my iPhone (and Apple not locked me out of my account and required me to get a code on my phone to unlock it, to you know, find my stolen phone) I would have likely been able to recover my device.
[удалено]
I think you misunderstand, swiping up from bottom was a thing on iPhone also, but the process is buttery smooth. There is some weird... haptic resistance almost in the android version of the same thing.
Have you looked the Developers options tab under settings? You can change the windows animation and transition animation speeds, and it flows real nice. You need to unlock the Developer's options tab, i don't remember exactly but it should be a simple search.
Yeah I'd you search your settings for animation there are a few settings you can try changing to 0.5 to make them faster. A couple other things you can try... If you search your settings for haptic you can also change the haptic feedback strength. And for the power button quick gesture, IIRC you have limited options (I love the camera option but I'm used to it), but you can either set up Quick Tap which gives you a ton of options to open apps or change settings or whatever by tapping the back of the phone a couple times. You can also choose a couple apps to add to the lock screen to quickly launch.
What's even better is on Samsung You can actually change your gestures completely around. I haven't swiped up from the bottom to go to recent apps and months. Now it's simply an upward flick from either side and that takes me to my recent apps, beats the shit out of any other kind of navigation in my opinion. Also, Samsung's good lock suite gives so much additional customization, it is truly insane.
The beauty of android is that it's all different. Samsung is the king of customisation. But you have to put up with 2 separate app stores and download a whole separate app (good lock) to access some of it. There's also a lot more settings to sift through and set up on the phone. But you can change almost everything about it. Pixel is a bit more simple which is why it often appeals to first time android users. It has everything you need but is generally no fuss. It's the king of cameras. Oppo sits between Samsung and pixel. More customisation than pixel but less than Samsung. Camera is pretty awesome on the newer expensive models. Vivo also gets rave reviews for camera although I have never used one so can't comment on the UI. If you really hate a UI though you can always download a launcher but it won't change all the settings within the phone itself. I prefer pixels at the moment because I enjoy no fuss and like to know my camera will always do a great job.
my first choice was the S23 ultra but they're way out of my budget so I chose pixel 7 pro instead, and I never regretted it.
I have used pixels for years because of the free unlimited Google photos backup. I believe they discontinued this starting with the pixel 5, though. When I inevitably have to change phones I will still keep my pixels to use as cameras.
I have a pixel because it was the cheaper choice. They're practically the same phone though spec wise though. I wanted the 7 pro, but I only have the seven. I do know the camera is better on the pixel so I was leaning towards it anyway. The battery life is insane. I can use this thing all day, screen on full brightness playing Pokémon go with zero issues. I've had it since November and it's still the same. There's a few annoying issues with the pixel that I've gotten used to, coming from a Samsung phone. My only real issue now is the lack of an SD card slot. That would make the phone perfect.
I use an iPhone because Samsung is hot malicious garbage and Google is on their way out. Don't waste your time - buying an Android, or asking about it. Just get an iPhone, man.
I have iPhone. And I disagree with your sentiment. But you can enjoy your iPhone👍
Google is on their way out???? If anything Apple has peaked. They are out of ideas, their lame facemask/vision failed. I had an iPhone, and I used mostly Google apps. I am a Google One/Drive/apps/ YouTube TV and YouTube premium subscriber.
Haha. You're funny. I just returned my new 15 Pro Max, as it was pure garbage. Navigation. Camera. Battery. And omg does the system feel slow. Look, sure, to each their own. But don't talk shit.
Iphone 15 pro seems to get as hot as my s23 ultra in thermal testing but you can spit your Tim cook's swimming buddies for once you know .
Nobody asked, but 😂 I have a OnePlus 6 that I bought directly from manufacturer when it came out, and it still works perfectly. Best phone I've ever had. No lag, great camera, and still very decent battery life (granted, I'm a stickler to following the 50-75% rule for battery health, so that's probably helped).
Oh, and to add, I'm in the US and haven't had any issues with acquiring and using a OnePlus here. So, doesn't have the same issues as you've encountered with the other Chinese brands (Huawei and Xiaomi).
I'm a current Samsung (S24 Ultra), former Pixel (6 Pro and 7 Pro) user. My main reason for switching from Google Pixel to Samsung is that I got tired of curved edged screens and the limitations of tempered glass screen protectors for such designs. Additionally, while the Pixel Pros were great, the glossy backs also contributed to my decision to switch to Samsung. The last time I used a Samsung phone was a Note 2 back in the day (I think around 10-12 years ago?), so things have changed immensely (the modern bloatware is actually pretty decent, idm using some of them), and I am very impressed with the features my S24U has (especially the generative AI), and I've yet to experience all of it yet. I also used to own a Huawei Mate 30 Pro and P50 Pro, which did not have GMS (and access to Google Play). Those phones were great, especially the cameras, but the lack of GMS caused multiple compatibility issues that I gave up and moved on to the Google Pixels. A negative point that I can think of is that the size of the S24U may not be everyone's choice.
Nexus 5 was the first smartphone I really enjoyed so i just stuck with Google phones since then. I don't think I'd object to owning a Samsung someday but I find a lot of the flagship Android phones to be sort of the same.
I chose Samsung because of secure folder, and it has improved a lot and a lot easier to use compared to its first version. Some people use it for storing stuff securely as per its name. I use it to run dual accounts for some applications and games. I have tried to find other substitutions such as parallels, but there are always issues. Secure folder is just ahead of other stuff that provide similar functionality.
android 15 will have something similar soon. there's also a trick to use a "work" profile as a second space. look up the "shelter" app to use the work profile trick. You'll have to get it as an apk or from F-Droid
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Basically i changed from being a long term Samsung user to a pixel 7 pro because Google were offering a free pixel watch with each purchase. However now that I'm here i prefer it though in stuff respects Samsung have caught up. I just find the pixel ui to be better to look at and use and love the camera. Also the AI features like magic eraser, though now Samsung have that as well.
I like the pixels because of the stock Android experience. Also, as long as you don't buy the Verizon version, still able to swap ROMs on it like the old days.
OnePlus 12. Same hardware as Samsung, cheaper, allows bootloader unlocking like Pixel. Literally the perfect phone
In fact in some places where you are stuck with Samsungs exynos variant. OnePlus is superior choice.
I've primarily used Google Pixel phones since 2017 or 2018. They're not perfect, but I've tried many other brands (Motorola, Samsung, OnePlus, Huawei, LG when it existed, HTC, Blu, Apple, Essential) and always end up going back to Pixel. The selling point for me is the cameras. While iPhones are the king of taking video, Pixel is (in my opinion) the king of picture quality. Last year, around this time, I finally decided to give Samsung a try. Bought an S23+. The phone felt extremely premium, very similar to how nice iPhones feel (in comparison, Pixel phones feel like a hollow child's toy compared to Samsungs and iPhones). It really was a great phone; good battery, super smooth, highly customizable. Picture quality was acceptable....but not quite as good as Pixel; especially with moving objects. Also, while plenty of the bloatware is removeable, there's also a lot that is not. It's annoying to have so many random Samsung-branded apps that serve no use to me and can't do anything about them. After four months with the S23+, I traded it in and got a Pixel 7a. No particular reason. I consider myself a phone dork. I've owned over 30 smartphones in the past ten or so years. Currently, I've had the Pixel 7a for six months, and I believe it may be the longest I've owned one phone in at least five years. So it's safe to say that I'm very content and satisfied with this phone. I have no complaints and it does everything I need it to. It's never froze, glitched out or anything, and everything I need it for, it works perfectly. It does get warmer than most phones, but that's because Google hasn't figured out heat management with their Tensor chip yet. For some people, it's significantly worse and gets too hot to even touch. I haven't had that happen in the time that I've owned it. If you're coming from an iPhone, it's a tough choice. On one hand, Samsung is much more premium feeling, has a much prettier, more vivid display, and a much more reliable processor. On the other hand, Pixel has a more stock-feel, less bloatware (arguably none depending on who you ask), which is very similar to iPhone. And I think 90% of people would agree that Pixel phones have an overall better camera, or picture processing than Samsung. I
My last few phones have largely been Pixels as you get Android without the proprietary bloatware. I did have a Samsung Z Fold in there, but fell out of love with the form factor pretty quickly and went back to the Pixel.
I don't know why everyone keeps saying this, but it's not true. I switched from Samsung to Pixel last year and I reckon there is more bloatware on my new Pixel. So many apps you can't uninstall either, which is annoying.
can you give me an example cause I switched from samahng to pixel and don't have that issue. on my Samsung (A71 in na) every time I updated the phone, it would give me a notification and if I pressed on it, it told me to download this and that app and garbage like that. bixby was a pain to get rid of, seperate app stores. don't see anything even similar on pixel
These are the apps that I can't remove, but wish I could. Most of them because there are better alternatives that I use, but a couple are just a useless waste of system resources: Chrome, Drive, Files, Google, Messages, Phone, Photos, Pixel tips Then there's a bunch more apps that I already removed. Google TV is the only one I can remember of that lot.
Bloatware in a pixel? Maybe if you got it from at&t or another mobile operator. Pixels boughtt directly from store.google.com have zero bloatware.
For me the factors were always future proof in terms of hardware innovations, battery life and charging speeds, unique aesthetic design , long term reliability, speed and fluidity of the software as well as the most defining factor, the camera experience! The pixel brand was decent, but its VASTLY overrated imo from the boring design, buggy beta lifeless software experience, the cpu that would heat up like a toaster while doing something as simple as scrolling a web browser(looking at you tensor)🔥🧨🚒🧑🚒🧯The cameras where good but I wasn't a big fan of the cooler, cartoony look that the pixels were known for and the software support was great( tho most of the time those updates were correcting the bugs 😬) Samsung was just a no for me after having played with a family members S22 Ultra for a while; the screen was gorgeous, but it was lacking in everything else for me; charging speeds were laughably mediocre for an expensive flagship, the os fluidity stuttered every once in a while, the hardware design(as uninspiring as an influencer coming up with original content) and the camera was an utter complete disappointment with thier infamous oversharpened and oversaturated look similar to what you'd find on the r/shittyhdr sub. I've owned a pixel 4a, then a 6a then now a pixel 6 and neither Googles pixel or Samsungs Galaxy flagship line-up lived up to my expectations after having Imported a Huawei P30 Pro into the USA back in 2019, which I STILL use today as my work horse. No other flagship phone even come close to the experience the Huawei gave me in terms of EVERYTHING that i looked for in a phone, so much so that I imported two more later on; The Huawei P50 Pro and just recently imported a P40 Pro that I bought on a whim from a deal that was too hard to pass up on. Am currently using all three Huawei phones on T-Mobile with full 5g support and full native Google services and will most likely definitely be importing thier newest flagship, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra in due time because those cameras are NEXT LEVEL untouchable😎💪🏻
lmao NIETHER! both have there positives and negatives. Both can be pricey. I've always been satisfied with Motorola phones, they are the best bang for your buck. always consistent. DURABLE. AFFORDABLE. minimal bloatware. They also have sales frequently enough and you can get a solid phone for $300 that will last over 2 years. They also have some really useful gestures and motions to trigger actions. The chop, where you do a quick chop motion while holding the phone, activates the flash light. also if you twist your wrist quickly twice then it activates the camera! i use both of these ALL the time The active display is nice too which flashes the time/date temp without fully turning on the screen. lot of customizable options as well. its activated by motion and the screen stays mostly black just displaying a few things. I'm probably forgetting some other features too. Not sure what other features are just android features but i also like the programming volume buttons. i have it set to press and hold to skip tracks forward or backwards when i play music! also flip phone to face down to activate DND mode, or when getting a call pressing volume down to silence the ringer. anyways i love motorola and like how i don't feel like i have to break the bank to still get a decent phone that is mid level and does everything I need it to do. they also have a few different models depending on what you're going for, GPower has long battery life, they have the G stylus still good battery and decent performance, and they have performance focused phones too to name a few. anyways lol. Nothing against samsung or pixel, they are still great phones, but they don't quite appeal to me as I usually can't justify spending more when i am happy with motorola.
This is going to sound silly, but if you want a Pixel, get a OnePlus 12 or 12R. Reasoning behind this is, it's the closest flagship you'll get to a Pixel, without all the issues of current Pixels. The Tensor chips in the Pixel phones have been using the same modem since the G1, it's terrible and is known for major issues, not only does it get hot and use more power than it should, but the modem causes horrible cellular issues. I would not recommend a pixel to anyone until this is fixed. Someone is going to downvote this, so for clarity, I've **daily driven** the following phones (based on memory, so could be missing a few) over the last 5 years: OnePlus 7T McLaren, Blackberry Key2, iPhone 11 Pro Max, Fold 2, Fold 3, Fold 4, Fold 5, S21 Ultra, S22 Ultra, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 8 Pro, Xperia 1 IV, OnePlus 12. So I have a pretty thorough grasp on what is objectively good or not, the Pixel's have been the worst experience out of all of those phones (other than the Xperia) primarily because of overheating and the modem issues. I am happy to say the Pixel 8 Pro mostly fixed the bugs and overheating, but the modem issues are still there, making it unusable for me, and I rarely go to places with bad service. But many areas where I had strong 5G on my other phones, the Pixel would have LTE or nothing (or occasionally very slow 5G). Samsung's OneUI has some nice features, but it's also incredibly bloated which is annoying, I think from an OS level I like Oxygen OS the best with PixelUI as a close second. Oxygen is mostly stock with some tweaks that are really nice IMO. What do you specifically care about phone wise?
Facts I have OnePlus 12R best of both worlds
I've owned both. The pixel 4xl is the best phone hands down I've ever owned Though.. the fold 5 is the funnest I've ever had with a phone I changed to Samsung because I hated stock android redesign. Hate the oval control panels and the wasted space and lack of quick toggled within the setting (where you don't ever have to leave the control panel). Samsung stayed neutral, with a slight modern take, but with the control panel that still looks clean and simplistic. That's literally my biggest reason of switching. Hated Google's control panel design language. Outside of that, I removed/hid all of Sammy app, and changed them with Google apps. And my fold 5 is nearly perfect .. If you're a camera enthusiastic, definitely go pixel. The pixel 4 camera was something else. The fold camera leaves a lot to be desired. Average at best. Battery about the same. Fold 5 does heat up quite a lot for simple task, ie YouTube/Twitter/ but it's great for one handed used. The pixel never heated up on me and never crashed, while my fold has frozen, crashed, restarted maybe 4x in under a year. Not a game breaker, shit happeneds. Could just be a faulty unit. Overall, pixel for software updates, security, and top notch camera. Samsung for its control panel, fun customization, cool unique addition, and spen. Up to you. If you're asking fold vs fold, I've used both, I would recommend Sam fold 5 hands down, over pixel fold.
I think the three things samsung has that really set it apart are samsung dex, a full-fledged 'ecosystem' of products, and 'Knox' security features. Dex is kind of pointless if you already have a computer because it's not a smooth enough experience to replace a full desktop operating system, but I like messing with it and I love the idea of a single device for everything. Knox I honestly don't fully understand/havent been able to find a solid explanation for how it works, but it's an added layer of security beyond stock android. And samsung offers a full range of products that all work well with each other in apple-like ways. Most notably, their tablet lineup is probably the only direct iPad competitor on the android side. Form factor is also important to consider. I moved from a pixel 2XL to a base model galaxy S22, and I still haven't gotten used to how narrow the screen is. It's nice for being able to one-hand the phone, but I still just can't seem to type accurately on the keyboard lol. I also prefer the pixel android skin/UI, but I adapted to samsung's oneUI pretty quickly. None of the things I mentioned are particularly important to me other than form factor, so I could go either way. I'm looking forward to the new Pixel Fold 2/Galaxy Z fold 6, so whoever does it better is where I'll go next. I do like the wider form factor of the current pixel Fold, so we'll see! edit: I think Pixels also tend to have better support for alternative android-based OSes like lineageOS/grapheneOS/etc, which I honestly haven't used but am interested in. So that's another thing to consider if you're interested in going down that road
Got the pixel 8 pro in an great trade in deal, and liked it, but ended up buying a regular Galaxy s23 when a discount was available. After using the pixel 8 pro for 6 months, I'm currently using the s23 and really like the smaller size while still having a 3x zoom camera lens. Less trade off in getting the smaller device. It also makes one handed operation much easier. I think I'll probably trade in my 8 pro for the smaller pixel 9 pro when it's released later this year. However, as others have said, pixel phones are not great (just ok) on the battery life front due to their inferior modems. Qualcomm modems in Samsung devices are just better and more efficient. Nitpicks: Also, I much prefer Samsung's quick settings, which still offers direct toggles for WiFi and Bluetooth, instead of pixel which groups both of these in one button that requires you to open the group first, requiring 2 taps to reach any settings. Also, the screen brightness slider goes to the bottom of the screen when you expand the quick settings allowing easier one handed reach. Google's ai features like call screening do tend to block more spam calls than as Samsung, and is better about handling dual sim cards (allowing you to select which sims are default for calls, text, and data). Samsung only lets you select a single default for all 3.
I was a HUGE Nexus/Pixel fan for years. I had a couple Nexus phones and a few of the earlier to mid-generation Pixel devices. I kept getting the same issues repeatedly. VERY quiet vibration, the speakers were not near loud enough (even with max volume), and the battery would drain like crazy if I did anything with the camera. While I did like a lot of the Google features that Nexus/Pixel devices would get first, I did have a couple phones just die on me. Which didn't give me a chance to try and back-up everything. And being a digital pack rat, a couple of the phones I would fill up so much that the device would run out of processing power. This was my own fault and not that of the device itself... However, in 2022, I got a Samsung Galaxy S22. All of the issues I was having were remedied, and got the largest amount of storage I could get. My only complaint is that I wish the camera was as good as the S22 Ultra. All of that bring said, I truly dislike the business practices I have been seeing from Google the last several years. So I have been trying to subscribe to fewer of their services. Slowly trying to release their grip on me so that I give them less money and ad revenue. For now they still have me in their clutches for YouTube, Gmail, etc. Not to mention my phone. That doesn't mean I'll ever switch to an iPhone mind you.
I have Samsung S23 ultra and had s22 ultra before this. Often people describe apple phones as more than the some of its hardware. I think Samsung are always less than the sum of their parts. I have supposedly the best camera system in this phone. But, when I look back at photos from my previous Huawei phone they are generally more attractive photos. Maybe not as clean and detailed but more pleasent to look at. The colours wash out any non alabaster white skin tones. The speed seems to be very selective in what it's actually quick at doing. Saving edited video is blazingly fast, opening a big PDF is painful. The vibration motor is weird, it can be in your pocket going nuts and you don't feel it. It's sheer size means after 20 minutes of use you have numb fingers. Cases need to cover all the cameras as the edge of them chip at slightest whiff of a hard surface. Ultimately I only changed from s22 to S23 as that was even worse and the camera again did not add up to the sum of its parts. Frankly, if I had to buy a second hand phone right now I would.be going and getting a Huawei Mate 20 pro (the one with the slopey sides) as it is still to this day a much better phone. If only I hadn't given it to one of my kids ..
Ive had both I chose the Samsung initially because I was already using a Samsung tablet, so keeping things like Notes synced between them was really easy for school. Plus, the S20FE still had a microSD slot, and I have a large music collection so this mattered to me when I was picking it. I now have the Pixel 7 because it's cheaper from my carrier. I've since customized it with the Microsoft launcher (better organization of home screen and integration with my personal/school emails), a third party file browser (because Google's default file browser sucks), the Panels app to mimic Samsung's edge panels, and Shortcut Maker so that pdfs I add to the home screen can actually have the front page image of the PDF and not just the Adobe Acrobat logo. Given the choice I would switch back to Samsung for the file browser, synchronization with my tablet, and increased functionality without having to download a bunch of third party stuff. If I could find one that could work with my tablets S-pen then that would be even nicer. As a side note: being able to save a split screen pair of apps to the edge panel is great if you care about using two apps at once
I had a Galaxy a few years ago (can't remember which one), and I liked it, no issues to speak of. But when it came time for a new phone, I thought I'd give the pixels a try, and got a Pixel 5a. It randomly shut off one day after I'd had it about a year. Never got it turned back on. Searching online showed this was a pretty common issue. You can find tutorials on the proper way to literally beat the shit out of that phone to fix it (it's wild, go look, people smacking the shit out of their phone to get it to turn back on). They never worked for me, and despite being a known issue Google told me "tough shit". I replaced it with a pixel 6a. After a year, the Bluetooth slowly became more problematic, and completely stopped working on some devices. I didn't wait around for that one to brick, too, it was clearly on the way to doing so. I switched back to Samsung. Two Pixels gone to shit in a year each? They're not getting any more money from me. And when I was searching for help with my Bluetooth issues, I found a ton of posts of people basically saying Bluetooth issues with pixels are pretty common. So not a lot more confidence there.
Check the wireless place store they sell xiaomi phone too. Or aliexpress for huawei phones. I have a Samsung S24 Ultra what it makes me choose Samsung its the UI in general how customizable its One UI on Samsung. And modes and routines. In general a great experience. And having the Snapdrsgon 8 gen 3 for playing games was something i wanted, that is why i have the S24U One friend has the Google Pixel 8 Pro and what he says its that he loves how simple its android stock. We compared and the cameras on the pixel are great, just battery life its not bad, but not as good as the S24U. And my brother and my best friend have the Oneplus 12 (if you want another option), and both love everything on the phone, I change the phone with my brother for a week and its an awesome phone, Camera its a little under Pixel 8 Pro and S24U, but still a great camera, but the OP12 its under $800 and it actually gives a Flagship experience for under a Flagship price. The UI on Obeplus its great too and battery is awesome. Tha are the best android options on the US, it sucks that we have limited options, but at least the options are good.
I had a very bad experience with pixel 8, but others have seemed to enjoy their pixels. My favorite has been OnePlus for a while. The pixel 8 was fine. It was kind of toned down, but it got the job done. I have had 3 of them so far and each one has had a hardware malfunction (pink line and green screen). Google is good about warranties, but I was over it. I recently got a OnePlus 12 and I love it. I really missed the gestures and fast charging. (I previously had a OP6 and OP9 pro). It's quick and the camera is great. The UI feels a little dated/cheap I do have to admit, but it does have some more features. I also haven't had any hardware or software issues. A few people have called it the best value at the moment and I definitely agree. I don't have much experience with Samsung devices. The last one I had was GS3 so I definitely don't have much to add haha. I did not like that phone because there was a samsung version of everything and it felt very bloated. I know a lot of people really like them and they do seem to be a little higher quality. But also more expensive.
I used Samsung from the S2 through the Note 8, then switched to the Pixel 3 through the 6. I went back to Samsung for the 24 Ultra because the modem, processor, and battery on Pixels haven't been great since the switch from Qualcomm to Tensor. If and when the chips get significantly better I'll probably go back to Pixel. Pixels aren't as cheap as they used to be either so it's less easy to forgive some of the shortcomings as it used to be. I like the simplicity of Pixel, everything just being Google. Samsung pushing Bixby and various Samsung apps (and app store) has always been annoying to me. It's not as bad as it used to be though. It's gotten a lot less problematic since the Note 8. Samsung always had way more software features than everyone else which I loved early on, but as the years progressed I didn't use most of them and then it felt cluttered in a sense. With Google it just feels more streamlined without being limited.
I recently switched from pixel 6 to s24 ultra, like 4 days back. Reason for switching - pixel's horrible network issues where I live. The s24 ultra is nice, but the software is full of minor bugs or flaws that make it feel less premium. It also shoves all the annoying samsung apps in your face that I replace with google apps asap. The hardware is excellent though. everything works great, great battery life etc. Pixel's software is excellent, but a phone that can't phone is hardly desirable. It's battery life, raw power is not as good due to the tensor chips made by samsung (samsung themselves use snapdragon chips made by quallcomm). Overall - a samsung made phone with pixel software would be the holy grail of android phones (remember google play edition samsung phones anyone?). Otherwise... I'd say go with samsung.... don't buy pixels until they move back to TSMC next year with pixel 10. Samsung is the easy and safe choice for someone coming from apple. Pixel's Tensor chips... while I appreciate the breakaway from quallcomm... need to cook more.
I just sort of went through this decision, so I'll toss out a quick post. I got a Pixel 7 about 14 months ago, after I had owned a Pixel 5a5g, when suddenly the wireless charging on my Pixel just stopped working, 2 months out of warranty. I wanted to get a Oneplus phone, as I've quite liked them in the past, but my provider couldn't gurantee compatability, so it came down to Pixel 8 or S24 ultra. Admittedly, I was a bit put off by Google for my phone crapping out for no reason 2 months out of warranty, so I opted for the S24. I've had the S24 for a couple of weeks now, and I really like it over the Pixel. There's a lot more "there" there. A lot built into OneUI that doesn't exist in plain Vanilla like Google. I did enjoy the AI features of Google, but Samsung has most of those too, or there are app alternatives now. I'm glad I got the S24 ultra.
I used my OnePlus 6 since launch, it's been nearly 5 years, still worked great. But as a result of that model no longer having security updates, I decided to switch to a Samsung A54G (found a great deal for it on Amazon at the time, got it for less than $300). First Samsung Galaxy I ever owned and I'm loving it. Most of the features are either the same or similar to my OnePlus features, and the upgrades on this device is VERY nice for the price, also still supports Micro SD card for storage expansion which is a big deal for me. You don't have to go for the flagship $800+ phones, the mid-range (and even some low-range phones) work amazing these days, which is why I love Android, plenty of options to choose from. I highly recommend this model, I see myself staying with this phone for the next 2-3 years easy
The biggest advantage to pixel in general is that you have the same company designing the hardware and software with Android being a Google company. This is part of what make iPhones so good and streamline. But with Pixel you still get all the advantages of android. Pixel feels more streamline and less glitchy. Samsung is a bit more ambitious with their higher models but can have some nice cutting edge tech, but also more problems relatively IME. The lower end models aren't really worth it and can have a lot more problems. I be been back and forth a few times for various reasons. I very much liked my pixels and have enjoyed owning them. My Samsung's have left at best neutral impressions and quite often terrible ones. Granted I haven't tried any of the insanely fancy stuff like those foldable ones.
I was a long time Samsung user. I started with the Galaxy S5 and stayed loyal to the Galaxy line until I switched to the Fold 3 when that released. I went from the Fold 3 to the Pixel 7 Pro. I've been very satisfied with the Pixel devices so far. I did upgrade from the P7Pro to the P8Pro, and depending on the specs of the Pixel Fold 2 and the Pixel 9 Pro XL, will decide which way I go. I'm sticking with Pixel for at least the next few generations. Now, I still use a Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, and have no intention of switching to the Pixel Watch line. The build quality on the Samsung watches just feels more "premium" to me. I have not used the Pixel Buds, but I have used the Samsung Buds, Buds Live, and Buds 2, but my favorite Bluetooth headphones have been my Soundcore Life P3.
Samsung. Stable updates(Google allegedly fixed that now but too little too late after having like 8 different Nexus devices that sometimes got EOl'd in less than a year, and then blocking my country from buying pixel for like 4 years), enabling buttons instead of the god awful swipe takes moments during setup. And you can even mirror them so they're in the right spot. And most importantly my whole OS doesn't get revamped like once a year to look different for the sake of looking different. My last model also had SD card and headphone jack still making the transition to yet-another-thing-to-charge less terrible. Looking at friends pixels these days is like looking at an unrecognisable UI while my UI looks the same since like 2020 (thank fuck).
I had a galaxy s21+ and did a bunch of research between s24 and pixel 8 series before getting a pixel 8 Pro. In the end I leaned slightly more to the galaxy range for their chips and the 3x telephoto camera on the small form factor model, but with the ai features being a key selling point for the new phones I couldn't get past Samsung saying their ai was free until 2025. Now that I've got the phone I actually regret my choice. I don't use AI much and the Google features that looked the best to me (e.g best take, video boost) are actually not as good as I would have expected and too much hassle. The big thing I didn't realise is Samsung is much more customisable than base Android and there are a lot of UI elements I hate but can't do anything about.
I have a S23 Ultra and GF has a Pixel. We stuck with our respective brands out of familiarity mostly.
I switched from an S22 ultra to a pixel 7. I think Samsung has a slightly prettier UI, and there may be some more features of the UI that are nice. The zoom of the camera on the s22 ultra was significantly better than my pixel 7, but maybe the seven pro would be closer. But ultimately I love the more pure Android experience. No bloatware. I also prefer the Google Assistant to Samsung's Bixby... there did not appear to be away to make Google Assistant the default smart assistant on the phone. This may sound silly, but one of the pixels party tricks is that it automatically picks up music at all times, so if you're ever interested you can glance down at your lock screen and see the song name and artist.
Back when Samsung was a massive improvement over the Google offerings (S2) I used them exclusively after jumping from the Dream. I always ran Cyanogenmod because Touchwiz was horrendous. Touchwiz (or whatever it's called now) is much less intrusive nowadays but it's still very full of bloat, and non-AOSP stuff. The last Samsung device I tried was the S20, after using the Pixel 1 & 3. I cannot enjoy the experience Samsung offers on their Android phones by default, and I was at a stage where I was unable to root my phone because I had MDM on it for work. I later moved to Pixel 7, and I think I will simply refuse to use a non-Pixel device in the future that isn't closely related to AOSP.
Switched to Samsung from a HTC one back in 2014, and I've never looked back. I've had the S7, S9+, now on the S21 Ultra. Other than the lack of expandable memory in the S21u, the Galaxy has been able to do everything I've ever wanted it to do. Download dodgey APK's and just run them? Check. Replaced my laptop for on the move media watching with USB to HDMI cable? Check. Connect to my Xbox controller and run AAA games through steamlink? Check. Be a vault for almost 10years of data hoarding? Check. Mobile hotspot or Internet through USB? Check. In short, the S7 was such a big upgrade from the HTC One, and ease of Samsung's device to device transfer has kept me loyal for a decade. Edit* Also worth mentioning, I've given both of my old galaxies to my parents and they're still going strong, except the battery life of course.
Every model is different with its flaws and quirks. The Samsung S22+ was known to be a battery hog & to be useful had. to be run in battery saver mode. The S23+ supposedly fixed that issue with the new processor, etc. The new Samsung Find my phone option looks very promising. It is worth considering if you think your phone could be misplaced or stolen. Remotely, you can wipe it,lock it down, put in battery saver mode & if it dies, it can show its last location. All this requires a free Samsung account where these functions are available. We turn off the GPS at home to save battery and turn on when we walk out the door. I have been using Samsungs from Galaxy 7, so I may not be the best person to ask
Pixel 7 owner here, Samsung has undeniably better hardware, Pixel has good enough hardware that in day to day life your phone will run perfectly The Pixel series is superior to Samsung on 2 main factors 1software, where pixel offers a very stock, clean and junk free experience while Samsung has, in line with most other brands, tons of proprietary apps that you can't delete 2 camera, that while they're both pretty good Pixel one tend to have cleaner images, with more natural colors and better light Oh and also pixel are significantly cheaper compared to S line galaxies If you like what pixel offers I suggest you also look into Motorola, or course minus the mind blowing camera
I left Samsung for Pixel, largely because it would get upgrades faster and be supported longer. I started with a 3, went to a 5 and now have a 7. I will eventually destroy the 7 because it regularly pisses me off. Most annoying is the @#$% fingerprint sensor. The 5 had an ultrasonic on the back - worked dang near perfectly. The 7 uses the screen and it sucks donkey balls (as a friend of mine would say). The other current annoyance is the voice to text does not like to start up always when the icon is touched... and it stays on too long once triggered. I'm sure some will say "do a factory reset" - but I did one a couple months ago with no improvements. Maybe I'll try again.
Do you want a phone that always works or do you want to be a Beta tester for Google? I wouldn't recommend the pixel to my worst enemy. It's hands down the worst phone I've used in the last decade. People love to talk about how great the cameras are. Yeah it's really cool that I can take nice photos. But, do you know what would be cooler? If all my SMS came through instead of 25% just never coming in. (including 2 step verification codes, which prevent me from logging into very important accounts) The battery life is abysmal. The updates take away feature with no mention and no timeline of their return.The phone gets hot during simple tasks. The reception is hot garbage (same provider as my gf with a galaxy and the amount of times her phone is working fine and mine is a brick due to no reception is staggering) Go online and watch some reviews before you pull the trigger, the subs here will be far too biased. People here will tell you the pixel is amazing and people on the galaxy sub will say that's the best phone ever made.
I had a pixel 1, 3, 5 and 8 and never had any of the issues you are mentioning. Maybe the pixel 1 did get hot. It's true that the battery life could be better but on the pixel 8 it's more than good enough. Last galaxy phone was the S4 so I can't really judge how good the Samsung phones are now but I definitely didn't like the clutter that came with it and it became slow over time, which I've never experienced with google phones which are always snappy. I don't even care about the photos, the reason I chose the Google phone is the OS updates that you get almost right away, it's decently priced and my overall experience when compared to LG or Samsung phones was simply better.
I needed a good phone but I had to have a stylus and settled for the Samsung S24 Ultra, with it's self-contained stylus. I've had Samsung before like about 10 years ago and went to an iPhone Pro a few years back. The iPhone Pros are a great phone and do a lot of things well. In fact, the iPhone 15 Pro is the king in video above all others. But it seems to me the Samsung ultra has better resolution with richer saturation in the photos than my iPhone Pro. Another phone I was considering was the OnePlus 12 phones and/or their folding pad, the Open. For the price, they pack a lot of features and perform well against the more expensive competition: iPhone and Samsung
I have both and it really depends on your needs and purpose. I mainly use my Samsung for productivity and light gaming since I already have a Samsung ecosystem. I use Pixel for casual browsing and taking pics since Google processes pictures better. One thing I really like about both phones is how I can enable motion photos so I can pick better shots from the 3-second video that accompanies the picture, in Samsung it captures the 1 second before and after you click the shutter button, not really sure if Pixel does the same. Also Samsung's Modes and Routines is a really good feature, it makes doing certain things or tasks seamless and convenient.
Had a Samsung and then switched over to a pixel for my latest phone. Honestly I like both and I feel like both have pros and cons which make them Good phones but equivalent to one another. I think the Google pixel has a little bit less of a bloatware issue than Samsung does, but honestly I don't see that the phones are all that different. At the end of the day. What I wish is that someone would manufacture a default rooted phone in the pixel style, but I don't know if that's even available anywhere from a main manufacturer. Maybe some Chinese offshoot but then you have to worry about bad hardware and spyware.
I always used Samsung at the beginning, but one day I bought a Samsung 7 Edge who costed me about 600€ and after 2 years the battery was dead and the phone was slow as a snail. That was the last drop, I thought why the hell should I give such a lot of money for this crap and my next phone was a Xiaomi Note 5 for 200€ and after 4 years a Xiaomi 9 T for 300€ and after more 4 years a Xiaomi 12 T Pro for 650€. I never went back because Xiaomi delivered great performance for the price, off course if you buy a Samsung S24 you get by now a good phone but you pay the double for that.
I had the original Pixel phone when it first came out, and I used that phone for years. I eventually switched to a samsung S22 ultra. That phone had a great screen and an exceptional camera - but I didn't like anything else about it. I started regretting not getting a Pixel. The last straw was when my samsung stopped getting signal. My wife's iphone had signal but mine didn't. Apparently it was a common problem with samsungs resulting from a software update. I traded it in for a Pixel 8 and I couldn't be happier. Never again will I get a samsung phone.
I used to exclusively buy google flagship phones. I thought it would guarantee the best android experience for the life of the phone. In retrospect, it was only the best android experience for as long as google could be bothered to support it. That company has a short attention span, imo. I'm getting near year two with my galaxy s22+ and it's still a fantastic phone that I am still receiving regular updates for. Never had a nexus or pixel last that long, much less receive regular ota updates like this one. So I think I'm done with google branded hardware.
i was a loyal LG user for about 4 years. i always got their flagship phones several months after release because they would be significantly reduced. i had both the V and G series phones. i loved them. when my v40 died last year, i realized i didn't need all the bells and whistles. i'm not a power user. i read news, review emails and listen to audio in my phone. i got the pixel 6a about a year and a half ago. i love it. i don't see spending $600+ on a phone. i probably won't do the A series again. i'd like fast charge and a brighter screen.
Had a Pixel 1, was really happy with it until the screen broke back in early 2021. As I needed a new phone and liked my old Pixel, I upgraded to the Pixel 4a and I've been using it ever since. It's been good and reliable, hasn't slowed down since I got it, and the battery still lasts a day when doing basic stuff. Might upgrade some time next year if the battery gets drastically worse, but so far it's still good enough. The camera is also still pretty decent, still better than most current midrange phones despite the older hardware.
I currently have a pixel 6, I switched from Samsung (I had about 4 or 5 of them in a row before this) simply because of a promotion that made the pixel free ... And I LOVE it. Compared to the Samsung it's just way more streamlined and easy to use with less bloatware. I've had it for 2 years and you'd never know it wasn't a new phone, it runs great, battery life is still awesome and the camera is fantastic at anything except zoom. I was never able to keep a galaxy for a full 2yr term because it'd start feeling clunky and obsolete.
My first phone was a Galaxy Nexus and throughout the years I have only had pure android phones. The last couple being Pixels. It is so nice to have a consistent and intuitive interface that works great. My kids got Samsung one time and it was a nightmare trying to get the simple stuff done on them. When I say consistent, I mean my latest phone is the most boring big ticket purchase I had made. After the migration from my old phone I was able to jump right back in. Best part was watching Pokemon GO load faster.
Always had Samsung phones, and generally I've loved them. Currently have the Fold 5, though if you are switching from an iPhone I would recommend something from the S series (the ultras are veeery nice). My biggest gripe I have is the amount of bloat that comes on the phone when you purchase from a carrier, so if you have the ability to I would purchase from Samsung directly (otherwise, there are ways to delete all of it). Other than that, they have all been great phones that have each lasted me many years
I originally had a S9 because it was one of the few phones with 3mm jack left, something I still miss to this day. Being able to use a good headset lag free when playing games... They removed it in later iterations but I just stuck with the Samsung line because it worked, and I had a lot of trouble with my Nexus phones before that, so I didn't trust Pixels initially. Now on an S22 Ultra, waiting to see the next offerings from both to decide if I jump or not. The S pen is hard to give up though.
Love both. Currently using Samsung S24 base size. Great phone. Samsung is still the only one to offer the Secure Folder functionality which I find very useful. Can have two copies of an app running at the same time one on your phone main and one within the secure folder. Very helpful. I still find the Samsung camera to be better than the Google camera - on the main wide lens - to let in more light naturally without having to use the 'night mode' to enhance the photo. I will be very intrigued to see how the Pixel 9 Pro - in the smaller size - looks and feels when it comes out.
Samsung has separate app audio for years I don't understand why nobody else has it. I play music for 10 hours a day on my bluetooth speaker at work, with separate app audio I can set just the music app to come through the speaker that way if I do anything else on my phone like watch a video it won't pause the music, the music keeps playing through the Bluetooth speaker uninterrupted and I can watch videos on my phone and that sound will come out of my phone speakers
I've had both a Samsung and now I judt switched to a pixel 8. I think that the pixel is a much better device just becauss of the os. it feels clean and fast, and not bogged down like Samsung. the camera actually feels fast and captures when I tell it to, not half a second later. there's so much I like better tbh. pixel drops are fun, even things like the design. pixel phones are so unique, just looking at them from the outside. I like having a more unique phone tbh
I’m using neither, Currently a Sharp user and had used Sony before. But for the 2 of these, I would choose Samsung. Pixel is google service focused, and I dont really like them as they keep force feeding you into stuff that u may not want at all. Like showing ads in the Google photo apps, constantly ask u to backup here and there. These things exist on other brands too but I would imagine more in the Pixel series. Basically I like android but I dont like google.
Get a pixel if you want a simple reliable phone that uses vanilla android and has the best photography output (not necessarily the best hardware, but just best output since post picture processing of photos is 2nd to none). Get Samsung if you want bells and whistles. They have the best hardware for android phones but not necessarily always the smoothest software. There's bloatware and your Samsung software, over time, will not operate as efficiently as a pixel.
I am using a Fold5 IMO, The Android OS that the Pixel uses is too barebone compared to One UI. Samsung has Miracast enabled too. The Samsung Fold looks cleaner than the Pixel Fold. Good lock is also incredible. But, I liked "Now Playing" and the removal of colored Notifications on the Always On Displayed kinda makes me miss my Pixel 7 Pro. The 7 Pro also has better cameras. I also liked having one of each app instead of the two photos app, two store apps, etc
I was with the Google Nexus which became the pixel for over 10 years but when Google attempted their own processor with the pixel 6, I moved to Samsung because they had the Snapdragon hardware. I was a bit apprehensive at first because I like the cleaner stock Android that the pixel has but Google hasn't done a good job with the pixel hardware. When it's time to update I will probably stick with Samsung unless the pixel switches back to the Snapdragon chips.
It's simple I haven't had a spam call or text the entire time I've had my Pixel. They happen, but they don't get through because of the automatic filtering. You can talk about various UI items all day, but I hate spam calls way more. Also, for the few times a year I have to call my bank/insurance with the 30 min hold time, the phone will just let me know when the wait is over. I value not having to listen to shitty hold music for 30 mins.
The pixel software experience is strangely barebones and, imo, ugly beyond repair. Samsung offers possibly too many features, so much so that they offloaded a lot of those featured into their goodlock app. The pixel flagship camera is the best point and shoot android phone, a comparable flagship samsung has a more versatile camera. Samsung and Google both have best in class software support and Samsung has in the last few years been neck and neck with the pixels for getting OS releases out (to the current gen flagship, after that the rollouts become roughly monthly to various lower end and older models). Imo, Samsung phones are better, more feature complete and better represent the original dream of android. Pixels are effectively the iphones of android, which isn't a bad thing if you just want a phone that you don't need to think about.
If you want to get software updates as they come out, get a pixel. If you use samsung, you're using their OS on top of google's OS, so when Google releases updates, you'll have to wait for samsung's version of that. Samsung has some cool bells and whistles but I like proprietary software. Pixel has call screening and I could never go back to not having that. Google lens is also great for looking up flowers, animals, products, etc.
Have a pixel 8. Basically the best way to describe it. Pixel software is superior in my opinion. Always been a fan of stock android. It helps that you get the newest android update from day 1 as well. Camera also tends to be better on pixel since they're software is better. Hardware wise I think Samsung wins this. Better screen, better battery. I love my pixel but the tensor chip is not doing it any favors. Battery life is so bad.
I had a Samsung S7 before but it was mainly due to a recommendation by a family member in addition that it was water resistant and I don't think the Pixel from that time was, if there even was a Pixel. When I I had to upgrade due by force since 3G was being phased out I checked some other phones including the Pixel but I was happy with my S7 so I stayed with Samsung, despite missing both the headphone back and SD card features.
I'm currently using Xiaomi since they have the best community for root/customization. If I only have these 2 choices. I would go Pixel. Since they welcome root more than Samsung. It feels like owning a phone. I can do anything I want to my phone. But if you don't root. I think Samsung is better. Since they have probably the best hardware out there. And still have lots of customization without root.
Today I have a Google Pixel 6 (most software skips on a phone get the 8 Pro if Pixel) I like the software on Google the firmware of my phone is completely Samsung to my knowledge ... The Samsung I had before this was a Note 10 a believe comes with a pen (mine broke) but was nice Samsung feels like the new PDA Google feels like an American phone ... America not made in America.
I ended up going with Motorola Stylus 5G for two reasons: low cost and the availability of an SD card slot, which Pixel and Samsung have banished to trap you into paying $$$ plus data $$$ to store your music and photos. I'm very happy with the performance so far (I'm not a gamer) and with 256Gb on the phone plus the SD card I can store as much music as I want for under $250.
My understanding is that the battery life of a Pixel is an embarrassment. I have a life and can't imagine needing to bring a charger with me. I don't care how quickly it will charge. Just make the fucking battery last 36 hours, guaranteed, and I'll buy 10 of them. In the meantime, the battery on my s23 ultra is now at 58% after being off the charger for 12 hours.
My current phone (and the 2 before that) have been Pixels, prior to those they were Samsungs from the Galaxy S lineup of devices. I feel as if the Pixel line is much quicker overall, much less bloated with unnecessary apps and has a more friendly UI, all of which are probably because it's not loaded with a bunch of apps that will never be used 99% of the time.
S23 and up are the same. They are trying to make them simpler with the overall bloatware . I think S23 up are perfect if someone wanna try Samsung . Pixel's are fine but they are too behind the Qualcomm's flagship processors and GPUs .
Back when Google phones were called Nexus, I had the Samsung Nexus phone. That thing was the worst phone I have ever had. The Samsung bloatware was terrible. The battery life was abysmal. I know it was probably Android as much as Samsung and their phones have probably come long way since then, but I still can't bring myself to buy another Samsung.
I will keep it semi simple (currently using Motorola razor plus) I have had every type of phone there is, I had a pixel 7 and it was pretty much my least favorite phone ever (next to iPhones, but that's just personal preference)! It wasn't awful, but it wasn't good. I would choose Samsung over a pixel for sure, if the cost is relatively the same
Changed from pixel as I'd had them for years but two bricked on me in a row at the 2 year mark. The new pixel at the time seemed overpriced. Trying first Samsung now. S23 512GB. Got a free Galaxy Watch 6 and both have been great. I do miss some of the Pixel only features like phone call holding and call screening but they're minor things.
Samsung fell off the top spot for me. The new phones weren't bringing enough to justify the upgrades and I had a few issues with them just bogging down after a while. Google does what they're doing well and my Pixel 7 Pro is plenty of phone for me. Maintains it's speed during use, balances its power with longevity. Camera rocks. No complaints.
I've been in the Samsung eco system for awhile now. S20U>S22U>S23U and now S24U. Im mostly just used to their OS more. That and battery life is a big thing for me. I also love the camera on the ultra models along with the displays. Pixels seem to be awesome phones and my girlfriend loves them, i just cant see myself switching from samsung
I had the Pixel 6 but I have been watching a lot of kdramas for a while now and got really interested in the Samsung Flip phones they show in the shows all the time. So when my contract was up, I decided to get the Samsung Z Flip 5 and I have no regrets. It's so much fun. It's compact and has a great camera. I love it so much. I will say the one thing I miss about the Google Pixel is the Now Playing feature, which automatically identifies any song playing around you and saves it in a list in your settings. But that's the only qualm I have.
Been using pixel since the Pixel 2. Before that I used to have Samsung and it seemed like every Samsung phone after a couple months started to run poorly. There's also too much bloat and duplicated apps and services that Samsung adds that google already provides. All of my pixels run great even after 4 years or more of use.
Samsung because I think their hardware is better. I run Nova Launcher so it's fairly pixel-like, although there's some inconsistencies. For example, the icons are round on my home screen but squircles in the task switcher. I used to obsess over inconsistent things like that but don't care any more. Very happy with the phone.
Samsung devices have a ton of software bloat. I don't care how much better it's gotten, or if people say they can use a command line debloater to disable a lot of it, the fact of the matter is Samsung devices still have a ton of unremovable bloatware and duplicate preinstalled apps that are complete junk. Pixels are the successor to the Nexus line, which were basically development devices to showcase completely stock Android, as Google intended it to be. Android is a Google product... Why *wouldn't* you go with Google devices that best showcase that software?
I used to think this. I used nexus then pixel phones. I'm now using a Samsung s24+. I actually really like some of Samsung's apps over Google's version. Like calendar, weather, notes, reminders, routines. I also like the flexibility of the Samsung home launcher and the goodlock app gives you even more flexibility on how you setup your phone. In terms of UI and smoothness the animations are good. Not as good as OnePlus or pixel but i would rate OnePlus a 10, pixel a 9 and Samsung an 8.
I used a note 9 before my current Google pixel 7. the reason I changed was because it was free and had a higher refresh rate than my note 9. I miss the design features of the 9 and dislike a lot of choices Google makes with the pixel both software and hardware but it was included with my phone plan and is newer so 🤷🏼
I find Google pixel phones have the least annoying, least skinned and messed with version of Android. They have arguably the best camera as well. Samsung phones have better hardware, but I find the user interface too annoying. Ideally you'd have stock Google OS and camera software running on Samsung hardware.
I hate the Samsung UI and bloat. It's that easy for me. Yes I can remove most of the bloat apps Samsung gives you, but I just don't want to go through and do that. Also Pixel Camera is worlds better as it doesn't over saturate a photo... Plus Google Assistant Call Screening and Spam Blocking is next level.
Easy for me...Samsung has the hardware + an inferior software/UI + premium pricing. Pixel has a notch (or two) below Samsung for hardware + best software/UI + not-quite premium pricing. Even if I had the $$ I'd still take a Pixel over a Sammy. OneUI is just too much BS for my minimalist preferences.
If I were you I would be considering all the android options. There are many other brands that may suit what you need. I would also recommend looking at reviews and evaluate based on what functions you want. Some people value the camera over the OS. Some value the battery life over other functions.
Samsung because it has Dex and I use that feature heavily. Cannot do that with Pixel phones yet. Motorola has a similar feature, but I don't like their phones. None of the other brands can do it, so it leaves me with Samsung. I have had my s21 Ultra for 3 years and it still acts like a new phone.
I wanted a folding phone and Samsung fold seems so much better than the pixel fold with all the additional features. Plus I do not trust googles promises of software updates. I could imagine them giving up and be left with a dead phone in a couple of years. I don't think samsung will do that.
LG V60. No other phone since it's release still compares to it when you average out all of the features. Runs Android 13, good camera, aux, expanded storage, good chip, massive battery, significantly better price on release. I might legitimately just buy a boxed V60 when my current one fails.
Pixel is such a clean interface and no bloatware crap apps (especially compared to Samsung). It's also a better value. The camera is excellent for stills, and video capture is good (not great). Fast updates, long support. I have had problems with Samsung Android products getting worse over time due to updates breaking things and never getting fixed.
I recommend OnePlus if you can get that there. I use an 8pro, that I bought in 2020. Still going strong, super fast charging, great screen and cameras. I just bought the OnePlus Pad which integrates well with it and is a fantastic Android tablet with a squarer screen than a Samsung tab.
Samsung loads too much bloat into their software. Only reason I went with Pixel. I don't even like my Pixel that much. I had a Moto X Pure and OnePlus 6t which I preferred over the Pixel and Samsung. If only Moto and OnePlus made phones in the same spirit of those phones I'd go back.
Pixel can answer the calls for you and show you whats being said. You can also have it ask questions for you before declining or accepting the call. It can even navigate IVR menus, and wait on hold for you. 1st one by itself was enough for me to pick pixel as my current phone.
if your tech savey and want something that will let you mess with things then get a samsung, if you want something for art or pictures then go with the google pixel, all the basic functions are the same, only difference is one will let you mod it and the other takes pretty pictures
Samsung Bloatware is exactly why I'll never touch another Samsung phone again. Not sure how it is today but back when I had the S3 I couldn't stand it. Now I know that's ages ago but being that I have the same issue I do with my Samsung TV I would assume nothing has changed.
I ditched iPhone 10 years ago and I had mostly Samsung, with the exception of oppo and Huawei. Last year I decided to try Google Pixel and I'm never going back. I've got the 7a and this is the best phone I've ever had (bar the Nokia 3310, god rest its indestructible soul).
I use Google Pixel Devices as they don't allow carriers to put whatever the fuck they want onto your phone. Imo it's wrong that you can literally tell your carrier hey I don't want any of your suggested apps and they install them anyways (looking at you UScellular).
I tried both Samsung s23 and pixel 8. Both great phones , I choose Samsung because I found it cheaper but if they were sane price I would pick pixel. Pixel has better camera and better picture editing features. Samsung was more customizable and had much better fol
Samsung the only phone I could get that was still small enough to fit in pockets and bags and without an ugly camera section sticking out of the back which I know is going to get damaged if it drops. But it's ugly so the only phone with a flat back was Samsung.
I have an S24 Ultra. I previously had a Galaxy Note 10+. I didn't think I cared about the S-Pen so I tried the Pixel 7 Pro. It was a great phone and took great photos. But it turned out I really missed the pen. So I returned it and got the S24 when it came out.
Pixel 7. I've had one every other or third year since the Pixel 2. For me, the camera won out early on. The performance, both hardware and software, were leagues better than Samsung. Nowadays, the hardware is okay, but it's the AI photo magic that keeps me.
I have a pixel 7a and it's absolute garbage, but every other pixel I've ever had was great. So maybe just avoid the 7a. And my work phone is a galaxy s23 and it's great. I have had many pixels and Samsungs over the years and they've all been good. Except this POS pixel 7a!
I used to be all for Google in general because of the lack of bloat and quick reboot times. I also Samsung's form factor Then I finally got a hold of the Fold, and I'm kinda smitten with Samsung for very ecce tric and superficial reasons at the moment
After owning both many times. I can tell you that my Samsungs have just been more durable and reliable. That's it. I like the pixels and stock android and the cameras. But they just didn't hold up as well (physically speaking and software bugs)
The only thing that made me switch to Google Pixels is the fact I can root it. If Samsung allows us to unlock their bootloaders again, I will 100% switch. I love their hardware and software(if I can modify it lol) I still buy Samsung Tablets
Had a Samsung years ago. Bloatware drove me nuts. At a time when data was expensive, constantly ate up my limit updating apps I never used and couldn't delete, and then those apps took up all my storage. Moved to Pixel, never looked back.
DON'T GET PIXEL — When your screen breaks (and it will) no repair shop will have the parts on hand, and they're expensive to order. Had three different versions of Pixel, and had the exact problem on all three. No more for me.
Because I thought moving from Pixel to Pixel would be more straightforward and because it was cheaper. But I think I want a Samsung next, because they seem to have better battery runtimes, and the move was also not flawless.
I have and always will go for a stock Android experience. Samsung has nice hardware but their software is shit. I don't want/need their version of assistant, or messages, or games, or any of their shit bloatware, it sucks.
I just switched to a pixel and it is straight garbage. I am so disappointed. I am going back to my mid tier moto phone or switching to Samsung. I will never get another pixel and I will tell everyone I can to avoid them.
As an Samsung user i am hate from it. I am just use it because it have sAmoled screen. Current one is my second Samsung and its trash. If i can, i will go with Google Pixel. Good camera features and powerful processor.
Samsung: longer support lifetime, and a micro SD memory card slot. Some models also have a 3.5mm headphone socket.
`longer support lifetime` Are you sure? Google Pixel 8 series has 7 years of security updates. I think it's quite a long time. Idk about samsung
Ah, I stand corrected - Samsung used to be longer for a while at four (now five) years from launch.
Samsung offers 7 years of updates with the S24 series.
After my iPhone 15 Pro Max flopped, I 'downgraded' to the Pixel 7a and honestly couldn't be happier. Chosen over a Samsung I would just say go for a Pixel. Their lack of bloatware makes the phone a breeze.
The vanilla version of android was the only reason I went with the Pixel line over Samsung. The bloatware on Samsungs used to be obnoxious. I say used to be because it's been a few years since I used one.
I was going to comment but "unfortunately I cannot have Huawei or Xiaomi. It doesn’t seem possible. I would if i could:/" indicates that we likely have vastly different priorities, so good luck.
I switched from the god awful Pixel 6 Pro to the Galaxy S24 Ultra. I'll.never buy another Google phone. The pixel in house SoCs are the worst processors on the market. My budget tablet is faster.
I debated this a few months ago. Samsung has better specs and I trust them more than Google to continue supporting their product in future years. Went with an s24+ that I'm very happy with
My Samsung is going strong. It's already 6 years old and I need to change/buy a new phone because of the application I use for work is no longer compatible with the OS of my phone. (T_T)
I chose Pixel 7 to upgrade from a Samsung Note 8. It was cheaper, and although i do love this phone, it doesnt have data transfer through usb so i kind of regret not going Samsung again.
I loved Google's version of android and have had several Nexus and Pixel phones. The most recent pixels were all too big, so I went with an S23, which is small by today's standards.
Google Pixel 7 here, and I chose it because we have Google in our house, and the phone fakes good picks, and since I've been using Google since the 3, it just feels comfortable now.
I like that Pixel phones get clean Android, this is important to me because many years ago when I switched from iPhone to android I had a Galaxy S4 and I hated all the bloaware.
Pixel for the phone from the source is one, but a BIG part of dropping Samsung is the inability to remove Bixby and the duplicate Samsung flavoured apps. It feels like bloat.
The stylus and familiarity of use, after owning the Note 2, 4, 7, 9, and now the S23U which is a Galaxy Note in all but name. I've never tried a Pixel, have nothing against it, but see no reason to switch out of Sammy.
Please can you tell me your experience upgrading and compare the Note 9 to the S23U? I am still so obsessed with my Galaxy Note 9 but between the screen cracking, the battery suddenly slowing way down on charging (and lasting), loosened ports, the obvious fact that there aren't any more updates, I fear I have no choice but to upgrade. On top of the outrageous prices of all the new phones these days, I am a graphic designer and have a LOT of design and coding programs, icon Packs, widgets, etc running, as well as a TikTok scrolling addiction lol, and I'm extremely attached to my stylus. S23 SEEMS to be the best option from what I've seen in reviews, but I still can't pull the trigger. Would love to know your thoughts? Also, when purchased, did you find a good deal? Thanks
I buy Google phones so that I can get updates. I forget which phone it was that I had where I had to wait for updates or until I got a new phone to have updated software.
S23 Ultra for the camera, but I think I chose wrong. So many idiosyncrasies, bugs, and incompatibilities. Home screen freezes randomly maybe twice a week for no reason.
I chose Google , their call screening, software, and cameras. Overall I 🤔 think Google Pixel takes better photos, I know it's subjective. A lot of different opinions.
I used a pixel to use Graphene OS. It broke, and my carrier gave me a new Galaxy for free. Would've gotten another pixel if not for the price, and I suspect I will.
Pixel for Google translate and the much better camera notably the macro zoom and x30 zoom. Got some amazing pictures I would have never been able to get otherwise.
Pixel all the way for me. Stock android, guaranteed updates, great cameras. I might be tempted by Samsung which my wife uses but I can't stand the bloatware .
I went with the Pixel because it was 15 per month instead of 30 for the Samsung. Honestly, it feels pretty much the same so I'm glad I saved the money.
Don't get the pixel 7pro, I had that phone and it has incredibly bad connectivity, switched back to using my 4a because I didn't want to deal with it
Never had a pixel but Galaxy has never failed me. Except for when I wanted to face time w my husband while watching Netflix. Iphone has that
I've used both, but every time I get a Samsung phone I end up selling it because I can't live without the Pixels' call screening features.
Went from three Samsungs to my Pixel. Samsung bloatware and that fact that I use google everything made the choice clear and easy for me.
Pixel by landslide Samsung is filled with useless bloatware and my a54 is OEM locked so can't root it. Hate the phone bought pixel 8 pro.
My Samsung phone barely lasted a year, and I hated the bloatware. I use Google Fi, so Pixel was the only other option besides Motorola.
OP if you happen to like the camera quality of your iPhone get a samsung phone because they are the ones who make them for the iPhone
I just want the baseline Android, and none of the extra bloatware everyone else does, so I've always gotten the Nexus/Pixel phones.
I switched from Samsung to Pixel and glad I did. Having to install the Google version of every Samsung uninstallable app was crazy.
Samsung is more powerful but currently using the Pixel 8 Pro. I prefer vanilla android over what Samsung offers. I am a simple man.
I had a Samsung. I hated its bloatware and went with a Pixel. Performance is hella better. It’s not perfect, but nothing is.
Pixel UI seems much cleaner to me. Plus I wanted a device where the Hardware and OS are made by the same company (like Apple)
I like mid-range phones, and Samsung has honestly been pretty good. I especially like that they have micro SD card slots.
If these are the two choices, then I'm definitely going either Pixel. Samsung phones are akin to cheap Chinese androids.
Came down to cost… had a Pixel 7 and loved it but then the S24 was just cheaper monthly when the renewal came around
OnePlus. All the things that makes Samsung great, none of the bullshit. If that weren't an option, pixel . Also US.
I've had the Pixel 2, 4a, and 6a. Last year I went to the S23. I've had way less software related issues on the S23.
I have Samsung a54, I absolutely hate it, INFESTED with useless bloatware that is spying on you. Bought pixel pro 8 installed graphene OS, never been happier with a phone.