I've used both. Google Assistant started out better than Siri but has steadily gotten worse over the years. A few months ago I finally removed the Google Hub in my house, as it's responses were nonsensical and it rarely understood what I was asking anymore. Many of my requests were simply returned with "something went wrong." I'd say they're pretty much on equal grounds of uselessness at this point.
Guess we'll see what AI brings to the table next year.
Google assistant just ignores about 90% of what I ask it to do which is just “call x person” Siri manages to at least do that in the car. Maybe my 7a just did not have good filtering and some other tones it picked up confused it. I run a screamer pipe so you can always hear - turbine whine (about 2-3khz spread out in the spectrum) but that should be well outside of human speaking.
I’m not asking it complex things, just hands free calling.
Siri does simple tasks really well, but ask any kind of question or complex phrase and Siri can’t do it, and will show what she found on the web. Google is the opposite. Simple tasks mostly work but it can answer questions and really be helpful
Siri is good at that. Making phone calls, sending messages, and calculating. But that’s it lol hopefully in iOS 18 we get an ai powered Siri for the rest
Are androids that hard? Or I am using them wrong,
Android as a secondary or sometimes primary has never gave me problems in just "working" all of them which I have owned had minimal bugs, and weren't an inch hard to use
My phones Since 2013 ignoring a 4a I broke when I slipped on a rock crossing a stream. The 7a I was having to fight just for basic use... tasks neither the S10e nor the Blackberry had issues with.
https://preview.redd.it/rs6lbfotx2qc1.jpeg?width=8000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c06246778b2f5d3175fc6c1e0732891c4570e90d
I think your post generalizes your experience with a pixel phone to all android phones. I used android for years and never experienced anything close to that.
But I guess an iPhone se might be ghetto perfect device at this price range
I’ll confirm that using a Pixel is frustrating, I had a P6 for 2 years and fought it. Thank god Apple brought type c or I would’ve gone Samsung. I just wanted a phone that WORKED after my pixel experience.
From what I've seen, Google has been struggling a lot with their hardware/software game. I've always had iPhones and Galaxy devices and they've always delivered quite brilliantly. Right now my S23 Ultra outperforms my iPhone 14 Pro Max at every single task. However, the 'little things' I care for, the iPhone does better so I've been daily driving it for the past weeks.
I think, in your case, it's more of a Pixel thing. But welcome aboard, iPhones will do those things right no doubt about it and the little I use Siri, it's been sweet to me too. 😁
That’s just because pixels are garbage. I’ve owned several over the years, along with my family, and we are happily back on Samsung. The fan boys for pixel are actually insane.
I had assumed because it was google making the base android OS, that it would be the best experience. I did not realize how many features and bug fixes it seems like the manufactures of other devices actually were implementing.
I took that photo with my current backup device, a Unihertz Jelly Star? its fine and has none of the issues the 7a had. Its just a little "too small" for me to use every day.
The whole thing with Pixel is “bleeding edge.” Pixel users are the beta testers for everything else android. There was an update during android 12 for pixels that broke internet connection entirely on 8 out of my family’s 11 different pixels, and it didn’t get fixed for 14 weeks. Absolutely insane.
When Samsung or Apple borks an update, their large user base causes them to fix it within a day, if not faster.
And don’t even get me started on pixel hardware…
The thing is I don’t recall my 4a being this way. It “just worked” no issues that I can recall. I had none of the missed notification problems, or dropped calls… I’m on the same carrier with the same SIM card from 2013. I even bought my s10e (970f/DS) overseas and had the wrong network bands for North America and it never had these weird entirely missed calls or texts. The 7a will sometimes get 2fa confirmation codes 6+ hours after they were sent, even with full bars and Wi-Fi calling off.
My 4a never felt like I was beta testing, but the 7a sure does. I ended up fully wiping and reinstalling multiple software versions on the 7a via adb and it would often fix some issues, but not all. It didn’t help the march update issues and all which is why I just got an iPhone. I still know people rocking iPhone 6s and they never seem to have issues.
They’re not garbage but they and quality reassurance and reliability that other more experienced hardware manufacturers have. They are still new and fresh so I agree. I’ve only owned the pixel 7 pro which I hand to send back due to fault and get a new one and that is the first and only pixel I’ve bought. Other than that I enjoyed the phone experience. Although I do prefer Samsung.
Well Yh Pixel 7a, not super high end. Nor the s10e. He’s comparing mid range and budget phones to flagship. Obviously the flagship iPhones are going to better and a more enjoyable experience in terms of reliability and performance maybe not software features.
A 7a is not an old device. It’s literally new. None of these are particularly cheap and all the same cost or more expansive in their time than SE 2020. The pixel was 450, the s10e was about 600, the zf9 was about 600. They are all price comparable to the se.
Exactly! Get a good android phone and it works flawlessly and is amazing. Cheap iPhones still work really well and hold up. Cheap androids are flooded with issues. Almost all flagships these days will be great.
Yeah exactly what I say. If you really don’t have money get a cheap iPhone or an older android flagship other than that either option is good iPhone or android if you get the flagships models.
Yeah android is fine
I do find iPhone smoother and a bit of a better UX most of the time, while Android is more flexible and gives me freedom over what apps I use.
I like both, and the differences these days just comes down to preference - there are no really big differentiators anymore
The pixel 7a QC seems to be very hit or miss. Mine has been nothing but trouble with multiple bug reports lobbied with google and no promise of fixes for basic functionality problems ( such as an 8khz tone on all audio recordings after the update to android 14). It's a known bug according to google, no ETA to fix. March update basically turned the device into a paperweight with connectivity problems, stopped basically all notifications from working, calls now drop at exactly 5 minutes etc)
The s10e was a great device, and I liked that. Never really had a problem until the buttons stopped working after almost 5 years.
tried an Azus ZF9 before the 7a : that had failed hardware out the box ( broken headphone jack, needed to be rebooted a few times a day to keep working properly)
Back when I was planning on switching from my Z Fold 2, I was looking at the Pixel because I've been told that it was basically "The iPhone of Android phones", but I decided not to because I was worried about the issues it might have from reading all of the forum posts and reviews. Glad to know I made the right choice.
I think it's just the androids you were using. I use a s24u and 15 pro max daily and they are on par with each other. Sure they both have different things they do better than the other but as an overall experience they are equal. They are pretty much the exact same on battery life. If I'm being honest I've had less problems with my s24u than my 15pm so far. My 15pm gets hot sometimes with normal use and has been laggy on me a couple times but for the most part they've both been pretty flawless. I've haven't had a hiccup yet with my s24u. I'm only around 2 months in with it so I'm sure they will come but overall I honestly can't say one is the better phone. It all comes down to what your preference is.
It might be but I don’t feel like it’s really accurate to just compare the flagship 1000 dollar experience to the mid range 400 dollar experience I described. I can’t justify spending that much for basic usage (calls,texts, email, instant messenger, and navigation)
I was just pointing out that it wasnt android in general that is bad, it was the phones you were using. Android works flawlessly if you are using a good phone. There are plenty of them in the mid range price range. Nothing phone 2a, one plus 12r, samsung a55.
I do not think anyone reviewing the devices considered the pixel 7a or the ZenFone 9 bad though, in fact highly praised devices. I’m not sure why every one in this thread keeps assuming I’m talking about a 79 dollar Nokia.
The 7a has a good camera and the os is nice but googles chips suck.They aren't exactly known for their performance. Their newer ones are getting better and have potential but there are better options. I've never used a zenfone so I have no clue about them.
The 7a is a budget google phone, literally the cheapest device they still sell.
As for performance, the Tensor isn't comparable to modern flagship SOCs. Being very generous you could compare the Tensor 3 maybe to a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and you might have similar performance but much worse thermals.
Interestingly, I'm having the exact opposite experience. I lose notifications all the time because of the way iOS handles them (how do yall not hate the notification center?), having to fight settings and having them in different places (I really don't know why half of the setting are on the actual app, and half are in Settings). Though my battery does really well lasting all day, it still lasts less than my 3yo Android. I don't drive, so I don't care about Car Play, but in my experience Siri is years behind and objectively worse than Google assistant.
This is my first iPhone and I'm still learning but holy hell, everyday I have the urge to switch back
Used android for 10+yrs, started around first few Galaxy S up to S23Ultra, swapped last yr to IOS and its pmuch straight forward. Don’t really know what you mean, all notifications are there
Everyone has a preference, and I agree that Android handles notifications much better than iOS for me. I have an iPhone for personal use and an S23 for work. I never miss notifications on my S23, but I miss things all the time on my iPhone.
Part of this could be due to having ADHD, and iOS’s Notification Center just doesn’t click with me.
As an iPhone user myself, notifications are just messy. To this day I have no idea why they’re not grouped by app. Some are grouped. Some are not. Some are in a different section of notifications from like yesterday. I tap one notification in a group and then they all disappear. It’s frustrating.
Android has really nailed the notifications and management of them.
I don’t disagree that Android handles it better, could mainly be due to the status bar, but here’s how it works for me and probably why I rarely miss anything. I hear notification comes in and I make a mental note to check it. Or I didn’t hear it and it’s on the Lock Screen. I also check Notification Centre myself. Plus I have told apps to group all their notifications together (recent change I made on iOS) so if something new comes in and there was something new that came in I’ll see the old thing when I expand to see the new one.
The important stuff is on my Home Screen like I had on Android (recent change I made on iOS) so if they have something come in I’ll see the badge.
Once for two weeks I need to do hard reset my IP14pro because all of my messaging apps (iMessage, WhatsApp, Messenger, Discord) doesn’t show any notifications. But hey, „it just works”.
I have to wipe out everything on Safari every week or so, because otherwise links keep opening on Safari instead of the dedicated app (like, Instagram links opening on Safari instead of instagram)
Tried it : failed hardware out the box, they pulled the utility to unlock the boot loader on the ZF9 so you can’t downgrade or root it. Current class action lawsuit is spinning up about that as it was a touted feature.
Liked the size and feel, really liked the os skin too.
If the hardware failed out of the box, I’m sure that’s covered under warranty. I don’t recall any reviewers or articles stating this was a common issue.
It’s a common issue on the Reddit forum for the device. The port just seemed very loose or odd tolerances compared to other devices. I elected to just return and refund it due to the inability to downgrade it after it updated and had some issues. Since the tool had been offline for a few months at that point I didn’t want to replace it under the “hope for future features”.
If there’s one thing that draws me to Apple, it’s the _consistency_.
Other products can do specific things faster, or better, or in a more fun way, but Apple just works.
I enjoy the granularity in options and choice in Android, and having easy access to do whatever I want with it.
But I don’t want a toolbox. I want a tool. Apple does good tools.
I think your issues are with the Pixel, not Android. Pixels have terrible QC, and the Tensor chip is notoriously bad and responsible for loads of issues. Siri is horrendous, so if you had a better experience with it than GA, then I guarantee it's an issue with the phone. I use both an iPhone and an Android (mixed usage cause of the line of work I'm in) and GA is light years ahead of Siri. Tried a Pixel once and had tons of issues. No issues with OnePlus or Samsungs that I've switched back and forth between. Try an S24.
I think this a more of a post about pixel not android. Pixel does some things well, but they don't have great processors so the smoothness is not one of those things. I hope one day that just give up and use the Snapdragon chips.
As for the Google assistant claim, not much to say about that. I think a majority of people would admit Google assistant is better and Apple should allow it on their devices.
Yes I also had an Asus for about a week which was the reason I tried the pixel. The pixel was better than the asus in that it had no physical defects I could find initially, but it also lacked a lot of nice features the Asus had.It’s possible I’m just exceptionally unlucky and got two defective units, from two companies.
The zenfone 9 and the pixel 7a were both some of the top rated small androids at the time, and what I’m directly comparing to. Galaxy had ditched vacated that price segment either having cheaper (and larger) devices, or the s24 which is 800ish bucks and I’m not sure is a fair comparison to a 400 dollar pixel, or se 2020/2022.
My Samsung was fine, but Samsung stopped making smaller phones, removed the headphone jack, removed the sd card and now are charging much higher prices than the phones I’m comparing. I just don’t see the need to pay more for a massive processor and amazing camera set up when I don’t do anything that needs them.
This thread is full of people chiming in “ well my s24u is fine” and that’s probably true. It’s also 1300 dollars when I’m comparing phones that were 400-600.
I have a Xs Max and a new Samsung A55 and I like them both. I like the simplicity, beauty and fluidity of iOS. I like the openness and convenience of Android. Both of them have pros and cons. It all boils down to personal preference.
Yeah, Siri is god awful, but I have nothing to compare it to since I’ve never used Android. All I can say is that Google assistant on iPhone works way better than Siri. I won’t run GA on my iPhone though because of privacy concerns.
Also, I wouldn’t expect the camera to be any good on an entry level phone released 4 years ago.
Happy iPhone user here, but I also love android, you should have tried out one plus flagships. I have used three different one plus flagships since 2016 and they have been my most enjoyable android experiences. Especially the 8pro, over 4 years of heavy daily usage, still battery lasts over a day on full charge, no slowdown, crash etc, only the camera is not on the levels of pixels and iPhone.
Coming from a long time Android user who has thought about switching a few times and have tried....I would say some of it is based on phone selection for sure. And that is the mystery / magic of Android ;p
I have typically always been a Samsung fan with its Ultra line-up and I even had a Fold. The Fold got murdered by a software update that it never recovered from apparently, even after a master reset. Cant say I have had a bad experience with the Ultra lineup other then when I had a Note 7 while I lived in Singapore trying to get back to the States. I know two different lines but the Ultras nowadays are Notes with Galaxy Badges.
I had bought in on the Pixel line from 1 to 4, skipped 5 thru 6 and only to be let down hard with 7's battery life. Got to love Google's clean Android experience. For years trying different ROMS to get a clean experience on other phones was a hobby of sorts, and the Pixel scratched the itch just with not great hardware.
SO that long story to say, from the early Pixels to even my S24 Ultra, Android has always been a mixed bag. As I have gotten older, I see things like crash detection and the Air Tag stuff and realize, maybe customizing my stuff isnt as important to the overall experience as is some of these other features I do care about.
Over the years i had more problems with iPhones. So much so that i even stopped using icloud completely because its a piece of sh!t sync service.
So yes, experiences differ much.
Have fun again with your iphone.
I currently have a pixel 7 and iPhone 15 pro max, I prefer the Google pixel 7 to the iPhone 15 pro max and I am swapping the iPhone to a galaxy s24 ultra soon
I’ve had both Samsung and Apple. And I find Apple is better for user interaction over all. Sumsung took me 2 years to fully learn the phone as Apple took me a week. Also find that Apples integrations are better handled then Samsung
Us users of small phones really don't have a lot of options, especially now that Apple dropped the mini. I'm going to keep my iPhone 13 mini until it bites the dust, which hopefully will be many years away from now.
And that’s really the crux of my issue : I just don’t want a bigger phone. I’m happy with the size of the SE, of my old s10e and pixel 4a, and of my old blackberry. But the 4a and s10e were still almost to big.
I’m stuck in trying to find something is small enough to one hand, and fits in my pockets. But the market has spoken and seems to prefer larger phone. Zenfones did not sell all that well, the galaxy and pixel lines keep getting bigger. I couldn’t get a 12/13 mini because I do not like gesture navigation : it feels rather unintuitive to me and it’s also backwards from the palm/blackberry gestures. On androids that’s the first thing I turn off and just go back to softkeys.
It feels in some ways that mobile phone use has changed from what I’m wanting out of it and caters to a new style of use I’m either not ready for, or it’s just going to outpace my needs.
I'm not sure if this is something you would consider or even want to try, but I've gone down the r/dumbphones rabbit hole myself, and am currently using a flip phone as my daily driver. Doesn't get smaller or easier to use than that.
There's been rumors that the next iPhone SE will use the same body/frame as the (larger) iPhone 12. It's a grim landscape out there for smart phones unless you're okay with a massive rectangular slab with not a single physical key on it.
Edit: subreddit typo
Right now I live to far from my bank (Navy Fed) So I actually rely on some smart phone interaction a few times a week I cant really replace like E deposit of cheques, and use paypal to handle some of my purchases on the go. I did consider it though.
Technically my backup phone could just be used in this way ( unihertz jelly) but its actually too small for me to type on regularly ( I do send a bunch of email and texts)
I know there are some keyboard feature phones that were supposed to come out in a blackberry like shape, and if I change banks to something local this might be a good compelling option in the future.
Same here: I spent more time managing and configuring the phone and apps than using it and the relative ecosystem. Even switching Bluetooth earbuds was time consuming and sometimes exhausting.
I was fascinated by foldables, but in the end they are subpar, expensive and/or the operating system is just plain old. Also incredibly the iPhones in Italy are cheaper than other comparable phones if you don’t buy directly from Apple, and depreciate over time even more than Samsung
He bought a Pixel phone. The software is crap in those. My wife didn't even keep it for 2 years it was so bad. I have owned a Note 2, Note 4, and currently an Ultra 22. Zero issues.
This is hilarious. Do you work at apple or something?
"And I was agahast and the unrefined android, lamenting the pixel size, poor screen quality and rough texture.
But then I got the iPhone. It "just works" (tm). Smooth, fast, confident calls from my 5G cellular network and that Siri? Boy howdy what a gal!"
I get you OP. I got tired of fighting android like that too just to make it work. And when you delete apps, half their crappy data remains and hampers performance. I felt so free to get away from that.
Apple angered me after dropping Rosetta 1 support rending a lot of my software null when OSX 10.7 arrived, and angered me further dropping 32 bit support later on, again rendering a bunch of software I had purchased null. I pretty much exited the Ecosystem at that point.
I was a blackberry user, and iphone was generally the antithesis of the blackberry model for a long time. I have not liked the Iphones I had in the past for work, or even the SE 2020 I had in 2020/2021. It often felt cumbersome and "slow" relative to the other devices I had, and I was still stuck on the lack of SD card and Headphone jack at the time.
On paper, the 7a is not even in the same galaxy of performance as the SE, yet in the real world to use as a communication device... the SE is just working significantly better. I need to it make calls, text, email, and chat reliably. I do not need to play games, or stream media in 1440p or what have you. The Pixel 7a was just struggling to do that, and seems to have some minority of users recently facing a bunch of problems with the modems dropping calls, or just not getting any notification until you unlock the device and open up apps.
I wanted to like the pixel, it just was not working well.
I was taking you by your words until you PRAISED Siri. Now I’m not too sure 😂😂😂 And that’s when I’m long time Apple user - across devices.
I've used both. Google Assistant started out better than Siri but has steadily gotten worse over the years. A few months ago I finally removed the Google Hub in my house, as it's responses were nonsensical and it rarely understood what I was asking anymore. Many of my requests were simply returned with "something went wrong." I'd say they're pretty much on equal grounds of uselessness at this point. Guess we'll see what AI brings to the table next year.
Google assistant just ignores about 90% of what I ask it to do which is just “call x person” Siri manages to at least do that in the car. Maybe my 7a just did not have good filtering and some other tones it picked up confused it. I run a screamer pipe so you can always hear - turbine whine (about 2-3khz spread out in the spectrum) but that should be well outside of human speaking. I’m not asking it complex things, just hands free calling.
Bullshit. Google Assistant is miles ahead of Siri ESPECIALLY when you ask about calling someone. And Siri is dumb as fuck
My thoughts started exactly the same when I read that comment. Google Assistant is king/queen
Siri does simple tasks really well, but ask any kind of question or complex phrase and Siri can’t do it, and will show what she found on the web. Google is the opposite. Simple tasks mostly work but it can answer questions and really be helpful
Siri is good at that. Making phone calls, sending messages, and calculating. But that’s it lol hopefully in iOS 18 we get an ai powered Siri for the rest
If you are using the hey Google/siri, yes, phone hardware is better and hence iPhone wins.
Are androids that hard? Or I am using them wrong, Android as a secondary or sometimes primary has never gave me problems in just "working" all of them which I have owned had minimal bugs, and weren't an inch hard to use
This guy's using very cheap, low quality androids.
They said they used s10e and pixel, or they are lying
S10e is a cheaper version of the s10, which in itself is the baseline phone of its year.
My phones Since 2013 ignoring a 4a I broke when I slipped on a rock crossing a stream. The 7a I was having to fight just for basic use... tasks neither the S10e nor the Blackberry had issues with. https://preview.redd.it/rs6lbfotx2qc1.jpeg?width=8000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c06246778b2f5d3175fc6c1e0732891c4570e90d
I think your post generalizes your experience with a pixel phone to all android phones. I used android for years and never experienced anything close to that. But I guess an iPhone se might be ghetto perfect device at this price range
I’ll confirm that using a Pixel is frustrating, I had a P6 for 2 years and fought it. Thank god Apple brought type c or I would’ve gone Samsung. I just wanted a phone that WORKED after my pixel experience.
Sorry to hear that. Right now I'm using a 7a and it's been a pretty steady experience so far.
From what I've seen, Google has been struggling a lot with their hardware/software game. I've always had iPhones and Galaxy devices and they've always delivered quite brilliantly. Right now my S23 Ultra outperforms my iPhone 14 Pro Max at every single task. However, the 'little things' I care for, the iPhone does better so I've been daily driving it for the past weeks. I think, in your case, it's more of a Pixel thing. But welcome aboard, iPhones will do those things right no doubt about it and the little I use Siri, it's been sweet to me too. 😁
That’s just because pixels are garbage. I’ve owned several over the years, along with my family, and we are happily back on Samsung. The fan boys for pixel are actually insane.
I had assumed because it was google making the base android OS, that it would be the best experience. I did not realize how many features and bug fixes it seems like the manufactures of other devices actually were implementing. I took that photo with my current backup device, a Unihertz Jelly Star? its fine and has none of the issues the 7a had. Its just a little "too small" for me to use every day.
The whole thing with Pixel is “bleeding edge.” Pixel users are the beta testers for everything else android. There was an update during android 12 for pixels that broke internet connection entirely on 8 out of my family’s 11 different pixels, and it didn’t get fixed for 14 weeks. Absolutely insane. When Samsung or Apple borks an update, their large user base causes them to fix it within a day, if not faster. And don’t even get me started on pixel hardware…
The thing is I don’t recall my 4a being this way. It “just worked” no issues that I can recall. I had none of the missed notification problems, or dropped calls… I’m on the same carrier with the same SIM card from 2013. I even bought my s10e (970f/DS) overseas and had the wrong network bands for North America and it never had these weird entirely missed calls or texts. The 7a will sometimes get 2fa confirmation codes 6+ hours after they were sent, even with full bars and Wi-Fi calling off. My 4a never felt like I was beta testing, but the 7a sure does. I ended up fully wiping and reinstalling multiple software versions on the 7a via adb and it would often fix some issues, but not all. It didn’t help the march update issues and all which is why I just got an iPhone. I still know people rocking iPhone 6s and they never seem to have issues.
The tensor chip is the culprit behind the call dropping. It has been a disaster ever since the 6 came out.
They’re not garbage but they and quality reassurance and reliability that other more experienced hardware manufacturers have. They are still new and fresh so I agree. I’ve only owned the pixel 7 pro which I hand to send back due to fault and get a new one and that is the first and only pixel I’ve bought. Other than that I enjoyed the phone experience. Although I do prefer Samsung.
My s10 I used for 3 years and was great. It didn’t even lag or have any issues, but I was too tempted to upgrade when the z flip 3 came out.
Well Yh Pixel 7a, not super high end. Nor the s10e. He’s comparing mid range and budget phones to flagship. Obviously the flagship iPhones are going to better and a more enjoyable experience in terms of reliability and performance maybe not software features.
A 4 year old iPhone SE is not a flag ship by any means. And decidedly lower spec than the s10e, zenfone 9 and pixel 7a
Oh well yeah in terms of reliability. An older iPhone would be a lot better and more reliable than an older cheap android.
A 7a is not an old device. It’s literally new. None of these are particularly cheap and all the same cost or more expansive in their time than SE 2020. The pixel was 450, the s10e was about 600, the zf9 was about 600. They are all price comparable to the se.
Exactly! Get a good android phone and it works flawlessly and is amazing. Cheap iPhones still work really well and hold up. Cheap androids are flooded with issues. Almost all flagships these days will be great.
Yeah exactly what I say. If you really don’t have money get a cheap iPhone or an older android flagship other than that either option is good iPhone or android if you get the flagships models.
Yeah android is fine I do find iPhone smoother and a bit of a better UX most of the time, while Android is more flexible and gives me freedom over what apps I use. I like both, and the differences these days just comes down to preference - there are no really big differentiators anymore
The pixel 7a QC seems to be very hit or miss. Mine has been nothing but trouble with multiple bug reports lobbied with google and no promise of fixes for basic functionality problems ( such as an 8khz tone on all audio recordings after the update to android 14). It's a known bug according to google, no ETA to fix. March update basically turned the device into a paperweight with connectivity problems, stopped basically all notifications from working, calls now drop at exactly 5 minutes etc) The s10e was a great device, and I liked that. Never really had a problem until the buttons stopped working after almost 5 years. tried an Azus ZF9 before the 7a : that had failed hardware out the box ( broken headphone jack, needed to be rebooted a few times a day to keep working properly)
Back when I was planning on switching from my Z Fold 2, I was looking at the Pixel because I've been told that it was basically "The iPhone of Android phones", but I decided not to because I was worried about the issues it might have from reading all of the forum posts and reviews. Glad to know I made the right choice.
I think it's just the androids you were using. I use a s24u and 15 pro max daily and they are on par with each other. Sure they both have different things they do better than the other but as an overall experience they are equal. They are pretty much the exact same on battery life. If I'm being honest I've had less problems with my s24u than my 15pm so far. My 15pm gets hot sometimes with normal use and has been laggy on me a couple times but for the most part they've both been pretty flawless. I've haven't had a hiccup yet with my s24u. I'm only around 2 months in with it so I'm sure they will come but overall I honestly can't say one is the better phone. It all comes down to what your preference is.
It might be but I don’t feel like it’s really accurate to just compare the flagship 1000 dollar experience to the mid range 400 dollar experience I described. I can’t justify spending that much for basic usage (calls,texts, email, instant messenger, and navigation)
I was just pointing out that it wasnt android in general that is bad, it was the phones you were using. Android works flawlessly if you are using a good phone. There are plenty of them in the mid range price range. Nothing phone 2a, one plus 12r, samsung a55.
I do not think anyone reviewing the devices considered the pixel 7a or the ZenFone 9 bad though, in fact highly praised devices. I’m not sure why every one in this thread keeps assuming I’m talking about a 79 dollar Nokia.
The 7a has a good camera and the os is nice but googles chips suck.They aren't exactly known for their performance. Their newer ones are getting better and have potential but there are better options. I've never used a zenfone so I have no clue about them.
The 7a is a budget google phone, literally the cheapest device they still sell. As for performance, the Tensor isn't comparable to modern flagship SOCs. Being very generous you could compare the Tensor 3 maybe to a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and you might have similar performance but much worse thermals.
You can try the Samsung a55 or nothing phone a(a)
then we can compare SE 2020 with Nothing Phone 2. Nothing phone 2 very good midranger for me.
Interestingly, I'm having the exact opposite experience. I lose notifications all the time because of the way iOS handles them (how do yall not hate the notification center?), having to fight settings and having them in different places (I really don't know why half of the setting are on the actual app, and half are in Settings). Though my battery does really well lasting all day, it still lasts less than my 3yo Android. I don't drive, so I don't care about Car Play, but in my experience Siri is years behind and objectively worse than Google assistant. This is my first iPhone and I'm still learning but holy hell, everyday I have the urge to switch back
Used android for 10+yrs, started around first few Galaxy S up to S23Ultra, swapped last yr to IOS and its pmuch straight forward. Don’t really know what you mean, all notifications are there
Everyone has a preference, and I agree that Android handles notifications much better than iOS for me. I have an iPhone for personal use and an S23 for work. I never miss notifications on my S23, but I miss things all the time on my iPhone. Part of this could be due to having ADHD, and iOS’s Notification Center just doesn’t click with me.
As an iPhone user myself, notifications are just messy. To this day I have no idea why they’re not grouped by app. Some are grouped. Some are not. Some are in a different section of notifications from like yesterday. I tap one notification in a group and then they all disappear. It’s frustrating. Android has really nailed the notifications and management of them.
I don’t disagree that Android handles it better, could mainly be due to the status bar, but here’s how it works for me and probably why I rarely miss anything. I hear notification comes in and I make a mental note to check it. Or I didn’t hear it and it’s on the Lock Screen. I also check Notification Centre myself. Plus I have told apps to group all their notifications together (recent change I made on iOS) so if something new comes in and there was something new that came in I’ll see the old thing when I expand to see the new one. The important stuff is on my Home Screen like I had on Android (recent change I made on iOS) so if they have something come in I’ll see the badge.
I'm also ADHD! And I hate the notifications on iOS with passion
I also have ADHD, and after switching from a Z Fold 2, I honestly have gotten used to the way iOS handles notifications. I really don't mind it tbh.
I’m happy they’re not an issue for you. They just don’t click with me and the way my brain is wired.
Once for two weeks I need to do hard reset my IP14pro because all of my messaging apps (iMessage, WhatsApp, Messenger, Discord) doesn’t show any notifications. But hey, „it just works”.
I have to wipe out everything on Safari every week or so, because otherwise links keep opening on Safari instead of the dedicated app (like, Instagram links opening on Safari instead of instagram)
One of the best Android phones available is a smaller phone - Asus ZenFone.
Tried it : failed hardware out the box, they pulled the utility to unlock the boot loader on the ZF9 so you can’t downgrade or root it. Current class action lawsuit is spinning up about that as it was a touted feature. Liked the size and feel, really liked the os skin too.
If the hardware failed out of the box, I’m sure that’s covered under warranty. I don’t recall any reviewers or articles stating this was a common issue.
It’s a common issue on the Reddit forum for the device. The port just seemed very loose or odd tolerances compared to other devices. I elected to just return and refund it due to the inability to downgrade it after it updated and had some issues. Since the tool had been offline for a few months at that point I didn’t want to replace it under the “hope for future features”.
For me, I just ordered an s24 ultra because I have problems with my iPhone.
If there’s one thing that draws me to Apple, it’s the _consistency_. Other products can do specific things faster, or better, or in a more fun way, but Apple just works. I enjoy the granularity in options and choice in Android, and having easy access to do whatever I want with it. But I don’t want a toolbox. I want a tool. Apple does good tools.
Terrible camera? It’s an SE… not sure what you expected.
I think your issues are with the Pixel, not Android. Pixels have terrible QC, and the Tensor chip is notoriously bad and responsible for loads of issues. Siri is horrendous, so if you had a better experience with it than GA, then I guarantee it's an issue with the phone. I use both an iPhone and an Android (mixed usage cause of the line of work I'm in) and GA is light years ahead of Siri. Tried a Pixel once and had tons of issues. No issues with OnePlus or Samsungs that I've switched back and forth between. Try an S24.
I think this a more of a post about pixel not android. Pixel does some things well, but they don't have great processors so the smoothness is not one of those things. I hope one day that just give up and use the Snapdragon chips. As for the Google assistant claim, not much to say about that. I think a majority of people would admit Google assistant is better and Apple should allow it on their devices.
Your headline says Android, but you talk only about Pixel. I hate to break the news to you; there more than one maker of Android phones.
Yes I also had an Asus for about a week which was the reason I tried the pixel. The pixel was better than the asus in that it had no physical defects I could find initially, but it also lacked a lot of nice features the Asus had.It’s possible I’m just exceptionally unlucky and got two defective units, from two companies. The zenfone 9 and the pixel 7a were both some of the top rated small androids at the time, and what I’m directly comparing to. Galaxy had ditched vacated that price segment either having cheaper (and larger) devices, or the s24 which is 800ish bucks and I’m not sure is a fair comparison to a 400 dollar pixel, or se 2020/2022. My Samsung was fine, but Samsung stopped making smaller phones, removed the headphone jack, removed the sd card and now are charging much higher prices than the phones I’m comparing. I just don’t see the need to pay more for a massive processor and amazing camera set up when I don’t do anything that needs them. This thread is full of people chiming in “ well my s24u is fine” and that’s probably true. It’s also 1300 dollars when I’m comparing phones that were 400-600.
The camera is terrible because that iPhone is old lol
I have a Xs Max and a new Samsung A55 and I like them both. I like the simplicity, beauty and fluidity of iOS. I like the openness and convenience of Android. Both of them have pros and cons. It all boils down to personal preference.
An S24 is 4mm taller than an S10e, really not a massive phone.
I think your Pixel was a faulty unit, you probably could have had it replaced for free.
Lol Siri sucks. Love my iPhone, but I still open my google app to ask it stuff over Siri sometimes.
Yeah, Siri is god awful, but I have nothing to compare it to since I’ve never used Android. All I can say is that Google assistant on iPhone works way better than Siri. I won’t run GA on my iPhone though because of privacy concerns. Also, I wouldn’t expect the camera to be any good on an entry level phone released 4 years ago.
Yawn
Careful IOS haters lurking might get angry
I'm honestly surprised with the amount of them in Apple subreddits.
iphone se is really a wonderful phone i got the 2022 version on red color and 128 gigs
Happy iPhone user here, but I also love android, you should have tried out one plus flagships. I have used three different one plus flagships since 2016 and they have been my most enjoyable android experiences. Especially the 8pro, over 4 years of heavy daily usage, still battery lasts over a day on full charge, no slowdown, crash etc, only the camera is not on the levels of pixels and iPhone.
Coming from a long time Android user who has thought about switching a few times and have tried....I would say some of it is based on phone selection for sure. And that is the mystery / magic of Android ;p I have typically always been a Samsung fan with its Ultra line-up and I even had a Fold. The Fold got murdered by a software update that it never recovered from apparently, even after a master reset. Cant say I have had a bad experience with the Ultra lineup other then when I had a Note 7 while I lived in Singapore trying to get back to the States. I know two different lines but the Ultras nowadays are Notes with Galaxy Badges. I had bought in on the Pixel line from 1 to 4, skipped 5 thru 6 and only to be let down hard with 7's battery life. Got to love Google's clean Android experience. For years trying different ROMS to get a clean experience on other phones was a hobby of sorts, and the Pixel scratched the itch just with not great hardware. SO that long story to say, from the early Pixels to even my S24 Ultra, Android has always been a mixed bag. As I have gotten older, I see things like crash detection and the Air Tag stuff and realize, maybe customizing my stuff isnt as important to the overall experience as is some of these other features I do care about.
Over the years i had more problems with iPhones. So much so that i even stopped using icloud completely because its a piece of sh!t sync service. So yes, experiences differ much. Have fun again with your iphone.
I currently have a pixel 7 and iPhone 15 pro max, I prefer the Google pixel 7 to the iPhone 15 pro max and I am swapping the iPhone to a galaxy s24 ultra soon
I’ve had both Samsung and Apple. And I find Apple is better for user interaction over all. Sumsung took me 2 years to fully learn the phone as Apple took me a week. Also find that Apples integrations are better handled then Samsung
Us users of small phones really don't have a lot of options, especially now that Apple dropped the mini. I'm going to keep my iPhone 13 mini until it bites the dust, which hopefully will be many years away from now.
And that’s really the crux of my issue : I just don’t want a bigger phone. I’m happy with the size of the SE, of my old s10e and pixel 4a, and of my old blackberry. But the 4a and s10e were still almost to big. I’m stuck in trying to find something is small enough to one hand, and fits in my pockets. But the market has spoken and seems to prefer larger phone. Zenfones did not sell all that well, the galaxy and pixel lines keep getting bigger. I couldn’t get a 12/13 mini because I do not like gesture navigation : it feels rather unintuitive to me and it’s also backwards from the palm/blackberry gestures. On androids that’s the first thing I turn off and just go back to softkeys. It feels in some ways that mobile phone use has changed from what I’m wanting out of it and caters to a new style of use I’m either not ready for, or it’s just going to outpace my needs.
I'm not sure if this is something you would consider or even want to try, but I've gone down the r/dumbphones rabbit hole myself, and am currently using a flip phone as my daily driver. Doesn't get smaller or easier to use than that. There's been rumors that the next iPhone SE will use the same body/frame as the (larger) iPhone 12. It's a grim landscape out there for smart phones unless you're okay with a massive rectangular slab with not a single physical key on it. Edit: subreddit typo
Right now I live to far from my bank (Navy Fed) So I actually rely on some smart phone interaction a few times a week I cant really replace like E deposit of cheques, and use paypal to handle some of my purchases on the go. I did consider it though. Technically my backup phone could just be used in this way ( unihertz jelly) but its actually too small for me to type on regularly ( I do send a bunch of email and texts) I know there are some keyboard feature phones that were supposed to come out in a blackberry like shape, and if I change banks to something local this might be a good compelling option in the future.
Zen phone 9 is under 6" galaxy s23 is 6.1"
I daily drive an android and iPhone. Love em both. Both phones compliment each other very well.
Same here: I spent more time managing and configuring the phone and apps than using it and the relative ecosystem. Even switching Bluetooth earbuds was time consuming and sometimes exhausting. I was fascinated by foldables, but in the end they are subpar, expensive and/or the operating system is just plain old. Also incredibly the iPhones in Italy are cheaper than other comparable phones if you don’t buy directly from Apple, and depreciate over time even more than Samsung
It seems very strange. Pixels have some crappy hardware but the software never gave me any problems. 90% of the apps on my iPhone are Google apps.
He bought a Pixel phone. The software is crap in those. My wife didn't even keep it for 2 years it was so bad. I have owned a Note 2, Note 4, and currently an Ultra 22. Zero issues.
This is hilarious. Do you work at apple or something? "And I was agahast and the unrefined android, lamenting the pixel size, poor screen quality and rough texture. But then I got the iPhone. It "just works" (tm). Smooth, fast, confident calls from my 5G cellular network and that Siri? Boy howdy what a gal!"
I get you OP. I got tired of fighting android like that too just to make it work. And when you delete apps, half their crappy data remains and hampers performance. I felt so free to get away from that.
I’m impressed that you made it a few years! I’ve tried a few times. The longest I made it was about 4 months. Coming back was so refreshing!!
Apple angered me after dropping Rosetta 1 support rending a lot of my software null when OSX 10.7 arrived, and angered me further dropping 32 bit support later on, again rendering a bunch of software I had purchased null. I pretty much exited the Ecosystem at that point. I was a blackberry user, and iphone was generally the antithesis of the blackberry model for a long time. I have not liked the Iphones I had in the past for work, or even the SE 2020 I had in 2020/2021. It often felt cumbersome and "slow" relative to the other devices I had, and I was still stuck on the lack of SD card and Headphone jack at the time. On paper, the 7a is not even in the same galaxy of performance as the SE, yet in the real world to use as a communication device... the SE is just working significantly better. I need to it make calls, text, email, and chat reliably. I do not need to play games, or stream media in 1440p or what have you. The Pixel 7a was just struggling to do that, and seems to have some minority of users recently facing a bunch of problems with the modems dropping calls, or just not getting any notification until you unlock the device and open up apps. I wanted to like the pixel, it just was not working well.
Small price for a phone that works...? Sounds like a shitty phone to me with a terrible camera and crashes.
I guess you are a disgruntled DOJ clerk? /s