I thought we should restart the brand discussion with something more popular to give this community relaunch a bit more oomph. So, Samsung it is.
I’ve never really used a Samsung phone much before, despite them being so popular in the States. Have friends who used them, they usually look nice and high quality, and the Galaxy S Active are the only high-end phones I know that doesn’t shatter when you look at them wrong without a case, so, props to Samsung.
There are may reasons I don’t like Samsung phones: Hardware fuse disabling Knox on bootloader unlock, Exynos vs Snapdragon models, the mandatory Bixby button, the Galaxy Note 7 that really blew up. To me, Samsung phones are trying so hard to go against what makes Android good, which is the customizability to do whatever you wanted. Android is everything; Samsung is just Samsung.
Personally, I think Samsung is only worth buying at the very high end for the Galaxy S series. I’ve heard that A series have gotten better, but there always seems to be better choices from Moto/Pixel/Chinese brands on Amazon that it’s not worth considering their low tier offering.
What should we do next week? I’m thinking Microsoft, just to make fun of them for the very idea of making a Surface Duo 2.
I’ve had a few samsun galaxy phones. They have been really fantastic. Lightning fast and very reliable. The only other smart phone i’ve had was a sony xperia which was equally excellent. My current galaxy is 3 years old with 6GB of ram and it’s still lightning fast.
Damn, OneUI is my favourite Android skin lol. I thought that was a pretty popular opinion on the Android side. So many features with good updates is a win-win for me.
I’m always surprised to see people claim oneUI is awful. TouchWiz was absolutely awful but imo oneUI is one of the few android skins that actually improve the experience significantly.
My only complaint is that some settings enable ads in various parts of the interface (but they can be disabled so it’s not a dealbreaker) and that they absolutely ruined Game Launcher. That being said the beta Google Play Games launcher is very good and has basically replaced Game Launcher for me.
I’m in the same boat with my Note20 Ultra. I’d have a really hard time switching to a different manufacturer after using this phone for the last few years.
They’re the best Android phone, but not the best experience.
When it works, it works really well. I’ve had many of their Galaxy line up. I’ve even switched briefly to iPhone and came back to a Galaxy S23 Ultra, and it’s so so good.
On the other hand, their budget phones aren’t bad. I use one of their really old A lineup phones as a digital dash of OBD2 data for my car. That battery is just amazing, it stays charged for days, takes in the heat, and still operates no problem.
The only issue I have is support. They want to demand similar pricing to Apple, but if something break it’s pretty much go fuck yourself attitude.
I mean, on the one hand I’ve had two Samsung phones last me the past decade (and the older one still fires up when I want to use it). But on the other hand, I’ve decided I’ll never buy a Samsung phone again. Their great hardware is marred by the Samsung software experience. The ad experience hasn’t been bad actually, probably because I’m on a flagship model.
But I hate the button they force to be associated with their feature that I don’t want. Every single time I’ve hit that button was either by accident or experimenting with how it works. Even though I have set up one of the alternative presses to launch an app of my choice, I never think of the button other than when I accidentally hit it and need to swear at it and Samsung.
They became dead to me the moment they stopped having removable batteries.
No, this is not a Note 7 joke or anything. I just really hate the trend of integrated batteries in electronics because it places a fundamental limit on the product’s useful life of about four to five years before the battery degrades so much that it becomes essentially unusable as a mobile device. It’s probably the single worst “innovation” in consumer electronics history. Replacing a sealed-in battery out of warranty is often similar in price to getting a new damn phone, and not without risk either since modern phones are sealed so tightly that even professional technicians can accidentally destroy the rest of the device while trying to disassemble it.
You used to boast that your removable batteries were an advantage over the iPhone, Samsung. What happened to that?
The battery, though glued to body of phone, is still easily replaceable. I don’t understand why people complain about it. Just remove the back with heat, use IPA to remove it, glue new one there and glue the back and you’re done. Yes, you might need some tools to it, which are cheap, or you just use your imagination and use what you have home. Only thing which you really need apart from new battery is the glue to glue back the back of phone. It cost me 1$ on ebay…
Good thing the EU is making it so we’re not going to have to worry about that for much longer.
Also it is possible to change the battery in your device it just takes some effort. Ifixit has replacement batteries, the needed tools and good instructions for many devices.
I suffered through 2 years of zero software updates, not even security updates. Google Pay stopped working randomly. I contacted Samsung support who couldn’t figure out why on either of these issues. It also kept lighting up on full brightness in the middle of the night due to no reason I could figure out, despite being on do-not-disturb. Never buying a Samsung again.
@kablammy@MargotRobbie I have always had a good experience. I bought a cheap-ish Samsung and it has worked perfectly for the last 3 years. My Samsung before that, I kept for 5 years. One minor irritation is that Samsung includes apps you might not want. I use third mostly party apps. Eg. Chrome browser instead of Samsung browser.
I personally love Samsung. Have a Note20 Ultra still going strong, got a Tab S9 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro in the last year. They are all so customizable out of the box using Good Lock and other software that it would be painful to switch. I find they all perform really well and the improvements of OneUI are appreciated. I like the Calendar, Browser (on tablet), Reminders and some other apps much more than Google’s offerings.
Samsung phones are the worst android phones you can buy, except for all the others.
As frustrating as Samsung is, I always find myself going back to them. Displays, build quality, cameras, performance, storage capacity, speakers, software features (Dex!), they’re just ahead of the curve across the board.
The only legitimate advantage of Chinese phones is the super fast charging, but I’m in the better safe than sorry camp on that one.
I’ve had the Fold 3 and now Fold 4, and I really don’t see myself getting anything other than a Fold 6 down the line, unless something major changes.
Those sliding/expandable screen models looked pretty slick. I hope by the time they get to the Fold 6 it’ll just be an expandable stick phone rather than actually folding.
When LG folded their mobile division I chose a Motorola over a Samsung.
The only thing I’d buy from Samsung without a lot of persuasion is Samsung’s SSD drives, which are usually the best and most reliable on the market.
The main problem is that Samsung is one of the worst hardware manufacturers in terms of valuing privacy, even their TV’s are being geared towards spamming ads at you and spying on you through their cameras.
Also Samsung forces Facebook/Meta bloat ware on you.
I feel its the “cheap” ( even if it costs so much ) like preinstalled sponsored apps, some bad performance on like 2-3 Year old phones. Not the best ui. But its like the standard in every phone.
To be honest, I blame Google for not enforcing some parts of the ecosystem strongly enough for that. It took a while for most Windows laptops to be debloated, and I would expect the same from Android eventually.
You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: [email protected]
5. Engage respectfully: Harassment, flamebaiting, bad faith engagement, or agenda posting will result in your posts being removed. Excessive violations will result in temporary or permanent ban, depending on severity.
6. Memes are not allowed to be posts, but are allowed in the comments.
7. Posts from clickbait sources are heavily discouraged. Please de-clickbait titles if it needs to be submitted.
8. Submission statements of any length composed of your own thoughts inside the post text field are mandatory for any microblog posts, and are optional but recommended for article/image/video posts.
I’ve had a few samsun galaxy phones. They have been really fantastic. Lightning fast and very reliable. The only other smart phone i’ve had was a sony xperia which was equally excellent. My current galaxy is 3 years old with 6GB of ram and it’s still lightning fast.
deleted by creator
Damn, OneUI is my favourite Android skin lol. I thought that was a pretty popular opinion on the Android side. So many features with good updates is a win-win for me.
I’m always surprised to see people claim oneUI is awful. TouchWiz was absolutely awful but imo oneUI is one of the few android skins that actually improve the experience significantly.
My only complaint is that some settings enable ads in various parts of the interface (but they can be disabled so it’s not a dealbreaker) and that they absolutely ruined Game Launcher. That being said the beta Google Play Games launcher is very good and has basically replaced Game Launcher for me.
I’m using an s20 FE 5g so no ads. But I feel like I use enough oneUI specific stuff that I’d find it genuinely difficult to switch to another company.
I’m in the same boat with my Note20 Ultra. I’d have a really hard time switching to a different manufacturer after using this phone for the last few years.
We need S5 but with modern specs. Galaxy Alpha would be zased phone if it had a MicroSD reader.
deleted by creator
They’re the best Android phone, but not the best experience.
When it works, it works really well. I’ve had many of their Galaxy line up. I’ve even switched briefly to iPhone and came back to a Galaxy S23 Ultra, and it’s so so good.
On the other hand, their budget phones aren’t bad. I use one of their really old A lineup phones as a digital dash of OBD2 data for my car. That battery is just amazing, it stays charged for days, takes in the heat, and still operates no problem.
The only issue I have is support. They want to demand similar pricing to Apple, but if something break it’s pretty much go fuck yourself attitude.
Crap phones that don’t last, bad UI, filled with bloat and ads, don’t play nice with the other Android kids, and steal their homework.
I mean, on the one hand I’ve had two Samsung phones last me the past decade (and the older one still fires up when I want to use it). But on the other hand, I’ve decided I’ll never buy a Samsung phone again. Their great hardware is marred by the Samsung software experience. The ad experience hasn’t been bad actually, probably because I’m on a flagship model.
But I hate the button they force to be associated with their feature that I don’t want. Every single time I’ve hit that button was either by accident or experimenting with how it works. Even though I have set up one of the alternative presses to launch an app of my choice, I never think of the button other than when I accidentally hit it and need to swear at it and Samsung.
They became dead to me the moment they stopped having removable batteries.
No, this is not a Note 7 joke or anything. I just really hate the trend of integrated batteries in electronics because it places a fundamental limit on the product’s useful life of about four to five years before the battery degrades so much that it becomes essentially unusable as a mobile device. It’s probably the single worst “innovation” in consumer electronics history. Replacing a sealed-in battery out of warranty is often similar in price to getting a new damn phone, and not without risk either since modern phones are sealed so tightly that even professional technicians can accidentally destroy the rest of the device while trying to disassemble it.
You used to boast that your removable batteries were an advantage over the iPhone, Samsung. What happened to that?
The battery, though glued to body of phone, is still easily replaceable. I don’t understand why people complain about it. Just remove the back with heat, use IPA to remove it, glue new one there and glue the back and you’re done. Yes, you might need some tools to it, which are cheap, or you just use your imagination and use what you have home. Only thing which you really need apart from new battery is the glue to glue back the back of phone. It cost me 1$ on ebay…
Instructions unclear, phone glued to dick. Which actually works for me, thanks.
Good thing the EU is making it so we’re not going to have to worry about that for much longer.
Also it is possible to change the battery in your device it just takes some effort. Ifixit has replacement batteries, the needed tools and good instructions for many devices.
I had a note 8.
Ok phone, nice pen.
But the one phone I managed to break the screen of. Tanks to curved screen that make using proper protection impossible.
Went back to nexus / pixel.
I suffered through 2 years of zero software updates, not even security updates. Google Pay stopped working randomly. I contacted Samsung support who couldn’t figure out why on either of these issues. It also kept lighting up on full brightness in the middle of the night due to no reason I could figure out, despite being on do-not-disturb. Never buying a Samsung again.
That also happens to me sometimes with my note 10. I think it has something to do with the weekly automatic reboot I have scheduled.
@kablammy @MargotRobbie I have always had a good experience. I bought a cheap-ish Samsung and it has worked perfectly for the last 3 years. My Samsung before that, I kept for 5 years. One minor irritation is that Samsung includes apps you might not want. I use third mostly party apps. Eg. Chrome browser instead of Samsung browser.
I personally love Samsung. Have a Note20 Ultra still going strong, got a Tab S9 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro in the last year. They are all so customizable out of the box using Good Lock and other software that it would be painful to switch. I find they all perform really well and the improvements of OneUI are appreciated. I like the Calendar, Browser (on tablet), Reminders and some other apps much more than Google’s offerings.
Cant use same email on two phones if you lost old one, because need old phone to verify account.
Over time phone runs slower and slower.
I find Motorola’s much better, I generally go with the Pure.
Samsung phones are the worst android phones you can buy, except for all the others.
As frustrating as Samsung is, I always find myself going back to them. Displays, build quality, cameras, performance, storage capacity, speakers, software features (Dex!), they’re just ahead of the curve across the board.
The only legitimate advantage of Chinese phones is the super fast charging, but I’m in the better safe than sorry camp on that one.
I’ve had the Fold 3 and now Fold 4, and I really don’t see myself getting anything other than a Fold 6 down the line, unless something major changes.
Those sliding/expandable screen models looked pretty slick. I hope by the time they get to the Fold 6 it’ll just be an expandable stick phone rather than actually folding.
When LG folded their mobile division I chose a Motorola over a Samsung.
The only thing I’d buy from Samsung without a lot of persuasion is Samsung’s SSD drives, which are usually the best and most reliable on the market.
The main problem is that Samsung is one of the worst hardware manufacturers in terms of valuing privacy, even their TV’s are being geared towards spamming ads at you and spying on you through their cameras.
Also Samsung forces Facebook/Meta bloat ware on you.
I feel its the “cheap” ( even if it costs so much ) like preinstalled sponsored apps, some bad performance on like 2-3 Year old phones. Not the best ui. But its like the standard in every phone.
To be honest, I blame Google for not enforcing some parts of the ecosystem strongly enough for that. It took a while for most Windows laptops to be debloated, and I would expect the same from Android eventually.
They are very anti repair. And also this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-8qqkCbo3U
Why does everyone always copy the bad part of Apple and never the good parts?