Android

The hardware is pretty good. Not a fan of Exynos tho.

The software feels really bloated. I usually have LineageOS on it instead. Compared to One UI, the Pixel-like UI feels very clean, and the OS feels very lightweight.

If it was impossible to have something less-bloated, I'd probably switch phone to a cleaner Android.

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?

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 had one about a decade ago after my HTC Magic. Didn't like it, never went back. My mother keeps buying them and is infinitely frustrated. She'll also ask for help and I have no idea what to tell her. They move all the settings around, so it's next to impossible to understand unless you already know it.

I know we're not doing Sony here, but the Xperia Performance X was the most amazing phone I've ever seen. Glass slate phone dropped out of a god damned car on the highway at 120km/h. Chipped a corner and went on the work for another 2 years. Same phone went through a foam and mud obstacle course run in no case. Dirt and water wedger in every square inch of the thing, still worked for another 3 years, although the camera lenses did have some water in it (camera still worked though!). Only phone I've ever been impressed by.

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.

We need S5 but with modern specs. Galaxy Alpha would be zased phone if it had a MicroSD reader.

I want to like them, but Exynos has consistently ruined it for me. I live in one of the countries that got the Exynos versions of their flagship phones until very recently. I had a Note 9 which the US-based Android world raved about, but I was unimpressed because the Exynos version was just that much worse and I feel the same way about the Galaxy S21+ I have now.

The processor overheats and throttles after the slightest workload making the system UI a laggy, janky mess and the battery life is mediocre at best. The modem is crap too, it switches between 5G and 4G for no discernible reason far too often.

The camera is infuriatingly slow all around; slow to launch, slow shutter, slow processing and slow UI. I miss so many photos of my toddler because of it. I had my phone replaced under warranty for an unrelated issue and the replacement has the exact same problem.

I have an S10, I will stop using Samsung phones after this one. My phone heats up by itself in my pocket and drains my battery by 20% in a matter of minutes no matter how optimised my phone is. The curved screen is a nightmare with screen protectors and they've stopped with headphone jacks and sd cards in later models.

They are also as anti right to repair as Apple is although they don't have the hardware locked in atleast.

The camera resolution even with 12MP is very good but Samsung always oversaturates pictures by a massive amount so that grass looks like vomit. Raw images is the only way around that. And the camera app has weird limitations like no pro mode with the UW and tele lenses and third party apps can only use 1080p60 on exynos chips.
I'm just done with them

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.

Battery life is seriously impressive and they do offer some customisations over stock that aren't even found in LOS but overall pretty meh and bloated.

Hardware:

They make high-quality hardware and I like that they’re trying to do something new and interesting with foldable tech, but I’ve never been a fan of their Exynos processors and foldables (imo) have proven to be little more than a gimmick that sacrifices far too much on durability for minimal benefit to most people.

Software:

I hate bloatware, and I’m not a fan of their crusade against open bootloaders.

If you get the right model they are nice but stock firmware is not the best not the worst

I actively avoid buying exynos based samsungs. Rest is OK. Was lucky enough to buy M51 with 7000mah battery and an efficient snapdragon SOC which lasts minimum 2 days on full charge.

Used mid end phone m20. Looks good on paper. Shit phone. Can't repair.

Samsung is just apple with Android phones.

I haven't had a Samsung phone since Android Gingerbread, but I do have a Samsung TV in my guests room and every time it gets turned on, my pi-hole blocks a lot of traffic under the ads and tracking category, so Samsung's phones are probably similar.

I think their screens are really good and they also have 5 generations of foldable devices, more than any other company.

Still, I wouldn't buy one because I don't like their software and they tend to restrict functionality unless you use other Samsung devices. For instance, a Samsung Galaxy watch, even running Wear OS, will not have all the features enabled unless you pair it with a Samsung phone.

I bought a Samsung A13, but found that there is no Lineage for it, it's dumped in the drawer and I installed the latest Lineage on my Nokia 6.1. Alas the Motorola's (Moto G, G2, G4) had hardware issues to soon.

The hardware is great, software of . I love the tablets I have, but again, running Lineage.

When going for another device, Lineage support is main requirement, I don't care to much about the rest. As phone Fairphone or google pixel are considered options for now, but the '18 Nokia 6.1 still works perfectly. Alas there are no relative small (< 5") phones anymore. Loved the size of the Moto G.

I don't like them for me. I hate all the Samsung software injected into android.

But for regular people they are probably the most recommended ones in the android ecosystem. So I recommend them sometimes if the budget is good.

I might not like the software. But the hardware seems good quality. And software still has some cool functions.

Somebody told me it has a way to hibernate apps that are in the background. And I think that is amazing.

I've had several Samsung phones over the years and do not like how bloated their apps have become like Samsung Notes, Samsung Health, and such. I liked their software experience when S5 was released much better. Remember Milk Music? 🙂

The only reason to buy a Samsung these days is their top shelf hardware but primarily in. their flagships. Also had hardware issue with last Samsung flagship device I owned and then awful tech support from Samsung to boot.

Moto has really upped their game especially in their Moto G 2023 5G models.(U.S. here) I'll be sticking with Moto mid-range going forward.

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.