what android phone do you use and why

Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown

Since Pixel phone seems to have bad quality check on their production chain and lots of reported phone died all over their Pixel product line 4, 5, 6, 7 ,8, 9 I'm interested to know what android phone do you use and why.

suspiciouslygeneric.com

The hidden flaw killing Google Pixel phones

I loved my Pixel 5a. It may have been the nicest phone I ever had. It had a high quality camera that easily rivaled its iPhone competition. It ran stock Android, meaning there wasn’t any bloa…
suspiciouslygeneric.com suspiciouslygeneric.com
 
A Motorola Moto G7. Because it was cheap (black friday sale or something) back when I got it. Hmm, I see now that I have this phone since December 2019. Not bad for a cheap phone.
Fair warning: I'm a different kind of Android user than most; I turn off automatic updates and update the apps I use manually when I want (or need to).
 
I have a Redmi Note 12 4G running CrDroid 11 Android 15 with nikGapps. I think I won't buy Xiaomi anymore because they are trying to make bootloader unlocking impossible.
 
Well, to buck the apparent trend: I have a Pixel 4a 5g.

Production quality is perfect. No problems in any way.

Not only that, I bought it used (renewed) and it seemed completely unused (so I lucked out there).

I bought it because the pixel line is supported by CalyxOS and GrapheneOS (I use CalyxOS), de-googled AOSP based phones. No google anything (except firmware, which, you know...). F-Droid for apps (there is a way to get anonymous, supposedly, apps from the Play store). Pretty cool. This phone does everything I need... and that really isn't much. I don't use my phone for anything beyond phone calls and very basic, non-critical, unimportant messaging. Well, I'm more-or-less compelled to use it as an sms-second-factor for the places that's the only option for second-factor. But that doesn't have anything to do with the phone itself.
 
started with a samsung galaxy, then went to the darkside iPhone for a while (huge mistake), and am now back with a Kyocera DuraForce Pro 3 that I absolutely love. Now if I could get the same phone but with an unlocked bootloader and root it.

Kyocera phone:
* removable battery
* waterproof/resistant
* drop proof up to about 6 feet
* inductive charging capable
* lots of external buttons that can be programmed
* android 14
* good battery time
 
I don't know what it is. It's black. It cost $30. I've had it 3 years. I can drop it face first on the concrete and it never gets a scratch on the screen.
 
Pixel 8A running Calyxos. I've gone back and forth with cheap phones, and have realized I really like having a phone with a decent camera. Calyx offers a decent compromise solution between the Linux phone I tried to use, and the bloat-and-spyware encrusted offerings of the major carriers.
 
Samsung customer here - I actually started with a cheap Huawei phone (ATT Fusion) that had a pretty crappy battery that could not last a day, and I tried an HTC One M9 phone that had a crappy antenna so nobody could reliably even text me. But I had a great experience with Samsung phones. The only time a Samsung phone disappointed me - I bought an A20 from Amazon a few years ago, and thought I was getting a 32 GB model, when in fact I ended up with a 16 GB model. Well, that was an international model that was not specificaly labeled for a US market, so I suspect it was just packed by a sloppy contractor/reseller. Learned my lesson, now I have a Galaxy A51, 128 GB, and it's got a good battery. Bluetooth is still an awful drain on the battery, but I can live with that. And software - not a worry, I can find something workable easily enough.
 
OnePlus 6: 128GB storage/8GB RAM sounded nice, and my relatively basic usage wouldn't come near making those specs a problem; for like $125 it was a pretty good deal! The glass back has it sometimes randomly gliding off surfaces, and while mine hit carpet over a dozen times from 3-4ft, I've had no glass break; it's durable :p

I had Nexus 4/5/5X/6/6P, finally an OG Pixel XL, and then went to iPhone starting with 6s, then SE 1 and 2. I liked the clean iOS presentation, had native Cal/CardDAV with unbranded Mail app, and enjoyed it! After SE2 I went to the OP6 because I was bored of iOS :p (WatchOS betas not being downgradable was the most interesting; really liked being able to DFU officially for hard resets!)

I use LineageOS 22.1 without Google apps on OP6. Hard-flash resetting it was fun :p
 
Motorola Moto G42. I chose it because it was one of the few models on the market in 2023 that was supported by LineageOS, was inexpensive, had good speakers and a headphones jack. Very happy with my purchase.

It seems that none of the current models by Motorola are supported by LineageOS yet. I hope some will eventually be, because these devices are great value for money.
 
Moto G 5G, which will soon be replaced, because the battery is draining faster than usual the last month. Will be be a Motorola again because indeed great value for money.
 
Samsung Galaxy S10+, since it was launched. There's nothing special about it, it simply refuses to die. The best option? Absolutely not. But it serves me well, does the job reliably, nothing to complain about. Battery life decreased a bit, no wonder considering the age. My next will be a Galaxy as well, still looking, the darn thing just won't die.
 
Samsung Galaxy Note20. Cause whatever Samsung I had before this died and my agreement with Spectrum required them to replace it with an equal or greater phone and this is what I got. It was priced several hundred dollars more than the one I had.
 
My main is a Pixel 8 Pro, with a Pixel 6 as backup. Never had problems with either, except for occasionally late monthly updates.

Before that I used a Pixel 3 XL, which I perceived as fragile. The front screen cracked in 4 separate incidents, the back glass in 2. And the battery bloated severely. I should get rid of it before it burns my house down. It still works, though.

I can't say that I follow the assertion in the OP that there are big problems with deaths of Pixel phones.
 
I've always been curious about using an iPhone. I'd probably like it better but don't want to take the chance of a years long contract with my provider.
 
drhowarddrfine said:
I've always been curious about using an iPhone. I'd probably like it better but don't want to take the chance of a years long contract with my provider.
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Are you in the US? Apple allows you to return phones within 30 days.

I actually did that before I got my Pixel 6. I did not get along with IOS, returned the iPhone and got a Pixel again.
 
drhowarddrfine said:
Yes so I'll have to look into this. I'm with Spectrum so I don't know what their plan involves as far as that goes.
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Well, if you don't mind being a jerk you can get one from the Apple store and return it even if you like it, getting one from your carrier. It's not that it will hurt Apple a lot :)
 
I bought myself this week a Gigaset GX4 Pro. I need a Smartphone for Signal, WhatsApp, Contact, Navigation (OsmAndPro), CobiBike (Bike-Computer), Camera-Snaopshots (mid Quality Photography, No Filter (I hate them)) and most of all Nextcloud Sync (=Photos, Contacts, Schedules, Tasks, Deck etc).

AND, OF COURSE FOR DOING TELEPHONE CALLS! :D

So, I use it for Outdoor and Holidays as for business. IP68 is minimum.

The rest is too expensive
 
drhowarddrfine said:
Yes so I'll have to look into this. I'm with Spectrum so I don't know what their plan involves as far as that goes.
Click to expand...
Apple hardware gets bashed with some regularity on these Forums... Software-wise, Android does offer more flexibility and control to the user, as opposed to Apple dictating every step of the way how to copy a file (that contains a byte of ASCII text) between phone and anywhere else. If Iphones are comparable to a plastic lab rat maze where the rat has to push the ball to get from point A to point B, Android is like a banyan tree, which offers plenty of ways to get from point A to point B.
 
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