Asklemmy

Fairphone 4 - iodeOS

Pixel 7 on CalyxOS

Motorola One 5G Ace.

After years working in telecom, I'm in the camp of "absolutely no device needs to cost thousands of bucks."

Midrange phones do just fine, and it's borderline criminal marketing that the Apples and Samsungs of the world convince gullible consumers that their 260 dollars worth of parts and labour is somehow worth more than an average mortgage payment.

After many years of using custom stock ROMs on my phone's, that were always better and more up to date than the branded android ROM the phone came with, I've decided a few months ago to finally get a Google Pixel 6.

It's a great experience, basically feels like all the custom ROMs I've been using all these years but the camera is great and Google Wallet works, also some pixel exclusive niceties like the PO Pixel app from teenage engineering, etc, and as always the most up to date Android version available.

I've been running a pixel 5a with GrapheneOS for 1.5 years. I think what surprises me the most is aherence to the moxie school of thought, where everything is completely seamless and easy to run. Everything just "works".

Pixel 4a because it was the newest cheapest Pixel at the time and I wanted to run GrapheneOS. Ended up switching back to Calyx and eventually to stock after I realised I was sacrificing a lot more convenience than I wanted.

I am using a Google Pixel 6a with stock Android.

I bought the smartphone in short notice only because I was sick of OnePlus Nord 2 5G adjusting the settings for me. With a Google Pixel device, I am in charge for real! 😌 I am done with Chinese shit 😆 Too much control.

Then why not root OnePlus Nord 2 and install a custom ROM? Na, I am too much of a coward to do that. Am afraid of bricking the phone like what I did with my Samsung Galaxy S III Mini. After that, I told myself, no more custom ROMs.

Samsung A50, the cheapest smart phone I could find 5 years ago and it's still going strong. I really don't get the flagship phone craze. I, as I think most people, only use my phone to browse the web, check emails, sometimes watch a youtube video and well, phone people. This little guy has been perfect for that and has no sign of getting slower. The battery still easily gets me through a day with music listening (love the jack btw), web browsing and even some light GPS use.

Not gonna lie, I sometimes miss having a good camera with me, but after buying a half decent DSLR I'm still at or a bit below what a flagship costs nowadays.

When this phone dies a couple years from now I'll probably just get the new cheapest phone in Samsung's lineup lol.

Android for me, currently the Pixel 7.

I've used almost everything at this point. Apple iOS, Android, blackberry (both pre and post android), even Windows Mobile for a while..... I enjoyed Windows Mobile for the time, since it was good for my specific application of the technology, but that was before Android, and during the early days of android.... I stopped using it because they stopped making anything good that ran it.

I moved on to Android with the Motorola Milestone (aka the DROID), but also made my way through several HTC phones as well, eventually landing on pure android with the Nexus line, and eventually Pixel.

During all of this, I hopped through several blackberry phones for work, including pre-android versions, and later worked with several android-based versions of the same, a few years ago I picked up an iPhone to compare and learn more about iOS, because I do tech work and knowing a diversity of things is important for my work; so I carried around an iPhone for many years as well, as a work phone.

After all of that, Android is still my pick. Specifically the unflavored android from Google via the Pixel.

I don't hate iPhone at all, I just don't prefer the stock keyboard, the gesture controls, or the navigation of it compared to android. I still use the three button nav on my Pixel instead of the gesture controls. I also don't like how many controls for apple are at the top of the screen for some reason so I'm constantly stretching my hand to hit a button. It's all personal preference, and the navigation is competent, I just don't like it as much as I like android.

It doesn't hurt that I can customize my android experience more than I could with iPhone. I don't necessarily want every app I've ever installed on my home screen somewhere.

That's just what I prefer.

I am using Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G with PixelOS (custom ROM) for unlimited Google Photos original quality backup, Overview Selection and no stock YouTube (I use Revanced Extended). All apps work fine with root as well as it gets timely updates with features. Also, it has 12 5G bands, most of which are supported in my country. It's sleek and light (158g) which makes handling it easier. I hate MIUI because of ads and so removed it after 7 days of buying it. Will think of flashing /e/OS later (never thought they will support my device but they do not).

Pixel 4, and lineage os. Privacy and limited google apps.

Xiaomi Redmi 9T because cheap. I won't reply.

iPhone 14 Pro Max. I know, I know, but the battery life can’t be beat. Great speaker, screen and camera too. Used to have a Huawei P30 Pro that was awesome though

I'm using Samsung Galaxy A51 just because my grandfather repairs those and gave it to me. And default OneUI android that the phone ships with, because I'm afraid of rooting.

Galaxy J7. It's incredibly slow, I can't flash it or root it. But it runs what I need, unlike Apple would, and the battery is still great after 6 years and it has a headphone jack.

I'm getting a Sony Xperia 10 III cause one can also install SailfishOS on it. Sony provides AOSP for their phones, and a headphone Jack.

LG G7 Thinq. It had all the features I wanted and was a good price. I actually did look around a month ago and nothing else on the market compares even years after it came out (I could get close to what I wanted but I would need to go high end) which is a shame bc I'll have to switch for 5G at some point. Google and Samsung removed the 3.5mm jack so I'll never buy from them.

Motorola Edge 30. Really close to stock Android and no much bloatware. Will be switching to a Pixel soon.

Galaxy S22, iPhone is too locked down for me.

I went with the S22 because it's decent and looks great, also one of the smallest high-end phones available.

Samsung sucks though, there is far too much bloat you have to get rid off. The Galaxy store also likes to hijack updates from a few of my apps.

I'd say there still is no perfect phone unfortunately. Maybe a Google Pixel that looks like a S22 and has a more scratch resistant screen. My screen already has two scratches just from being in my pocket. They made the glass more drop resistant, but now it still shatters if you drop it and it scratches more easily :-/

Pixel 6A. I like the Stock OS & the camera of the phone. Got it for very cheap as well.

Currently using a Pixel (Pixel 6 Pro) because it's the only line of phones that support GrapheneOS

Fairphone 3 with /e/OS

I'm rocking a pixel 6 pro. I like having the option of being able to unlock the bootloader and install custom roms, and the easy access to reflash the official os with just adb/fastboot as opposed to other androids requiring extra tools. Getting updates every month is also important to me.

OnePlus 8 Pro but I'm thinking about switching to Pixel 7 Pro, or 8 if I wait long enough.

Does anyone have any experience with Pixels? Are they worth it?

iPhone 12 mini, latest OS. I am a little worried about the whole App Store policies thing, but I also think Apple gets enough things right that I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt until they actually do something stupid. I’m hoping they’ll come back to something comparable to the mini form factor again. I’ve always preferred the smaller sized phones with the idea that I’ll just move to a computer or tablet if I need something bigger. I don’t want to carry a larger phone all day.

Interesting to see so many Android comments. I think it goes to show the demographics of people that are using Lemmy compared to other platforms.

Poco X3 NFC with LineageOS.

200,-€ price, excellent photo quality if paired with fitting GCAM mod (AGC) plus config. Powerful enough as daily driver, privacy-frieendly enough after some simple changes, runs everything I need & if it drops & breaks (2 kids at home...) it's an affordable loss (I'm diligent about backups).

iPhone 13 mini. I’m so sad they discontinued the mini, it’s the perfect phone for me so I’m holding onto it until it dies which seems to be coming soon :(

Google pixel for the following reasons:

Smart insights via Google assistant:

1. Bill due soon reminders via Google assistant. It can read my email and remind me of upcoming bills, their amount, who it's too, and when it's due. Sends a notification to the phone.

2. Finance watchlist notification: at the end of each market day it will send me a notification just showing me how my watchlist performed for the day

Phone:

3. Call screening, business calls, spam, and robo

4. Hold for me feature.

5. Phone trees visual

6. Visual voicemail - live transcripts

Google translate:

7. Live translation of audio

8. Translate any sign or text via Google lens

9. Search visually via Google lens

Customization

10. Theme settings independent of device. You can set each app individually. Some apps are better in light mode

Google assistant integration in the phone. Call and text people, reduce volume, paused audio, set volume, google search, turn on flash light etc. You can control features of your phone with your voice. It's fantastic.

It's a really smart, smart phone.

Android. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, no custom rom so I'm on One UI, Nova Launcher.

My last phone's charging port had gotten loose, and didn't consistently charge unless held at a specific angle, and at the time the A52 seemed to hit a sweet spot of power vs price. It also still has a microsd card slot and a headphone jack, which were must haves for me.

Historically: My first "Smart Device" was an iTouch around a year after they first came out. I was already into "jailbreaking" things from my Wii and PSP, my main media player was an iPod nano with rockbox on it, and in college I bought a cheap router then installed DD-wrt on it so it performed above its price range. I was all about controlling and tweaking my stuff. Then I got a hand me down Android when my dad upgraded his phone and haven't looked back.

Still haven't rooted any Androids yet. Not too much I've wanted to do that required it. The few times I have wanted to root, the method has always been too cumbersome to follow up on.

Motorola Moto G8 Power Lite. It was €130, good battery, no bloatware, does all the things I need from a smartphone even if the touchscreen is starting to freak out from time to time. Probably need to change the display but I'm broke atm

Fold4.

My S9 died a month ago and I really couldn't find another phone that I was excited about. Nothing really had any "cool" factors about them. Many of them felt almost like downgrades compared to my S9. Lack of headphones jack, SD card reader etc...

The Fold4 was above my price range but i found one on eBay for $750 so i grabbed it.

So far I am liking it. It is bigger then I would have liked but the foldings screen is super nice you can have apps side by side. Great for multitasking. I also do a lot of remote access to my desktop and a large screen is perfect for that.

Samsung Galaxy S22. Wanted it to be an upgrade from my dying OnePlus 6, but smaller. Not much choice for small, but beefy phone.

Pixel 3 with CalyxOS.

Picked it because I don't want to spend $500+ on a new phone and I want to be able to control my OS. Just buying the phone and using Android on it to going to CalyxOS saw a huge increase in performance, theoretically because it's not working to process all the data collection. My phone should be MY phone and not someone else's bottom line.

Poco X3 NFC with a custom ROM, i bought it because it is cheap and it's great for buildbotting.

pixel 6 pro in order to use graphene os

Oneplus 6T with Ubuntu Touch/LineageOS Dualboot

iPhone 13 Pro Max. Switched over from android (Galaxy S6) when the iPhone X came out, used that for 4 years, decided I liked it better than android due to iMessage, upgraded when it was time. I mostly use my phone for texting and browsing Reddit (RIP Apollo)