Hold on tight, we are almost back…
Previously on Lemmy: Sony
Past Discussions:
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.
FAQ:
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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?
Mixed opinions.
Things I like about Samsung:
- Feature-rich hardware and software
- 4 years of OS updates compared to 3 by Google
- S Pen in Note/Ultra
- Foldables
- Keeping Android tablets and Android-compatible smartwatches alive when Google abandoned them. Huge props for that.
Things I dislike:
- Making fun of Apple and then doing the exact same things they did: removing the headphone jack, display notch, removing the charger in the box.
- They even got rid of expandable storage in the S series despite being a major manufacturer of micro SDs.
- Samsung’s software is notorious for being slow, generally inferior compared to Google’s and not the most well-designed out there.
- I tried both the Galaxy A52 and a Pixel 6a at Best Buy. The A52 was lagging. I bought the 6a.
- They’re edging towards anti-repair.
- Certain Samsung smartwatch features only work if you have a Samsung phone.
It just seems like every brand does the make fun of Apple then doing the exact thing they did thing.
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 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.
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 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.
I will only purchase a Samsung again when they let me unlock the damn bootloader
Typing from a Samsung Galaxy A50 right now, as a long time Samsung user. I’ve always hated TouchWiz from the older days, but I really love One UI. I’d even go as far as to say that One UI is the best Android skin (controversial opinion, lol)!
Kind of mixed - i love the hardware and they used to have more features (MST for samsung pay was one of my favorite) but they have been stripping away features that made them unique. I do prefer OneUI, but the only thing keeping me with Samsung right now is the camera. Haven’t found one that I’m truly happy with, but Samsung is the least disappointing. Iphone and pixel cameras don’t cut it for me either.
Samsung has great hardware but my OG galaxy S2 was peak Samsung for me. I still love their build quality but I don’t like curved screens, lack of sd slots and 3.5mm jack and so on. Neither do I want all the Samsung social etc. apps.
If Samsung made a clean phone like the pixel with their build quality, that would be a game changer.
It would be interesting for the users but it would also undermine Samsung’s position in their war with Google.
The reason Samsung duplicates all the apps etc. is so that they keep Google at arm’s length. Google controls their manufacturers with tightly controlled deals for the Android trademark and access to the Play Store and Services Framework. By duplicating those and the app ecosystem, Samsung is saying “we won’t be so easy to get rid of”.
Granted, Samsung is also the largest Android manufacturer, so all out war would probably mean the fracture of the entire Android landscape.
I’ve once read a comparison between the income percentage that Android represents for Samsung and Google respectively and I seem to recall it would damage Google more than Samsung. But it was years ago so that might have changed, and also the Google side analysis involved guesswork about the impact on their ad and data collection business.
Woah… i learned something new today
As someone who exclusively used Samsung flagships as their daily driver (GS2 > Note 4 > Note 8 > Note 20 Ultra), I was a Samsung absolutist and fanboy. But their decisions since the N20U has been frustrating, and has had me eyeing other brands for the first time.
To start about what I love about them: fantastic hardware with solid software. I don’t mind their excessive features, because they become so useful, Android/Google adds them to stock 2-3 years later. So it’s like a decent beta test for some awesome utilities, like saying “smile” to take a photo with the camera when you can’t reach the shutter button. I think several phones now offer this.
What has me eyeing something else for my next phone: shitting on their hardcore power users and greedily taking away options. The removal of the SD card (critical for my usage), the dilution of their features across different models (base, plus, ultra), removing the magstripe, etc. are all anti-consumer with NO benefit to their customers. Even if your typical customer doesn’t use a specific feature, it strips the option away from those who do, and it’s not like the savings go towards the consumer. If not for these decisions (among other, smaller infractions), I wouldn’t be contemplating other brands.
Still loving my N20U. Not feeling any huge urge to upgrade; we’ll see if lack of new versions of Android changes my mind
I’m going to jump to Samsung’s defense here as I think your anti-consumer belief is misguided:
- the SD card has been drifting away from most Android phones for the core reason of reliability. Data stored on SD cards is not at reliable and when apps are forced to run off the SD card, there are side effects and crashes which are nightmares for devs. When a non brand SD card loses a user’s data, the user blamed the phone manufacturer, which is akin to putting the wrong fuel in your car and then blaming the car manufacturer that your car won’t go.
- mag-stripe. Considering they are a Korean company, I don’t blame them for dropping a complex feature used by a select few in the US. Because the US is the only country left that thinks the ancient technology of the magnetic stripe is still a good medium for the transfer of your bank details. Contact-less paymemt is now pretty much standard everywhere else and is so much more secure and standardised. The range and reliability of the contact-less payment has increased massively for me on the S23 in comparison to the S20 which was also lumbered with magstipe support.
- dilution of features? Again, why should it be more complicated? A larger phone can incorporate more lenses, screen and battery, but the core features and benefits should be the same to make the choice simpler for the consumer. Advertising of the range is simpler also.
Each to their own but these are just my views based on 11 years in the mobile phone retail business.
Asus Zenfone 10 looks quite feature complete before the break, maybe you should consider it.
It doesn’t have a SD card slot, unfortunately. At the moment, only Sony Xperia still carries it on the flagship level, so I’m eyeing that one for now. Fortunately, my N20U is still going strong, so I’ll see what the field looks like when I upgrade. I guess whichever OEM decides to include a $0.50 piece of hardware will probably get my $1K+.
I want the pure Android experience, not a phone coming with his package of uninstallable bloatware. Also, a phone is just a phone, I want to take pictures, use GPS, call and text. The Pixel are doing the same thing for half or 3times cheaper.
I also dislike Samsung repairability policy and how they care about their employees.
Fuck Samsung
I’m honestly quite happy with my Samsungs so far. Had an S9 and currently use an S21.
I honestly prefer the Samsung apps over the Google apps most of the time. They also integrate better with non google stuff. Especially calendar, contacts and mail. The Bixby button has been gone for a while now and most of the bloatware is hidden away well enough to be able to ignore it easily.
The irreversible bootloader unlock is quite the shame really because it will cause most banking apps to refuse to work so I never unlockedy bootloader. I used to do this on my nexus and Sony phones. Tbf though I don’t miss my root privileges currently. Android and Samsungs one ui has come a long way.
Edit: formatting
Unpopular opinion, but I love my Samsung phone - upgraded from an S9 to S21 not that long ago. I’m not a brand (or even OS) loyalist by any means, and Samsung has its flaws, but it’s the phone that suits my needs the most.
Firstly, I need a “small-ish” phone for one-handed use during my commute in the subway. Of all the flagships, Samsung’s is one of the few that has the triple-camera setup in a small form factor. Every other major phone maker puts the regular and ultrawide camera in the smaller flagship, and the zoom only comes in the bigger version.
Secondly, I’ve absolutely hated the new Android UI since… 12? The quick toggles are ridiculously big, and it makes me feel like i’m using kids’ mode on my phone. And who thought it was a good idea to put the Wifi/data toggles behind a second layer of menu options? Samsung’s UI fixes this right out of the box without a need for root.
As for the cons… I remember my S4 used to have horrible preinstalled software that came in the root partition and couldn’t be uninstalled. But the newest Samsungs aren’t that bad. It came with a few extra things, almost all of which could be uninstalled easily. Samsung also installs their own version of Calculator, Notes etc - some of them aren’t bad at all, and the only annoying thing about their own utilities are that they force you to update them through Samsung’s own app store. Their camera also tends to oversaturate colors, but it’s a one-time effort to dial down the default saturation in the camera settings.
So yeah, the software has a few issues, but they’re all a one-off fix, whereas my issue with other Android phones (no triple-camera setup in a smaller form factor + horrible quick toggles) are not fixable or require root.
Oh yeah. and Samsung DeX is amazing. I’m surprised Android doesn’t have an equivalent feature. I love it when I can plug my phone into a monitor or TV at a hotel or a friend’s house and play movies/games off my phone.
Samsung phones have so many quality of life improvements over the default Android experience that I don’t think I can get away from them just from software alone (why do you have to scroll down twice to change the brightness on normal Android it’s the most important function in the quick menu) Not to mention they’re the only phones that I can seemingly drop as many times as I want without breaking screen. I’d love to switch to another company as I don’t really like Samsung but every other software experience I’ve had has been abysmal.
