Android

My OP3 was dying and I needed a new poo phone, I can't afford buying things whenever I want so that's extra incentive to hold on to my devices, so after 5 years of use (the OP3 was second hand) I finally got the opportunity to switch phones and I got the pixel 6a (second hand as well)

Honestly I love it, it's basically the same size and almost the same dimensions as my previous phone but with a bigger screen, the OS has some very cool and intuitive options here and there, the camera is better back and front, the battery is great for my use case, I appreciate having a new phone again that will still have decent software support.

And all of this for around 200€, the same price I got my OP3 5 years ago, I'm really glad I could find such a good phone for this price.

I used to mod a lot back in the day, installing custom roms, custom kernels, all kinds of apps, but that changed and I just use a DNS and ublock on Firefox, I'm not even planning to unlock the bootloader and root this one, I'm happy with stock, it has everything I need at this point in life.

I'm writing this on a Pixel 7 Pro

So my android journey started with the moto G4 plus when I decided I was tired of giving my iphones to my mom every time she broke hers.

I loved that device because it was really simple and bear bones. Stock android if you will, with just a few extra features that were really nice Quality of Life features. That's what set me on the path towards a pixel after a handful of different brands.

Pixel 4 XL was my first pixel. The big draw for me was the face unlock and the stock experience. At the time, the new spam blocking features from Google assistant were important to me as well. I switched to that after the essential phone brand was officially dead.

Absolutely loved it, so much so that I got my dad a 4a when it released. It was dead simple for him to learn at 60 coming from an iPhone 5. So much that when COVID happened and we switched to masks, I was petty enough to pick up the pixel 5 for the fingerprint scanner (which my dad now has).

I strayed for about a year. I picked up the Galaxy Fold 3 at launch and it was mostly nice. I had so many bad experiences with Samsung, but this was pleasant if not a bit bloated. But I missed the simplicity, I missed the themeing, I missed the Google features.

So around the 10 month mark, my fold inner screen popped off and after having it replaced I put it for sale and bought a Pixel 6 pro second hand. I was skeptical at first because of the bad reviews, but it was a fantastic device in the end. I gifted that to my girlfriend and switched her from iPhone and picked up the Pixel 7 pro.

I always come back to the simpler android, but the pixel flavor is just something special. I've never witnessed any of the issues that people suggest that they have in their reviews. It just flows so well in my experience. I'll be looking forward to trying out a pixel fold when they get to a 3rd generation or so.

I love the simplicity, I love the extra features that Google assistant packs in, most of them are now bundled into the apps as opposed to just being locked to a pixel phone. My favorite part is that they're affordable (Comparatively). I'm glad to see that in Android 14 the best of the Samsung features are being implemented.

I would very much like to own one because of the form factor and the ironic fact that they're one of the few phones that you can still run a proper custom rom and de-google.

Unfortunately the specs and battery life are not even in the ballpark of what I find to be acceptable. Pixels are a giant compromise.

I pre-ordered the first Pixel and loved it. I then had the Pixel 2xl and 3xl and absolutely loved them. I didn't like what I saw with the 4 and 5 and went to Samsung. I tried the 6a and 7xl as both had terrible battery life and call reception issues. Staying with Samsung and I am done it looks like with Pixel . I love my Samsung S23 Ultra.

Not entirely positive. I own 3 separate Pixel 2XL units, and before that i've had two Nexus 6P. The experience is pretty much exactly what people will tell you. Everything seems perfect at first, but as time goes on, issues come up, and they don't go away.

On the Pixel, the battery life and battery degradation were the worst offender. Fingerprint scanner would occasionally either refuse to work, or start working significantly worse over time, requiring a factory reset. Never had modem issues personally, but the network coverage always felt worse than with other devices. Not gonna go into the display tint drama, because that's just a bad display, but that did suck. The burn-in, even at 75% brightness, was absolutely horrible though. One of the 3 devices had the power button stop working completely.

My 6P didn't live for too long though. I, unfortunately broke my first unit, due to my own fault, however I still possess the second one, albeit it's completely unusable, as it has the battery drain defect. The device doesn't hold charge, and shuts down at anywhere between 25 and 50%, showing 0% on reboot.

Even with all of that in mind, I would still consider a Pixel in the future, but issues like this have appeared in basically every Pixel generation yet, and it's not a good look, especially considering the price

Made the switch from a series of galaxies to the 6 pro. And boy do I regret it. It's given me nothing but problems. Most recently the backlight partially failed and low light settings cause it to flash or be completely unreadable at night. I'll be going back to Galaxy asap

I've been happy with the Pixel 6 Pro, which is still going strong with good battery life and continuing software updates after almost two years. Much nicer UI than the Samsungs I have had. The only thing I don't like is that it's Google spying on my entire life.

I've owned various Pixels since the first one.

Pixel XL > Pixel 3XL > Pixel 6 Pro

One could say I've had 3 of the worst Pixels.

They would be right in a sense. But I've used each of these for about 2-3 years (The 6 Pro will be 2 soon).

Really like the user experience and the software but the hardware really starts to show their age after about a year and a half in. With slowdowns and stuttering

The 6 Pro is the only one I haven't had any problems with.

I love the cameras on all of them and I can only say good things about them. The unlimited storage of the Pixel 3 lasting only until recently was a bummer. But now I've been backing them up on my local server at home.

I can't speak about the hardware because I have never had one, but I can about the software because I am a custom ROM user and I come from MIUI, I won't say MIUI sucks, although it does in some aspects when I first got my first AOSP based ROM I was amazed with how fast it was, but it only got better for me because of the introduction of Monet icons and Material You since A12, since that moment I barely ever got back to MIUI.

For me AOSP is a true beauty and works pretty well, although it can be lacking features (which A14 seems aiming to "fix") I enjoy using it a lot, and if I ever get a Google Pixel I would feel at home no doubt about it.

Currently on my first - a Pixel 6 and I'm not sure I'd go back to a Galaxy which I always used to go for. The Pixel is quick and easy to use, takes great photos, and isn't plagued by bloatware.

Galaxy Nexus to Pixel 6a (current) user. I did not have a pixel 1 or 2, but have had the rest. That Nexus 5x hung on for a while, as it should, being one of the best phones of all time, helping me skip right into pixel 3.

Side note: Nexus 7 was the greatest tablet of all time.

Out of any android, I preferred the nexus (now pixel) for it's simplicity. It's the way android was meant to be. Every other OEM is just someone copying the smart kids homework and making up random bullshit to call it their own.

Custom ROMs are great though.

I had the original pixel XL then switch to samsung s21 and now im on a pixel 7 and I can say with out doubt the the pixel 7 is way more responsive and feels so much faster then any samsung phone I have ever used. Samsung puts a lot of spyware bloatware crap on there phones. if you hook a samsung up to adb and have a look at the list of apps that are spying on you its insane, all the apps listed in the settings on the phone are not all the apps installed. lots of hidden apps running in the background. Something that would piss me off was every update installed a bunch of apps i never wanted and had removed previously. I have recently installed grapheneos and its amazing and seem less, I could install it on my moms phone and it would not be a problem. works just like any other android phone except google play is locked in a cage and can only do what you allow it to. I have google play services installed but basically took all its permissions away, so that the camera app and the few other apps that look for it are not bothering me about it. google play services never connects to the internet on my phone.

I will never go back to a samsung phone, I love the stock android experience its simple and no fluff.

3rd pixel, and each one has had persistent problems. Not ready for primetime. Currently have the 6P and with the heat issues it has just been OK.

They still have yet to make a fully fleshed out product.

Got a Pixel 6. Still loving the design, software and (reasonably) quick updates.

I had every Nexus except for the 5, and every Pixel except for the 5. I've had really good luck with them all. Only problem I had was after about a year the wireless charging stopped working on my Pixel 4 XL. I've handed down almost every single phone to either my parents or my kids after at least a year of use and they continue to last a few more years. I can't recall one ever dying. I swear by them.

Typing this on my CalyxOS pixel 3. I like this phone just fine, camera works great, apps I don't trust get installed in my "work" profile which I just got a toggle on and all those apps are forcibly paused. Battery life is basically all day based on how much I turn the screen on.

Life's good when your phone works the way you want without advertising at you, and operates reliably.

They are awesome because you can get graphene or calyx on them!

Tbh stop buying phones if you dont really need it. My Redmi phone hasn't given me a signal issue in the past 6 years. Still going strong.

ive owned a pixel 2 xl, 4, 5, and currently on a 6 xl, ive enjoyed my pixels but (mostly in the case with the 4 and 5) they have some sorta dealbreaker. my 2 xl was great but the regular sized 4 was notorious for horrible battery, which it definitely had, so i got a 5 when it came out which was a decent phone but i wanted more speed and 120hz so when the 6 series came out i thought it would be a good upgrade to stay on. at first the bugs were kinda bad but they've been ironed out. at this point im just sad my bootloader is locked so i cant install grapheneos 😔 as for whether i wanna stay with pixels, i dont enjoy googles spying so if another good pixel comes out thats worth upgrading to in a few years comes out i may get an unlocked one, or just jump ship entirely

The fingerprint sensor on my P6 was trash. Then somehow when I upgraded to the P7 with that Best Buy deal... The fingerprint sensor was even worse. Deal breaker for me. The only reason I'm not using a Pixel device right now.

My last 3 phones have been a Pixel 2 XL, a Samsung Note Ultra, and a Pixel 7. I may just be lucky, but I have never had a single problem with any of my Pixel/Nexus phones.

I decided to try the Note for the s pen a few years ago and found it to be a much, much worse experience. Software on the Pixel is head and shoulders above all of Samsung's bloatware, and the Note's screen died for no reason after a year and a half. Meanwhile, the Pixel 2 XL is still going strong (I had to use it for a bit after the Note died), and the Pixel 7 is a great phone.

They’re awesome! But kinda unusable when you’re outside and connected to mobile data. Phone heats up quicker than usual, battery doesn’t last as long. I’m on a Pixel 6A, for context.

If not nothing i would choose pixel and install lineage os on it

I feel like I have no other option. iPhones are better in principle, but the interface is awful. No back button alone is already a complete deal breaker for me. Samsung is bloatware, OnePlus is foreign spyware on top of Google's spyware.