Which brand of Android phones do you think is the best?

[lajmonline]

Which brand of Android phones do you think is the best?
Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, Honor, OnePlus, oppo, vivo, Lenovo, Asus, Google, realme, Redmi, iqoo, Nokia, Motorola, Sony, ZTE

 

[Hadron]

I'm not a brand loyalist: when I need to replace my phone I see what's available at the time and judge the individual devices rather than the brands.
I don't use vendor-specific apps or features much anyway, because I prefer not to get "locked-in" to one brand (that is never in the customer's interest).

 

[Windroid]

I'm inclined to say Google, because my understanding is: Custom ROMs allow you to get OS updates on Google smartphones for a long time.

 

[mikedt]

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

 

[IOWA]

Without a doubt it's Samsung, no contest. I know Google just came out with a fold of their own but it's still not as good as my Fold 4, maybe soon to be Fold 5.

 

[ocnbrze]

Without a doubt it's Samsung, no contest. I know Google just came out with a fold of their own but it's still not as good as my Fold 4, maybe soon to be Fold 5.

Agreed.... been a Samsung guy since the note 4 came out.

 

[nickdalzell]

After a myriad Android crappy devices (first being a Coby tablet, then many budget phones from Net10) the first device that grabbed me was a Samsung Galaxy SIII. I was coming over from Apple after iOS 7 offended me (I HATE flat UI) and Samsung was the only option out of the three (HTC One M8, with flat UI Blinkfeed, and a Moto with stock Android) that had not only a skeuomorphic interface, but it combined one of my loves--nature with it. It also offered many functions that reminded me of iOS--a Siri style assistant called S-Voice, to name one. Combining nature with skeuo really grabbed me and it was unique at the time. I still use the same brand today (tried others but they don't really work for me--I spend tons of time trying to emulate TouchWiz/OneUI and it's never a complete deal) and still make efforts to TouchWiz-ify them all, including sideloading all the classic notification and ringtone sounds.

Samsung is also the only one making unique enough (for me to consider it an upgrade) devices such as my new Z Flip 4. I also prefer their apps over Moto's, Google's or another OEM's (including LG's) because they offer features no others have, such as theming the messaging client with wallpaper and custom message bubble styles, or custom email sync settings, or a theme store that does custom-ROM-level theming of the system UI.

I hate that Samsung has removed the headphone jack and SD card, but at the same time all the flagships are doing it. I tried many a budget version but they were never able to keep up with what I do, which isn't much, but when your A-series or Moto E can't maintain a stable bluetooth connection, or make an NFC payment, well, that's not good enough. Also I like wireless charging after many issues with USB-C, another change I'm not too fond of.


So I'm still team Samsung unless they do something really bad like take all of that away. Even to this day I can still recreate TouchWiz Nature UX on their modern flagships in ways I cannot do simply with a third party launcher or icon pack, which is always skin deep. Just with Samsung's theme store alone I can recreate the Galaxy SIII's UI pretty darned close. The only missing bit is the touch sound, but that's all.

 

[Rob]

I've been a true lover of Samsung Android Phones since way back in the day when the Samsung Droid Charge was released. The macro photos on that phone were unreal at the time and imo Samsung still offers the best camera experience/quality. That's what keeps me coming back!

 

[Hadron]

Funnily enough I'm not completely sold on the Samsung camera. I'm currently using an s21, and while the hardware is more capable than my previous Pixel 2 and the app has many more options - which I appreciate - the photos often look a little bit more "artificial" to me. I think that Samsung are still a touch too aggressive with their processing, and in particular tend to over-sharpen slightly. It's nowhere near as severe as it used to be, but I do actually prefer the slightly more natural-looking results the Pixel produced.

Now to be fair I am fussier than average about these things, and understand that any manufacturer will tend to pitch its processing towards what it thinks the average customer will prefer. And I do like the controls that the Pro mode offers (Google offer you nothing like that: they just assume that they know best), so in that respect the experience is better. So it's a relatively minor complaint: unless I pixel peep (which is a bad habit you should never indulge!) it's not really an issue in practice. But it is one thing that keeps the Pixel in contention for when I next upgrade (which will probably be in 3-4 years' time, so a lot can change in the meanwhile).

 

[l3r0w]

I'm not a brand loyalist: when I need to replace my phone I see what's available at the time and judge the individual devices rather than the brands.
I don't use vendor-specific apps or features much anyway, because I prefer not to get "locked-in" to one brand (that is never in the customer's interest).

Totally agree on that...one plus 8 pro was beast, the rest that came after that sucked

 

[Dannydet]

"The Ronco" hyper - super duper smartphone...
Not widely known but lasts forever!

 

[beingbeetle]

It depends upon the price segment of the phone, The budget phones of Samsung were not as good as you can get from other brands like Motorola, Oneplus, Vivo, and Xiaomi. When it comes to the premium flagship category, Samsung is best due to its performance and style.