Making the 2023 !android@lemmy.world Buying Guide: Midrange
Previously on Lemmy:
Past Discussions:
Every hobbyist forum needs their own guides and resources, and we are no different. I think it's finally time for us to all pitch in and make an Android buying guide that's 100% Lemmy over the next couple of weeks, since buying recommendations are commonly requested here, and it's also a way for us to get more friends to talk Android with.
So, over the next couple of weeks, we are going make our own guide piece by piece: Low-end, Midrange, High-end, and Android Accessories.
We are going to use the following price range definition in terms of USD, use this as a general guideline for price range estimates in your local currency, (Probably not a direct conversion, since purchasing powers are different in different countries.)
- Low-end: 0-300 USD
- Midrange: 300-700 USD
- High End: 700+ USD
Rules are simple:
- For all top-level comments, you should include the model and brand of the phone, your own recommended price range (i.e. This phone would be a good deal at 200 dollars, OK at 250, but a terrible deal at 300.), and anything else you would like to add to justify your recommendations.
- No direct links to products. Prices changes too much, and having affiliate links opens up another can of worms about how sincere our recommendation intentions are.
And we are going to start with the hardest price range to recommend first: Midrange.
Have fun.
How does everyone feel about Google Pixel phones?
Previously on Lemmy:Past Discussions:
- Samsung
- Sony
- OnePlus
- MotorolaSorry for the delay for the weekly. Server's not that stable right now, maybe we should start the thread on Sundays instead.
I always like to switch things up once in a while because it's fun. So, let's get back to the brand discussion this week for the Google Pixel. We'll do a discussion on repairability next week. Again, ideas are always welcome here.
I've never used a Pixel, but people around here should know that I've been very critical of Google's product decisions over the years, and the Pixel is no exception. In my point of view, discontinuing the Nexus series, buying out the talents from the remains of HTC and starting an official "made by Google" phone is the equivalent of reddit buying out Alien Blue to make the official reddit app. I think it's the event that scared big Android manufacturers like Samsung enough to start making their own ecosystem away from Google, as they are concerned that Google may start locking software features to their own phones instead of improving Android overall (rightfully so, I might add).
It really makes no business sense at all to turn your manufacturing partners into your competitors, but then again, it's Google.
With that being said, the first years of the Pixels has been marred with growing pains. Whereas the Nexus line has always been barebones, no frills development devices, it seemed to me that the people who made Pixels don't even use Android and are insistent on turning Pixel into iPhones, removing the headphone jack on the Pixel 2 despite the antagonistic ad from the original Pixel, Pixel exclusive software features like Google camera that necessitating the need of rom mods, as well as the quality issues that seems to be inherited from the Nexus days just really soured me from considering Pixels, as I think it's against the spirit of openness that made Android great.
But it seems like in recent years, they finally figured out that a large percentage of people who bought Androids not because they can't afford iPhones, but because they like Android, and I see the introduction of the "a" series as progress. The recent Pixel ad campaign also made me think that they finally figuring it out: people want different things, trying to turn Android into worse versions of iPhones was not going to work, so they should be trying to make the best Android for Android users instead.
(It's also the reason I think all the previous reddit clones failed, but Lemmy will be the one that finally succeeds.)
zabadoh
in reply to Margot Robbie • • •I hate my Samsung S25.
The hardware is lightning fast, but this OneUi garbage fucks up multiple apps, even Voyager that I am using to type this right now.
They especially seem to fuck over the Fossify open source apps.
The redundant Samsung apps (Phone, Messenger, Calendar, Photos, App Store, et al) are garbage clones of the vanilla Google Android apps.
I never had this many problems with my Motorola, which did use vanilla Google Apps
abeorch
in reply to Margot Robbie • •Android reshared this.