Hi everyone,
Currently looking at either a Pixel 8 or a S23 as a replacement for my Zenfone 8 that is slowly becoming a hindrence due to (primarily) the battery. I would replace it, but as it costs a lot to do that here and I have needs for a non-compromised water protection DIY feels like a dangerous option.
So S23 vs Pixel 8, what would you guys recommend assuming I can get either for the same price?
I like the S23 hardware a bit better on paper, but as Pixel phones generally are very flashable my anti-Google sentiments might (ironically) push me there.
I would get a fairphone 5 for the hot-swappable battery etc if they weren’t so expensive for what you get, and as Im buying second hand reuse is better for the environment anyways.
1000% pixel 8 + grapheneos.
Sauce: former Samsung user tired of the bloatware, spying, terrible battery life due to constantly running bullshit in the background, etc. who moved to a pixel 8 + grapheneos. The experience is night and day and its quite liberating to finally feel like I own my phone and not the other way around.
I had an unlocked S20 for 3 years and battery life was great until I dropped it twice in as many months and it stopped working. Was simple to disable things running in the background. Didn’t notice much difference to stock android and lineageOS personally. Just tossing out another viewpoint
The biggest “bloat” issue for me was going from pixel to Samsung. I was able to configure apps and launchers the way I liked just fine, but the Samsung specific version of all the main apps (internet browser, calculator, etc.) was unexpected. There are plenty of Google bloat apps that I have to disable on a new pixel, though.
I appreciate the freedom feeling, bought a Pocophone F1 a couple years ago just to flash it with custom roms.
Have you tried Lineage? How would you compare the experience of using them if so? Some of the custom roms I’ve tried had some things I missed UX/functionality wise but as people seem quite happy with Graphene I assume it is nice to use.
I actually use lineage on my tablet… its an older unofficial build so I’m not sure how representative it is of the wider lineageos, but IMO its good at what it does, keeping old devices running long after Google abandons them, but its nowhere near the polish and thoughtful design the grapheneos team puts out.
You can install GrapheneOS on the Pixel so I’d say that one.
Is it still that bad huh? I had an A50 before and the bloat was one of the reasons I disliked that phone.
Oh yeah it only gets worse lol I’m on the S21 Ultra and it was an undertaking to de-Samsung as much as I could. Also, GrapheneOS never got bad, just the dev that got a little unhinged. But he has since stepped back on the project and regardless of his ramblings, it’s still the single most private and secure mobile OS.
Yeah, that is one of the reasons I’m intrigued. Havent looked at it since the Rossman/Daniel Micay thing though, is it still good?
As long as you don’t interact with the devs lol. It’s a really good OS despite the controversy.
Micay stepped down as lead developer and foundation director. I’m not sure what role he has with the project currently, but it seems like he plans on leaving the project entirely, long term. I haven’t heard of any controversy since then. They’ve been hard at work and actually added support for Android Auto last month.
Daniel is okay. The shit he got from opinion-spreading people like Rossman… doesnt make sense.
He is still very active, maybe not the official head of the project but will still answer like every Github issue.
He and many others have very profound Android knowledge and discuss.grapheneos.org and their website is really helpful.
GrapheneOS is simply a good system. They change so much in minimalist ways that make sense, like sandboxed play or enhanced permission toggles.
Pixels have the best support for community ROMs.
Not really relevant for a person who wants to use community ROMs because of “anti-Google sentiments”.
Actually, it still is relevant because custom ROMs often incorporate driver and security updates to the base ROM.
I know Graphene recommends against the out-of-support Pixels for this reason.
I’m not sure that’s a fair comment - I’m on lineage and I’m still getting rom and android security updates, but not vendor ones. On an OP9 for context.
Two cents, I was going to recommend fairphone, my pixel 6 has been one irritating “update” after another that has made features worse and worse and some at this point have become bugs.
I’m completely over pixels and will be getting a fairphone next, great design and ethics I can feel good about.
Also, wtf no expandable storage, Google? What a shitty choice. I had cheaper phones with terabytes of storage years ago.
Check the 8 camera too, my pixel does some irritating high contrast postproc that I cannot turn off no matter what options are deselected, and even if I choose raw photos, the night looks like day.
Night sight is amazing for night vision but it makes my night pictures look almost like daylight, it’s crazy.
I’ll stop there, but the issues abound.
If you own a Pixel, get GrapheneOS. Please give it a try! AOSP has not very many features, but GrapheneOS is profound.
I sadly have to advise against Fairphones. They make empty promises, include outdated hardware in their phones so they will not actually get that long firmware updates as promised.
Also, they are way less secure than a Pixel.
And they get quick access to Android Updates as they are certified, and still are extremely late at shipping the updates on time.
GrapheneOS can literally just see them when they are out, but still has only a delay of a day or so.
Fairphone is not a good company it seems. They are a bit more repairable, but their phones are way less secure and you shouldnt use their OS.
But I haven’t heard anything that negates their ethically sourced materials or work force re Fairphone
I have an S23U and a P8P and I vastly prefer the S23U.
But, if it’s flashability you’re after then it’d have to be the Pixel.
