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.

  • exscape
    10•11 months ago

    And seven years of guaranteed Android updates.

    • @woelkchenEnglish
      4•11 months ago

      Not really relevant for a person who wants to use community ROMs because of “anti-Google sentiments”.

      • @[email protected]English
        8•11 months ago

        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.

        • @[email protected]English
          3•11 months ago

          If your stock OS doesnt ship updates it is very likely the custom OS will also not be able to ship them

        • @woelkchenEnglish
          1•11 months ago

          After Samsung and Google announced lengthy support cycles for their phones, at least about the Snapdragon based ones observers made comment about Qualcomm not releasing driver updates for that long. I don’t know how it’s for Tensor but those are partially based on tech from 3rd parties. Technically drivers aren’t part of Android anyway, so when vendors guarantee 7 years of Android updates, they could just not update the drivers at some point and hardly anyone would notice.

      • @[email protected]English
        6•11 months ago

        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.

        • @woelkchenEnglish
          2•11 months ago

          I get LineageOS updates for my ancient Nexus 4.

          • @[email protected]English
            1•11 months ago

            This is really nice, but the updates do not include everything. Phones are SOCs and Android uses a custom Kernel made for that device, and Firmware needs to be signed by manifacturers. If the manifacturers dont care, you will be open to many vulnerabilities.

            • @woelkchenEnglish
              3•11 months ago

              When OEMs commit to 7 years of updates but the SoC provider doesn’t support their chips for that long, later updates don’t contain everything anyway.