I’ve preferred Pixel phones for the last few years but I’ve heard that Pixel 6/7 had 5G connection problems (Pixel 8 apparently has a better modem, but I think I’d rather stick to a Qualcomm design for now).

So onto looking for my next phone.

I haven’t considered a Samsung smartphone in years because I hated their TouchWiz stuff. But apparently they got rid of that like 8 years ago and have had multiple versions of updates. Can anyone comment on how good “One UI” is compared to stock Android? How much bloatware does it feel like? And what kind of customizations did Samsung do to the UI exactly?

I’m also looking at Asus Zenfone 11, but I figure the “mainstream” choice today is Samsung, so I’ll also have to seriously consider Samsung phones.

  • @pycoraxEnglish
    7•7 months ago

    I used to be pretty stubborn about wanting a stock experience especially after the bloated sluggish mess that was TouchWiz but they’ve really turned things around.

    There’s a lot of One UI features that I take for granted now (same thing I also hear from friends who switched to a Pixel) and it also looks way better than stock after Google did the whole Material 3 change. The main annoyance I have is with the default launcher and keyboard but those can easily be changed to third party alternatives anyways.

    • @graymessEnglish
      3•7 months ago

      Seconding everything you said. Rocking a third party launcher and surprised at all the useful features. I don’t think I’d want to give up Routines if I were to ditch Samsung next phone.

    • @[email protected]English
      1•7 months ago

      There’s a lot of One UI features that I take for granted now (same thing I also hear from friends who switched to a Pixel)

      As someone who has only ever used Samsung and is thinking about getting a pixel this worries me a bit. Could you elaborate?

      • @aluminiumEnglish
        4•7 months ago

        Biggest one for me would be the paged app drawer. I hate scrollig ones like you get on a Pixel and with recent Android versions and most 3rd party launchers don’t work that great. Also the AOD on Samsung phones is much better, the app quicklaunch and clipboard history sidepannels are really great, bixby routines can be useful and the whole quicksettings area is so much better with waaaay less padding and more useful toggles.

        • @keyezEnglish
          1•7 months ago

          I am missing good lock features going from a Samsung to a more google oriented phone, also the clock\alarm settings are so annoying, only allowed to touch either volume buttons or specific portion of the phone to snooze or stop an alarm. Samsung I could whip my hand at my phone and hit any portion and it knew what I wanted