Android

Phone I'm Using:

Samsung A50

Am I Happy with it:

Yes, it has been fully capable of performing the daily tasks that I throw at it. Only downsides really is that it no longer receives support from Samsung.

What Phone Did I have Previously:

My previous phones were a LG Q6 and I believe an iPhone 6 or 7. Honestly as much as I love Android, the iPhone was leaps and bounds better then what the LG Q6 was able to provide. That's mainly more a statement of how bad LG was at making actually interesting phones that were good.

How often do I upgrade:

My A50 is a hand-me-down so atm I don't really decide when I get a new phone lol.

What other Android Ecosystem Devices do I have?

If it counts, Google Home Mini (have had it for quite a few years)

Do you have any Apple products and/or Microsoft, Linux, etc...

No, I don not own any Apple products of any sort. I own an Xbox Series X, a Windows Laptop from Asus, a Google Home Mini along with a Amazon Alexa (well technically that wasn't mines originally I'm just "borrowing" it because it was just left disconnected.) Lastly I have a pair of Jabra Elite 3's which have been pretty good.

Asus ROG Phone 5. Damn powerful, perfectly shaped for movies, I can play Wii and PS2 games!

Recently switched from a OnePlus 3t to a Asus ZenFone 8

Poco F3.

Samsung S20 FE. Does everything I need, have owned it for two years and fully expect it to last at least two more. I have the less efficient Exynos model, but it's more than enough for me. I partly chose it because it was among the most accessible options with a 120Hz display back then and I don't regret it. Samsung software can be annoying, but I'm used to it.

I hear people recommend Pixels a lot, and I think I'd have one if they sold them where I live.

I've only had a handful of phones ever, I usually only switch when it becomes unusably slow, or dies, or gets stolen.

I also have an iPhone XS that I like a lot. I think it was pretty unpopular when it came out because of the price and for being too similar to the X, but I bought mine when it was already a few years old. Maining more than one device means I'm constantly missing something about the other platform, it helps keeping an open mind.

Long time BlackBerry user here, now on a Samsung Galaxy Fold Z3, skipping a gen or two, as I just got my Z3 refurbished and I like the thing. Only bad thing I could say about it is its battery life, which isn't spectacular.

I'm very happy with the Fold, because I'm a heavy reader, and really dislike the slab format. The BlackBerry Passport was my previous favourite phone ever, and I thought phones couldn't realistically be bigger and still comfortable to use.

My best phone was an unsung hero that I used between the Passport and the Fold, just because of how reliable it was (and is) -- the Pocophone F2 Pro. Great camera it had at the time, too. I used it while I was getting my Fold refurbished and it was still a pleasure to use.

I upgrade only when the phone starts to show its age, mostly because of reduced battery life, as in terms of performance it's hard to ascertain, taking into account my usage is mostly office-type, text and news consumption. My phones are notification and messaging machines, with email + calendar being very important parts of it.

I'm also carrying a Galaxy Wear 5 smartwatch, which I got on a huge discount (~160 EUR), and that's it. Rest of my stuff is all Linux (desktop, laptop), apart from a Kindle Scribe which replaced a reMarkable 1.

I also have a Pixelbook i5, which is a great little ChromeOS portable machine, but showing its age in terms of CPU power and battery life. No Apple products unless I'm forced to.

LG G8, brought it for cheap and it's being the perfect phone for me. It has a high output high fidelity headphone jack and external μSD slot which is something very valuable for me. Cameras are showing signs of age and the display is 60Hz only but it's running strong and is plenty fast for my usage. Next phone will probably be a Xperia, but they're still quite expensive on the second hand market.

Currently using a Z Fold 4. Got it specifically for reading books and manga and I'm LOVING it. The big screen is amazing!

It's the first time I write here on Lemmy, so I hope I'll do that right

What phone are you using? Are you happy with it? What are its best and worst qualities?

I'm currently on a Galaxy S21+ (Exynos version). I really like it. It's really fast, the battery until now has been great, the camera shots amazing photos (even if it's not the Ultra) and I love the integration with OneDrive, since I already have a subscription for Office. I had some issues a month ago where it randomly restarted, however they should have been fixed with the latest update. I would love if Samsung maybe spent some time optimizing and polishing their UI.

Which phones have you had previously? Which were the best and worst of the lot?

First of all, I had a Windows Phone. It was a really cheap Nokia Lumia, but I loved it. It was still fast for its price, the UI was beautiful, and it just worked. Unfortunately there weren't many apps, but I still managed to do whatever I needed. Then, with the decline of Windows 10 Mobile, I switched to Android. I firstly had an horrible Wiko phone (idk if they sell those anymore or if they ever sold them in the US, they were laggy and full of bloatware) and then an LG Q6 that worked just like I could expect from a Snapdragon 430. The camera was fine, nothing exceptional but I couldn't expect something incredible from a phone bought at 160 euros. Then I decided to switch to Samsung, with a Galaxy S10 Lite. I loved it. By buying it, Samsung gifted their Galaxy Buds+, that are really awesome and I still use them today. The camera was really great, the SoC was really great and I really liked the UI. Probably the One UI 2.5 was the best One UI imo. At the end of 2021 I switched to a Galaxy S21+. There wasn't a big difference, but it felt more polished in every aspect. The camera was better, the performances were better etc.

How often do you upgrade to a new phone?

I have upgraded my phone every two years. However, I would like to keep my current S21+ for more time. It's really great, and I don't feel the necessity to change it.

What other Android ecosystem devices do you have? Watches, headphones/earbuds, etc.

I have the Galaxy Buds+ for wireless earbuds, and I really like them. I also have an old Samsung Watch (still with the Tizen OS), but, since I use it to track some activity and to read notification, I'll keep it as long as the battery is great. It works just fine for me.

Do you also use any Apple products, or are you Android all the way? (And/or Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, etc.)

I have recently switched to a MacBook due to their ARM SoC. I think that the most difficult think was getting used to the Mac way of doing things, and especially the shortcuts. However, I didn't feel that I was getting trapped on using Apple products, just like I read on other ~~Subreddits~~ channels (idk how they're called). Maybe it's because in Europe we use WhatsApp for messages and we basically never use the default apps, but I just installed the third-party apps we used and they worked great both on my old Windows laptop and on my new MacBook

Been using a pixel 5 for a couple of years now but damaged the screen under the glass a couple weeks ago.

Thinking of upgrading to a pixel 7. Other than the camera set up is there much difference between the 7 and 7 pro?

OnePlus 9 5G. Prior that, OnePlus 7T, OnePlus 3, and three BlackBerry OS phones.

Pixel 5a with CalyxOS. Battery life is absolutely insane, probably because it's de-googled. Solid 2-day phone. Plus, has a headphone jack.

Previously had a Nexus 5 and Oneplus 3 with LineageOS. I held onto that OP3 until Lineage dropped support, so nearly 6 years, and plan to do the same with my 5a+Calyx.

Have the earbuds that come with Samsung phones (plus Sennheiser HD598s for when I really want to listen to something), and own no apple devices. Have a linux gaming desktop (Pop!_OS) with KDE connect, which is awesome, and a Steam Deck. Used to have a smartwatch, but didn't get enough use out of it to justify buying a new one.

Nokia 6.1 from 2018

Very good built quality, battery life and software updates. Not so good camera.

I previously owned a Sony Xperia M7 Aqua.

Upgrading cycle is basically when is needed - that means when they break, battery dies and cannot be replaced, OS becomes deprecated, etc.

The phone is the only Android device I use.

Not an Apple fanboy here: too overpriced for what they are offering and I don't get any value from showing off some logo.

The rest of my universe is built around Windows , Linux and some embedded applications.

iPhone 14 Pro I’m happy with it. Best features (in my opinion) are the cameras and screen quality. Worst qualities are probably the locked down nature of iOS, the outdated lightning port, and it’s a little heavier than I would like. I always had Android phones before my first iPhone which was a Xr. They were usually budget phones and they always had issues from being slow, bad cameras, low res screens, etc. Since switching to the iPhone Xr I’ve been upgrading every two years, sometimes every year depending on if I really like the newest model. My only other Android devices are a few tablets. Other Apple devices I own include Apple Watch Series 5, AirPods Pro 2nd gen, and MacBook Pro M1 14”.

Huawei P20 Lite, stuck on Android 9 (yeah, I need to change that someday).

For.. idk.. 5 years maybe? Before that, I had an.. IPhone 3, I think?

No watches, headphones, earbuds.

I'm using a pixel 4a 5g, before that it was a pixel xl, before that a nexus 5x, before that IDK some dirt cheap Samsung smart phone running 4.0, but before that was an LG env3.

I usually update once the phone I'm using starts dying or is broken.

I dig my current phone but the camera is different in some noticeable ways around trees when the sky is really clear and blue. They get kind of like little halo thing going on.

Personally I'm thinking about upgrading to the newer Pixel 7A, but I really can't justify it when my current phone still works.

Basically all I go for is camera on a phone and a big enough screen to read ebooks comfortably.

Asus Zenfone 6 and xiaomi K20 pro premium because I don't use front camera.

I'm using Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (Exynos version). I bought it in december 2021 after one year suffering with Xiaomi device, which had sooo many inconviniences , and I could not be any happier! Main reason I bought it is the size (6.2" vs previous 6.7") and camera. Battery life could be better though, but it's not a dealbreaker to me.

Next phone will probably be one of the foldables, but I'm in no rush to buy a new device any time soon.

OnePlus 10 Pro 5G.

But if they are pushing colorOS on all, that will have been my last OnePlus.

I've got a Pixel 7 Pro and I've been very happy with it. The camera is fantastic, which is probably my favorite thing about it. I love all of the little features included in the Pixel software, the call screening feature being one of the best. The Pixels usually aren't trying to beat the other flagships in specs, but I haven't had any complaints with the hardware. I usually update to a new phone about every 3 year.