Any "Pixel Converts" Here in the Samsung S20 House?

[Mike Dee]

I had a Pixel 2XL, before that I had an S7. I really liked the Pixel 2 XL, so when it was time for a new phone I went with the Pixel 5. That felt like a step down from the 2 XL. The call audio sucked, and the camera wouldn't focus properly for close up pictures. The screen looked so dull also. Those were my 3 main complaints and what caused me to return the phone after a week. The S20 FE feels and acts more like the Pixel 2, except faster and with a better battery. It's a keeper.

I use Nova launcher, so my phones all look pretty much the same. I never really got the "pure android experience" thing. The stock apps on a pixel are very vanilla and plain.

Stock Android isn’t better or worse than skinned versions of the OS used by other OEMS. It’s just different. Which one is a better option for you comes down to your personal preference.

 

[worldspy99]

While I really liked my Pixel 2 for the past three years, it's battery is dying and I'm looking for something new. For me, the camera is one of the top priorities in a phone and as such, I'm disappointed that the Pixel 5 doesn't have a telephoto lens. I'm considering moving to a Samsung Galaxy S20 but wondering if it's worth abandoning the Pixel platform just to get the telephoto lens.

I currently run the Microsoft Launcher app on my Pixel. As such, once Samsung releases Android 11 for the S20 and if I install the Microsoft Launcher on an S20, would I even notice that I'm not on a Pixel?!? I like it that Pixels get Android releases immediately, which is the second reason (behind the excellent camera) that I originally chose the Pixel 2.

If you're a "Pixel Convert", let me know if it was worth the switch, you regret it, or ???

I have used the S series consistently since S7. So every year in Spring I get the latest S series device. And of course in Fall I get the Pixel dating back to the OG Pixel.

Samsung hardware is superb, their software has finally gotten there. The main issue I have is dual Google and Samsung apps - from Clock, Calculator, Calendar, Notes, Contacts etc. But Samsung software has a genuine winner in Samsung Pass. For a chronic switcher like me the Samsung Pass makes things easy signing into various apps. Samsung Pay is also nice. Although lately they are trying to push ads in nefarious ways like ads while charging for charity etc.

Google Pixel excels in the still camera, software and various Pixel drops. Call screening is amazing, I use it a few times each day.

Anyway I like that I can go back and forth between the two. In Spring this year I had the 3a and S20. Right now I have the S20 FE and 4a 5g.

 

[KPMcClave]

Stock Android isn’t better or worse than skinned versions of the OS used by other OEMS. It’s just different. Which one is a better option for you comes down to your personal preference.

Also, I think the point should be made that having duplicate apps (you use Google Messages and have Sasmung Messages for example) matters primarily when those apps you don't use can't be uninstalled. That seems to me to be the basic annoyance when we talk about bloatware. If we could just unistall them all, we'd care a lot less.

 

[ironass]

Also, I think the point should be made that having duplicate apps (you use Google Messages and have Sasmung Messages for example) matters primarily when those apps you don't use can't be uninstalled. That seems to me to be the basic annoyance when we talk about bloatware. If we could just unistall them all, we'd care a lot less.

Like yourself, I use Google Messages in preference to Samsung Messages. I just shut Samsung Messages down and hide it.

In Apps > (Samsung) Messages... I just block Notifications. It is obviously not my default. Deny data. In Storage I clear Cache and Data and last but not least... I hide Samsung Messages in the App drawer on the stock launcher. OK, the app is still on the phone but it is doing nothing except take up about 6MB of space but I can forget about it until Google Messages screws up and I need a back-up message app.

 

[Mike Dee]

Also, I think the point should be made that having duplicate apps (you use Google Messages and have Sasmung Messages for example) matters primarily when those apps you don't use can't be uninstalled. That seems to me to be the basic annoyance when we talk about bloatware. If we could just unistall them all, we'd care a lot less.

That's true of any stock apps you don't use on any device. Redundant apps don't take up enough room for me to worry about them.

 

[PoorInRichfield]

I had a Pixel 2XL, before that I had an S7. I really liked the Pixel 2 XL, so when it was time for a new phone I went with the Pixel 5. That felt like a step down from the 2 XL. The call audio sucked, and the camera wouldn't focus properly for close up pictures. The screen looked so dull also. Those were my 3 main complaints and what caused me to return the phone after a week. The S20 FE feels and acts more like the Pixel 2, except faster and with a better battery. It's a keeper.

I use Nova launcher, so my phones all look pretty much the same. I never really got the "pure android experience" thing. The stock apps on a pixel are very vanilla and plain.

Thanks for the Pixel 5 vs S20 FE comparison. In all the reviews I've read on the Pixel 5, it appears like Google downgraded the hardware of the Pixel 5 to reach a better price point and is using software tweaks to compensate for the lower grade hardware. I applaud Google for trying to keep phones reasonably priced, but I do think Samsung is producing better hardware and seems to have a phone for everyone's price point (quite literally).

The Pixel 5 speaker issue has come-up a lot in reviews... trying to use the screen as a speaker is apparently not such a great idea. If the next generation Pixel uses real speaker slots and has 3 cameras, I'd say that would be the phone to get and keep forever and ever and ever...

 

[RapidTurtle]

You just can't beat the Samsung screens. It's a wow factor every time you pick up the phone.

 

[J Dubbs]

You just can't beat the Samsung screens. It's a wow factor every time you pick up the phone.

True Dat!

 

[Morty2264]

You just can't beat the Samsung screens. It's a wow factor every time you pick up the phone.

This is so true. And Samsung's UI. I'm a Pixel geek but I'm very invested in Samsung's UI now.

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

Hi Kizzy! Could you clarify what you mean by "the camera was worse"? I'm currently debating getting a used Pixel 4XL (because it has a telephoto lens) or an S20... I'd hate to go the S20 route and find-out the camera "isn't all-that" Are you referring to the camera app or the camera itself?

Sorry for the late reply. When I got the phone any photos where my cat was moving were blurred to useless. My P4xl would take them and they would be focused and really good.

Since all the improvements to the camera software the photo quality has improved. But the Pixel 4xl was still better. But there is more flexibility with 3 lenses instead of 2 and the picture quality is now acceptable. For photo quality the Pixel is better than the Samsung. Not sure about the S20 phones as they have different lenses than my S10+

 

[Morty2264]

Sorry for the late reply. When I got the phone any photos where my cat was moving were blurred to useless. My P4xl would take them and they would be focused and really good.

Since all the improvements to the camera software the photo quality has improved. But the Pixel 4xl was still better. But there is more flexibility with 3 lenses instead of 2 and the picture quality is now acceptable. For photo quality the Pixel is better than the Samsung. Not sure about the S20 phones as they have different lenses than my S10+

I agree with you! Photos of my moving cat with my S10 were blurry. A Pixel device seems to have way better image stabilization.

 

[J Dubbs]

One thing I'll say is Samsung makes updates very hard on themselves, with all the phones they make and all the extra bloat on their phones they have to code around, no wonder their updates are slower to roll out and buggier than pixels. I could never be happy with duplicates of everything fighting for my attention, conflicting with each other, running in the background eating up resources, and just generally making my phone experience feel like gridlock during rush hour.

I like things simple, clean, and fast... including my updates

 

[Morty2264]

One thing I'll say is Samsung makes updates very hard on themselves, with all the phones they make and all the extra bloat on their phones they have to code around, no wonder their updates are slower to roll out and buggier than pixels. I could never be happy with duplicates of everything fighting for my attention, conflicting with each other, running in the background eating up resources, and just generally making my phone experience feel like gridlock during rush hour.

I like things simple, clean, and fast... including my updates

I agree with you - an almost-vanilla Android experience makes for easier and faster software updates!