notforhire
Well-known member
I've done the betas for the past few years. I need a breakCurious why you're against OneUI 7 Beta?
I've done the betas for the past few years. I need a breakCurious why you're against OneUI 7 Beta?
Can respect that. Especially since we have to factory reset to get out and don't have the luxury of unlocked bootloaders to simply flash backups (US SD)I've done the betas for the past few years. I need a break
YeahWhile both brands offer solid options, it's a shame they really are our only two real options (in the US)
I honestly haven't even looked at them for a long time. For a long time they were a Verizon house brand and almost exclusively Verizon and didn't offer anything in the upper range.Yeah
I won't buy Motorola with their slow updates in the US
well saidI honestly haven't even looked at them for a long time. For a long time they were a Verizon house brand and almost exclusively Verizon and didn't offer anything in the upper range.
Sony has decent phones but NO updates and never to be found in stores.
Oppo, Redmi, Redmagic, Xiaomi, etc.. all you ever see is people asking for help because something broke or they hard bricked them so I have no faith there.
Huawai is banned, so they are no longer an option.
While not high end, still of interest, the Fair phone if they made it more widely available would be of great interest. Cheap, repairable and customizable to an extent.
LG and HTC, RIP.
OnePlus lost its way of being impressively festures phones at affordable prices. Now they don't do anything in my eyes to stand out and are playing the top dollar game.
If the developer community were present and open-source apps plentiful, I'd consider a jail broken iPhone though I still hate the idea of Apple. Though Google is closing the gap at least from a business and philosophy side of becoming them.
All brings us full circle (at least in the US), Samsung or Google.
In my opinion (you have to say that these days and bold it...) this is the distinction:
Google: Phones that have some hardware issue every year for the first batch. Otherwuse solid phones but have gotten too expensive IMO since the Nexus days and early Pixels.
Unlockable bootloaders, infinite customization by extension.
Updates are frequent and guaranteed. Downside is Google is Google and messes with the UI too much. It's like relearning your phone each major update and my elderly parents, I can't even count, how many times they called complaining, "where the... is XYZ now?" "Why is #$@ constantly changing".
The cameras aren't bad but they rely too heavily on software.
Which brings us to Samsung:
A now fairly refined & consistent and by some a stale affair because visuals are only miniorly overhauled after major updates. Parents have not complained once so that's a big win there.
NO unlockable bootloader in the US by extension relying on Samsung to push the updates as promised (at least as long as we don't go to A/B partitioning we have ODIN).
Slightly more expensive than Pixel but IMO better cameras are the tradeoff, at least for the Ultra.
Some think it's bloat but don't understand the functionality but GoodLock and GoodGuadians (awful names) are great gaps that filled the root void for me. Lots of proprietary feature. Some is true bloat though.
Aside from the Samsung keyboard situation, Samsungs phones are arguably the most hardened out there. Nobody has bypassed Knox in modern phones without irreversible tripping it.
Very good points and as for One Plus my last phone which I still have is the 1+7 T McLaren edition after that I think they went wrong directionI honestly haven't even looked at them for a long time. For a long time they were a Verizon house brand and almost exclusively Verizon and didn't offer anything in the upper range.
Sony has decent phones but NO updates and never to be found in stores.
Oppo, Redmi, Redmagic, Xiaomi, etc.. all you ever see is people asking for help because something broke or they hard bricked them so I have no faith there.
Huawai is banned, so they are no longer an option.
While not high end, still of interest, the Fair phone if they made it more widely available would be of great interest. Cheap, repairable and customizable to an extent.
LG and HTC, RIP.
OnePlus lost its way of being impressively festures phones at affordable prices. Now they don't do anything in my eyes to stand out and are playing the top dollar game.
If the developer community were present and open-source apps plentiful, I'd consider a jail broken iPhone though I still hate the idea of Apple. Though Google is closing the gap at least from a business and philosophy side of becoming them.
All brings us full circle (at least in the US), Samsung or Google.
In my opinion (you have to say that these days and bold it...) this is the distinction:
Google: Phones that have some hardware issue every year for the first batch. Otherwuse solid phones but have gotten too expensive IMO since the Nexus days and early Pixels.
Unlockable bootloaders, infinite customization by extension.
Updates are frequent and guaranteed. Downside is Google is Google and messes with the UI too much. It's like relearning your phone each major update and my elderly parents, I can't even count, how many times they called complaining, "where the... is XYZ now?" "Why is #$@ constantly changing".
The cameras aren't bad but they rely too heavily on software.
Which brings us to Samsung:
A now fairly refined & consistent and by some a stale affair because visuals are only miniorly overhauled after major updates. Parents have not complained once so that's a big win there.
NO unlockable bootloader in the US by extension relying on Samsung to push the updates as promised (at least as long as we don't go to A/B partitioning we have ODIN).
Slightly more expensive than Pixel but IMO better cameras are the tradeoff, at least for the Ultra.
Some think it's bloat but don't understand the functionality but GoodLock and GoodGuadians (awful names) are great gaps that filled the root void for me. Lots of proprietary feature. Some is true bloat though.
Aside from the Samsung keyboard situation, Samsungs phones are arguably the most hardened out there. Nobody has bypassed Knox in modern phones without irreversible tripping it.
Most likely, I won't be upgrading until 2026. I'm happy with my S24 Ultra, and I usually wait two years to upgrade.
I'll wait and see , if I like anything from the s25 series I'll upgrade if not I'm fine with the s24u and Fold 6 combo.
I'm currently using my pixel 9 pro XL/s24U/Fold 6/iPhone 16 pro max and I'm not committed to any manufacturer so if one isn't cutting I'll go to the other .
wondering if there's a 12 step program for technology addicts? there seems to be one for every other thing you can imagine.Well I've said for the last 3 years, oh this year I won't upgrade, and, well, that has worked out for me about as well as catching water in strainer. This year I think things will be different. Me and my children all have the same device. I got theirs on some Verizon deal where they were practically free and I held out for the unlocked version from Samsung. It cost me 200 bucks more that way but it leaves me free to upgrade or leave with the phone at anytime. Of course I'll be penalized if I take theirs off the plan before 36 months but I'm not leaving. Tried that once and hated it. Anyway. I haven't seen anything compelling with the S25. The faster chip is a moot point if my S24 will do all the same stuff. Plus the 7 years. It doesn't get bad for me until they start releasing the review and comparison videos.
If you do have 4 you should get 3 more. One different phone for each day of the week.2 phones for his work and 2 for unmmmm " whatever other reasons " for having two more hmmmmm?? I won't ask ?!?!?
Desert Titanium 16 pro maxHow are you liking the iPhone 16 Pro Max? What color?
Still using my 23U as my primary with iPhone 13 as my running/etc phone. But thinking of 16 Pro Max just to change things up and play with the AI stuff coming out in 18.2. 16 Pro Max feels good in hand, bright vivid screen and love the option in White lol. Got my daughter a 16 Pro in Titanium and like that color too.
If Samsung.com offers $1000 for my 22U I still have in my desk I might go 25U and I could always grab a 15 from work to play with 18.2.
If you do have 4 you should get 3 more. One different phone for each day of the week.
Whaaaaat??If you do have 4 you should get 3 more. One different phone for each day of the week.
Desert Titanium 16 pro max
Very solid phone up there with one of my favorites.
Yeah I'm not sure on the s25u, I have to wait and see approach but nothing so far making me want it .