With the Note 9,i now realize that 'Stock' android had me brainwashed.

[MIGUEL GONZALEZ7]

I'm definitely not a fan of "stock" to get the functionality of the Samsung experience you would have to download a bunch of 3rd party apps.

I had the Note 9 , it takes awful pic too much junk app , 2 galleries, to app store ,the stylus it is worthless for everyday use, take a pic and then zoom in on it and see how bad the object looks, $100 for a phone that its performance it is not even close to the One plus 6 ( $575), memory card for what? App are faster if kept in the phone's internal memory, there are cloud to keep photos .$1000 what a rip off

 

[Theot]

There's a lot of comments I'd like to address but in light of that I'll just state this. I've had several Samsung and LG phones over the years. They always had way more stuff than I need or want. I never liked their bright cartoonish colors in their apps, particularly the SMS apps. I've had Notes, I personally never had much use for the SPen. Add the bixby button and the curved screen which I think is a terrible design and causes more hassles than it solves and I was out on Samsung. LG has been flaky and their software is a bit jenky and after a year you are screwed for updates (I dare say most Samsung phones the updates taper off pretty quick after a year too)

I went to a Pixel 2, and I've never felt like I've lost anything and before that I ran a Moto G4 for a few months and again, going from an S7 to the Moto G4 the only downgrade was the camera. With half the RAM it still did everything, sometimes faster than my Samsung phones ever did. Maybe I never found all the features but its seems like I either ignored them, didn't find them useful or the app was just poorly designed and I either hid or disabled them. To each their own but I think you have to find ways to use the SPen and the other software to make it part of your productivity. I could be wrong and I am sure someone will tell me so but I feel like there are more compromises than benefits and at $1000 I'm not interested when I can do everything I need to on a $250 phone if I really need to.

To each their own, if you like the Samsung experience that's great and I hope it works for you. For me, I never needed anything it offered and I prefer the less is more approach. If Moto made a phone with a good camera and kept up with security updates I'd probably be rocking a Moto because I think their tweaks offer a lot. Till then the simplicity and camera on the Pixel 2 will keep me there. However I may seriously consider a OP6T this fall but Samsung has nothing I'm interested in. I think you can find fault and deficiencies in all of them depending on your use case. Again, to each their own, personally, I don't need all the features.

 

[strikeIII]

Don't get me wrong the Pixel 2XL is a great device and great experience for what it is but I always prefer Samsung as my primary device over it.

 

[strikeIII]

There's a lot of comments I'd like to address but in light of that I'll just state this. I've had several Samsung and LG phones over the years. They always had way more stuff than I need or want. I never liked their bright cartoonish colors in their apps, particularly the SMS apps. I've had Notes, I personally never had much use for the SPen. Add the bixby button and the curved screen which I think is a terrible design and causes more hassles than it solves and I was out on Samsung. LG has been flaky and their software is a bit jenky and after a year you are screwed for updates (I dare say most Samsung phones the updates taper off pretty quick after a year too)

I went to a Pixel 2, and I've never felt like I've lost anything and before that I ran a Moto G4 for a few months and again, going from an S7 to the Moto G4 the only downgrade was the camera. With half the RAM it still did everything, sometimes faster than my Samsung phones ever did. Maybe I never found all the features but its seems like I either ignored them, didn't find them useful or the app was just poorly designed and I either hid or disabled them. To each their own but I think you have to find ways to use the SPen and the other software to make it part of your productivity. I could be wrong and I am sure someone will tell me so but I feel like there are more compromises than benefits and at $1000 I'm not interested when I can do everything I need to on a $250 phone if I really need to.

To each their own, if you like the Samsung experience that's great and I hope it works for you. For me, I never needed anything it offered and I prefer the less is more approach. If Moto made a phone with a good camera and kept up with security updates I'd probably be rocking a Moto because I think their tweaks offer a lot. Till then the simplicity and camera on the Pixel 2 will keep me there. However I may seriously consider a OP6T this fall but Samsung has nothing I'm interested in. I think you can find fault and deficiencies in all of them depending on your use case. Again, to each their own, personally, I don't need all the features.

I don't disagree with you at all. That's why it's great that there are so many Android devices to choose from that there's bound to be a device that suits ones needs. But yeah the consumer has to make that conscious decision if the features and experience that Samsung provides, or any other brand, is for them and worth the asking price.

 

[medic22003]

Still like BlackBerry launcher. I pay for their suite of apps and use a combination of Samsung and BlackBerry. Works pretty good. There's a feature on the Samsung goodlock where you can swipe away unused open apps to close them. Not bb10, but familiar and pretty slick

 

[The Hebrew Barrister]

Hey, All,

After rooting and modding Android devices for the past Decade, it's nice to see that the OS has matured to a point where messing around with is isn't necessary like it once was to get the features I liked.

Starting with the Nexus line, I once thought that stock android was the way to go for pure power, and the Pixel predecessor (specifically the Pixel 2XL) also had me thinking that this device running 'stock' was the mother of all flagships...

Well - after checking out (and, in turn, pre-ordering the unlocked, blue 512GB Note 9), I now realize that the power and productivity aspect of the Pixel 2XL pales in comparison to the Note series...

Glad to be back!

I've been ranting on stock android forever. It was "better" before processors caught up to the extra features Samsung adds, and before Samsung stopped changing aesthetics and focused on just adding new features.

Ever since then, stock android is pointless.

Someone had mentioned not liking the duplicative Samsung apps. With DeX, there's a really good reason for them to exist. Samsung Mail and Browser are DeX optimized and work like desktop apps in DeX. Gmail and chrome do not.

Samsung messages is just better than any message app Google has. I'd be happy if they deleted the Google app.

Cliff notes: I think stock android lovers used a galaxy s2 back in the day and have never given a modern phone a try.

I also note that Oxygen OS is also great, and think Google needs to copy every single extra configuration setting it offers.

 

[jeetu4444]

I never like stock andriod very boring....infact never used one...very happy using Samsung and other andriod OEMs which gives more useful features than stock andriod

 

[Theot]

I've been ranting on stock android forever. It was "better" before processors caught up to the extra features Samsung adds, and before Samsung stopped changing aesthetics and focused on just adding new features.

Ever since then, stock android is pointless.

Someone had mentioned not liking the duplicative Samsung apps. With DeX, there's a really good reason for them to exist. Samsung Mail and Browser are DeX optimized and work like desktop apps in DeX. Gmail and chrome do not.

Samsung messages is just better than any message app Google has. I'd be happy if they deleted the Google app.

Cliff notes: I think stock android lovers used a galaxy s2 back in the day and have never given a modern phone a try.

I also note that Oxygen OS is also great, and think Google needs to copy every single extra configuration setting it offers.

But see that's where all this began, Samsung was adding to much, which is why so many have a sour taste in their mouth from using Samsung devices in the past.

As for the duplicate apps and Dex, I think it would go a long way to make that stuff optional. I've said for years that the OEM's and the carriers need to offer those apps as an option in the initial setup so you can customize the phone to how you want it with the apps you actually need and are not forced to carry a bunch of stuff in the OS you don't need eating up storage. For me Dex is just extra crap I don't need. I have a laptop that is more portable than lugging around a monitor and has far more functionality than anything Dex offers so leave it off my phone.

I never found anything in samsung messages that was better, it was just extra fluff. While I appreciate the simplicity of Android Messages, I think third party apps like Textra and Pulse offer far more than either of them.

You may be right about some of the stock android lovers not using a newer galaxy, however I think most of us in here have used enough different phones that we have had recent experience. Outside of Bixby the current Samsung experience that I've used on several demo models looks almost exactly like it did on my S7 I was using until about a year ago and again, I feel like I've lost nothing.

I am probably going to try the OP6T this fall, Oxygen OS sounds like what I'm looking for.

Just trying to offer counter points from the other side. I don't think either of us is wrong, to each their own. Use what you like. You don't like stock, that's fine. I don't need all the extra features, which is also fine. Just don't try to put me in the box that says I don't know what I'm missing, because I've tried the Samsung way recently, looked at the new stuff and have not seen much difference and I just didn't need all that it offers.

 

[chris1h]

Maybe I need more time with a Samsung phone, but I have hated the ones I haver tried...probably more a learning curve than anything...I have been using Blackberry Android for 3 years which is pretty close to "stock" Android, and been really happy with it, played with a Pixel and didn't see any real differences other than how launcher worked...

 

[Mike Dee]

Wish it were that easy. There's a lot that Samsung offers that you can't find via 3rd party apps or if you do can be a terrible experience or implementation. When I use my 2 XL I don't even bother anymore trying to find alternatives cuz it's just a nuisance trying to figure out which app is good. Plus, since this is in the Note 9 thread, you can't get SPen features.

They are all good arguments but it all really depends on what you really need and want.

 

[Mike Dee]

There's a lot of comments I'd like to address but in light of that I'll just state this. I've had several Samsung and LG phones over the years. They always had way more stuff than I need or want. I never liked their bright cartoonish colors in their apps, particularly the SMS apps. I've had Notes, I personally never had much use for the SPen. Add the bixby button and the curved screen which I think is a terrible design and causes more hassles than it solves and I was out on Samsung. LG has been flaky and their software is a bit jenky and after a year you are screwed for updates (I dare say most Samsung phones the updates taper off pretty quick after a year too)

I went to a Pixel 2, and I've never felt like I've lost anything and before that I ran a Moto G4 for a few months and again, going from an S7 to the Moto G4 the only downgrade was the camera. With half the RAM it still did everything, sometimes faster than my Samsung phones ever did. Maybe I never found all the features but its seems like I either ignored them, didn't find them useful or the app was just poorly designed and I either hid or disabled them. To each their own but I think you have to find ways to use the SPen and the other software to make it part of your productivity. I could be wrong and I am sure someone will tell me so but I feel like there are more compromises than benefits and at $1000 I'm not interested when I can do everything I need to on a $250 phone if I really need to.

To each their own, if you like the Samsung experience that's great and I hope it works for you. For me, I never needed anything it offered and I prefer the less is more approach. If Moto made a phone with a good camera and kept up with security updates I'd probably be rocking a Moto because I think their tweaks offer a lot. Till then the simplicity and camera on the Pixel 2 will keep me there. However I may seriously consider a OP6T this fall but Samsung has nothing I'm interested in. I think you can find fault and deficiencies in all of them depending on your use case. Again, to each their own, personally, I don't need all the features.

Well said.....I just wish everyone realized it.

 

[jazman_777]

Yes the beauty of Android is we have multiple devices to choose from. Enjoy your plastic Moto.

It's metal, don't be a hater.

 

[Andrew Steed]

I've used Samsung for years, can't stand stock Android.

Most of the new features that Google adds Samsung already has, so I see little benefit from getting the latest version of Android faster. I still get security updates almost monthly for 3 years.

Agreed! Stock Android has always felt like an alpha release to me.

 

[Mike Dee]

I've been ranting on stock android forever. It was "better" before processors caught up to the extra features Samsung adds, and before Samsung stopped changing aesthetics and focused on just adding new features.

Ever since then, stock android is pointless.

As long as people realize it's not pointless for everyone. We are all unique in what we want out of a device.

 

[Gayle Lynn]

I don't trust Samsung, or AT&T, with apps. And prefer to avoid even Google's. Is that wanting stock? No, I don't think it is.

 

[Mike Dee]

I don't trust Samsung, or AT&T, with apps. And prefer to avoid even Google's. Is that wanting stock? No, I don't think it is.

Begs the question....who do you trust?

 

[strikeIII]

I don't trust Samsung, or AT&T, with apps. And prefer to avoid even Google's. Is that wanting stock? No, I don't think it is.

Maybe, you just need a stock flip phone.

 

[Mike Dee]

Maybe, you just need a stock flip phone.

Lol

 

[anon(3641385)]

Are you in the US? I know outside the US Samsung has much better support for their apps and Google doesn't and in a lot of countries there's very little google support.

I'm in Australia, and I think we get all the usual google features that you get (whatever they are).

Google's not for me.

 

[anon(3641385)]

Or just download what you actually need

Samsung apps cover the spectrum of what i need and I trust them with my data

Third party apps, nah, I reckon it's hit and miss whether the app continues to get supported by the dev, and also one really needs to make sure their data is being protected the way the dev says it is (if the dev mentions data protection at all )