What smartphone do you have (if any) and what are its issues/quirks?
What smartphone do you have (if any) and what are its issues/quirks?
Rants are welcome, even encouraged :)
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The last 4 phones I had were just a mess. I am starting to loose hope of there being something that would work well. I just recently got a new phone, it's a mess as usual. Maybe what I am experiencing is enough for a warranty claim, maybe it's just a quirk to be dealt with...
Every couple years every newer phone I try is just worse and worse. I thought that maybe once PinePhone and available software gets mature enough..., but at this point, maybe other phones will just get crap enough.
My last good phone was ironically an ultra-cheap Lark Cumulus 5HD. It was just 50 EUR new. No lags, no crashes, swappable battery, a just works experience. 50 bucks...
Chronologically...
Moto G5s Plus
Great hardware, except that focus on my camera was kind-of broken, but I was too lazy to get that repaired under warranty.
But SW, god damn Motorola. Slow buggy mess. Crashes, freezes, battery drain. BUT, I was able to fix it with ✨a custom ROM✨
Poco X3 Pro
If you had any MIUI device, you know. Alarm clock may get killed optimized, ton of bugs to learn working around, built-in ads and spyware. Lots of it, based on blocked DNS logs.
HW - cheap and powerful. Average lifespan of the motherboard being whopping... 9 months. The phone ate 3 of them.
Moto G54 5G Power
Once again, great HW, SW not so much. The 3 button navigation was completely broken in high DPI and what made me return it - non-skippable updates. Just full-screen permanent update notifications. Only option: update. Nope.
Ulefone Armor 24
Few SW issues: Long-pressing dock icons while an app is open crashes "Quickstep", in turn killing navigation (both gesture and buttons...). Alarm clock gets killed most of the time even with all optimizations off.
HW, least I think I should classify it as such: The phone has a chance to negotiate (?) 12V for split-second intervals using QC 2.0 (based on my USB tester) which it doesn't expect, and throws overvoltage error. This happens with all QC-compatible chargers I tried, even the original one when used with OTG adapter.
The original one otherwise uses USB-C with PD, which works, sure. But after using it data transfer to PC via cable is broken until reboot.
I was very much a full-time phone person, but now it's too much. I got a cheap touchscreen ThinkPad and use it with KDE Plasma (wayland). I was doing basically everything on a phone before, now I instead try not to, but with everything being an app, damn.
Pixel 6. Upgraded from a pixel 4a.
Where's my fucking headphone jack.
Also why is the 6 so heavy
I've got a Fairphone 4. Had quite the headache, cause I had a slightly broken one. I don't want to go into detail, but I can say the support on Fairphones side is excelent, they were super friendly and helped to fix the issues as best as they could. And the nice thing is that you can repair most things yourself. But it is still a "nerdy" product. Fairphone doesn't have the best flagship with the fastes processor. But if you value something, where you own your hardware, and can repair stuff easily, you should consider it.
I have an iPhone 12 Mini.
I am an IT guy, I just want a phone that works.
It is not amazing, it is not horrible, it has good cameras, it's fine.
CarPlay is awesome, the size is great, the battery is too small. The notch isn't as annoying as I first thought.
It's a fine phone.
I spend all day work on software. I am now a PM after spending 15 years writing code, but totally agree with wanting to not have to worry about hardware/software once I'm done working.
My personal phone is a Pixel 3a. I would classify it as not amazing/not horrible/decent camera and just works. I personally like some of the UX patterns in Android more than iOS, but these days the two are more or less in parity. Unless you get an OE ROM. Those can be a wreck.
Same here. iPhone 12 Mini, was an Android user before but this is probably the best Phone I ever had.
Android phones always had the issues with no more Android updates and getting slow with time.
Now my only problem is a battery which gets weaker every year and I don’t know what I will get next since this form factor is pretty much dead but I don’t want a bigger phone.
Fairphone 4. No complaints at all
Pixel 4a. It has a headphone jack, the bootloader is easy to unlock, and it's well supported by third party developers (I run LineageOS on it).
The stock kernel doesn't support ExFAT, which is annoying. I'd prefer if it was a little smaller.
Rant: every newer phone is worse in terms of bootloader, size, or headphone jack.
The stock kernel doesn’t support ExFAT
Oh yeah, this also annoys me with my current phone due to Kiwix. Thankfully split ZIM mostly works.
Unless you have a philosophical/moral reason against it, try a Samsung. Can't speak for the cheaper models, but the top models (S-series and Z-series) are usually really great.
Yeah, I do. Mocking Apple, then doing the exact same thing themselves. Also I kind of require a headphone jack and SD card slot. Even if the phone had >= 1TB, it's still great for independent storage backups. Of course, being inside the phone it shouldn't be relied on, but it did save me with the Poco X3 Pro for example. For added security, I use Termux and pipe the TAr archives to GPG.
The advantage of this is being doable basically immediately and offline at high speed, anytime.
But regardless, thanks for the recommendation. Maybe it will once be my only choice.
I have the Samsung Galaxy A54 it has an SD card slot and I just use an adapter so I can charge it and use headphones at the same time. Some companies sell it much cheaper. The only downside that I found was that Samsung promised that all Galaxy phones would get the AI integration but when the update came out the Galaxy A54 was not included so I can't have AI built in to my phone.
Well, if you don't mind alternative OS, try SailfishOS with an officially supported device. I used it with the Xperia 10 III and I really liked the experience, sans a few bugs.
It has a compatibility layer to run Android apps, though not everything is supported (to my irritation, fingerprint is not), but it works well.
I think newer devices are supported nowadays.
Edit: As of now, only the trial version is supported for newer phones, so to get the best experience, you should either wait for the commercial license availability, or buy a used Xperia 10 III.
Good luck with a headphone jack , any reason you couldn't just use USB c headphones ? It seems like the phones you are choosing are lesser known phones with less people using it , so less testing and more like to have issues . If you want something that is just going to work you will probably have to settle with a pixel or Samsung. My galaxy s21 lasted a few years and took a beating and kept going m
I'll add that I got an a03s this week to use as a backup while my primary is on the healing bench.
It is garbage for use. I would have been less irritated setting those dollar bills on fire than I am trying to use it.
To give an example, this morning I went grocery shopping. Conncted Bluetooth headphones, opened only Spotify and my shopping list in notes. Every 45-90 seconds the music would hang, didn't matter if the phone was in my pocket, in my hand locked, it in my hand unlocked with Spotify in the foreground.
To open YouTube, with nothing else open, to type three words that bring the desired video to the top of the search, and to start playback takes minimum of 30 seconds. I don't bother with any video on here.
Typing this post has taken entirely too long because the fucking keyboard/autocorrect shit is too slow and causes all kinds of input lag.
I was going to end with saying it's great for basic communications, but honestly... It's shit. It's motivated me to fix my regular phone as quickly as I can. Something I'm not prone to do without motivation, if at all.
Edited to add that even network speeds are garbage. Wi-Fi is far worse than cellular data, and that's not great. Did some side by side testing with the other phones on the same network. The speed difference isn't small, I didn't write anything down so I won't give numbers, but it's bad. Real bad.
Oof. A0 series is horrible. You need at least A2x series phone or better to even have a usable phone.
I agree, one of the last companies selling quality.
I've got an A71 5g and my only bitch (it is a big bitch though) is that it's slightly different from the 4g A71 in form factor so there are no good choices for cases.
I will never buy a phone that doesn't support an application like SoundAssistant that let's you completely silence certain applications and force audio multiplexing. If I can't forcefully silence applications that I don't want making sounds I live in misery.
Oh yeah, something like Good Lock should be mandatory for any phone.
Regarding form factor, is it just different dimensions, or do the cameras etc. have a different position as well? You could try 3D printing if the former and just resize it a bit. Or you can search for a case specifically for your phone. Like here.
6 years so far on my S9, was their flagship release.
I've had three Google Pixels now and they've all developed problems with just freezing up or shutting down randomly. Won't be getting one again. Also, the smaller versions keep getting bigger with every iteration. What's the point? I want a small phone.
Pixel 6A. No headphone jack, no sd card slot, low battery life, but has grapheneos support.
Its so much heavier than the Pixel 4a, also the fingerprint sensor is worse
Small phones pleaseeeee!
Every time I buy a new phone I'm devastated to learn that I can't get anything usable with one hand.
I need a 5.5 inch phone, anything bigger is hard to use, anything past 6 is impossible with one hand
Oh, you'd absolutely hate my phone: https://www.gsmarena.com/ulefone_armor_24-12602.php
Look at the dimensions, especially thickness and weight. Ironically though, it feels better in hand than a large thin slab. Thin phones are better smaller.
If you've seen that Energizer P28k thing, this is larger and heavier.
I have an iPhone. It's pretty recent, but definitely not the most recent. No, I don't know exactly what model it is. It's an utterly boring glass brick that lets me find out stuff and say stuff and take pictures. It set itself up from my last iPhone like a clone emerging from a vat, and someday it will be fated to transfer its lifeforce to its brother-self-son. Such is the way of the iPhone.
It's... fine. I got a red one.
I have a Pixel 8.
It's quirk is that every now and then, I have to manually force Pixel Launcher to close or I can't minimize/switch apps. Basically since getting the phone, and going to their support pages/forums it's a super common issue that's existed since launch. And the fuckers won't fix it.
And also the AI assistant thing, despite being turned off completely, still sometimes activates randomly as if you said "hey google." Sometimes in the middle of the night in completely dead silence.
Pixel 8. Solid. No issues. Fuck AI.
I am jealous of the small iPhone or pixel 6 owners. I like small phones. Having a Google Pixel has been very good for me and the family. IOS is just too lazy to me.
I used to root phones all of the time. It got cumbersome and I caved. With a pixel I get regular updates and features. It's not the best but it's predictable.
I dont understand, the pixel 6 is bigger than the 8, isnt it? On gsmarena it says so. For me, i like the size of the pixel 8, as it is a little bit smaller than my previous phone.
Recently got the pixel 8, and installed grapheneos on it (which is very easy to do), and been great so far.
Pixel 6 with Graphene OS.
It's perfect. I wouldn't swap it for anything. Graphene is a delight to use. Android as it should always have been. Regular updates, very secure, no bloat, full (optional) Play Services support, all my banking apps work.
Only downsides are:
- Google Wallet/Pay doesn't work but I've never seen the point in mobile payments anyway.
- No headphone jack, which I was dead against but tbh Bluetooth earbuds these days are superb and wired headphones were cumbersome.
No headphone jack, which I was dead against but tbh Bluetooth earbuds these days are superb and wired headphones were cumbersome.
I gave that a go, but nope. I did have a phone with no headphone jack, and used BT earbuds in the past. Another battery to keep charged, having to unpair them each time to use with a laptop, then re-pair them, occasional but annoying audio cuts with RFI (WiFi hotspot, microwave oven,...), very noticeable delay with FPS games (that was otherwise unnoticeable).
Just nope. Bluetooth audio is nice with a laptop, so that when I have earphones connected to it, I don't have to disconnect them to hear something from my phone, but that's about it.
Is it bad trying to set up Graphene if I already have a Pixel with data on it? What could I do to back my whole phone up prior to migration?
Pixel 8 Pro. I take issue with the buttons all being on the right side, which makes combination presses difficult. The cameras are positioned in such a way that it's difficult to keep stable while not covering them. Gestures are less good than iOS, but it's literally 2024, and digital buttons should die. I do not like the under-screen fingerprint reader. Rear was so much better on my OnePlus 5T, and that was probably my best unlocking experience.
No headphone jack (surprisingly not new).
I went from a oneplus 5t to a pixel 7a, I really miss my oneplus. The newest oneplus at the time was too expensive and big for me, so I tried something different, but I will definitely go back once I get the chance...
Recently jumped from a Pixel 2 XL to the 9 Pro Fold. I had the 2XL for quite a while, and a few times over the years it developed this issue where it would shut off when I plugged it in to charge, unless YouTube was playing for some reason. Sometimes it would stay on if I turned it back on after it was plugged in, but not always.
I used my phone as my morning alarm, which typically meant starting a video like this before going to sleep. Generally the problem went away after a month or so, and so I just dealt with it. This last time was pretty persistent though, and got to the point where I decided to get a new phone.
Obviously I've only had the Fold for a couple months, so nothing crazy I've noticed so far. First time I've ever had a brand new flagship phone, which is neat I guess. A little pricey, but I do a lot of reading on my phone so honestly I think it's a decent investment. Doubt I can go back to reading PDFs on a non-fold, but I tend to keep phones until they're run into the ground, so by the time this one gives out there should be plenty of cheaper folds on the market.
Pixel 4a with CalyxOS.
Support has ended while my phone is still working great and could probably last me a few more years (4 already) I get that companies can't support devices forever, but I wish they would apply their 7 year support policy retroactively because now I'm going to buy a new phone for the simple reason that mine is now insecure (no security updates for firmware)
This sucks and it's so wasteful.
pixel 8 running graphene
pretty decent
fingerprint sensor is mid as hell, but cameras and screen are super nice
Just in case you know, is there a way to lock network bands in Graphene (couldn't find an answer). It's basically why I limited my selection to MediaTek this time around, but some custom ROMs might have that on different SoCs possibly.
I know it’s fashionable to hate Apple here, but switching from android to iPhone was the best decision Ive made. They just work. All of them. As a software guy, I spend my time making computers do stuff, so my phone needs to just work
Currently iPhone 15 Pro.
I replace every 2-4 years so I can give it to my kids another 2-4 years
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone X
- iPhone 6+?
- iPhone 5?
I agree with the one user who stated that modern phones are too goddamn big.
I've had Samsung's Z Flip5 for over a year now and I've been really enjoying it. Small form factor when folded that actually freaking fits in women's pockets. And when unfolded, I have a case with a ring that helps me hold it and reach higher up on the screen. Honestly, I would like if it was a bit smaller when opened, but it's a fun compromise.
It doesn't seem to fit in with what you want though, as it doesn't have a headphone jack and isn't going to be as durable as a regular phone. Still, it's fun and I like it!
Pixel 8 pro.
Quirks : Runs GrapheneOS
LG V20. It's old as shit but it has tons of features that you can't get all on a new phone. IMO phone technology peaked on this one.
Just off the top of my head: Headphone jack, Replaceable battery, Small second screen you can put app shortcuts on, Hi-fi DAC, IR blaster, SD slot
Samsung Galaxy A35
I had the Samsung Galaxy A54 and it had issues with constant wifi disconnect and can't be fixed even with factory resets, so I had to get a new one. (According to reddit, wifi issues are so common with A54) A55 does not exist in the US, so A35 it is.
Reason I didn't get an S-series is because of missing SD card slot. Yes I'm this petty. I might've gotten the S24 Ultra if it had sd card slot, but corporations likes to be douchy, okay you play stupid games 🤷♂️. A35 is powerful enough anyways, whatever, saves me money too. I'm enjoying my 1TB sd card (that cost like $100 extra on top of the phone) that would've costed like $1500 total for in the S-series phones.
The only reason I still want samsung is because I want use a Samsung Smarttag to track my cat, amongst other items I want to track. And I hate iOS, so Samsung trackers are the only viable alternative to Airtags.
There's not much special, its just a phone. Not flagship, but also not a shitty budget. Its "okay".
I've been using Google brand phones since the g1. The Nexus 4 and the pixel 7 were the worst build qualities. The screen on the seven fell off three times and then finally died. I've switched to a Samsung.
I have a Galaxy M35
It's fine, but when it's not playing something and the screen is off I can't change the volume, which is really stupid.
Sometimes I've got earphones connected and press play on them and the volume is loud, but I can't just pause and lower it, I have to: pause, grab the phone, unlock it and only then lower the volume. At least it should be a setting.
An iPhone 12 Pro as my daily driver. I bought it four years ago, and might get a battery replacement in the coming months to extend its lifespan until Apple stops supporting it. The phone is as reliable as the day I bought it. It just works.
As for quirks, there are plenty that appear, disappear, and reappear with each software update. I made a post about it a while back[0]. One that bothers me the most is the ability to seek a video in the native player by swiping across the screen (not just using the scrub bar), a la Apollo for Reddit's video player. This feature didn’t work in iOS 14, the OS it shipped with, or in 15. It worked in 16, which is when I discovered that the native player has this feature, but it stopped working after updating to 17.
I also use, in decreasing order of usage, a Moto G60 Fusion (with a debloated and de-Googled stock ROM), a Pixel 6A (running Graphene OS), and a Mi A2 (with Ubuntu Touch). Unlike my daily driver, these devices do not have a SIM card and serve as experiments to assess the feasibility of living without reliance on big tech. I acquired these phones from friends and family who were either discarding them or exchanging them for new ones. I also disassembled a few older Asus Zenfone and Redmi Note models that were either too outdated or bricked, to learn more about their innards and architecture.
OnePlus 6 I got secondhand for a great price. Love the hardware (especially headphone jack). Don't love the back being made of glass (just... why???)
the main problem
IT IS TOO BIG
Pixel 8. No complaints.
Stock ROM?
yup
Samsung Galaxy S9. have replaced the battery twice, got it at launch. skipped the s8, had s5 and s7 prior. it's not rooted, user lawnchair launcher and love it. will drive it til it dies.
Samsung Galaxy A02s. This thing feels like it isn't that old, but damn sure operates like it's old. Thing lags like a slug to where I've had performance lag in keyboard interfaces to even recording audio clips on Discord. It's battery life is shitting the bed, even at 100%, it is down to 94% immediately even when it's not used.
Samsung Galaxy A32-5G. This is my primary and I like it, still does fine and was worthy to slap an Otterbox protection case on it. Does what I need it to do and is reliable, it's roughly 3 years old.
I generally switch between Sony Xperia and the Samsung A series, I'm currently with Sony. This is an unpopular opinion but the side fingerprint scanner really bothers me. It's too good compared to the under display scanner and the phone keeps getting unlocked on accident when trying to look at the time or even turning off the screen. Plus I had to register 4 different fingers to cover all hand positions. It's a good phone otherwise.
I was actually considering getting an ulefone armor at some point but the bad software stopped me. As most of your issues are with software you should probably keep away from the really cheap brands.
This is a feature I miss from MIUI. Side-mounted fingerprint scanner with the option of press to unlock rather than just tap.
It does have an option to only scan after pressing the button. But it gets a bit weird if you just pressed the button to lock the screen as there seems to be a mini race condition somewhere in there.
I have the Xperia as well. Perfect phone, really ticks every box. Except for that damn fingerprint reader. Idk how such a thing gets into production without someone realising it's the worst place to put it.
Moto G Stylus 5g 2023. I'm satisfied with the hardware but Android has its own issues and it only gets 1 major version update, to Android 14, which it's running now. Main new feature of the 2024 version is wireless charging.
Gigaset GS5 from Germany.
Overall it is a solid phone. Stock Android, Headphone jack, dual Sim, a micro SD card slot (not a dual Sim or SD card tray), and a replaceable battery.
My grips with it are all surrounding the charging circuitry. It doesn't do fast charging and when charging while also using the headphone jack it will induce noise.
Asus Zenfone 10. Reminds me of the Nexus 5x, but less buggy and less lag.
It has one absolutely atrocious bug that still hasn't been fixed - randomly auto brightness will just crater into fully dimmed brightness, leaving the phone unusably dark in the daytime. I've disabled auto brightness to avoid this and have probably done more harm than good to my overall phone experience, but damn if it isn't frustrating when you try to use your phone and have to find somewhere to duck inside to even see it.
Google Pixel 8
Got it recently after the battery started swelling on my Google Pixel 6 after 3 years of ownership.
I love that it's smaller than the 6, the 120Hz OLED display, the clean software, the 6 remaining years of updates, cameras are great (as were the cameras in the Pixel 6), and (relative) lack of bloatware compared to other phones I've had from Motorola and LG.
I am kind of irritated by the battery life and and how warm the phone tends to get. It was $200 cheaper than the Pixel 9 when both were on sale, but I'm wondering if I should've bit the bullet and gone for the 9.
Overall, I really like the phone for it's features and performance, but wish it had better endurance and ran cooler.
Currently on a Samsung note 8, and aside from wear and tear, I'm pretty happy with it. I've replaced the battery, the camera glass, the rear glass, it has a bit of burn in on the screen, and is beginning to have some issues with the power button registering double clicks instead of only one. Actually pretty easy to work on if you have messed with electronics before, mix of glue and screws to disassemble.
My next logical phone would be a Sony Xperia 1 mark vi, but that isn't really available for the US (I'm on AT&T, and they have a white list), so I'm just staying with my Samsung for now as there aren't really any flagships with headphone jacks, expandable storage, and decent repairability.
HMD Vibe. I hate this phone. Bluetooth is terrible, cameras are all trash, it sometimes just doesn't ring when someone is calling, no NFC, no finger print. Face unlock is slower then just putting in my pattern.
I had the Nokia 8.3 5g just before it that I accidentally took swimming. It was the best phone I've ever had. No bloat, everything worked perfectly. I can't understand how they had that phone, then made this piece of trash.
Fourth year with Samsung Z3 (the flip one) It is totally awesome, the only downside is that protective foil starts to come off every year or so right in the middle. Will upgrade to Z7 next year 100%
Moto G Stylus 2020. No real complaints about the phone. Battery life is about 2 days. It has headphone jack and SDcard slot. I like the chop chop motion to turn on the flashlight and the twist motion to run the camera.
Chronologically...
TCL 10L. Decent phone, I liked it a lot, the software was kinda buggy but was overall pretty good... Kinda destroyed it in a gym accident.
Samsung Galaxy A12. Horrible phone, do not buy. Slow, sh!t software, crap battery life. Thank God for GSIs as they are the only things that made this phone bearable.
Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G. Best phone I've ever owned. The software sucks but it's supported by most custom roms (I use lineage). Got it for a good price 2nd hand and it's been my daily driver ever since.
Huawei P30 Pro, decent cameras and screen, battery still going strong after 3 years, pretty happy with it!
I've been a droid/moto fanboy since my first droid phone, but I have tiny hands and the newer models are just too big. It's annoying as can be.
So this last cycle, I swapped to a S23. It's a better size - could stand to be a bit smaller, but I can generally use it with one hand. But I just don't like it. Samsung added a bunch of their own stuff on top of the android stuff, and it's constantly asking for new permissions for different privacy policies and other things.
I'm also so upset that I lost gesture controls. And the fingerprint sensor is a laugh.
On the plus, the camera is really good and the battery life surprises me sometimes. It's a fine phone, but I miss my motos. Still, I'll keep it around for another few years and pray there's something more compact that will come out. Or the razrs will get better.
The volume spontaneously resets itself to the default level ~50%. I think it means the headphone jack has issues, and it's thinking a device is being connected/disconnected.
Samsung note 20 ultra 5g.
The battery fucking blows.
Ouch. I must have gotten pretty lucky with my Note 20 5G, my battery lasts pretty decently under normal daily use.
Used to have a Note 8 for about 6-7 years, was a good phone until the very end when the battery started to go.
Shit I just bought a Poco, should I be worried?
I'm on a Poco right now. The hardware is great, so once you remove as many invasive built in apps as you can you've got yourself a great deal.
Look up how to use adb bridge to remove apps. Most are safe to remove, SOME are not. There are lists online that will tell you which is which for your make and model.
Thank you, a friend mentioned to me about uninstalling bloatware with abd, will have to look into it.
It was a widespread issue specifically with the X3 models. You're most likely good if it's something else.
Thank you, a friend mentioned to me about uninstalling bloatware with abd, will have to look into it.