Excluding Apple, do you have a favourite smartphone maker?

[ozaz]

Excluding Apple, do you have a favourite smartphone maker?

What influences your choice of favourite is totally up to you. Could be based on a single device, range of devices, customer care, timeliness of software updates, level of software bloat, your perceived vision of the company, patriotic reasons, whatever. You decide.

However, I would suggest you *don't* restrict your choices only to devices you've already owned. Allow yourself to be influenced by what you know of other devices/companies as well.

In addition to voting, please do leave a comment supporting your choice.

* Even though they aren't the OEM, given they control the Nexus line I think Google needs to be considered a maker for the purpose of this poll.
Notes:
* Please consider only smartphones. If this poll gets a decent number of votes, I'll do a separate one for tablets later

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Personally, I'm liking Sony at the moment.

I like their decision to heavily focus on battery life and not use ridiculous screen resolutions. The recent Z3 devices seem to be very good all round devices.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Feature wise, Samsung

Design wise, Nokia

Liked but never tried, LG and Sony

 

[mrex]

none
once it was samsung (<-Note-serie). but, i dont favor any companies.. i only favor devices that are worth of the money you paid.

 

[Savor]

Apple is NOT in my Top 5. Neither is Samsung.

Favs -
Google
HTC
Sony
Xiaomi
Asus
Nokia

Potential -
Oppo/OnePlus

Loves & Hates -
Apple
Samsung

Hates -
Cherry Mobile (Pinoy brand)
Lenovo
Most China brands
BlackBerry
HP (loved Palm's webOS though)

Indifferent -
LG
Motorola
Huawei

Actually, I feel torn when I saw idiot Taylor Martin compare HTC One M8 vs Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. I saw the fanboys on both sides. I think HTC still makes superior phones over Sony but the Z3 Compact should have won that comparison. I highly respect the smartphone and Android pioneer of HTC but Sony was my first true love in tech. It was never Apple or Samsung. Sony inspired them to greatness. Google is my fav company now overall.

 

[MRU]

I swap devices so many times I had to choose none...

 

[Satori]

Before the iPhone, I thought that Nokia made the best smartphones. Symbian wasn't a bad smartphone OS (even if there seemed to quite a few viruses/trojans for the platform).

Palm Treos were pretty good for their time as well.

 

[chambone]

Personally, I'm liking Sony at the moment.

Same here. Not just their phones but most of their electronics. I hold them in as high a regard as I do Apple really, in terms of hardware reliability. I have had a Z1 compact for a couple of months now that I'm really happy with. I also like the fact that Sony leaves Android mostly alone, and I really like the phone itself.

I'm not too happy with the way iPhones are evolving, size-wise, so it was either a 5S or something else. The Z1c came along on ebay, new for €300, so yeah..

Not too impressed with Android really. There was a thread on here a while ago along the lines of 'jb iphone > android' or something like that, and that sums up my own sentiments exactly. Although Android L may change much of that. Putting Cyanogenmod on there will probably make things much more interesting as well, so that's the plan one of these days.

 

[theapplefanboyj]

OnePlus, CyanogenMod 11S is really smooth on this phone,and the battery life... Ahhh. And the sandstone black back! So nice to hold!

 

[Savor]

Reasons...

Google - Most innovative company to me right now and I use most of their services. If Apple is the strict parent giving you curfews in your 30's, Google is the laidback parent that let's us do what we please and is daddy of Android.

HTC - The pioneers of touchscreen smartphones and the first to make Android devices, it only made "sense" my first Android was a Google Nexus One made by HTC. They make the best phone designs even over the now redundant iPhone designs from Apple.

Sony - My fav tech maker. Yes, I grew up in the Walkman and PlayStation era. I owned the most products from them ranging from Discman, PS1, PS2, PSP, WEGA TV, and digital camera. Surprisingly I never owned a Sony smartphone. I don't count the Sony Ericsson T616. I don't consider their smartphones superior to Apple's or Samsung's, but it's getting better! Best vs favorite are two different meanings to me anyway. So while Sony might be my favorite in general tech, I only rank them #3 among phones.

Xiaomi - True, Jony Ive recently trashed them with his own "unflattering" remarks. I wish Lei Jun can let go of his Apple envy and just make original designs as I'm no fan of the Mi 4 either. The Mi 3 design was much better without looking too much like a Lumia clone. But this company is heading somewhere just by looking up. They also are offering some of the best value if you are lucky to get one during a flash sale, have a cute Mitu bunny mascot that can appeal to kids and females, and aren't limited to just selling smartphones and tablets. Hugo Barra was a great pickup. It only took 4 years for this "little grain of rice" to grow into the #1 phone brand in China.

Asus - Never owned any of their products. Most Westerners might know them for the Nexus 7 and their affordable notebooks/laptops. But this Taiwanese company have been making motherboards for 30 years now. Their portfolio has expanded to tablet/smartphone and tablet/laptop hybrids. They even made a dual booting Windows 8/Android device before! And their attention to detail in design is just as good as HTC. And like Xiaomi, they can offer it at a good price as seen with their Zenfones.

Nokia - My first GSM phone was a Nokia. My first colored screen phone was a Nokia. My first smartphone was a Nokia. The Finnish company were always great at reliable reception and build quality. But the hiring of Stephen Elop was the beginning of the end for them. The real Nokia already died back in 2011 with their N9 before they caught a Microsoft virus that killed them.


The one I'm watching...

Oppo - Like Xiaomi, I didn't know Oppo until last year with the Find 5. I read they were a Chinese brand that made popular Blu-ray players in China. A year later, Oppo starts selling their smartphones here. Overpriced but I actually came away impressed with the Find 7a and Color OS. Their design and build quality seems alot closer to Asus than Lenovo. I consider OnePlus as part of the Oppo umbrella here so whatever praises I have about OnePlus One belongs in this section too.


Apple might be in my Top 10 because I'm very grateful to them for making iPhone. And without iPhone in 2007, Android wouldn't exist. But iOS is my least favorite mobile OS right now when it was my former #1 just three years ago. I was a big fan of iPhone and iOS back in the day, but now I'm only a fan of the former as I still enjoy Apple's hardware.

Samsung might be in the bottom of my Top 10. I might still like Motorola and LG better. The only Samsung product I currently own is a washing machine. First Samsung product I ever owned was a DVD-R player with zero instructions and I had a problem setting up the first time. The recording quality was also bad if played on another DVD player. I like some of Samsung's hardware capabilities and their marketing agent is fantastic. Better than SEGA's during the early-1990's. My #5th all-time favorite phone was a Samsung Focus. So kudos to Samsung sometimes. OLED & Windows Phone is a great mix as it looks like the tiles are floating...

 

[adder7712]

I don't pledge loyalty to any smartphone make.

However, it kind feels good to be back on Sony after using their feature phones (when they are branded as Sony Ericsson) for a while before getting the S II and then the S III.

 

[ozaz]

I don't pledge loyalty to any smartphone make.

Fair enough. But I would make a distinction between having a favourite and pledging loyalty. I would say have a favourite manufacturer, but it doesn't prevent me from buying devices from other manufacturers.

 

[The Game 161]

Samsung da best!

 

[zOne31]

I don't pledge loyalty to any smartphone make.

However, it kind feels good to be back on Sony after using their feature phones (when they are branded as Sony Ericsson) for a while before getting the S II and then the S III.

I sort of agree with this statement. Every smartphone I've gotten thus far has been from a different maker. I'm on my 3rd and I've gone from HTC Droid Incredible to Samsung Galaxy Nexus to Apple iPhone 5s. My biggest mistake was getting the Galaxy Nexus. It was such a bad experience mostly due to the horrible battery life. I could have gotten the Galaxy S3 but I didn't want to deal with Touchwiz or the 4s but I didn't have a Mac back then so I didn't see the point of switching to Apple.

Lately I've been digging Sony's hardware with their Z series (I voted for Sony). It started when they released the Z Ultra. There was a purple version which I thought looked so sleek and it even got a GPe! I think they really hit it out of the ballpark with the Z3 and Z3c. Their Z3 tablet looks really nice as well.

When I got my 5s last fall I was looking at the Moto X as well but ultimately went with the 5s because of my mac. I really liked what Motorola did with their flagship last year. However, I can't say the same for this year. I think they went backwards with their design with that new dimple on the back and just how big this year's version is now.

I wouldn't mind getting a HTC phone. My first experience with Android and HTC on my Droid Incredible was pretty good considering the state of Android back then. Updates still took a while but overall it was a good device.

Due to my experiences with my Galaxy Nexus and LG enV2 (or 3?), I've told myself that I refuse to get a Samsung or LG phone anymore. That basically limits my Android selection down to HTC, Sony, Moto, and any of the Chinese manufacturers (who I'm kind of staying away from).

I'm one of the few that doesn't own a tablet and I've been thinking about consolidating the tablet and phone into a larger phone. I was looking at the Z3c but now I'm considering the Z3 as well. While the design of the new iPhone isn't inspiring, it's still on my list as well.

 

[Dontazemebro]

Feature wise, Samsung

Design wise, Nokia

Liked but never tried, LG and Sony

Pretty much the same for me

 

[Technarchy]

Apple and Samsung is all I've bothered with since 2011.

Last non-Samsung and Apple phone in my house was the HTC Evo.

I try out everything in stores and what friends buy, but more often than not I find other manufacturers make uninteresting products.

The LG G2 was probably the most tempting product I've encountered but I still passed on it.

I would be all over Windows/Nokia if Google and overall app Support was stronger.

 

[ucfgrad93]

HTC gets my vote.

 

[ozaz]

Samsung da best!
__________________
My Devices- Galaxy Note 3: Galaxy note pro 12.2 :Galaxy Note 8.0:Galaxy Gear: Ipad 2

Who would've guessed!

 

[tbayrgs]

I've owned devices in the past 2+ years from Samsung, LG, HTC, Sony and of course Apple. I'm also very intrigued by the Moto X and have been a fan of Nokia's hardware (just can live full time on WP). All have their pluses, but each has their detractions as well.

I really like HTC's design style and build materials and am a fan of Sense--my favorite OEM skin. However, I find their handsets a bit too large (in the length specifically) vs. their display size and their cameras inadequate (though improving with their move away from the 4 ultra pixel offerings).

Samsung offers a lot of bang for the buck (good camera, expandable storage, very good battery performance, nice displays) but I don't like their design aesthetic and really dislike Touchwiz.

The LG I owned was a Nexus 4, which was a beautiful phone. I'm not a fan of their current design style or build materials or software skin. They do lead the way with maximizing display in a compact form factor.

I really like the Moto X design, even with the gaudy M dummy button, and the ability to really customize the look of each phone. What's most attractive to me in Moto phones though is their implementation of Android and the features they layer on top--best Android software experience IMO. However they continue to offer lackluster battery and camera performance. Fix these two issues and the X would be the near perfect device.

Sony also comes so close to offering the perfect device. Their hardware is top notch and waterproof to boot. They have a good camera (though i think it could be better with improved software), awesome battery performance, expandable storage and a good display. Their downfall, as with most, is in the software. The design isn't far off stock Android but there is a heavy layering of Sony services throughout and it's a bit intrusive. Give me a GPE edition of either the Z3 or Z3c and it would be my top choice.

All that being said, I voted for HTC as it, IMO, offers the best current blend of software and hardware for my tastes.

 

[TechGod]

Apple is top and HTC is tied with them. The Nexus line has fallen to number three.

I have only bothered with three companies/flagships, HTC, Apple and Nexus.

 

[aneftp]

I love Nokia still. Always reliable RF antenna. Nice designs. Good support.

 

[Lloydbm41]

HTC, Google, Nokia, Motorola

 

[The Game 161]

Who would've guessed!

And mocking the thread of course

Swear we had a similar thread made recently

 

[Shanghaichica]

Samsung da best!

Quoted for truth

 

[Kariya]

None.

 

[magicMac]

Sony's focus on waterproofing everything is definitely very interesting.