Phones I jumped to Android and it was a disaster?

[dj1891]

Got a bit bored with iOS and iPhone so decided I would try android, I had used android in the past, my last phone being the Samsung s7 edge, I was curious to see how things had progressed.

Bought the huawei p30, it had an excellent camera and was fast so should have no problems. Wrong. In display finger print scanners, major pain in the ass, took on average 2 seconds to unlock and no guarantees it would actually work. It worked 70% of the time, it had face unlock but that was actually as bad. This put me off, yes great phone but the unlock really annoyed me.

Swapped that for the Samsung A71. On paper should be excellent, screen looked amazing, massive battery. Having owned a Samsung before I know they come with a lot of bloat and you have to turn things off to get decent battery life, so I turned off all the crap I’d never use such as bixby, Microsoft crap. Made no difference, battery was shocking. When I say shocking we are talking about 2-3 hours screen time, I was coming home from work below 20%, in contrast with my usage any iPhone I have owned I’d come home with 60-70% at the end of a work day. All this with a 4500mah battery?? Then we come on to biometrics, I thought the huawei was bad? This was 10 times worse, the onscreen finger print was equally as slow but even less accurate, it worked about half the time, face unlock i counted 3 secs for it to work. Total disaster of a phone.
So again returned the Samsung and am back to using an iPhone 8 Plus with 80% battery health. Thinking I might just get a new battery and use it for another year.

 

[johannnn]

8 Plus is an awesome phone. And next year you could get the 11 (not Pro) which should be quite cheap then. That's also a phone with great value.

 

[michael9891]

Must have had a faulty Huawei, or not set the fps up properly. The P30/P30 Pro have a pretty much flawless optical fps.

And unless it's a Pixel 4, face unlock won't work as well as Face ID on iPhone because it's different tech.

 

[Awesomesince86]

Seems pretty odd to only get 2 to 3 hrs SOT on a phone that pretty much everyone reviewed saying it has excellent battery life.

 

[Harthag]

You're using it wrong?

/s

Was worth a try, glad you were at least able to return the phones and come back to 8 Plus.

 

[Expos of 1969]

In your headline are you asking us if your jumping to Android was a disaster or asking yourself?

 

[ian87w]

I agree on Samsung fingerprint readers. For whatever reason, they're just not that good/accurate. As for the Huawei P30 vs iPhone 8, the P30 uses optical fingerprint reader, and yes they are not as fast as the traditional gold-standard TouchID. Optical fingerprint readers are just not as fast as capacitive ones.

As for battery life, form my experience, Huawei tends to have better battery life than Samsung.

I wouldn't bother with the "face unlock" features on Android. They are not only insecure, but you cannot use it under less than ideal light. Basically it's just a 2D image recognition.

 

[Awesomesince86]

I agree on Samsung fingerprint readers. For whatever reason, they're just not that good/accurate. As for the Huawei P30 vs iPhone 8, the P30 uses optical fingerprint reader, and yes they are not as fast as the traditional gold-standard TouchID. Optical fingerprint readers are just not as fast as capacitive ones.

As for battery life, form my experience, Huawei tends to have better battery life than Samsung.

I wouldn't bother with the "face unlock" features on Android. They are not only insecure, but you cannot use it under less than ideal light. Basically it's just a 2D image recognition.

As far as speed goes, since when is touchID the gold standard? It's great but I've definitely used faster FP scanners.

 

[michael9891]

As for the Huawei P30 vs iPhone 8, the P30 uses optical fingerprint reader, and yes they are not as fast as the traditional gold-standard TouchID. Optical fingerprint readers are just not as fast as capacitive ones.

I disagree, the P30 is as fast as any fps out there.

 

[ian87w]

As far as speed goes, since when is touchID the gold standard? It's great but I've definitely used faster FP scanners.

I'm not going to argue with you (plus I'm an Android user myself), but that's the consensus around the tech community.
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I disagree, the P30 is as fast as any fps out there.

Based on the actual hardware and technology, capacitive scanners are faster than optical/ultrasonic. The capacitive fingerprint scanner on my Honor View 10 is definitely faster than any optical ones I've seen, even the ones of flagships.

 

[Tig Bitties]

If your coming from an iPhone, ugh I'm sorry, and you gonna try Android out, there's only two options, a Pixel phone or OnePlus, which run vanilla stock Android, the way Google designed and meant it to be. Very smooth fluid performance with a clean minimal UI.

 

[Shanghaichica]

You might have had a better experience if you’d chosen a flagship Samsung phone rather than a budget/mid range one.

 

[kkh786]

I have a different take on this.

If you're jumping to try Android, I would stay away from Pixel devices especially during the autumnal season. If Pixel is a must, wait until Google fix the initial rollout bugs (at least past winter following initial release).

Pixels tend to be buggy as hell when they are released and most new features (if working as intended) we get have already been on other Android OEMs for a while such was the case with split windows, quickshare and even dark mode.

Granted, in the UK anyway only two things Pixels do better, photography (not video by long shot) and after sales service (when purchased direct from Google). Face Unlock also if that floats your boat but I prefer FPS.

Nevertheless, I would go as far as recommending Samsung flagship for first timers especially since the launch of One UI. These flagships have been on par with performance (if not better) and feature rich than any other Android devices (pixel fans who would beg to differ, please use the S20 series with 120hz before overreacting).

Also note, the Samsung ancillary tech ecosystem is also good enough to rival Apple i.e. Buds+, Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Tab S etc.

OS software wise, yes Samsung is not on the latest Android version lagging behind by 6 months but I think this is a blessing. Firstly, we get to avoid those initial release bugs. Secondly most new Android features are usually already baked into One UI. Thirdly, all major app updates can be had via the Play Store so need for OS updates is ever diminishing.

The key software part, the security patches have been on time for the last few years by Samsung. Heck, Samsung have even released security patches before Google in some instances.

Final thoughts, not bashing Pixel but Samsung flagships seem better bet for first Android device users from my experience. Emphasis on Samsung Flagships!

 

[Expos of 1969]

Final thoughts, not bashing Pixel but Samsung flagships seem better bet for first Android device users from my experience. Emphasis on Samsung Flagships!

Fully agree. Tried my first Android - Samsung Galaxy S10e - nine months ago and still enjoy it. Monthly updates, easy to use UI, great screen which causes me no eyestrain or headaches. A very responsive phone.

 

[michael9891]

I'm not going to argue with you (plus I'm an Android user myself), but that's the consensus around the tech community.
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Based on the actual hardware and technology, capacitive scanners are faster than optical/ultrasonic. The capacitive fingerprint scanner on my Honor View 10 is definitely faster than any optical ones I've seen, even the ones of flagships.

This statement says that the tech behind capacitive fps makes them faster than all optical fps, which is simply not true.

 

[jamezr]

I have a different take on this.

If you're jumping to try Android, I would stay away from Pixel devices especially during the autumnal season. If Pixel is a must, wait until Google fix the initial rollout bugs (at least past winter following initial release).

Pixels tend to be buggy as hell when they are released and most new features (if working as intended) we get have already been on other Android OEMs for a while such was the case with split windows, quickshare and even dark mode.

Granted, in the UK anyway only two things Pixels do better, photography (not video by long shot) and after sales service (when purchased direct from Google). Face Unlock also if that floats your boat but I prefer FPS.

Nevertheless, I would go as far as recommending Samsung flagship for first timers especially since the launch of One UI. These flagships have been on par with performance (if not better) and feature rich than any other Android devices (pixel fans who would beg to differ, please use the S20 series with 120hz before overreacting).

Also note, the Samsung ancillary tech ecosystem is also good enough to rival Apple i.e. Buds+, Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Tab S etc.

OS software wise, yes Samsung is not on the latest Android version lagging behind by 6 months but I think this is a blessing. Firstly, we get to avoid those initial release bugs. Secondly most new Android features are usually already baked into One UI. Thirdly, all major app updates can be had via the Play Store so need for OS updates is ever diminishing.

The key software part, the security patches have been on time for the last few years by Samsung. Heck, Samsung have even released security patches before Google in some instances.

Final thoughts, not bashing Pixel but Samsung flagships seem better bet for first Android device users from my experience. Emphasis on Samsung Flagships!

I disagree... I think software bugs are well....software bugs and will happen no matter what phone you get IOS or Android. That all evens out. With all the extra bloat and redundant software there is a even greater chance for software bugs on a Samsung phone to be honest. Look at the camera woes the S20 lineup is having.
Then does anyone use Bixby? It even has a dedicated button....

IMHO a Pixel brings a user experience that rivals the iPhone. It brings the ease of use and a better overall software user experience. It has the better faster biometric unlock than even an iPhone.

Security updates have been better on Samsung phones of late. But they only get them faster because of Google release cycle being the first week of the month rather than the first day of the month.

Then with a Pixel you will be assured of getting the next Android version when it is released.
Samsung phones will be a 6 months behind...just in time for the next Android version is in public beta.

Then why not use the phone designed for the software? The Pixel line up is software designed for the hardware.
The Pixel phones do not need the extra resource burden of an Android skin that hogs resources.
There is a reason why Samsung has to add 12 GB of ram into their phones.
The Pixel offers better and seamless integration with Google Assistant.
Anyway not trying to bash Samsung here...I have had most if not ALL of their flagship phones.

 

[kkh786]

I disagree... I think software bugs are well....software bugs and will happen no matter what phone you get IOS or Android. That all evens out. With all the extra bloat and redundant software there is a even greater chance for software bugs on a Samsung phone to be honest. Look at the camera woes the S20 lineup is having.
Then does anyone use Bixby? It even has a dedicated button....

IMHO a Pixel brings a user experience that rivals the iPhone. It brings the ease of use and a better overall software user experience. It has the better faster biometric unlock than even an iPhone.

Security updates have been better on Samsung phones of late. But they only get them faster because of Google release cycle being the first week of the month rather than the first day of the month.

Then with a Pixel you will be assured of getting the next Android version when it is released.
Samsung phones will be a 6 months behind...just in time for the next Android version is in public beta.

Then why not use the phone designed for the software? The Pixel line up is software designed for the hardware.
The Pixel phones do not need the extra resource burden of an Android skin that hogs resources.
There is a reason why Samsung has to add 12 GB of ram into their phones.
The Pixel offers better and seamless integration with Google Assistant.
Anyway not trying to bash Samsung here...I have had most if not ALL of their flagship phones.

I think we can agree to disagree here.

Like you I have had most of the recent flagships by Apple, Google and Samsung but we do not need to have matching experience or opinion.

I don't feel Pixel lines compare as a package to the iPhone, Samsung come closest from the Android camp. Granted there are certain elements of the Pixel line that shine such as camera. But there must be a good reason why the Pixel line is not mainstream as Apple or Galaxy S line.

Samsung given their bloated history is always improving, I cannot say that for Google. Their UI improvements and refinements have actually surprised me from what it was during the TouchWiz days.

Also the ridiculous 12-16gb RAM thing is more for competitive edge rather requirement as highlighted by my previous Note10 with 8gb which was smooth as butter as is my current S20+.

Nevertheless, I feel the pixels are so typically Google that they almost feel beta, thus the user essentially become testers for all OEMs. So for newcomers to Android it may not be the best place to start.

 

[Tig Bitties]

I disagree... I think software bugs are well....software bugs and will happen no matter what phone you get IOS or Android. That all evens out. With all the extra bloat and redundant software there is a even greater chance for software bugs on a Samsung phone to be honest. Look at the camera woes the S20 lineup is having.
Then does anyone use Bixby? It even has a dedicated button....

IMHO a Pixel brings a user experience that rivals the iPhone. It brings the ease of use and a better overall software user experience. It has the better faster biometric unlock than even an iPhone.

Security updates have been better on Samsung phones of late. But they only get them faster because of Google release cycle being the first week of the month rather than the first day of the month.

Then with a Pixel you will be assured of getting the next Android version when it is released.
Samsung phones will be a 6 months behind...just in time for the next Android version is in public beta.

Then why not use the phone designed for the software? The Pixel line up is software designed for the hardware.
The Pixel phones do not need the extra resource burden of an Android skin that hogs resources.
There is a reason why Samsung has to add 12 GB of ram into their phones.
The Pixel offers better and seamless integration with Google Assistant.
Anyway not trying to bash Samsung here...I have had most if not ALL of their flagship phones.

Agree 100%.

At this point Android OS is mature and doesn't need a skin or layered UI. All Android phones should just be stock vanilla Android like Pixel, or slightly tweaked like OnePlus Oxygen OS.

But TouchWiz or whatever they've renamed is not needed today, Samsung phones have way too much bloatware installed that shouldn't be there at all whatsoever. Plus the duplicate apps that Samsung has is silly as well, Google already has great stock apps, there shouldn't be two calendar apps or two clock apps, etc...

LG is even worse, they're skin can get bogged down one year later, like an old Windows 95 PC

in my opinion an iPhone user switching to Android should only go Pixel or OnePlus

 

[ian87w]

Agree 100%.

At this point Android OS is mature and doesn't need a skin or layered UI. All Android phones should just be stock vanilla Android like Pixel, or slightly tweaked like OnePlus Oxygen OS.

But TouchWiz or whatever they've renamed is not needed today, Samsung phones have way too much bloatware installed that shouldn't be there at all whatsoever. Plus the duplicate apps that Samsung has is silly as well, Google already has great stock apps, there shouldn't be two calendar apps or two clock apps, etc...

LG is even worse, they're skin can get bogged down one year later, like an old Windows 95 PC

in my opinion an iPhone user switching to Android should only go Pixel or OnePlus

Completely disagree. The best thing about Android is the fact that it offers choices. Locking the OS UI to stock/AOSP is against the original idea of Android in the first place. Skins like Samsung One UI, MiUI, eMUI, etc, all have added a ton of features that stock Android doesn't even have till this day.
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This statement says that the tech behind capacitive fps makes them faster than all optical fps, which is simply not true.

Yes it is.
On optical scanner, the phone has to light up your finger first to scan it.
Curious, I actually tried both a P30 (my friend's) and my Honor View 10. My Honor View 10's capacitive scanner wins, hands down. The P30 is slightly faster when the screen is already on vs when the screen is off/standby, but my View 10 is still faster either way.

Now, is the optical scanner on the P30 slow? No. However, is it slower than the capacitive scanner on my View 10? Absolutely.

 

[jamezr]

I think we can agree to disagree here.

Like you I have had most of the recent flagships by Apple, Google and Samsung but we do not need to have matching experience or opinion.

I don't feel Pixel lines compare as a package to the iPhone, Samsung come closest from the Android camp. Granted there are certain elements of the Pixel line that shine such as camera. But there must be a good reason why the Pixel line is not mainstream as Apple or Galaxy S line.

Samsung given their bloated history is always improving, I cannot say that for Google. Their UI improvements and refinements have actually surprised me from what it was during the TouchWiz days.

Also the ridiculous 12-16gb RAM thing is more for competitive edge rather requirement as highlighted by my previous Note10 with 8gb which was smooth as butter as is my current S20+.

Nevertheless, I feel the pixels are so typically Google that they almost feel beta, thus the user essentially become testers for all OEMs. So for newcomers to Android it may not be the best place to start.

We will have to agree to disagree The Pixel line has the closest user experience to the iPhone of any phone models today. Then the Pixel was not meant to be the most popular Android phone. Google has not positioned it that way ever. It was meant as a showcase for what Android could be to Android phone makers.
The Pixel line has always been about the blend of software and hardware. Software written for the hardware.

Make no mistake here.....I am an Samsung fan and will continue to buy their flagships phones.

But there is a reason they have to put some much ram in their phones. Their Android skin is a very heavy resource consumer.
Their UI has improved drastically in the last 2 years by becoming well....more like stock Android and simplifying the UI.
Believe me if Samsung could save the money and not put 12-16 GB of ram in their phones....they would. That is good business for a phone maker struggling to turn a profit in their mobile phone division.

I don't feel the Pixel line as beta product. But do feel Samsung has released the S20 line with a ton of software and hardware bugs. Look at the Ultra and the 100 zoom. Still after so many software updates it is still not ready. Then there is the motion blur in moving objects because of the slow shutter speed that dogs the S20 line up.

I feel like Samsung is at a fork in the road so to speak. They have to figure out their camera issues on their flagship phones. They can't continue to just throw hardware at their software issues. Their competitors are starting to overtake them.

It will be very interesting if the rumors about the Pixel 5 come to fruition. If the Pixel 5 is released with a mid range SoC and still runs as smooth and fast as previous models then what does that say other phones with 12-16 GB of ram and the latest processors?

Personally I feel the FPS a legacy security feature. Facial recognition software is the future going forward. Apple was first to have a legitimate offering with FaceID. But I think Google does it better with Face Unlock. But Samsung cannot compete with their face unlock.

Anyway as you so rightly said we can have differing opinions and personal preferences without being enemies

I have always valued your opinions and that has not changed with our discussion here.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I think we can agree to disagree here.

Like you I have had most of the recent flagships by Apple, Google and Samsung but we do not need to have matching experience or opinion.

I don't feel Pixel lines compare as a package to the iPhone, Samsung come closest from the Android camp. Granted there are certain elements of the Pixel line that shine such as camera. But there must be a good reason why the Pixel line is not mainstream as Apple or Galaxy S line.

Samsung given their bloated history is always improving, I cannot say that for Google. Their UI improvements and refinements have actually surprised me from what it was during the TouchWiz days.

Also the ridiculous 12-16gb RAM thing is more for competitive edge rather requirement as highlighted by my previous Note10 with 8gb which was smooth as butter as is my current S20+.

Nevertheless, I feel the pixels are so typically Google that they almost feel beta, thus the user essentially become testers for all OEMs. So for newcomers to Android it may not be the best place to start.

I agree with most of your comment. Whilst Samsung phones do need more ram than say a pixel phone. This is usually to run features such as the S-pen or other features like Dex, or multiple Lenses in the camera that pixel phones simply don’t have. However the extreme amounts of RAM were initially to be competitive in China. Those variants with more Ram weren’t even available outside China. It’s only been in the last year or so that Samsung brought them worldwide due to user demand. I’d rather have excessive Ram and not need it than not enough and have obvious performance issues like the pixel phones have in the past.
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Completely disagree. The best thing about Android is the fact that it offers choices. Locking the OS UI to stock/AOSP is against the original idea of Android in the first place. Skins like Samsung One UI, MiUI, eMUI, etc, all have added a ton of features that stock Android doesn't even have till this day.
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Yes it is.
On optical scanner, the phone has to light up your finger first to scan it.
Curious, I actually tried both a P30 (my friend's) and my Honor View 10. My Honor View 10's capacitive scanner wins, hands down. The P30 is slightly faster when the screen is already on vs when the screen is off/standby, but my View 10 is still faster either way.

Now, is the optical scanner on the P30 slow? No. However, is it slower than the capacitive scanner on my View 10? Absolutely.

Yes remember android is about :Be together, Not the same. It’s strength is in it’s diversity.
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Completely disagree. The best thing about Android is the fact that it offers choices. Locking the OS UI to stock/AOSP is against the original idea of Android in the first place. Skins like Samsung One UI, MiUI, eMUI, etc, all have added a ton of features that stock Android doesn't even have till this day.
[automerge]1593181199[/automerge]

Yes it is.
On optical scanner, the phone has to light up your finger first to scan it.
Curious, I actually tried both a P30 (my friend's) and my Honor View 10. My Honor View 10's capacitive scanner wins, hands down. The P30 is slightly faster when the screen is already on vs when the screen is off/standby, but my View 10 is still faster either way.

Now, is the optical scanner on the P30 slow? No. However, is it slower than the capacitive scanner on my View 10? Absolutely.

Yes remember android is about :Be together, Not the same. It’s strength is in it’s diversity.

 

[The Game 161]

You might have had a better experience if you’d chosen a flagship Samsung phone rather than a budget/mid range one.

Yeah making a move from IOS I would always suggest the top flagship option....if you Want as close as possible OS comparison then pixel is a good option.

 

[Vegastouch]

Agree 100%.

At this point Android OS is mature and doesn't need a skin or layered UI. All Android phones should just be stock vanilla Android like Pixel, or slightly tweaked like OnePlus Oxygen OS.

But TouchWiz or whatever they've renamed is not needed today, Samsung phones have way too much bloatware installed that shouldn't be there at all whatsoever. Plus the duplicate apps that Samsung has is silly as well, Google already has great stock apps, there shouldn't be two calendar apps or two clock apps, etc...

LG is even worse, they're skin can get bogged down one year later, like an old Windows 95 PC

in my opinion an iPhone user switching to Android should only go Pixel or OnePlus

Ive said this before, so ill say again. For me, i like a lot of the added features Samsung has on their phones. I dont use the Touchwiz launcher at all and always use Nova instead, but a lot of other things i do like, though Bixby isnt one of them. If you buy one unlocked you wont have all the bloat on them either.

Ive had stock Android and frankly i dont like it and it lacks and why i like Samsungs added features.

Pixel's dont interest me because of that. Too much for too little for the price and frankly Samsungs Flagships are now too expensive for what i want to pay.
I can afford them, i just think phones are too high, and since i dont have a Phone fetish like some do, im more interested in just getting one that works well.
Hec even the mid range speced phones are beter than the flagships were going back to the S7 and have features that are only a couple years old like Face and fingerprint security which.....i can take them or leave them.

Ill miss the stereo speaker more lol.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Those who haven't even tried Bixby should before critisizing it. It can do so many things to keep all the nasty fingerprints off that it rivals the root app Tasker in its capabilities.

Even S-Voice, which I preferred over Google Now, was far more capable than Now was at that time in 2012. Then, it could voice-toggle Wifi or Bluetooth while Now simply claimed 'hardware controls are not supported yet'

Even today, it does things that the Assistant can only dream of. I'd bank on it being far more private than Google Assitant as well.

That being said, I miss TouchWiz Nature UX. I still use my S5 and Note 2 from time to time; that UI fit me to a tee since I am vegan and adore being out in nature, often taking walks on trails on weekends for excerise. TouchWiz was easily recognizable as Samsung as was Sense an HTC thing, or MotoBlur a Moto thing. I miss device identity. All modern devices all look like flat boring garbage with retina-searing whitespace. I say that actually having recently started to use my Motorola G7 Power phone when my iPhone stopped working for me. The UI on it is garbage and that's with a One UI theme. Might eventually install a more TouchWiz style launcher in the future, but it doesn't look right on a gesture-driven, notched bezel-free design.

 

[Zwhaler]

Interesting, my S10 512GB unlocked shipped with no carrier bloat and hardly any Samsung bloat (this is vastly different from my past experience with carrier-locked phones). I just checked and am getting over 2hr screen on time and have over 50% battery remaining after about a year of ownership. It cost me $849 which was $300 off MSRP brand new last July. Fingerprint scanner is pretty much instant and does not register properly quite 100% of the time but is very good to the point of not being dissatisfied. ?‍♂️