What’s your worst experience with an Android phone

[Barbareren]

BlackBerry Internet services known as BIS will be closing on 31st October 2019 for Consumer and 15th November 2019 for Small Business and Corporate customers, so you won’t be able to use the following applications with your BlackBerry device: BlackBerry Messenger, BlackBerry World, BlackBerry Email, Facebook and web browsing. You'll still be able to use your phone to make and receive calls, send and receive texts, and may be able to use data through a WiFi connection or your data plan allowance. https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Texti...et-Services-BIS-closure-affect-me/td-p/809938

On BB10 BlackBerry World, Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Gmail, web browsing and countless other apps worked just fine without having to subscribe to BIS. You are correct about BB’s proprietary email and messaging service, but I never used them anyway. You didn’t have to, unlike pre-BB10.

Anyway, BB10 is dead and useless now anyway, unfortunately. That’s why I was forced to ditch my BlackBerry Passport and get an iPhone X (tried a couple of the ‘BlackBerry’ Android phones in between, but they were crap).

 

[torana355]

A lot of the earlier Android phones were slow but I had a heap of fun installing custom ROMS and learning how Android worked. Looking back I think the S7 was my worst Android, phone, it became laggy after a month of use and was not easy to root like my previous Nexus devices.

 

[nickdalzell1]

A lot of Android lag could likely be blamed on the incessant need to hit the 'update' button each time one's available or worse, let it do it for you automatically. Updated apps not only end up getting garbage UIs down the line, but they will eventually use more and more resources such as RAM, CPU and so forth. That's why a Samsung Galaxy S5, while still capable of running many modern apps today, in 2021, is slower than molasses doing so just as an i486 running Windows 98 with a paltry 8MB of RAM will also lag like heck. I have an HTC Thunderbolt that remains snappy just because I do NOT update a thing, and limit installs to what I consider core essentials. For more involved stuff such as video, ebooks, movies, games I got tablets. My Galaxy S Relay also runs well and I haven't installed a single thing since I activated it, since for the moment it's a backup to my newest addition, a Samsung Flight II, another slider that's my daily since my main use of my daily is messaging my girlfriend and taking notes. In addition, it's probably far more private than the oldest Android device.

 

[hallux]

Updated apps not only end up getting garbage UIs down the line, but they will eventually use more and more resources such as RAM, CPU and so forth.

One problem is that some services will not let you use their app if you're not on the current version. I have a couple apps that will appear logged out, until I update them to the latest version.

 

[nickdalzell1]

The only apps I'm using today are the messaging (SMS) app, the browser for quick searches, the music player (yea, I still got 1,000 songs on my device!) and stuff such as the memo app, calculator, alarm clock and so on. Neither depend on the internet except the browser, which, on a Flight II (being 'unsupported') was quite the challenge since the APN settings are vastly different than any online guide will help with. That took effort.

The others, Thunderbolt, S Relay 4G, my various collections of older tablets, all work 100%. I of course don't mess with the carrier stuff (bloatware!) but all the built ins work. Weather app, GPS, etc. I have ways of making things work that wouldn't otherwise, because I know how the inner programming works. How to set up a gateway locally to make no longer supported apps remain working. It's a nice trip to 2010 again here!

I wouldn't use any app that eventually produces a 'you must update to continue using this app' pop-up. I uninstall any app that so much as pulls that stunt. NetGuard on later Androids can prevent that--since 90% use Google Play Services to check for updates, and killing the internet to that service prevents those apps from doing that. Not all work that way (Kroger!) but still.

The core things that must function are:

1. SMS/MMS
2. ability to make/receive phone calls
3. local apps (mainly those that don't depend on any internet connection, such as MP3 player, calculator, etc)
4. battery life (The Flight II, still on its original, 11 year old battery, can make a WEEK if you don't use data!)

Anything else IMO are bonus. I wouldn't care for data beyond MMS support, and the ability to finally get the browser and certain internet apps working on the Flight II was just a fun side project. Still love my sliders.

I did find it surprising that both my car's infotainment system as well as my Galaxy Buds appear to work perfectly with the old Flight II. Even the tap gestures worked.

 

[Vegastouch]

For me, it was the BlackBerry Keyone running Android. The screen would simply fall out/detach from the chassis (not kidding) on all of them, as well as having some very serious bugs! BlackBerry didn’t care.

Prior to that one I used a BlackBerry Passport (which I still have in my collection), and that phone was the best, and most productive, smartphone I’ve ever used (running BlackBerry OS10).

So, what’s your worst Android experience?

PS: This is not to diss Android, as I’ve had many that worked great for me, especially the Sony Xperia line.

Sounds like a Blackberry problem than a Android problem.

 

[Barbareren]

Sounds like a Blackberry problem than a Android problem.

In that particular situation, yes, because I only mentioned the most ridiculous problem I’ve had. I have, however, had countless hardware and software with several other Android phones from various manufacturers as well.

 

[Vegastouch]

In that particular situation, yes, because I only mentioned the most ridiculous problem I’ve had. I have, however, had countless hardware and software with several other Android phones from various manufacturers as well.

I been using Android since Froyo which is when I left the iPhone.
Only brand phones I've used are Samsung, LG(Nexus 5) and Pixel.
First Android phone was the Vibrant(Galaxy 1)

All hardware wise were fine. I'd also buy a Motorola, just haven't.

 

[Barbareren]

Good for you 👍

 

[PierrotB]

3 differents mid-range Android phones that are getting slower and slower.
I have never experienced this with an iPhone.

 

[OneGrit]

Would have been the Google Pixel 2... until I bought a Samsung S20 Ultra. I think a lot of this comes from me buying it at launch for full retail price, since the phone and the experience I got wasn't all too bad if I paid less for it. Unfortunately, $2000 CAD after taxes and eco fees for a phone that feels haphazardly thrown together is far from an ideal experience for anyone in my opinion. I'm not saying it was "thrown together" in terms of how it was physically built, but rather more in terms of its equipment and software.

I had a Note 9 before this and it was a very good phone. I want to say it was great (especially for everything you got for the price that came to about 1400 for me) but the software situation (ads, bloat and poor commitment to "4 years of updates with 3 years monthly") keep me from praising it. I did not have the same experience with the S20U and instead felt like it was an overpriced, gimmicky marketing experiment.

First of all, the S20U had the exact same software experience as a then fully-updated N9 with only a handful of new features you must go out of your way to find. Even though this is a significantly newer and arguably more advanced phone than one from 2018 with a few software updates, the One UI skin made it feel dated. I didn't even know it was running a newer version of Android than the N9 was at the time because you couldn't tell with the skin.

Secondly, I really think the S20U was just haphazardly thrown together instead of being well thought out in terms of how it was designed and engineered. Instead of producing something that was new, fresh, nice to look at and nice to use, Samsung recycled their tried and true design once again (also adding to the dated feeling) and made a few minor tweaks to call it something "new". You could say the same thing about Apple but at least they make substantial changes to the design every two generations. The S20U just looked like an S8 with a full screen, no headphone jack, centred holepunch selfie camera, an offset rear camera island and a slight change to the curvatures of the screen and back glass edges.

In terms of features, it brought absolutely nothing new to the table that I would genuinely consider "features" but instead introduced a bunch of gimmicks that were ultimately useless to me. The 100x zoom (which they actually went through the effort of proudly advertising on the aforementioned camera island – on a phone introduced in 2020? were they stuck in 2010 or something?) worked to an extent but the resulting images are quite blurry and the gimmick itself was quite finicky, even if you used a tripod as it had some kind of stabilising thing that you'd always be fighting with – it would freeze frame to "stabilise" the shot where it wants to, not where you want it to. It was even worse right out the gate and only got to this point after about a year's worth of software updates.

The 108MP primary rear camera was also yet another gimmick because it is absolutely overkill for a mobile phone. It seems like Samsung were firmly stuck in the great megapixel war of the mid 2010s despite nearly everyone else having moved on since the late 2010s began. They added a "max res" mode that would let you capture in the full 108MP to take advantage of what the sensor is capable of, but I only used it a maximum of five times when the phone was brand spanking new before switching back to standard operation in which it bins down into 12MP. I just did not see the point of capturing such high resolution images with a mobile phone as a regular consumer, especially when most DSLRs don't even capture in such a resolution. If I had to capture such high resolution images for whatever reason, I would probably use a special camera designed for that purpose instead of a consumer mobile device. 8K resolution is only 33MP and change so if Samsung wanted their phones to capture 8K video, they could have gone with a much more reasonable sensor and still let users do that with their phones.

Aside from the stanout gimmicks, the rest of the phone was just extremely mundane and offered nothing you couldn't find on anything else in the same price range. It (at least in North America) had the typical specs for an Android flagship from the same year and I didn't even get mmwave 5G or a working eSIM here in Canada (the former is justified because we don't have that yet, but the latter isn't because Samsung have sold phones like the Fold 2 with working eSIMs here in the past). It seemed like all Samsung cared about with the S20U was 5G and cramming the most megapixels into a mobile phone camera because that's all I saw in that device. The rest of the phone was just classic late 2010s Samsung with then up-to-date specs and no headphone jack.

Like I said, the S20U's shortcomings could be forgiven if it sold for less to begin with but cannot be at the high price at which it was originally sold. In contrast, I currently have the Pixel 6 Pro and I am able to forgive its shortcomings due to its much lower price. It is also a much better phone that doesn't feel dated and thrown together at all, but that's a story for another thread...

 

[Smellmet]

3 differents mid-range Android phones that are getting slower and slower.
I have never experienced this with an iPhone.

Which phones out of interest?

 

[slooksterPSV]

Worst was with a… PG or ZTE Vertex??? Bought 2 of them. One for me and my roommate at the time so we could find jobs and have a phone. It had 4GB Storage and ran out of space so often. YouTube would stutter and it was just awful. $40/ea. I sold my laptop to get them.

BLU - they were nice at first. Big screen low price but no updates. Bugs in OS were terrible but even when they promised an os update it never came to be.

That was years ago.

 

[840quadra]

Worst experience. Having Google Stop supporting a device that is only 3 Years old.

I really to this day love my Pixel 3, while there is one more “sunset” update expected early 2022, it is not officially supported anymore, and I can’t use it for my work phone due to corporate security policies.

The iPhone Xs Max I purchased the same year will likely have updates and full support from Apple until 2024 or later! Like the Xs Max, the Pixel 3 still feels modern, still feels quick, still takes great pictures, and has decent battery. It’s a shame that Google doesn’t support their own hardware as long.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

One of my first phones was a RAZR motorola phone. It was incredibly slow and made me shut out Android for a while.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Worst experience. Having Google Stop supporting a device that is only 3 Years old.

I really to this day love my Pixel 3, while there is one more “sunset” update expected early 2022, it is not officially supported anymore, and I can’t use it for my work phone due to corporate security policies.

The iPhone Xs Max I purchased the same year will likely have updates and full support from Apple until 2024 or later! Like the Xs Max, the Pixel 3 still feels modern, still feels quick, still takes great pictures, and has decent battery. It’s a shame that Google doesn’t support their own hardware as long.

Google doesn't support their software as much which is even worse.

If you rely on Google apps and don't want them to change you can just not update them. But when they cut them off entirely (Reader, Notebook, Wallet, Inbox, Health, Play Music, etc) where you can no longer use them even offline, well, it makes you seriously reconsider relying on their apps at all. How long will Maps work? What if I'm lost and need to navigate, only to open up Maps and have it tell me that Maps no longer works?!

Same for their other services. How long will Gmail, YouTube and so on keep going? How long will YouTube Music run? Their longevity leaves much to be desired, to say nothing of their support of hardware.

I know Google+ became a joke to many online but I actually enjoyed it as it was far less toxic than Facebook. I had added a ton of communities that simply didn't exist elsewhere that have all EOL'd due to Google shutting it down, much like every other app they make.

Killed by Google

Killed by Google is the open source list of dead Google products, services, and devices. It serves as a tribute and memorial of beloved services and products killed by Google.

www.killedbygoogle.com

 

[840quadra]

Google doesn't support their software as much which is even worse.

If you rely on Google apps and don't want them to change you can just not update them. But when they cut them off entirely (Reader, Notebook, Wallet, Inbox, Health, Play Music, etc) where you can no longer use them even offline, well, it makes you seriously reconsider relying on their apps at all. How long will Maps work? What if I'm lost and need to navigate, only to open up Maps and have it tell me that Maps no longer works?!

Same for their other services. How long will Gmail, YouTube and so on keep going? How long will YouTube Music run? Their longevity leaves much to be desired, to say nothing of their support of hardware.

I know Google+ became a joke to many online but I actually enjoyed it as it was far less toxic than Facebook. I had added a ton of communities that simply didn't exist elsewhere that have all EOL'd due to Google shutting it down, much like every other app they make.

Killed by Google

Killed by Google is the open source list of dead Google products, services, and devices. It serves as a tribute and memorial of beloved services and products killed by Google.

www.killedbygoogle.com

Your comment and examples are some examples of why I will likely never fully invest in Android or Google services.

Google music going still hurts. I had a considerable investment in equipment that supported it, and am now on mostly homepod / homekit. With regards to home devices, I use items that work on both platforms.

Google photos going away from free storage for low quality images, yep don't like or trust that their current paid model will stay either. I moved to my professional gallery and sync my phones with that service now.

There are other services I used that Google Killed, but so has apple. Just gotta be mindful that anything can go away I guess.

 

[kaardowiq]

To be honest - that's why I won't switch fully to Android. I loved the whole eco system of Android, the Google Cloud and was always frightened of killing features. Always thought it may only happen to less used services but the impacts are even coming for well known products and paid subscriptions.

I had a private and gSuite account because I was always aware of it that they may get rid of the free Google Photos space. Therefore, I had an unlimited Business account - but even there the unlimited ones aren't available for new accounts anymore. At the moment the only communication is "unlimited plans may be adjusted at any time" which makes me very uncomfortable. The trust is lost in this service, even I'm playing for. As a result I canceled all subscriptions and moved everything to iCloud. On the other hand I'm now fully forced to the whole Apple eco system.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Actually you can fully use Android without relying on Google at all. I can, for example, still use a Samsung Galaxy SII, and the email, web, music player, notepad apps and so on still work fine, and no ties to any accounts (I used hotmail for email which the SII fully supports).

Don't assume that Android = Google. AOSP has existed for a long time without Google, and many custom ROMs (Lineage, Graphene, etc) run just fine without Google services.

I always have an alternative for any 'Google' app, just in case. I also don't stream, or use the 'cloud' so I'm pretty much prepared.

Now this is just a rumor, but I have read online that Google doesn't promote anyone who works for them if they 'stick' to a single product even just to perfect it. Google's culture demands short-attention spans, and creating new apps, not fixing or supporting 'older' apps/services. The demands of their career means folks must always be coming up with new ideas all the time (throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks?) vs. picking one thing and sticking to it.

I know, it makes no sense to me, either.

 

[kaardowiq]

Sure you can, but without the whole eco system and service I could also use an older feature phone rather than a smartphone. I‘m living fully in the cloud and I‘m sure they do their stuff better than I could at home with a NAS. Rather than that Google‘s facial recognition is the best one on the market, followed by Apple with new NE in iOS15.

 

[alphasports]

Don't mean to hijack, but I recently bought a Samsung cellular Tab A 2020 version (pretty sure it was the A...small 8" screen), I needed a small tablet at the office just for Youtube etc plus I wanted a bigger screen than a phone for my DJI drone. It was HOPELESSLY slow, I mean the lag between touch and response was shockingly bad. Unuseably bad. Unfortunately I didn't use it until after the return period was over, so I did the next best thing last week: I bent it in half over the edge of my desk and threw it in the e-waste bin. It's an insult to the garbage bin. What a total POC.

Seems wasteful I know and I was going to donate it to a needy kid or someone, but honestly it was so unuseable it probably would have triggered a suicide, so I opted for the autodestruct sequence.

Then I went to Costco and grabbed a basic ipad.

 

[johnjkjk]

Sony Xperia Z3 compact. Best, and worst phone at the same time. Great small size, 2-3 day battery life, good camera and high performance, but terrible build quality- the phone literally fell apart even with careful use. Camera was first to die. USB port, headphone jack, magnetic charger all broke, then touchscreen failed. Trying to repair it, because it's such a great phone.

 

[valinda]

For me it was the Samsung S5. For the simple reason when calling a number, if I had to press 3 or any number on keypad to get a certain department, it would go blank on me every time. I wanted to throw it out the window.

 

[aggie99]

Htc Thunderbolt. Worst device I've ever had and there really isn't a close second. Only good thing about that device is it got so hot it could fully heat a room in the dead of winter.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Believe it or not it's Google Play Services that kills Android performance, especially on a 'skinned' device (such as the Thunderbolt or any Samsung product)

I have many Samsung devices from 2010 on up. If you disable Google Services, and don't update apps well beyond device capabilities it continues to run very well. I actually have a Thunderbolt, and since I never updated apps or used Google account it ran quite snappy for something over a decade old. It took forever to charge (I got spoiled by fast charging) but the battery still made a day plus.

I do miss Sense 3.x that it ran, especially that lockscreen weather animation.

Basically updating apps too often and using Google (which does far more than it should in the background and has tons of unnecessary permissions) reduces what could be a decent Android handset or tablet into an i486 running Windows 98 SE. It won't be good.

I always disable updates and Google Play Store on day one. If I use a Moto G Stylus from 2021, I don't update apps and the performance stays. I've gotten where I need to use a few modern apps forcing me to upgrade my phones but I still disable updates. There's nothing wrong with using older apps. They will work fine. On an iOS device they will cease to work after you let it go too long, but thankfully on Android that never happens.

Back on topic, my worst experience was with the $30-something devices that ran Android 2.2 or 2.3 (ironically those were my favorite android versions) but on the bright side it got me into root and ROMs and I learned a ton about how Android works. That knowledge is still useful today. I might not root anymore and ROMs ain't what they used to be, but I know enough to avoid task killers and battery savers and what services to depend on and which apps to disable out the gate.