What phone you use as your daily driver? And, a discussion of them.

[The N]

Using Huawei Honor 7x for 6 years now. It's my 24/7 phone but shwoing its age as 3GB RAM and 32GB storage is outdated now. Practically, it has been showing slowed down processes and during normal social media scrolling it stutters a lot.

Time for serious upgrade, probably a good Samsung phone.

 

[gffermari]

I had an iPhone 8 since the medieval times. The microphone, the speaker, the NFC module broke down while I changed the battery 4 times.
Never had issues with the software or anything.

Because I couldn't/didn't have time/not worth it to fix all the issues above, I decided to try an Android phone. Went for Xiaomi 15 Ultra.
After a couple of days, to get familiar with the settings, shortcuts etc., now it feels great.

I don't see why an iPhone user can't swap for an Android phone now.

 

[Aquinus]

I don't see why an iPhone user can't swap for an Android phone now.

If an iPhone is your only Apple device, it's probably a pretty easy switch because you're not leveraging any of Apple's ecosystem. When you have an iPhone, an iPad, a Macbook Pro, two sets of AirPods, and a family with their own Apple devices, it becomes a little more burdensome if you want all of the same functionality. That's part of the reason why I personally wouldn't switch. I've sort of invested in the platform as a whole. Glad the switch is working out well for you though. Some Android phones are pretty nice.

 

[neatfeatguy]

If an iPhone is your only Apple device, it's probably a pretty easy switch because you're not leveraging any of Apple's ecosystem. When you have an iPhone, an iPad, a Macbook Pro, two sets of AirPods, and a family with their own Apple devices, it becomes a little more burdensome if you want all of the same functionality. That's part of the reason why I personally wouldn't switch. I've sort of invested in the platform as a whole. Glad the switch is working out well for you though. Some Android phones are pretty nice.

My brother is irritated with Apple and especially his iPhone. He wants to move to Android based, but like you mention, he's got his apple laptop/ipad and so on with everything all linked and he's not sure how well things will go if he moves to an Android phone.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Switching is a lot easier if you use platform-agnostic apps and sharing systems.

E.g. Spotify instead of iTunes.

 

[Pets4Ever]

Previous Phone: iPhone 13 Mini

Pros:

• small size is great for talking and one-hand use
• size also great for pocket bulk
• call quality was always good
• pictures were great
• performance was good

Cons:

• file management was a massive pain in the arse
• battery life was poor
• reception inside my car was awful
• weird bluetooth interactions with my Toyota
• could never find a music app as good as BlackPlayer Ex or an audiobook player as good as Smart Audiobook Player

Current Phone: Oneplus 13R

Pros:

• 6000 mAh silicon carbon battery
• 120hz screen
• great performance
• better reception, no issues in the car
• no bluetooth compatibility issues with car either despite even newer standard (iPhone was already newer than car)
• I can use my favorite android apps again
• smarter notification features (like letting me dismiss an alarm without opening the app)
• generally I can customize the experience to what I want more easily because more customization options are available

Cons:

• I've been afraid to update the OS because I've heard reports of battery drain on the latest(I only care for security reasons), tbf we had a battery drain update for iOS when I had my iPhone too
• auto enhancements can make photos look a bit fake (I haven't bothered to download a different app or search for a fix yet)
• awful big for one-handed use, though doable
• lots of pocket weight
• OnePlus decided to copy Apple's design language for the Quick Settings and I think the android layouts are better

 

[gffermari]

I wanted to buy a smart watch, a tablet etc. but didn't want to be locked in a platform.
I started using google apps so I could gradually reduce the dependency on apple ones.
The Apple universe is amazing, no one can say the opposite, but it's addictive, you get imprisoned too easily and it's difficult to move to something different.
iPhones are great. More than great. But I want to have a choice among the so many and different devices that are available.

 

[Aquinus]

Switching is a lot easier if you use platform-agnostic apps and sharing systems.

E.g. Spotify instead of iTunes.

I use Spotify even though most of my devices are Apple. For 10 USD a month for the family (my entire family uses it,) it's a no-brainer. It's also a lot more friendly to use than Apple Music. With that said, I do also use Apple Music and the quality of the audio from Apple Music is arguably better. I actually maintain copies of my photos from my mirrorless camera on both Adobe Lightroom Classic and Apple Photos, because I like features from both of the applications. The reality is that Apple's ecosystem is pretty seamless and I appreciate that. For example, if my wife is trying to put in a Wi-Fi password for a network my phone already knows about, I get a popup saying if I want to share the password if she's nearby. It's things like that which makes Apple really easy to use in my opinion. My daughter was at an event and she wanted pictures I took. I just airdropped them by being near her phone instead of cluttering up my texts with pictures I want to share. I have yet to use an ecosystem that rivals that level of integration and Apple tends to maintain support for their devices for longer than a lot of other vendors. My nearly 6 year old laptop still gets OS updates (although not for long,) and my daughter took over my old iPhone 11 Pro Max which still works great.

I wanted to buy a smart watch, a tablet etc. but didn't want to be locked in a platform.
I started using google apps so I could gradually reduce the dependency on apple ones.
The Apple universe is amazing, no one can say the opposite, but it's addictive, you get imprisoned too easily and it's difficult to move to something different.
iPhones are great. More than great. But I want to have a choice among the so many and different devices that are available.

I don't know. I don't find the lack of third party devices for their platform as restrictive. If anything is restrictive, it's the price, but if you can afford it and it works well for you, then it's a great set of products.

 

[ARF]

For some weird reason Xiaomi still keeps the Android 13 kernel for its POCO F6 Pro, despite that officially it claims that the device runs Android 15.
POCO F6 Pro is at Android 13 - 5.15.167.

Android 16 worldwide rollout started last month and there is no hint at all from Xiaomi that it intends to upgrade its devices accordingly.

WTH ?

Android common kernels | Android Open Source Project

source.android.com

 

[freeagent]

I want to buy an Apple Watch Ultra 2 to pair up with my old 14 Pro. I want to see how I sleep, I know I get a shit sleep every night. But the monthly payment on that watch is about as much as a 16 Pro Max, maybe a bit less. I also want to see how many steps I take in a day, my phone says close to 30K.

I have 3 lines on my bill, approaching 300 smackers a month. Grr.

 

[rusTORK]

Switched from iPhone 6s (01.2017) to iPhone 15 Pro (this year). Plan to use it at least 5 years.

 

[ARF]

I want to see how I sleep, I know I get a shit sleep every night.

You need a higher quality ergonomic pillow.

I also want to see how many steps I take in a day, my phone says close to 30K.

You can measure the distances in kilometres... If you walk a lot. Use Google Maps or better Waze.

 

[nguyen]

Still loving my Samsung Fold 5, but I'm getting the Fold 7 in a few days, let see Samsung deliver the goods after 2 gens

 

[sudothelinuxwizard]

Samsung Galaxy A33 5G (6GB LPDDR4X-4266 RAM, 128GB UFS 2.2 storage, Exynos 1280 SoC with 2xA78 running at 2.7 GHz with overclock, 6xA55 at 2 GHz with overclock, Mali G68 MP4 GPU). I don't plan to replace it anytime soon, maybe replace the beat up display and sometime even later replace the battery, but phones just in general are getting to the point where there is no need for constant replacement. Which is helped by the fact I'll get security updates till March 2027, perhaps after that I will buy a new phone but more likely just try and get a custom ROM working on it.

For some weird reason Xiaomi still keeps the Android 13 kernel for its POCO F6 Pro, despite that officially it claims that the device runs Android 15.
POCO F6 Pro is at Android 13 - 5.15.167.

Android 16 worldwide rollout started last month and there is no hint at all from Xiaomi that it intends to upgrade its devices accordingly.

WTH ?

View attachment 408714

Android common kernels | Android Open Source Project

source.android.com

Well, usually with Android phones the kernel version stays the same regardless of Android version updates. For example, my A33 will still get Android 16, but it's stuck on android12-5.10 since it was released. This happens because the SoC vendors are Certified Dickheads™ and instead of upstreaming their drivers to mainline Linux like every sane person, they instead write some crackpot shit that would never be accepted into mainline, and can't be ported to later Kernel version because they're such crap. There are some efforts to port a few devices to mainline, like what postmarketos does, but in general you're fucked when it comes to kernel updates.

 

[Space Lynx]

Well, usually with Android phones the kernel version stays the same regardless of Android version updates. For example, my A33 will still get Android 16, but it's stuck on android12-5.10 since it was released. This happens because the SoC vendors are Certified Dickheads™ and instead of upstreaming their drivers to mainline Linux like every sane person, they instead write some crackpot shit that would never be accepted into mainline, and can't be ported to later Kernel version because they're such crap. There are some efforts to port a few devices to mainline, like what postmarketos does, but in general you're fucked when it comes to kernel updates.

do you know if this is true for pixel line of phones? i specifically bought my 9a because i wanted the latest updates for next 7 years which it said it provided...

 

[sudothelinuxwizard]

do you know if this is true for pixel line of phones? i specifically bought my 9a because i wanted the latest updates for next 7 years which it said it provided...

Well, that's security/Android version updates, not Linux updates. If that's what you want to know though, Linux 6.1, which that uses, will get SLTS support till 2033, which is beyond the support lifespan. So likely you're stuck on 6.1

 

[Space Lynx]

Well, that's security/Android version updates, not Linux updates. If that's what you want to know though, Linux 6.1, which that uses, will get SLTS support till 2033, which is beyond the support lifespan. So likely you're stuck on 6.1View attachment 408762

I mean as long as it stays secure that is all I care about, it was either iphone or pixel line, because I need monthly security updates since I do my banking on my phone. Not risking banking on my phone otherwise, or my authenticators my work makes me have. It's already fast enough for me, I have 0 issues with how fast it is at loading websites, youtube, etc. Hopefully it still feels this fast 5 years from now.

I leave it plugged in 24/7 with battery saver turned on, this apparently bypasses the battery entirely unlike in other phones, at least Pixel line advertises it as a unique feature they offer. So, I am not sure if they have like an extra circuit or what. I use Garmin GPS for my maps in my Dad's car whenever I need to go somewhere, never had the need for a phone on the go personally, if I am at the grocery store I already have a list made out usually. Anyways, long story short this feature is great for me, because my battery is still at 100% life cycle it says in my battery settings, I literally only have cycled the charge once so far since owning it. Of course, if I am ever lucky enough to travel again, which hopefully I will next summer to see my friends and family in England, I will be using it unplugged more often then.

I fully expect this battery to last me all 7 years though, based on how I use it. That is one thing I don't think can be said about iphones, I may be wrong though, maybe they have this same feature.

edit: my only criticism of the pixel 9a so far is the speakers sound terrible compared to my A54 samsung speakers. which is a budget phone... so yeah shame on google for being so cheap with the speakers. or maybe my unit is just defective, i don't know. i use bluetooth anyway so i don't really care

 

[sudothelinuxwizard]

I mean as long as it stays secure that is all I care about, it was either iphone or pixel line, because I need monthly security updates since I do my banking on my phone. Not risking banking on my phone otherwise, or my authenticators my work makes me have. It's already fast enough for me, I have 0 issues with how fast it is at loading websites, youtube, etc. Hopefully it still feels this fast 5 years from now.

I leave it plugged in 24/7 with battery saver turned on, this apparently bypasses the battery entirely unlike in other phones, at least Pixel line advertises it as a unique feature they offer. So, I am not sure if they have like an extra circuit or what. I use Garmin GPS for my maps in my Dad's car whenever I need to go somewhere, never had the need for a phone on the go personally, if I am at the grocery store I already have a list made out usually. Anyways, long story short this feature is great for me, because my battery is still at 100% life cycle it says in my battery settings, I literally only have cycled the charge once so far since owning it. Of course, if I am ever lucky enough to travel again, which hopefully I will next summer to see my friends and family in England, I will be using it unplugged more often then.

I fully expect this battery to last me all 7 years though, based on how I use it. That is one thing I don't think can be said about iphones, I may be wrong though, maybe they have this same feature.

edit: my only criticism of the pixel 9a so far is the speakers sound terrible compared to my A54 samsung speakers. which is a budget phone... so yeah shame on google for being so cheap with the speakers. or maybe my unit is just defective, i don't know. i use bluetooth anyway so i don't really care

I'd like to keep mine 7 years (till 03/2029) as well, since frankly the improvements with a new one right now would be miniscule.

 

[GamerGuy]

I have a number of cellphones that I've gotten the last 2 years that I intend to keep and use....
1. Samsung S24 Ultra 512GB - Main phone, basically my daily driver, hardy design, great multiple usage device, sturdy
2. Samsung Z Fold6 1TB - Alternate main phone, great for multi-tasking (however little I need it), great for surfing, use for watching ripped movies, e-reader usage (for my Kindle, Playbook)
3. Samsung Z Flip5 512GB - backup phone, due to compact size, very convenient to carry and very capable phone, great for YT viewing even when folded
4. Nothing Phone 2a 256GB - Bought this because I like the light Glyph function, I carry it when I go for walks at night (sometimes early mornings) when it's dark, the Glyph (when I have it sorta synced with whatever's playing on Spotify) acts as a sorta blinker for me during these walks. Other than that, I's quite a capable phone with pretty good multi-media uses.

Looking around, I still have some older phones that I'd forgotten about, in fact, I've just come across my old Sony Xperia Z5 Premium....and to my surprise, I can still charge it with a spare USB Type A to micro USB cable I have lying around. Also have a MiMax 3 7" phone that I'd gotten for watching ripped movies.

 

[Apocalypsee]

Thats an odd way to use phone, plugged in all the time. I rather have tablet if it just stays at home, but that just me.

My old phone only lasts me roughly 2 years, it's more of my problem really not the phone fault if not I would still use it. Compare Android 13 of my old Oppo to Android 15 of Xperia 1 VI I didn't even notice much difference in Android functionality to be honest, as long as it's modern enough with security updates its good enough for me. I didn't fancy change in launcher, or root as these days and age stock Android is stable, fast and efficient enough saving batteries. I used to check for root availability before buying new phones because how terrible Android is when I enable data. My first Xperia ZL phone battery life cuts down more than half when I enable them, and only by rooting and reducing the CPU and GPU clock makes it more manageable in terms of heat and battery life. Not anymore.

Been using Xperia 1VI for a couple of months now, and loving it and how thankful I am for buying it instead of waiting for VII which release within a week after I buy it because some variant got problems, and the updates only on ultrawide lens and new SoC which isn't really something I use. Love the stereo speaker as the sound it produces is thick especially voice, making it a treat to watch videos. The included 3.5mm headphone jack is good, just I wish Sony actually uses 3rd party DAC instead of Snapdragon DSP. It can't drive high impedance earphone or headphone though, but a normal IEM is great and no background noise or hissing whatsoever. I can easlity get 2 days out of it, if not for my terrible line reception at work that drains battery like hell, still I can get half of it when I get back home after work even under heavy gaming and/or listening to music.

 

[TurboGlitch]

Galaxy S10+

 

[ARF]

Well, usually with Android phones the kernel version stays the same regardless of Android version updates. For example, my A33 will still get Android 16, but it's stuck on android12-5.10 since it was released. This happens because the SoC vendors are Certified Dickheads™ and instead of upstreaming their drivers to mainline Linux like every sane person, they instead write some crackpot shit that would never be accepted into mainline, and can't be ported to later Kernel version because they're such crap. There are some efforts to port a few devices to mainline, like what postmarketos does, but in general you're fucked when it comes to kernel updates.

do you know if this is true for pixel line of phones? i specifically bought my 9a because i wanted the latest updates for next 7 years which it said it provided...

Well, that's security/Android version updates, not Linux updates. If that's what you want to know though, Linux 6.1, which that uses, will get SLTS support till 2033, which is beyond the support lifespan. So likely you're stuck on 6.1View attachment 408762

Not good to see this. Where do performance improvements come from, if not from a more modern kernel?
I think Xiaomi has a lot of work on the POCO F6 Pro, because it drains the battery like crazy - it loses like 1% per minute while surfing!

 

[sudothelinuxwizard]

Not good to see this. Where do performance improvements come from, if not from a more modern kernel?
I think Xiaomi has a lot of work on the POCO F6 Pro, because it drains the battery like crazy - it loses like 1% per minute while surfing!

The kernel can be further optimized without a version upgrade, especially since those idiots can't be arsed to keep mainline compatibility, and the rest of the OS - UI, userspace, system applications too.

 

[ShiBDiB]

Pixel 8a

I used to mess with custom rom's and kernels and all that but nowadays I barely touch my phone. Text/Calls and the occasional Twitter browse when I'm waiting for something.

I do have a desk drawer with a few older pixels that I have setup and loaded with games for my son and the nieces and nephews.