I’ve been using my current phone for about 7 years now and it’s well behind on updates and starting to fail in minor but foreboding ways so I’m looking to get a new one and was hoping people here could help me with my indecisiveness.
My greatest requirement is long term support, which immediately puts Google and Samsung at the top of the pack (Fairphone, I see you but you just aren’t supported well in Canada as far as I can tell).
My other biggest interests are display quality, battery life, and customizability. I like the 6.2"-6.3" screen size that both the Pixel 10 and S25 fall in.
I don’t care overly much about the camera beyond quite casual use and I don’t care about gaming on it at all. I don’t plan to use Graphene OS.
Given these preferences do people think one phone comes out over the other? I keep waffling back and forth. I’m also happy to hear about other android models too if someone thinks one fits the bill better that I’m unaware of.
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Seems the consensus is Pixel here, but let me just say as an Android user since the very first Android phone, Samsung has a lot more of the original Android spirit in it now than Google does.
I had an original Dream, then a Galaxy S, then different Nexus and Pixel devices until my current S23. I preferred Google phones because they didn’t have bloat, got faster updates, and always pioneered Android.
However, in recent years Google has focused on assistants, AI, and other fluff software services, while actively locking down Android and regressing. I finally said enough when I was running out of space on my Pixel phone and trying to export my hugely bloated Signal history. I didn’t have enough free space on the phone for the backup, and the backup needed to be made locally. I tried to use a thumb drive but found out that in 20fing24 Google only supported FAT32 and thus I hit the 4GB file size limit. I just couldn’t get over how much of a non issue this would have been in the past with SD cards and proper file system support.
When I moved to Samsung I saw that it wasn’t as ugly or candy colored as days of old, and with a custom launcher on it I actually liked it better because the menu and settings didn’t have that ugly big button look that Google came up with. I disabled all the dumb Samsung apps I wouldn’t use, and gave it a shot. I was shocked at how many little quality of life things Samsung put overtop of stock Android. Things where clearly they saw a need and Google wasn’t trying, so they did it themselves. Custom notifications, proper secure folder/sandbox, DeX (which I dock at my workstation at lunch and is awesome!), being able to cast my screen to not only Chromecast but Miracast as well, the list goes on.
So while Samsung is not perfect, I still don’t have a MicroSD card or a headphone jack, I feel they are not as restrictive as Google and embody more of that original Android spirit of improving the OS and adding features. Google has lost it’s way and is turning Android more into iOS every day. If you don’t care about any of this and just want a decent phone, either will do. But the only way I think I would get a Pixel now is if I wanted to put GrapheneOS on it.
Anyway, thanks for coming to my TedTalk.
Pixel doesn’t come with Facebook installed as a system app. Instant win right there
I have a samsung phone and I don’t think I ever see facebook preinstalled on a factory-unlocked (as in: not bound to any carrier) versions
Carrier-Locked phones, however…
Those are atrocious, never get those unless you are tight on budget.
Neither does the S25. I don’t have Facebook and it is definitely not installed as a system app.
Holy shit what? And they’re starting to lock bootloaders now too…
The pixel 10 comes with an SOC that benchmarks roughly the same as a Galaxy S21. You’re literally buying a phone at full price to downgrade if your phone is newer than that (as far as anyone else is concerned)
Pixel hands down. Trust me if you keep your phones that long you gonna appreciate the custom ROM support of the Pixels
This used to be the case but Google is actively working to kill unlocking the bootloader on their devices (and all devices really) through their Play Integrity Validation. So while you may be able to install ROMs and add Gapps you’ll slowly find that less and less apps from the Play Store will work due to stricter integrity requirements from Google; even if you bought the app. The current hoops required to run a custom OS and not be detected by the new framework is daunting with many landmines like people installing software they don’t understand to get “Strong” integrity or paying for keyboxes that ultimately get banned.
Google is quickly becoming developer unfriendly and I would encourage people to look into the mess that is Play Integrity before suggesting Pixels, or any Android for that matter, in the context of custom ROMs.
It’s so frustrating. I’m planning to keep my current phone working for a couple more years if possible, but after that I really have no idea what I’ll do. Kinda hoping one of the other Linux phone initiatives gets going more by then.
Yeah I know but I mean it’s still better than the what other OEMs like samsung is doing
Is it? Because it sounds like it is the same as what Samsung is doing with Knox. If you unlock your bootloader they have a way to track that now and it hurts the experience on the device. Want to sideload your apps in protest? You’ll only be allowed to sideload apps from developers Google screens and says are okay. Want to use custom firmware on your hardware? You can, but they won’t pass the integrity checks and even if you pay for the apps they can become incompatible with your device. And as someone else pointed out they stopped providing Pixel configs for AOSP so even getting people to try and make custom ROMs will be more difficult.
Samsung did it first, but Google just took it to the next level.
Also, Google is no longer releasing the Pixel-specific source code, meaning you can no longer just build AOSP for new Pixels and have all the hardware just work - this makes it harder for custom ROM developers and might eventually lead to some hardware being simply unsupported unless you use the stock ROM.
If you don’t care about camera quality, then pixel is the superior choice, as that would be the leg up for the s25. As well as the price difference. You might not consider custom ROMs now, but it could be a factor in 5 to 7 years to extend support further. Pixels are also superior in that regard.
Good points! I think I’m leaning slightly towards the Pixel at the moment. It’s true that while I’m not interested in a custom ROM now that could change down the line.
I would definitely go for the Pixel 10 as it’s got mostly everything the S25 has (excluding the Snapdragon chip, but the Tensor G5 is fine for most people and you don’t mind much about gaming). The Pixel has a larger 4970 mAh battery (the S25 only has a 4000 mAh battery), but the Pixel’s Tensor chip is a bit less efficient, so it’s probably only a slight increase.
The Pixel 10 and S25 both have triple camera setups, with the Pixel having a 5x telephoto rather than a 3x. Both will have excellent image quality, though I personally prefer the Pixel’s shots more.
I’ll also say that picking a Pixel will likely mean better support for custom ROMs in the future (including. GrapheneOS) which could extend the life of your phone.
One other thing of note, Google has added Qi2 wireless charging with proper magnets, so any MagSafe accessories that work with iPhone 12 and up will also work with the Pixel 10!
Two things: I have an S25 ultra and the bloatware can mostly be deleted or deactivated. Up to you if that is sufficient, I find it hasn’t been at all problematic.
I saw a passing post about some kind of potential battery degradation issue after 200 cycles with the pixel 10, something to do with a feature that can’t be turned off? Didn’t pay attention at the time, might have been click bait, but worth looking into for yourself maybe.
Ultimately, the only reason I didn’t get an s25 was because of an insane discount on the ultra, so I went with that. Huge fan of this phone, my first Samsung in about 7 years.
This article supports your comment and should be higher up considering two phones 4a and 6a were recently recalled due to being unsafe. Pixel 10 has this feature on at cycle 200 while you can turn it off on the Pro and Pro XL. But what good is 7 years of updates if they are going to hurt your battery charging speed after less than 2 years? Samsung battery tech is FAR superior.
I used my old budget phone (Moto G4 from 2016) for 7+ years until the hardware was falling apart, and the CPU and ram were way behind current requirements. I upgraded to a new budget phone (Moto G Stylus 5G 2023) in late 2023 and am using it now and I’m sure it will be fine for another couple years despite no more major OS upgrades, just security patches (it’s on Android 14 forever now).
If it were me I’m sure I’d stay with this approach instead of buying a more expensive and invasive phone just for the sake of a few more OS upgrades, especially since upgrades more and more mean regressions these days. That is, the new versions have more AI so they are worse than the old ones.
The main attraction from my perspective of the Pixel 9 and 10 is satellite messaging, which can be handy when there is no cell coverage. IDK if the S25 has that. If not, that would be the deciding factor between them for me. I expect that the feature will make its way into midrange and budget phones after a while, so I plan to keep my current phone at least til then.
Some things I like about the low end Motos: 1) SD card slot and 3.5mm headphone jack, and 2) relatively easy to replace the battery. The battery replaceability in particular potentially gives a longer lasting phone than the Samsung and Pixel’s longer software maintenance does.
It’s possible that the easier battery replacement has something to do with lack of wireless charging (a nice feature but I don’t miss it that much). Since some newer Motos do have wireless charging, the battery replacement advantage may have gone away in them.
Thanks for bringing this up as those are my two choices as well. Lol
Is there a Back button on the Pixel?
Using pixel 9 stock os, yes theirs a back button with 3 button nav
You have to turn off gesture navigation (at least I did on my Pixel 8) but yeah button nav is available.
Thanks! My wife switched to Pixel 7 a couple of years back and that was a huge pain point.
You can still change that.
Settings > System > Gestures > Navigation Mode, then change to 3 button navigation.
It would have that too, it’s a standard option in android on any device to enable the 3 button nav instead of gesture nav.
Good question, I assume that both OneUI and Pixel Android support the old three button navigation as well as gestures, but I’m not certain.
edit: Upon looking into it I can confirm that android 16 (and its derivative presumably) support three button navigation.
OneUI definitely does and allows you to swap the position of the back and recent apps button too, not sure if AOSP has that feature yet. That said I’m not a fan of the swipe from the edge to “go back” with gesture navigation that covers the entire edge of the screen. So I have it set up using Samsung’s gesture settings to have it cover only half the screen.
Samsung software got so much annoying and overblotaed that I despise it.
Also many stupid design choices…
Honestly nowdays Samsung flavour of android feels a lot like Xiaomi MIUI without the ads.
Go for pixel.
Or checkout Nothing phones… London based company, very lightweight software, and fully unlockable bootloader.
I got a 3A for a very reasonable price and loving it.
