Android is struggling to keep its market share in the United States, as Apple continues to take over in the market. But, despite Android as a whole losing ground, Google Pixel phones are becoming a bigger slice of the US market.
Counterpoint Research reports that, in Q2 2023, US smartphone shipments dropped by 24% year-over-year. That includes both iPhones and Android phones, and virtually every brand saw a drop in shipments. Samsung saw US shipments drop by 37% while Motorola saw a 17% drop. TCL saw the biggest decline at just shy of 70% year-over-year, and even Apple saw a 6% drop.
I use a pixel and I have a hard time justifying a different phone.
Maybe things have changed but the last Samsung I had was an S7 and I didn’t like it. It suffered from bloat and didn’t last all that long. Battery issues and the screen started to lose sensitivity.
I’ve used iphones and they aren’t bad, but I really dislike apple’s app store and effort to control everything on my phone. Also everytime a new phone came out my old phone became next to unusable for a month.
I got a pixel 3 and loved it, now I have a pixel 6 and don’t see changing my phone any time soon or going to a non-pixel phone. They last a long time, they work well with everything and the camera is excellent.
I have a hard time justifying a different phone
A pixel doesn’t have SD card slot or 3.5 mm jack. My Xperia 1V has both. There. Justified.
I mean most consumers don’t care about those 🤷♀️
most consumers have shit taste 🤷♀️
I’m looking to switch from Samsung to a non-Google phone, It’s too bad no networks seem to carry the Xperia in Canada. Really don’t want to shell out $2000 up front for a phone.
I’ve used https://shop.fairphone.com/ for a while now, a bit less slick and more expensive, but I’m very satisfied. I already degoogled completely, can’t have a Google phone now :D
What does Fairphone offer for the car infortainment interface, or are you stuck without one?
I don’t own a car, no idea.
Lmao, god I’m so jealous of Europe sometimes. I have to assume you don’t live in the US.
There are some places here you can get away with not having one, but its basically a non-option for the vast majority of the US
True, sorry about that :(
NotJustBikes
I mean, Fairphone runs Android. So the same Android Auto that a Google Pixel would have
Yeah I would never buy a non-Pixel phone now.
Can you explain what you mean by bloat with the s7? I have that and like my phone, just wondering why others don’t.
I don’t know what OP is talking about, by the time the S7 came around the bloat was already heavily reduced, I’m on an S10E still and think it’s one of the best phones ever, apart from the lackluster battery maybe. But current day Samsung Android I don’t consider bloated.
GrapheneOS is what keeps me from switching from Pixel.
Watch the Louis Rossman video on YouTube about Graphene OS developer.
I apply the rule of separating the Art from the Artist in this case. No doubt he is insane but Graphene OS is the most secure+private OS that he has build
That developer stepped down
This one?
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/4To-F6W1NT0
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
As someone who switched to a Pixel from an iPhone, I’ll tell ya that I think the Pixel is a better phone. The only things iOS has going for it that are better is tap to scroll up, swipe to go forward, and a slightly better camera. Everything else works better on my Pixel.
The camera is a bit subjective and varies by generation. The tech and algo on the backend has more effect on the pictures than the camera on most pictures these days. I think the pixel does much better wide angle and scenic type photos.
I feel like Google really hit their stride with the Pixel 6/7 series. The 7 series especially is just such a nice phone to use and doesn’t feel as cheap as previous iterations of the Pixel. It’s also great value for the money. I went with the Pro and would recommend against it honestly, because while I like the extra camera and the bigger screen it really doesn’t fit great in the average persons hand and the features don’t really justify the cost. If I had to do it over again I would get the 7 or 7a.
I honestly think the Pixel 5 is the best phone I have ever used. I have the P7 and I kind of wish I had stuck with the P5.
I actually returned the Pixel 7 earlier this year, because of its size, weight, awful display (rainbow effects when viewing it at a slight angle) and fingerprint reader.
I also found the camera to be noticeably worse when doing closeup shots (which is what I do the most with my phone’s camera). All the pictures I took from the battery replacement of my Pixel 5 are slightly unsharp because of the 7’s camera. I later learned that you can use 2x zoom to workaround the problematic lens, but for the price of the phone I consider this to be unacceptable.
I got it at a discount and still found the phone to be too expensive for what it is.
I preordered the Pixel 5 (the only preorder I’ve ever done) to receive the Bose QC35 headphones as well. It was a great and well-priced package and I use both products to this day. The Pixel 5 is just right in my opinion. It has the right size, weight and hardware and its fingerprint reader is reliable (as long as it is dry). The vibrator is terrible in comparison to the Pixel 7, but everything else is better in my opinion.
I am really not sure what phone will be the replacement for my Pixel 5 … I either want a phone with GrapheneOS or mobile Linux. It has to be more compact and lighter than the Pixel 7 though.
For me it was the 2XL.
That camera was just 5 years ahead of everything else, fruit included.
Got a 5 after that, but the selfie cam was crap. And to some extent, it still is on current models. I wish Google did something about it, I can’t be the only one noticing.
It is even worse on the Pixel 7, as its front camera is fixed focus. The Pixel 5 has a great front-facing camera in comparison!
Pixel 5 user here and I have to say I am going to make it last as long as I can! Battery still keeps its charge all day even as a fairly big user too!
I bought the s22 because Google abandoned this size phone
My 5 had a screen issue so I had to replace it. Gone for a 6a for now. The pixel 8 looks nice as it’s smaller than previous years. Although it’s still slightly bigger than the Pixel 5. The 5 had a perfect one handed form factor.
I LOVE UNLOCKABLE BOOTLOADERS
I definitely bought a used phone last time. It’s has literally nothing wrong with it and was about $350. New phones are for suckers.
It’s totally a gamble though. The fact that you have to state that there is nothing wrong with it proves that it is a concern.
So it’s good there was nothing wrong, there was a chance you would be stuck with a $350 brick.
Never had a bad experience with Swappa
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It would be nice if they didn’t limit the countries you could buy them from.
So true! They can’t be bought where I live.
I feel like a bit of a unicorn for using a Nokia 5.4. Never met another person that uses any of Nokia’s recent smartphones. 😭
Nokia still makes smartphones!?!?!?!?!?
(Well at least now you know what the problem is. Why aren’t they advertising this?)
Not really, the company is called HMD Global, Nokia has an investment in it and there are probably a lot of former Nokia employees working there, but it’s not a subsidiary.
Ah okay, thanks for explaining it. Guess I should just stick with Pixel devices, then. (I miss the old OnePlus; they used to be such a good alternative to Pixels.)
I don’t consider HMD Global phones, because they don’t allow unlocking the bootloader.
What phones is Motorola selling now-a-days? Flip phones?
My three kids all have Motorolas. They make great budget phones.
got a moto g power (2021) last year for $130. works pretty well for the price.
Flip phones?
The Razr foldable is probably what they’re referencing
Was a good phone but the battery kinda sucked
I’m not an android person, but don’t they offer a pretty bloat free experience and have fair pricing?
They make decent budget phones and an expensive flip phone that’s also great.
If Google’s custom soc is good I’d love to finally own a pixel. Hate having to use chinese phones to get non bloated android at a reasonable price.
It’s funny to read that because in the global south (where I am) android is just the most used OS in cellphones.
I believe that’s true for most markets, it sure is in central Europe.
Honestly, even in my part of the US I mostly see Androids.
I have a Pixel myself and I have to say, it’s a good phone. It has a coherent experience and I’ve been able to customize it to my needs.
I also had a couple of phones from other OEMs (not Apple, lol) and they had more useless bloatware that was a pain, and an overall less coherent UX. I think the UX is what gets users to stay (obviously), so I do hope that more Android OEMs will focus in more on that so they can break Apple’s market domination in the US.
As an iOS user the bloat on android is a huge turnoff for me.
I’d potentially switch to a Samsung if it didn’t have all that stuff pre installed on it.
It may be the second biggest reason I’m sticking with iOS. Of fact, if they got rid of bloat and iMessage was available on Android, I’d jump over in a second.
Well there’s your problem. You’re looking at Samsung phones.
Honestly, they’re one of the worst when it comes to bloatware. They do it because their devices are so popular that they can get away with it. Stick with a Pixel, and you can’t go wrong.
(BTW, what’s with iPhone users’ obsession with iMessage? Google Messages has the same capabilities. Not trying to hate; genuinely curious. If your only experience with texting on Android is with using whatever came with your device, then I understand why you’d prefer Apple’s implementation. That’s the whole appeal of Android: if you don’t like how a component works, you can swap it out.)
To answer the iMessage thing.
I’m from the states but live in a different country. It’s the easiest free way to stay in touch with family and friends.
A number of people have been like “just move to X and if they don’t follow, then forget about them.”
But it’s not really realistic to ask all the people I might contact throughout the year to switch to a new app in case I contact them.
So I truly feel locked in because of that.
Please elaborate further. What’s so special about iMessage that it can be used in other countries, but every single messaging app for Android can’t? Google Messages is free too. Again, not trying to hate. Just trying to understand.
I don’t know anyone who uses google messages and I’m not going to convince the 20 people on my group chat to switch to it since we only catch up a few times per year.
Random acquaintances that I contact a few times per year will also not bother to figure it out as it will just idle 9 months of the year.
It’s just a real roadblock that locked people into the platform.
Can you explain what you mean by bloatware? Do you mean all the apps the phones come installed with, or do you mean something else? Would it be simple to uninstall what you don’t want? Curious bc I have a Samsung phone.
Well here are a few examples.
I don’t like having Facebook and stuff on the phone. If I want the app, ill download it.
Secondly, I do not want multiple calendar apps and browsers on the phone by default.
I don’t need chrome and the Samsung browser.
I also do not think I need to setup a samsung account and a google account and have backups in both places.
I guess it’s just a little overwhelming.
I had a Xperia 1III I really enjoyed using it, but my fingerprint sensor just quit work on it on day. Outside of the warranty too so it doesn’t help. So I upgraded to a Pixel 7 Pro as I had a 4XL prior to it and liked that.
Would’ve gone with the 1V, but the 1III was my first Sony phone and that happening sketched me out. Might get another though once it’s time to upgrade this one or it craps out. Sony is doing what a lot of other companies aren’t and I respect that.
I have a Pixel 3 and I hate it, I had to go through 4 warranty replacements and this one still has issues. I gave up because they were ones I could live with.
