Hold on tight, we are almost back...
Previously on Lemmy: Sony
Past Discussions:
I thought we should restart the brand discussion with something more popular to give this community relaunch a bit more oomph. So, Samsung it is.
I've never really used a Samsung phone much before, despite them being so popular in the States. Have friends who used them, they usually look nice and high quality, and the Galaxy S Active are the only high-end phones I know that doesn't shatter when you look at them wrong without a case, so, props to Samsung.
There are may reasons I don't like Samsung phones: Hardware fuse disabling Knox on bootloader unlock, Exynos vs Snapdragon models, the mandatory Bixby button, the Galaxy Note 7 that really blew up. To me, Samsung phones are trying so hard to go against what makes Android good, which is the customizability to do whatever you wanted. Android is everything; Samsung is just Samsung.
Personally, I think Samsung is only worth buying at the very high end for the Galaxy S series. I've heard that A series have gotten better, but there always seems to be better choices from Moto/Pixel/Chinese brands on Amazon that it's not worth considering their low tier offering.
What should we do next week? I'm thinking Microsoft, just to make fun of them for the very idea of making a Surface Duo 2.
FAQ:
My opinion on them based on my last phone I got from them (S22 Ultra Exynos) is pretty mid just like the phone for its price. I overall think they are right now in a bit of a slump and resting very much on their laurels. Their phones are still for the most part very good, market leading in some points even, but they have slowed down the innovation a lot. Like the last 3 Galaxy Ultra phones are pretty much the same product. And the regular S20, S21, ... line also takes 0 risks and cuts one too many corners for my liking. And the whole Exynos situation is just a shame since usually where I live we pay more for less. If they stuck those Chips in 500 - 700€ ish phones and passed along the saving they would wipe the floor with all the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 1 wannabe flaghips.
What I think however nobody will take away from them anytime soon is OneUI. I think right now its the best and most feature complete Android skin and its refreshing seeing Samsung stick and refine one design for this long (before they changed the look and feel every 2 - 3 years). I only wish they would bring back Linux on Dex which was in beta for some time. That would be a killer feature for me!