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:

  • K4sum1@lemmy.zipEnglish
    3·
    11 months ago

    We need S5 but with modern specs. Galaxy Alpha would be zased phone if it had a MicroSD reader.

  • LCP@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Mixed opinions.

    Things I like about Samsung:

    • Feature-rich hardware and software
    • 4 years of OS updates compared to 3 by Google
    • S Pen in Note/Ultra
    • Foldables
    • Keeping Android tablets and Android-compatible smartwatches alive when Google abandoned them. Huge props for that.

    Things I dislike:

    • Making fun of Apple and then doing the exact same things they did: removing the headphone jack, display notch, removing the charger in the box.
      • They even got rid of expandable storage in the S series despite being a major manufacturer of micro SDs.
    • Samsung’s software is notorious for being slow, generally inferior compared to Google’s and not the most well-designed out there.
      • I tried both the Galaxy A52 and a Pixel 6a at Best Buy. The A52 was lagging. I bought the 6a.
    • They’re edging towards anti-repair.
    • Certain Samsung smartwatch features only work if you have a Samsung phone.
  • Dark_Blade@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Hardware:

    They make high-quality hardware and I like that they’re trying to do something new and interesting with foldable tech, but I’ve never been a fan of their Exynos processors and foldables (imo) have proven to be little more than a gimmick that sacrifices far too much on durability for minimal benefit to most people.

    Software:

    I hate bloatware, and I’m not a fan of their crusade against open bootloaders.

  • Willifire@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    1 year ago

    Hardware great, software garbage. They really want to be like Apple but aren’t even half as competent (which is more an insult to Samsung than praise to Apple). It comes bloated with all kind of garbage alot of which you can’t uninstall (like Facebook). They have their own app store next to the Google Store which is annoying. It has no reason to be there other than distributing their shitty apps that I don’t want in the first place.

    I currently have an S21 and can’t wait to have the spare income to replace it.