What smartphone do your use? What's the best phone you had owned?
Moi? I use currently a NOTE 20 ultra 5g. Probably my second best phone, I only hate the fact it's so massive (I miss being able to use just one hand for my phone) and the mediocre battery life for someone like me that watches a lot of videos. But the S pen is so handy those few times you need it.
Best phone ever made, headphone jack, beautiful sound, perfect screen, had the extra screen if you wanted, did everything, microsd, no bullshit software, still had docked mode.
Had the z fold 3, was OK, but it was really way too skinny to use folded, and unfolding it all the time was a pain, the pixel fold really nailed the form factor.
Shame google makes garbage software, Samsung put infinite bloatware, but they also had docked mode and charge limit, which this crap doesnt. OTOH at least I can read and use it folded.
Great camera, small size, excellent battery life, removable storage, IP rated, and has a headphone jack. The only thing it is missing is a removable battery.
I once played around with a fair phone. It felt like the best phone I ever played with.
I had an old Motorola that had Android, replaceable battery, and audio connection. It does after 4-5 years when the power button stopped working and they stopped updating the phone after the first couple of months.
Currently using a Galaxy S21 FE. I'm honestly not rhat picky, as long as it's not apple, and as long as it's fast enough, as my employers have paid for them. I got this one after being on the wrong side of the country while my phone died, so I had the shop clerk phone up the guy at the head office to confirm that I could just pick one and send them the bill. The S21FE was what was in store at the time, and I was kind of in a hurry, as I was in the middle of a projectrelated field work.
I've mostly stuck to Samsung because that's the (mangled) version of Android that I'm used to. It takes some tampering with adb to remove the bloat, but once done it works really well.
The "best" phone (quotes, because I think that's highly subjective) I ever had was the Galaxy Note 2. I loved that phone. Great stylus, good OCR, and once it got used to my terrible handwriting, it was much better and less prone to error than typing on the softkeys. The Note 3 through 6 were not available in my country, so I know nothing. And it annoyed the fuck out of me that Note 7 was a safety hazard, because beyond that it seemed like a really good phone. Sadly the later iterations of the Note series seem too cheaply made. Plastic stylus, etc.
Honorable mention: Openmoko GTK 2. I loved it, but the concept of a linux smartphone (or smartphones in general) hadn't matured completely in 2007, so it wasn't at the stage where it could replace my dumb phone completely.
Today, as mentioned, I'm not that picky. I feel like most phones are the same, except the ones that are too cheap. There is only so much useful hardware that can be crammed into a phone, and beyond that there are mostly improvements on things such as the camera. The rest comes down to software.
Currently using a OnePlus 9 Pro. Best phone I've used? The OnePlus 5t, hands down. Slightly wider aspect ratio in portrait orientation, great screen, camera and fingerprint reader for its day and fantastic 3rd party ROM selection.
Seconded! My 5T was the best phone I've ever carried. I carry the OP11 5G these days and I've been really happy with it, but overall I prefer the size and weight of the 5T.
The phone or the OS? Hardware wise, my only gripe is the lack of wireless charging. I use an aftermarket plug to add it, but it doesn't put the charge pad quite in the right place, so I sometimes have to put it upside down. It also means the USB-C port is always occupied. That isn't a huge deal for me as I like to use plugs to keep dust out anyway
Software wise, I'm still running regular Android. I don't like that there's no Gallery app. You have to use Google Photos. That coupled with the fact that .nomedia files don't seem to work mean that the app shows ALL photos on your phone, including some you might want to keep private.
Other than that though, I'm pretty happy with it. Just upgraded mine to 15.
Would this be an overly complex process for those with only some tinkering experience (e.g., I've got Linux on my laptop and have a general sense of how terminal/tilix works)? I've read the docs but can't get a sense of the complexity
Probably 1+ 6t (that's before it was merged). No bloat nice phone.
Or my old BlackBerry before they stopped bothering to test anything and rested on their laurels. I miss the one place portal everything posted its notifications etc. Android is awful for that.
I like my Pixel 7 Pro (current phone) but I have to have a launcher on it because their home screen sucks.
I miss the Nexus 6. I loved the large comfortable display and dual front-firing speakers. It does not have modern pros like a fingerprint reader, USB C, or a recent processor. But it also doesn't have modern cons like an obstructive front camera, 9:18/20 display, or curved glass.
iPhone SE. I would use a smaller model of iPhone, if there was one. I need a phone I can easily take with me, not some aircraft-carrier sized high-tech device ;)
iPhone 12 Mini. I loved my 5S and first gen SE and I still can’t understand why phone manufacturers these days insist on making tablets and calling them phones. I just want something that fits in my pocket. I would probably have switched to Android years ago but I haven’t found a single Android phone with a small form factor, decent performance and decent camera.
On an iphone 13 mini because it's just about the last reasonably-sized smartphone left even though ios has tons of little quirks that annoy me. Favorite was probably the OG Pixel I had until like 2020 when it finally died, RIP
The OnePlus 7t back when it was on oxygen os 10. Great hardware, perfect software. It was the first phone I got where I didn't need or want to flash a custom rom. Unfortunately, every software update that it got since then felt like a downgrad. After oxygen os 10, oxygen os and Oppo's color os have been going through something of a merge. The result is that oxygen os is no longer as stock-like as it used to be and lots of small convenience features have disappeared in favor of flashy yet useless-to-me features. I have an 8t now and it's fine but I don't think that I'll get another OnePlus.
I recently got an Asus zenfone 10. I usually buy midrange phones but this time I couldn't find a good one. I like small phones, and they seem to be an endangered species these days. This one also has a headphone jack which is nice.
I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max. It's a nice phone. I like IOS better than I thought I would. I do think the Galaxy I had before it was pretty good though, too. If I didn't struggle so much with the iPhone keyboard, I guess this would be my favorite, but I use my phone so much and the swipe typing is so rough, it's hard to give a full endorsement.
That said, I am probably overestimating how gos typing on Android was. I remember lots of autocorrect issues, but iOS has a bunch of keyboard bugs that make correcting errors even more frustrating than making them in the first place.
I’ve been using Apple phones since like 2008 I think. The keyboard used to be great. This last year I would be tearing my hair out if I had any hair. I don’t know what happened, but it has gone to absolute shirt. I am really hoping the more I type the better Apple AI and hopefully-smarter-Siri will get at figuring out what I’m trying to say. I’m really hoping because it’s endlessly frustrating and maddening for me.
Fun side note: I have very fond memories of my bright yellow Windows phone that I was given long ago when I worked at the AT&T store back in maybe 2014. I think it was a Nokia. They also gave me a Samsung back then at some point too. I have zero memories of any kind about that phone.
I also loved my windows phone. The seamless continuation moving from phone to laptop was something that only now is sort of coming back.
The phone just needed apps but the os and the design was really fun.
Considering the state of the phones back then my 1+ 3t was amazing. No bloat, dirt cheap. A real flagship killer, as they positioned it.
These days I only require a phone to have fast charge like OnePlus or Oppo delivers it. 15 minutes charge for a full day of use. That's awesome.
I can never go back to iOS because I'm so used to my custom keyboard and the gestures I use for quick acces to apps and other stuff.
When you look at smartphone manufacturers, the only reason you should consider a specific manufacturer besides price (i'm talking function wise) is for any prebuilt settings. Some might have some special kind of battery saving feature among others including opening Android more compared to others. Some phones might have build in local radio support or Bluetooth others likely don't.
iPhone 14 Pro. Got it deeply discounted from my carrier when the 15 line came out.
It's ok, but it's a modern smartphone like any other so I have too many dislikes to say it's the best. The phone I think of most fondly was probably my LG Keybo 2
Pixel 4a. I'm too lazy to get a new phone that often. Though, I don't get any proper updates anymore, that sucks. Best phone has always been the current one I use at the time.
I have a Fairphone 5. Maybe too expensive for what it is, but hopefully it doesn't have a big evil annoying company behind it and it should hopefully last a while. Still running stock Android on it though, because I don't want to lose Play Attestation or whatever it is called.
I absolutely love my Xperia 1 VI. I didn't realize how much I missed the headphone port until I had it back. Also there's so many fun camera settings to play around with. And the expandable storage that I loaded up with ROMs
I have a Pixel 8a. Before that I had a Pixel 4a. Both of these are probably the best phones I've owned.
I say both, because for someone who isn't a heavy user, the only real benefits of the 8a over the 4a for me are the bump in performance and the 120hz screen. Oh, and updates too, of course.
I got a Nothing Phone 2 after two 1+ phones (5t and then an 8 Pro, and didn't like where the OS was going). I love it. It's been awesome, maybe 7 months with it?
I liked my Motorola One Vision, 21:9 source ratio was a banger, lots of screen real estate and the phone fit in the hand nicely, vanilla Android was cool, I hate the iPhoney flavor of Android my current OnePlus has, only downsides was:
Exynos chip resulting in poorly optimized software, battery life was shit
LCD screen, OLED would be nicer
Poor cameras, even 2x zoom looked mushy AF
Motorola's poor software support, it got Android 10 a year after it came out, we were told it'll get fast software updates because of the Android One programme
The fingerprint sensor on the back was the shittiest one I've ever used, barely worked, face unlock was a godsend... until COVID came
Motorola's thought with this one the middle of the phone is the best place for the NFC antenna, I had to do some weird ninja moves with the phone for the touchless payments to work
Currently using a Moto G Stylus 2020, this thing has never had major updates pushed, and the last security one was a while ago, it's pretty decent but has gotten much slower over time and is probably near the end of its life.
The best phone I had was an iphone 7, it was originally terrible, but the it was iOS 12? (13?) that came out and it was so much better. Like you would have major performance issues with this thing before the update, Apple was probably at their peak around then. I stopped using it because it was vendor locked to Sprint, and sprint stopped existing in my area when T Mobile bought them out
I've generally enjoyed the iphone line the most. Idk if the iphone 4 was actually the best or if I just have a lot of nostalgia for it, but either way I'd say the iphone 4
CAT S22 Flip as my daily driver. I also don't really use my phone for content consumption anymore; I just need the basics + hotspot.
"Best phone" doesn't really exist for me in the smarphone era because they've all been compromises. If my OnePlus 3 had a slide out QWERTY keyboard, it would probably qualify, though.