About a year ago I shared my opinion on the state of Android smartphones and how many of you were not interested in any device not made by Samsung. The title was “You hate every phone unless Samsung makes it” and it went through all the problems that other phone manufacturers are dealing with and how they are largely responsible for putting us in this place where their phones are easily overlooked or Samsung is incredible. Forgotten when pulling out incredible phone after phone.
The title may sound like a negative Samsung piece, but it was actually a list of reasons why OnePlus and Motorola and Google Pixel phones are either tossed aside or quickly canceled due to problems. The bottom line is that you end up hating every phone because Samsung seems to get it right over and over again, while others stumble.
As we travel deep into 2023, it’s time to check back in on this topic. And the reason we do is because Samsung just launched the Galaxy S23 line, OnePlus just launched the OnePlus 11, and Google’s Pixel 7 line took home our Phone of the Year honors to end 2022. Another reason, I’d argue, is because Samsung’s launch seems snoozier than usual when the Pixel 7 was (and I still think) mostly loved from the moment it launched, and even the OnePlus 11 got praise from most critics.
Are we seeing the beginning of a change or am I drunk? If someone were to ask me which phone to buy today, I’d probably point to the Pixel 7 or Pixel 7 Pro first, then Samsung’s Galaxy S23+, then the S23 Ultra, and then I’d tell them to read everything about the OnePlus 11 perhaps to learn its quirks. can But that’s me.
So where are you today? If you are buying a phone, who makes it? Are we still going Samsung almost every time or has Google finally nailed it with the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro? Is OnePlus back in your heart with OnePlus 11? Are you looking to the future and a nothing phone powered by a real premium chipset (2)?