Don't like my Pixel 3 and considering non-Google replacement. Any Suggestions?

[deadken]

Longtime Google phone user here. I switched over from a Sumsung to a Nexus 4 a LONG time ago at Anandtech's suggestion. And, I had a long a great ride... That is, until I got my Pixel 3.

So, I'm now looking for a newish phone that isn't bloated to hell, reasonably priced, and good quality. I use T-Mobile have a great plan that I've had forever, so I'm not looking to change that anytime soon.

Lastly, I have an iPhone from work and try as I may I just can't get used to the interface. I am not looking for an iPhone as a replacement.

Edit: I should mention that years back I heard that the Motorola phones had little bloatware and good specs. I heard the same about the OnePlus phone. Are these or Nokia's smartphone offerings still any good?

 

[Commodus]

Longtime Google phone user here. I switched over from a Sumsung to a Nexus 4 a LONG time ago at Anandtech's suggestion. And, I had a long a great ride... That is, until I got my Pixel 3.

So, I'm now looking for a newish phone that isn't bloated to hell, reasonably priced, and good quality. I use T-Mobile have a great plan that I've had forever, so I'm not looking to change that anytime soon.

Lastly, I have an iPhone from work and try as I may I just can't get used to the interface. I am not looking for an iPhone as a replacement.

Edit: I should mention that years back I heard that the Motorola phones had little bloatware and good specs. I heard the same about the OnePlus phone. Are these or Nokia's smartphone offerings still any good?

I'd lean toward a OnePlus 9 or 9 Pro if I wanted an Android phone that wasn't bloated but also didn't come from Google. OnePlus has softened its stance a bit in recent years, but generally you can assume it'll be speedy. The main camera quality on an OP9 is good, but don't buy too much into the Hasselblad hype.

Nokia? Well, it isn't really invested in flagship-class phones these days, so I'd steer clear unless you're more interested in value for money.

Why not the upcoming Pixel 6? You might want to wait a few weeks after launch and see if there are any initial quality issues, but it looks like this is more than just a rehash of Pixels past.

 

[deadken]

Thanks for your suggestions. I will look into each one.

I really don't like Google as a company 😔
They really screwed my girlfriend and I around with the deal we got on the buy one Pixel 3 and get one up to %50 off. The up to %50 of wasn't really as close to %50 as it should have been, the Pixel 1 she sent in, in perfect condition, didn't get the price the offered because they said it had dead pixels, the customer service I got when I utilized the extended warranty that I bought on my Pixel 3 was crappy, and then downright miserable when the replacement phone kept, and still keeps, losing the SIM card (only a reboot helps and it now usually takes more than one reboot).

It's a shame that I paid a premium over my old Nexus phone and got a worse phone. My girl bought her Pixel 1 on my suggestion, loved it and babied it, and jumped on the chance to get a Pixel 3 at a significant discount (since I was buying one at full price). She replaced her Pixel 3 with an iPhone 😞.

So, yeah, we don't like Google so much anymore. The question is, do I hate Google enough to give up on clean Android OS and speedy updates?

Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm pretty positive that I would swallow my pride and go with another Google Pixel before I ever touched the bloated mess that is Samsung. I am hoping to find a phone that I can live with and not reward Google for their crappy policies and treatment of longtime customers.

I threw the Nokia in for giggles. I still miss my "candy bar" Nokia. That thing was indestructible, reliable, and reminds me of a simpler time. Do I really need a flagship phone? probably not...

 

[MrSquished]

Thanks for your suggestions. I will look into each one.

I really don't like Google as a company 😔
They really screwed my girlfriend and I around with the deal we got on the buy one Pixel 3 and get one up to %50 off. The up to %50 of wasn't really as close to %50 as it should have been, the Pixel 1 she sent in, in perfect condition, didn't get the price the offered because they said it had dead pixels, the customer service I got when I utilized the extended warranty that I bought on my Pixel 3 was crappy, and then downright miserable when the replacement phone kept, and still keeps, losing the SIM card (only a reboot helps and it now usually takes more than one reboot).

It's a shame that I paid a premium over my old Nexus phone and got a worse phone. My girl bought her Pixel 1 on my suggestion, loved it and babied it, and jumped on the chance to get a Pixel 3 at a significant discount (since I was buying one at full price). She replaced her Pixel 3 with an iPhone 😞.

So, yeah, we don't like Google so much anymore. The question is, do I hate Google enough to give up on clean Android OS and speedy updates?

Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm pretty positive that I would swallow my pride and go with another Google Pixel before I ever touched the bloated mess that is Samsung. I am hoping to find a phone that I can live with and not reward Google for their crappy policies and treatment of longtime customers.

I threw the Nokia in for giggles. I still miss my "candy bar" Nokia. That thing was indestructible, reliable, and reminds me of a simpler time. Do I really need a flagship phone? probably not...

Yeah I've heard some bad stories about Google CS when it comes to hardware issues on their phones. I've heard some good stories too but when they are bad they are terrible it seems.

At this point in time if you want naked Android the Pixel is indeed the best option IMO, so either you compromise or you will run out of options quickly. It seems Google is trying to turn things around a bit with the 6 and 6 pro, offering now 5 years of security updates and 4 years of OS updates, so perhaps their CS will be improved as well.

I'll be grabbing the 6 pro, a bit begrudgingly because I don't want a phone that big, but I do need the triple camera setup vs the double of the standard 6.

 

[gorcorps]

The one and only time I had a google device was with the nexus 6P, which at the time was an okay phone that was overall cheaper than the equivalent from the bigger names. Now, however, Google is charging just as much (or more) than other Android brands and IMO I don't see the appeal.

It's been a long time so I don't know how it compares now, but one thing I noticed was that vanilla android was still behind in features compared to what I was used to with Samsung. I noticed that often the big features being integrated into android had already been handled by Samsung, it was just now getting integrated into the OS. So I wasn't really getting much benefit from having "bleeding edge" android updates because (at least at the time) they were playing catch up with every update anyway.

With samsung again ditching the SD cards through, I have no idea who I'll turn to next. I hate how the phone market has turned out and have no desire to upgrade. I'll use my S10E as long as I can

 

[MrSquished]

The one and only time I had a google device was with the nexus 6P, which at the time was an okay phone that was overall cheaper than the equivalent from the bigger names. Now, however, Google is charging just as much (or more) than other Android brands and IMO I don't see the appeal.

It's been a long time so I don't know how it compares now, but one thing I noticed was that vanilla android was still behind in features compared to what I was used to with Samsung. I noticed that often the big features being integrated into android had already been handled by Samsung, it was just now getting integrated into the OS. So I wasn't really getting much benefit from having "bleeding edge" android updates because (at least at the time) they were playing catch up with every update anyway.

With samsung again ditching the SD cards through, I have no idea who I'll turn to next. I hate how the phone market has turned out and have no desire to upgrade. I'll use my S10E as long as I can

The 6 and 6 pro prices are excellent compared to the phones they are competing against. Getting a 256GB version is cheaper than most thought the 128GB versions would start at. You can also get the 512GB pro if you need more room since you can't use an SD card.

 

[gorcorps]

The 6 and 6 pro prices are excellent compared to the phones they are competing against. Getting a 256GB version is cheaper than most thought the 128GB versions would start at. You can also get the 512GB pro if you need more room since you can't use an SD card.

Granted I hadn't looked at any pixel 6 news, and it does look pretty slick, but the fact that I'm stuck at 256 gig is a problem. I'm used to having a 256 gig card in addition to the internal memory. I'm just frustrated to continue to be limited in my storage options in 2021, even if I had to pay more for it.

 

[MrSquished]

Granted I hadn't looked at any pixel 6 news, and it does look pretty slick, but the fact that I'm stuck at 256 gig is a problem. I'm used to having a 256 gig card in addition to the internal memory. I'm just frustrated to continue to be limited in my storage options in 2021, even if I had to pay more for it.

The pixel 6 pro 512GB is $1099, $300 cheaper than the 13 pro max 512GB

 

[gorcorps]

The pixel 6 pro 512GB is $1099, $300 cheaper than the 13 pro max 512GB

I don't want or need the pro, plus I didn't even see the 512 as an option on the preorder page. I only need a pixel 6 at most

 

[MrSquished]

I don't want or need the pro, plus I didn't even see the 512 as an option on the preorder page. I only need a pixel 6 at most

Well this is the world we live in. If you want a 512gb iphone, the cheapest is the 13 pro at 1299.

Still 200 more than the 6 pro 512gb.

 

[gorcorps]

Well this is the world we live in. If you want a 512gb iphone, the cheapest is the 13 pro at 1299.

Still 200 more than the 6 pro 512gb.

Ok... I'm still not sure why you keep mentioning the iPhone as I don't use them. Would only be considering android options

 

[MrSquished]

Ok... I'm still not sure why you keep mentioning the iPhone as I don't use them. Would only be considering android options

My bad. For some reason I had in my head the redsquirrel thread where he was thinking of switching to iPhone.

Well the Samsung S21 ultra 512GB is $1379, so a similar situation. The oneplus 9 pro only comes in 256GB.

 

[pete6032]

I would also look into Motorola. Their version of Android is very stock. Plenty of mid range Motorolas to be had on T-mobile.

 

[Commodus]

have you considered iPhone? I switched to it 3 years ago and didn't ever regret

The OP explicitly said "I am not looking for an iPhone as a replacement." I'm all for suggesting them when someone is open or prefers them, but that's not the case here. Also: this thread is over a month old, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's too late to make a decision.

 

[deadken]

Hey guys, I figured I'd post an update:

I ended up getting a Moto 5G Stylus 2021 256GB. I found one on Craigslist where the older guy bought it thinking it would work with his carrier and he had problems with Tracfone. He waited too long to return it, so was selling it. He paid $416, so I knew it wasn't a flagship, but it looked good on paper. He asked for $300, but he didn't get much interest, so we agreed on $275.

I'm largely happy with it so far. It doesn't seem any slower than my Pixel 3. The screen is larger, but I'm getting used to it. Also, the screen has a lower resolution, but so far I'm not upset by it. I don't often use the stylus, but sometimes I play around with it, just trying to get into using it. The battery life is great! I got three days without a recharge. Granted, not all of my apps were installed, so I'm guessing that'll drop a bit once they are all running in the background sucking up juice. I still don't care if I 'only' get two days of battery life...

And, yes, I'm not bloated with uninstallable software. The O/S is largely the way it felt on the PIxel 3 and I don't have any major issues with it. I'm actually starting to use some of the gestures. I really like the chop-chop to turn on the flashlight, it is sooo much easier to use than on my Pixel 3. Another great thing is that the screen doesn't constantly turn itself on while I'm using the flashlight! My Pixel 3 would turn the screen on and blind my eyes most every time I was using the flashlight peering into the darkness with my pupils near maximum dilation.

Oh yeah, and I'm happy to say that I've added a 128GB card to my phone. Being that it is a 256GB phone, I still have plenty of room (I hadn't filled up my 128GB Pixel 3). If worse comes to worse, I'll splurge on a much bigger card and back up my photos before Google drops the resolution on everything it is storing for me.

One thing that I'm waiting to see how will pan out is that it is running Android 11. I've read some articles online, taken with a grain of salt, and they say that it'll likely get Android 12 in 2022.

So, thanks for all of the suggestions and guidance. I appreciate the help, it made my decision easier. I am very happy with the Moto 5G 2021 stylus for now.

FWIW: I did pass by a T-Mobile store, after I bought the Motorola phone. I was quite surprised to see that they had Pixel 6's on sale, regular and pro. I couldn't believe it after looking for a Pixel phone there a while ago and they weren't selling Google phones. To make matters worse, I asked the price of a Pixel 6 paying cash in full, no financing, no changing my bill around at all: less than $700! I can't believe that they are selling them for $400 off retail, but luckily I'm not regretting my Moto purchase. We will see how things go in 2022...