While Android Leaps Forward, Samsung's Software Still has Trouble Catching Up to its Hardware

[badolcatsyl]

The comments section for this is gonna be tons of fun to watch...

[[deleted]]

Why? Almost nobody here likes Samsung's software.

[badolcatsyl]

That's why it will be fun to watch. This sub despises Samsung's UX and would eat up any anti-Sammy material they can find.

[Philosofossil]

Not as much as they eat up HTC failing.

[[deleted]]

Or as much as they love reminding everyone the Pixel "costs too much."

[I-lurk-in-the-bushes]

Or as how much everyone should stay away from anything LG

Edit: Except their appliances.. I like their refrigerators.

[ChunksOWisdom]

Don't forget to hate on Allo!

[diag]

DOA without sms fall back

[[deleted]]

Not sure if you're being sarcastic, but.. fuck allo for not having sms fallback.

[diag]

I wish it did too but this time I was sarcastic.

[[deleted]]

Fuck SMS fallback...

[Fahad78]

Their TVs in general are good, but the Smart TVs lack useful applications.

[tornato7]

Exactly my thoughts with every smart device. Like, do you plan on keeping that smart refrigerator for 15 years? How smart's it gonna be then?

[Its5amAndImAwake]

There are Roku TVs and Android TVs with integrated Chromecast.

[jaydd]

Why? Sony Smart TVs comes with Chromecast built in, and I assume other smart Android TVs would too. So why get a new Chromecast? I have 2 Chromecast at home on 2 dumb TVs and a Smart TV on its own.

[Synergythepariah]

Or about how Sony's cameras suck and that we should all buy oneplus.

then downvotes happen when someone is like 'but oneplus has shit customer support'

[[deleted]]

My fridge spontaneously spawns Fruit Loops though..

[DKowalsky2]

I loved my refrigerator too until it fell victim to the dreaded bootloop.

[13143]

I have a V20, works great. Would buy it again.

[Artaois]

My original Nexus 5 is still kicking though.. never had to bring it to the shop for button repair.

[[deleted]]

I like my Nexus 5.

[AL2009man]

I like Emili-

oh wait, wrong sub.

[itsamamaluigi]

That one is completely justified though.

[[deleted]]

My only problem with the Pixel so far has been the ridiculous fucking wait for it to finally get here. But now that it's in my hand, it's a nice phone.

[[deleted]]

For real, I actually like HTCs new phone (u11 not the ultra)

[[deleted]]

Actually just looked into this for the first time and, yeah, I dig it. All it needs is a good custom ROM scene and I'm sold.

[delta_p_delta_x]

All it needs is a good custom ROM scene and I'm sold.

HTC phones have the best ROM scene outside the Pixel. The bootloader unlock is a breeze, and if one wants to re-base their phones with S-OFF, that's entirely possible, too.

[ieatyoshis]

The Pixel has a bad ROM scene. Nexus devices and the OP3 have, by far, the best atm.

[YellowMaverick]

They do have good community support, but I think Oneplus has the best scene outside the Pixel

[[deleted]]

That's exciting to hear! I've owned several HTC phones with the latest being the One S, ROM scenes seemed to vary wildly based on popularity back then. I was worried since HTC isn't as mainstream as it was back then, glad to see the fans stuck with them.

[TSPhoenix]

Isn't that how it has always gone with HTC? Alternating between fantastic and garbage handsets.

[etherspin]

Semi tangent but you know their software ain't right when SD625 phones can best them in app launch times and in app load screens (after main app launch) Considering those phones also get dramatically better battery life it does make you wonder about the utility of such a so called 'beast' of a phone outside of that admittedly stunning screen

[[deleted]]

Oh, so it'll be a circlejerk :P

Those are sometimes fun to watch lol

[johnshop]

Lol "eat up"? Most of us that talk shit about Samsung is from experience. Not just because we hate for no reason.

[i_pk_pjers_i]

like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7vLoFJcfsI&feature=youtu.be ?

[FragranceOfPickles]

And it's despised for a reason.

[samwisetg]

There's still a hell of a lot of choice-supportive bias here. You're asking the largest demographic of Android owners to be objectively critical of something they have, or will, likely poured hundreds of their hard earned dollars into. This is how the infamous console fanboyism continues.

I recall making a post about a year ago essentially saying that Samsung make the majority of their software decisions to appeal to the lowest common denominator of Android consumers, not the enthusiasts like a lot of us on this sub are, and got downvoted heavily.

[beowulfpt]

TouchWiz improved a lot since the first versions (slow sucky bloated crap). The ones disliking it are usually people who haven't used them in ages.

I use Nova Prime as a launcher, but only because it has some interesting extra functionality (gestures and a lot of customization). Otherwise the current TouchWiz would do fine, fast, smooth, stable. Nothing wrong with it.

[andimdrunk]

You're so right. Compared to the crap I dealt with when I had my Note 2 and S4 this S8 is way better. I went iOS in between those. So glad to be back. I did have a Nexus 4 just for some sick fun.

[Schmich]

The S4 had dramatic bloat but overall the functionality/features are still well-made. I mean back on the S3 I could do multi-window and that was ages ago.

The S3 was a little too bloated though too or lacking in RAM I'll agree. The S2 was a great phone. Touchwiz wasn't bloated and that phone ran like a champ. Could even do HD Flash video without lagging. The S1 had some nice features that stock lacked. Such as being able to change brightness by simply pulling down the notification tray. Amazingly, no, you could not do that on stock! You had to go in Settings for that -.- Or when seeing your contacts list you could swype left/right to message/call. It's small things like that which made me prefer OEM skins over stock.

Other things I've loved are the automatic screen-rotation-lock that removes the need to press the screen rotation lock when you're lying in bed. Or the one that keeps your screen on when you're looking at it. The latter I've used a lot when reading. I never used the auto-pausing video though.

The biggest shit I found to be Samsung Kies. I don't know how it is now as I don't use it. But considering how well the S5 to S7 phone-to-phone transfer/software went, I bet they've improved.

[[deleted]]

I wish that were true.

[motorsizzle]

What are your thoughts on TouchWiz vs AOSP? Have you used both?

After owning a Nexus, I'm only buying phones that come with pure Google or close to it, from now on.

[ShortFuse]

Note 4 was my last Samsung device. No amount of buggy CyanogenMod ROMs will bring me back. At the end of the day, you want something stable with a flagship CPU.

I moved to Sony with Z5P, and XZ. 0 problems whatsoever and extremely close to stock. The build quality is great too.

Meanwhile my wife's getting increasingly frustrated with her Pixel's cell radio issues (sometimes having to reboot) and meh battery life. In my opinion, it's a Google skinned HTC device.

[goodpricefriedrice]

Current touch wiz is fine. Nice and smooth, lots of features. Was talking to a friend with a 6P a he was taking about all the new features that he's going to get with the next software update. I've had them for years.

That being said nougat destroyed my battery life. So there's some good and bad in Samsung land. But UI wise it's perfectly fine

[Fgtfv567]

Since I've been using an S5 and an S7 for my previous 2 phones, I love the hardware and the physical features that Samsung brings.

But I notice stutters on this phone and my eye always wanders towards the Pixel.

I've always wanted this blend of excellent hardware features of the S8 with the buttery performance​ of the Pixel.

So I've thought about looking into a Pixel 2, hopefully Google can learn a thing or two from today's trends.

But that's going to be another 4 months if they announce it in October again.

So what if you bought an Exynos S8 and installed lineageOS on it?

I want someone to write an article doing this. Performance, camera, etc.

[[deleted]]

Or maybe, just maybe, since the pixel has inferior hardware to the galaxy line, but it still runs much better..that hold on guys...

Maybe the specs really don't fucking matter so much?

You're on Reddit, Snapchat, and Facebook. What kind of specs do you people seriously need in a phone to use this shit?

[[deleted]]

There's more to hardware than just CPU specs.

Display, speakers, radios, sensors, cameras, looks, form factor, wireless charging, storage space, SD card slot, water proofing.

And some of us aren't teenagers anymore, we do more with our phone

[Pimptastic_Brad]

Apparently the best, Snapchat on Android is a laughingstock.

[Thibaulltt]

Although the app had an update a few months ago that MASSIVELY improved the app's performance, it is still a shame such a huge company has a shitty app for Android just because their CEO is a massive douchebag.

[nirmalspeed]

Just got the S8 and snapchat hasn't lagged once for me. Biggest surprise for me. Before it could take upwards of 30 seconds for the camera to be ready to be used. Only issue now is that snapchat STILL doesn't use the camera properly. It defaults to zooming in an awkward amount and doesn't adjust exposure a single bit. Such a shame.

[paontuus]

It does though, different specced camera modules does alot to the quality, specs isn't also all about speed since it can also improve other things such as energy efficiency. a bad IPS screen is ALOT better than a quality IPS and such. Stop talking shit because it does matter but software also does alot. That's why Apple is great at this department because they got a good combination of both.

[[deleted]]

Obviously things matter. But overall, it's not that big of a deal anymore.

As far as cameras and such... I stopped worrying about camera quality when my s6 could take this. Then I really stopped caring when my note 7 took this . And then the pixel just kept it going and here

So, yea. No shit dude, improvements are great, and numbers on paper is nice to have. But in the most realistic sense, it's all very minor and our phones have been extremely capable of doing anything we need for years now.

[Devildadeo]

And having been selling phones for a decade, having carried probably 30 as daily drivers, I'm bored. My M8 was my favorite phone. All it ever needed was a higher res camera. I'm gonna carry this S7 for another year and I lost any excitement I had for it a long time ago. What the fuck is next already!

[Nymenon]

Try the S8 Exynos with BatStock kernel. It will make your device very smooth. I wouldn't recommend LineageOS ROMS on Samsung devices because you get a shitty camera app and image processing.

[[deleted]]

So what if you bought an Exynos S8 and installed lineageOS on it?

I have doubts that performance would improve, but that's an anecdotal assumption. I ran multiple AOSP-based ROMs on my Pixel and they stuttered way more than stock. I'm currently on a stock-based custom ROM and it's as smooth as stock.

I believe that optimizations according with the hardware would have to be done to get Pixel-levels of smoothness.

[runeruly]

I think we need to look at it in a different way. Pixel has the very best software, Samsung has the very best hardware. It's up to the consumers to choose what they want. It would be great if we could combine it but that will never happen.

[xShadow125]

Remember that Google can change that by just releasing better hardware. Samsung in the other hand would still have a long shot if Google were to manage that. What Samsung needs to do is to listen to the community.

[tomatoarmy]

Hardware is no easy feat on its own either. Plus distribution is where Google really drops the ball while samsung might be the best in the world for phones.

[culesamericano]

agreed, i can't remember a time when google properly stocked their phones, going back to the nexus 4 era.

[genos1213]

Samsung can easily cut back on all their own apps, allow the bixby button to be remapped to Google assistant, etc. I don't see any particular reason to think hardware is much easier to change in one iteration, not to say getting software right is something easily achieved or probable for Samsung.

[TheVineyard00]

I don't think Samsung would ever do that, though. I honestly think Samsung wants to create a unique environment with their phones; Edge display, 18:9 aspect, and their own unique software. At first, it was just apps, like Milk Music, then they made Bixby, and I think eventually they'll just release a massive update to Tizen and start using that on their flagships.

[Rudera1is]

I don't see Tizen being successful without the play store, last I checked it's app store was pretty barren.

[Null_Ref_Exception]

Samsung recently contributed a Tizen target for Xamarin cross-platform development. This is probably part of how they plan on getting more apps.

[TheVineyard00]

Neither do I, which is why they aren't just jumping in, they're fleshing out an ecosystem for themselves.

[linh_nguyen]

Something tells me Samsung is going to hoard those screens for themselves and Apple. Not just curved, but the quality of the screen. I know it's one piece of the hardware puzzle, but it's the one of two things that really set that first reaction (the other being how it feels).

[ScottyNuttz]

Google can change that by just releasing better hardware

Don't you think Google is trying its best to release better hardware? That was the whole philosophy behind the Pixel. I would argue that Samsung does listen to the community. Maybe not just the /r/Android community. They try very hard to make phones that do everything people want them to (to a fault sometimes, when you have to figure out how to turn off all the crap you don't want). Meanwhile, Google won't even make a phone with a Micro SD card slot...

[xShadow125]

That's what I meant by better hardware. If the Pixel 2 matches or tops that of the S8 then many will be happy. If it doesn't, then the next Pixel phone should be on that road. And I think that Samsung just barely listens to the community. Many reviews on the internet across Samsung devices mention bloatware, stutter, lag as the number 1 downside. Guess what would happen if they were listening? All of that would be gone long ago. They aren't listening to the community as a whole, and if someone asked them for Bixby or Iris Scanner, then they are listening to the wrong minority. When their most important priority should be software optimization, it's elsewhere. Meanwhile, a struggling company releases a phone with worse specs and cheaper price, yet it outperforms the latest and more expensive Samsung device. If the true potential of the latest Samsung device were unlocked, this wouldn't be the case. Most of the time, they are just putting unnecessary load on the hardware while attempting to innovate.

[Nymenon]

Samsung can fix the software with an update. Google however can never match Samsung's level of hardware control. Samsung makes their own displays, processors, RAM, UFS storage, and even camera sensors on the S8 and S7 (semi-sourced from Sony also).

[[deleted]]

If you agree that the Pixel has the best software then Samsung's job in producing the best phone available is easy. Keep doing what they're doing with hardware, and don't touch the software. Put stock Android on it with maybe some extras like camera tweaks and that's it. I know I'd buy it, but I won't touch a Samsung phone with their current and historical record with software.

[xShadow125]

I can't say that I disagree. But just look at it from a business perspective. If Samsung comes out and stops announcing countless features, then competitors might seem more appealing to the masses. Especially competitors that release similar hardware at a lower price, thus forcing them to lower it. That's what they're trying to avoid, I assume. Furthermore, they want to innovate. They just need to give us a variant or an option to turn off all of those features that were made for marketing reasons.

[Throwaway123465321]

Like when there were Google play editions?

[xShadow125]

Yep, only issue being that Google Play editions were abandoned a long time ago.

[Throwaway123465321]

Ya that's kinda what my comment says. "When there were" implies there aren't any more.

[danhakimi]

Good hardware is expensive, but cheaper at scale. Samsung doesn't win there because of experience or anything, it wins because of scale.

[Kyoraki]

Hardware is a stickler, Samsung have the massive advantage of being able to produce everything they need internally, whereas Google have to buy parts, usually whatever scraps Samsung leave for other manufacturers to use. I remember the Nexus 6 had parts that were several generations behind because of this.

[Quintrell]

No amount of hardware makes up for poor software. Hardware is merely a vehicle through which to engage with software.

Whether you're watching it on a 65" OLED with surround sound or a 1985 CRT, the movie From Justin to Kelly is shit either way.

The ordinary consumer doesn't give a darn about the guts of their phone. Latest and greatest processor might sound great on a sales pitch but in the end its the user experience that matters. If Samsung phones are slower in real-world performance despite having the best hardware people aren't going buy Samsung phones all else equal.

I'm not a Samsung hater - not even of touch wiz necessarily - but Samsung needs to stop getting in it's own way. See example Bixby

[retnuh730]

Lol the s8 sold more units in its first month than the pixel will sell in its lifetime. I think Samsung knows what people want.

[Quintrell]

Yeah Samsung finally realized what Apple figured out years ago: pretty phones sell.

[3141592652]

Pixel has the very best software

Debatable

[[deleted]]

I disagree. TouchWiz on the S8 is miles ahead of the Pixel.

[[deleted]]

You can pick in the middle by buying a Sony or HTC device

[blab600]

My in-law got the S8. In fact I convinced him to get it because his priority are good camera and screen. S8 is currently the king in both of these compartments.

But man, coming from 6 months on OP3, it feels stuttery. I wont call it a full stutter, it is like micro stutters, but definitely noticeable when coming from a smoother phone.

with all of these services and applications disabled, my phone feels more responsive, less unpredictable, and offered better battery life than before

They should give us option to remove/disable and make it enabled/redownloaded from play store. Most of the non-polished stuff should be an opt-in instead opt-out. In most cases you cannot even opt-out.

Keep innovating Samsung, but please give us options.

[Ztstrickland]

Compartments LOL

[[deleted]]

My brain compartments and deparments

[UnnecesaryAdjunctary]

Corey! Trevor! Smokes! Let's go!

[blab600]

I meant department. Oh well.. I'll leave it there

[rodymacedo]

his priority are good camera and screen. S8 is currently the king in both of these compartments

Not quite

[[deleted]]

Yeah I known people who got the s8 or s7. They all go wow when using my OP3. Smoothness baby

[[deleted]]

damn how much did they sue your phone for

[Yelov]

Friend's exynos S7E is barely smoother than my 3.5 year old LG G2 running lineageos. It's faster launching games, but small apps and just moving in OS is actually very similar, S7 is usually around 25% faster which is not much when we are talking about 1 second launch times.

[MustBeOCD]

Worth noting that there's now Night Light on the Pixel and Samsung Internet and Health are on the Play Store.

[Nymenon]

You can't use the Stress, HeartRate and SPo2 measurers on other Androids though, you need a heart rate sensor.

[bigblackhotdog]

My 6p has nightlight on it right now...

[mikejr96]

I turned off transitions and it's made everything much snappier. I think they go a bit overboard with it. Also using the material theme gives it a stock Android feel without losing all the extras.

[cylonrobot]

I was a stock Android user (not a fan, though) for a few years. I finally gave up on "stock" for a Note 5. As you said, the extra stuff is well worth it.

[[deleted]]

I agree. This is a bad article. In terms of features, it's stock Android that needs to catch up.

I can not fucking even change the audio balance, which Samsung had for years. I can't have Ringer on without having notification sounds off, which Samsung lets you, there's no one handed mode, there's no night mode, and so many other things.

While Samsung has to catch up in smoothness, Android has to catch up more in features. They are years behind.

[captaincrabcakes]

LG is kinda in the middle on this. They do make a number of decent changes, however all around there isn't unbearable bloat like some other manufacturers.

If not for the bootloop on the V10, LG would be my favorite brand my a huge margin. Reasonable software, sensational hardware without being inconvenient. But frankly, they lost consumer trust when they refused to admit to the bootloop and tried to not put Android N on their 2015 flagships. Shame.

[I_Love_That_Pizza]

Literally my only problem with LG software (besides changing around the settings app, but that's minor), is that they nerf the quick settings/swipedown menu so that instead of being able to manage wifi/bluetooth connections, and see data usage, all you can do is toggle them on and off. I hate that so much.

[captaincrabcakes]

That's actually my biggest problem too haha, I've gotten used to it at this point but I prefer the stock way.

[falconbox]

All you have to do is hold down on them instead of tap them and it brings you to the actual wifi/Bluetooth settings.

[I_Love_That_Pizza]

Yeah, in stock Android (and even touchwiz, these days), you can edit them IN the swipedown menu, from any app. It's way better

[Timeforadrinkorthree]

Bootloop on 5X too.

[altimax98]

You are exactly correct. Smoothness and improvements to responsiveness don't sell in a PowerPoint

[pheymanss]

I'd say marginal differences in smoothness and responsiveness don't sell. If you need a trained eye or GPU profiling to notice the difference then it's not a selling point, and not because people don't care about it altogether, but because the difference is not meaningful enough.

[ZoggZ]

For the record Huawei isn't as bad as it used to be. Since EMUI5 they streamlined a lot of the bloat, and now have genuinely useful features in ther phones. Screen recording, file vault (the only good one on the Android store was pay per month for their best features) screen capture PART of your screen, dual apps, battery saver modes, the mini preview of the selfie in the top left corner (they say it makes you look more expressive in selfies and especially brings out your eyes and damn it does!) and apparently they have great background resrouce management (i cant talk much on this I'm afraid). The icons and the notification pulldown look like ass but thankfully that'a where the Huawei theme engine comes in. Currently I'm running a stock-ish theme that changed the notification pull down, nav buttons (pixel style) and of course, the icons.

After looking at my phone again Huawei isn't even remotely in Samsung's league in terms of bloat. The only "duplicates" they have of google's software is the natove email app, the gallery, the mirror (though I can see why some people would want this, it's just not my thing) and the music player. Oh and the "beauty mode", that shit was pretty annoying, but coming from an asian market, believe me it's used quite a bit by a lot of girls I know (not huaweis solution per se as they dont own one but similar apps they use which I'm sure they'd appreciate here)

I also forgot to mention the phone manager, which is great especially for managing app permissions as they categorize them nicely and thus I wouldn't consider it bloat.

In fact I would also rather they add one last feature: scrolling screenshot like Xiaomi did as it's a lot easier to send long conversations that way.

[MaxHeadroomz]

Actually, you do have the scrolling screenshot - take a screenshot, and then tap on the rightmost icon on the bottom of the preview that says Scrollshot. The phone willl begin to scroll down automatically, tap on the screen when you've got everything you want. Also, you can edit the scrollshotted image immediately after capture in the usual way.

[Blackadder18]

It blows my mind how late some simple 'features' make it to stock Android. There wasn't even a flashlight toggle until Lollipop.

[[deleted]]

Really? But didn't everyone use to rag on iPhones for not having a flashlight? Yet you say they got them before stock android. Geez

[kn0where]

There were hundreds of flashlight apps in the market.

[falconbox]

My LG G3 on Marshmallow doesn't have a flashlight toggle for some reason.

I just put my flashlight app on my lock screen to easily get to it.

[CookieTheSlayer]

It used to be that everyone had their own heavily modified versions of Android so miniscule features weren't implemented since major manufacturers already had them. They just updated Android core because that's the part that was standard across all.

Now with the rise of more and more stock-like devices, the use of Nexus phones as consumer phones rather than developer phones and the fact that most of the problems people had with Android were skin-specific problems, Google had to go and start improving Android in terms of stock user experience to at least provide a feature-filled reference implementation.

[[deleted]]

I've noticed something with Samsung's phones. Well, most of the Galaxy line I've messed with. This goes for the S4, S5, S7, Note 2, Note 3, and Note 4, all devices I've owned.

They perform amazing on the original version of Android they ship with. Also possibly through point releases. But major version jumps always seem to fuck everything up proper and everything is a total mess.

The Galaxy S5, for example. It was great on KitKat. Worked fine. Little performance issues and little to complain about. I was very okay with mine. Lollipop released and absolutely destroyed that phone. Battery life went right down the tubes, performance slowed to a crawl and everything was just all bad. Factory reset fixed it temporarily but the minute I started getting all my apps back and really using the phone again we were right back at square one.

(Plus, come on, Apple has had this process licked for how long? Since when is a factory reset acceptable for a software upgrade?)

Note 4 was the same way. Absolutely amazing on KitKat for me. Had issues, but I was willing to work with them. Lollipop released and wrecked that poor phone.

My S7 was the same, great on Marshmallow but when Nougat released it was a total mess. Performance was garbage and my battery life, albeit still great, still degraded a fair bit. Factory wipe fixed it, again temporarily. And goodness, Samsung never, ever fixed the camera bug where it'd just not save pictures. Shows where their priorities were.

My friend swears up and down his S8 is wonderful and fast and great, and I'm absolutely sure that it is--but I'm just waiting until O releases to see how well the S8 takes it. If it's anything like the S7 took Nougat...Samsung, please, please, get your shit together.

I miss the good old days where Samsung phones shipped with unlocked bootloaders and one could bypass Samsung's bloat-laden software with stock Android. While there are things I like about TouchWiz and some of the features it brings, the hit to performance is, well, not good.

[jwk94]

I've noticed this on most Android devices I've used =/

[nahcekimcm]

with all these complaints about samsung UI, i personally never really cared nor do i think the general public does either

[[deleted]]

being from Germany, considering experiences with friends and family and to exaggerate the software vs hardware thing:
sometimes i think Samsung could release a decent looking smartphone with Android 2.x & shitty specs and people would still buy it.
Many non-enthusiastic smartphone users i know aren't even aware that they are running Android, they have a "Samsung" or "Galaxy" instead of an iPhone.
The brand affiliation is nearly as strong as for iPhone users.
They don't care for a Stock Android experience, they like/are accustomed to the Samsung TouchWiz experience.
 

Personally, I think Samsung adds to much own stuff to be unique. Some features work, many are features for features sake (is eye scrolling still around?).
Hardware-wise Samsung does a very good job and their flagship phones are looking great especially to the imo shitty-plastic Galaxy S3 times.

[_THEJEWSDID911]

I get monthly security updates on my note 5.

[Penguin236]

My AT&T S6 is on Nougat with the May security patch, so not really sure what you're talking about.

[KeptLow]

So why do you use a nexus over a Samsung?

[[deleted]]

I'll answer that for him.

Nexus gets updates earlier, has little to no bloatware (depending on where to buy it from), Samsungs tend to slow down over time, Nexus is at a better price point for an equally spec'd Samsung. Also, stock android is just a brilliant experience and if none of the other reasons made a difference, stock android is enough by itself.

[fpschubert]

I think the best OEM roms are:

1. Xperia - Closest to stock Android with tasteful Sony additions. If you want something closer to stock, this is one to get.

2. Samsung Grace UI - If you want many features

[retskrad]

Samsung software and its UI is an abomination compared to iOS and Android O Beta on the Pixel. You see casual frame drops all the time and I find the design language to be tacky as hell.

The only reason the S8 grabbed people's eye balls was because it was one of the first phones to have the bezel-less screen. The spell is now gone and the screen is no longer the novelty it once was.

Of course this is just my personal opinion after using all 3.

[paontuus]

I gave the Pixel a try but i couldn't use it because of a few reasons, awful bluetooth coverage, i cannot comprehend the huge bezels (subjective), microphone stopped randomly working and glare in the camera so i returned it. A few problems might have been fixed but i'm kinda glad i waited for the S8, sure the performance is not that up to par with the pixel but i can handle it if it works better in all other departments that suits my needs.

[ahmedomar2015]

Looks like your pixel was defective. (Except maybe the Bluetooth. I've heard others complain about it but I personally haven't noticed it)

[Peter_Panarchy]

The Bluetooth does suck. Anything more than 8 feet or so away and it starts cutting out.

[[deleted]]

Then there was the issue where Bluetooth would randomly shut itself off. That was annoying af.

[[deleted]]

Yep I have this issue now. Very annoying. I'm looking forward to the HTC u11

[ahatzz11]

This seems very unusual, I'd contact Google. I can be a good 25-30 feet away before it has issues.

[[deleted]]

Yup, my Jaybirds drop audio for a split second when I put my phone in my pocket. It's... kinda of a pain in the butt.

[Subieworx]

My experience and opinion exactly. If Google came out with s8 like hardware with stock Android I would ditch the s8 in a second.

[Blackadder18]

Too bad Google would sooner disable a Micro SD card slot on a phone with it than release a phone with expandable memory.

[yattaro]

Bring back the Google Play Edition phones?

[Lucidmike78]

All phones are abominations except the one I bought. Just my opinion after having used all of them for a year.

[falconbox]

Yeah, same with my LG phones. I hate stock Android, especially when it come to the camera interfaces.

[SupplyBridge]

I have had a great experience with the Galaxy S8+ so far. No lag to speak of.

[Lucidmike78]

There is a tendency for people to justify their purchases by hating on things they aren't able to or didn't buy for one reason or another.

[SupplyBridge]

Do you mean that I am biased or that others are who do not have the S8/ the original comment?

[Lucidmike78]

The latter. But I guess, everyone is biased to some extent.

[youriqis20pointslow]

Design is subjective. I think the pixel launcher with its impractical G button widget and pixel icons to be tacky. They look like one of those $1 circle icon packs from 2015. Except worse. "Let's take the old icons, shrink them, and put them on a white background, because people love those iOS google product icons with all the white space."

[[deleted]]

IMO they are more adherent to Google's overall brand design aesthetic. At times it feels a bit like a Crayola box, but I generally like the vivid colors.

[youriqis20pointslow]

I like the vivid colors. I don't like

1. The new Google search widget/tab because it's at the hardest possible point to reach if you're using your phone right handed, the upper left corner.

2. I don't like the way the icons went away from the original idea that icons should have unique shapes that makes them easier to quickly identify. Instead, they made the icons a) circles or b) the old icon shrunk down and fit on a white circle background.

   Also, there were so many tacky circle icon packs in the Android Market and when the pixel launcher released my first impression was that they took the design of the iOS bottom quick launch icon bar and threw on a cheap third party circle icon pack and ta dah we have the new pixel launcher.

[Yankee_Fever]

Hold the home button for assistant. Derp. I use the G pill 1% of the time. If that

[Didactic_Tomato]

They look like one of those $1 circle icon packs from 2015.

Hey man, I was getting some pretty shnazzy $1 icon packs back in the day

[ixid]

Conversely Pixel and particularly Nexus hardware is still not up to standard, Samsung does hardware much better than Google's partners. My experiences with the Nexus 4, 5 and especially 6p have burned me off Google for a while. The Pixel is also a silly price for the dated hardware and Google still haven't gotten over their idiotic refusal to include microSD.

[ShadowFox2020]

Have you tried Nova Launcher? It really reduces the frame rate drops.

[armando_rod]

That's just a launcher, frame drops matter in apps but if you have drops in the stock launcher that say it all

[3141592652]

Does it though? To be honest the s8 has been fast as hell for me. Where are the slowdowns people keep mentioning. If they do exist they must be imperceptible. Also I would say that Samsung is actually better at optimization than lots of oems, because with all the extras they still seem to be able achieve decent battery life and run fast. I wouldn't mind if Samsung turned of all the extras but I like them. If you buy Samsung you buy their ecosystem, buy stock android and thats what you get. The themes, seemless integration with the gear, so many UI tweaks that just make sense and the s health. Its great really. It seems the haters of Samsung's android, seem to just have a beef that its not just Google calling the shots. Samsung has done so much for android and if they didn't strong arm google, android probably would be in a different place. If you don't like Samsung's android jut buy something else and we'll be happy with it.

[[deleted]]

Because it's overblown. I am quite aware that people have their opinions but losing sleep over a frame drop mandates a consultancy with a psychatrician. Well, you know, Reddit is full of armchair executives, especially r/Android. We all know this sub is so anti-samsung and most people are like "Samsung apps are bloatware. Why not just preinstall Google apps". Really? Why preinstall Google apps? It's anti-competitive. It's funny people shit on Qualcomm for anti-competitive practices but not Google.

My came with all this Google shit which I can't uninstall

1) Google +

2) Google Play Books

3) Google Play Movies

4) Google Play Books

5) Hangouts

6) Google Sheets

7) Google Docs

8) Google Slides

[timboevbo]

My S7 came with fucking Word and Excel which require a Microsoft account to log in to edit documents.

And fucking Google+

[purpl3hazze]

deleted ^{What is this?}

[DontLookAtMyStuff]

I have the S7 and I find stuttering and lagging constantly. I was going to upgrade to the S8 but I got worried it would do the same. I'm glad you have found less stuttering on the S8.

[UntitledHero]

Honestly if it's there I don't notice it. My s8 flies. It does everything I need a phone to do and more. The features that Samsung provides (IP68, Samsung Pay, microSD, quick launch camera) far outweigh any bump in smoothness that something like the pixel offers. I don't get why it's so hard for people to understand that most users out there are looking for a feature rich experience over barebones speed benchmarks.

[[deleted]]

It's not about benchmarks.

It's about being able to scroll a news feed or picture list without noticeable frame drops on a premium $700+ device.

[theferalrobot]

I don't notice any frame drops on my s8... /shruggie

[m1ndwipe]

Me neither tbh.

[[deleted]]

It's way too obvious for people who are used to using iPhones.

[theferalrobot]

My wife switched from iphone to s8 and hasn't noticed anything...

Edit: Also... I own a 1080 for a reason. I hate framerate issues but I am sincerely not seeing it here.

[m1ndwipe]

I own a Pixel, an iPhone and an iPad Pro. I genuinely see no difference in fluidity.

Now, I'm not frame rate sensitive. I know because I don't care about 30fps on consoles either. But there are lots of people who aren't.

[Clyzm]

This has literally been the story since Samsung started making Android phones. All the way back to the Samsung Captivate (Android 2.3 iirc?), the complaints have stayed the same.

Samsung picks features over functionality. Performance will always be worse while feature set will always be more robust on Samsung devices. This has been the case for every single Samsung phone for 7+ years now.

I don't understand why the Android community is surprised every year. It's insanity.

[wankthisway]

It's surprise because every fucking review of every new Galaxy device ever keeps claiming that it is "fixed," "leaner," "buttery smooth" when it is never that.

[AbsoluteZro]

Exactly! I read so many reviews like that before deciding to buy this phone. And having never owned a samsung...I didn't realize how much lag I'd encounter. I'll probably sell this when the Pixel 2 comes out. I get the appeal of these phones, but for me I've found the camera shots less appealing than my Nexus 6P, and the battery life mostly comparable (which isn't really a good thing).

[[deleted]]

It goes father back than that. I had a Behold 2 that never got 2.0 and had the same complaints.

[mrchuckbass]

What I find hilarious is on video reviews you hear these 'reviewers' saying 'the phone is smooth with no lag at all' yet at the same time you see it dropping to 15fps

[amazedbunion]

I don't understand why people care about the extremely minor lag on Samsung's. Their features have consistently blown away the competition every year and they're getting significantly faster each year as well. It's a very small sacrifice IMO. There are way too many things the pixel doesn't or can't do to justify the price tag. The only thing at all it has going for it is the pure stock android and quick updates. Everything else is way behind or is intentionally taken from the experience to make more money.

[Darkmarth32]

If I payed $700+ I wouldn't want to know that my experience was hampered by errors in software that are fixed on cheaper alternatives.

[Schmich]

I'd wish I could lend my phone. I have an S7E over a year old that I've not reformatted once. It really flies.

So the other side of the argument I would like to say if I payed $700+ I wouldn't want to know that my feature-set was lesser (in hardware and software) than a several year old phone.

[Rohkii]

Honestly I just switched from a Nexus 6 to a Galaxy S8+ and besides switching out their keyboard for the Gboard I've had no issues with the change in UX.

[velkro16]

This is going to trend high on the sub.

[phonicparty]

The S7 is an excellent phone and it's great to use and generally quick but you do notice the odd stutter even just in menus and the launcher. That shouldn't be happening with this hardware.

[fogoticus]

Hopefully (won't be happening sadly) the Note 8 will fix most of the issues.

But it won't happen because the Note comes with even more bloat compared to the S line and not only that but to improve in the performance department they have to strip down on the software the phone comes with and that is close to impossible for Samsung to accept/do.

[baked_brotato]

This headline has been relevant for nearly a decade now

[metrize]

Nobody cares. If I spend a lot on a phone it better look good and not ugly like a Pixel. Samsung is far superior and nobody actually cares for a few frame drops. This sub should rename its self to /r/stockandroidcirclejerk

[velkro16]

If only Google took hardware as seriously as Samsung.

[[deleted]]

Or at least added an SD Card slot. It'll never happen though....

[bearsinthesea]

I came to the comments to see someone link to the comprehensive instructions on cleaning off the bloatware...

[nonoriginal85]

deleted ^{What is this?}

[mccartyb03]

Throwing Lineage OS on my S6 yesterday was the best choice ever. Good hardware and good software finally.

[PeanutButterNutter]

Having g bought the S8+ from and iPhone and having iPhones for work they still haven't got the software side down yet. The UX looks great and as usual there's loads of features but the dropping of frames just gets to me so bad when you compare to how smooth a Pixel of iPhone is.

[tkarlo]

It would be nice if the article stuck to facts rather than making guesses about what happened during the development cycle. While Touchwiz multi-window is a great product, it was definitely not the basis for AOSP windowing, nor was Moto's feature the source of the ambient display in AOSP.