Or the never ending annoying 'upsells' or 'USPs' where they do things slightly different from vendor to vendor so you can't really rely on android just being android, you have to play a game of ((hardware * android version)/telco)+(features*lifetime) every time because you have a good chance of ending up with a piece of crap that either won't fully work out of the box, or gets less useful after only a year of usage if you don't play that game.

Anecdotal evidence, I'm just about Gen Z and I know a lot of people in that generation who buy rep sneakers and designer clothes via reddit from China. Reps have gotten very, very good if you're willing to pay a little more than fast fashion prices. Grain of salt / YMMV but that's what I've seen in my circles.

I have a Pixel phone and I love it. I honestly get super frustrated when I use an iPhone. There are so many hidden gestures and swipes that you just have to know, and if you're not a frequent user it's a painful experience.

Of course, I totally understand that it's just a matter of what you're used to, but Pixels have some fantastic features like their handling of spam calls and on-hold features, not to mention that Google Assistant is leaps and bounds better than Siri.