That said, Pixel devices all the way. No gross UI reskin, no having multiple copies of the same type of app (Samsung camera vs android camera, dialers, keyboards, etc.).
Fast, stable, good features.
If it's not a pixel device, you're probably going to have a "mid" experience.
Very stable, nice UI, no hardware/batery issues, very responsive.
I don't know if I trust Google to make decent hardware. I am highly suspicious of Pixel phones.
I don't call things I don't want to have "features" It's just more bloat in my mind.
I say that as someone who has had several Pixel phones (and Nexus before that) and been happy with them. But yeah, my most recent phone is a low-end Motorola that I picked specifically for a set of hardware features, but unfortunately, as the parent commenter describes, it has been a _terrible_ experience for a variety of reasons. I got the hardware features I wanted (mostly, no one makes the full set I want anymore, see above), and it turns out that I had to give up a halfway-decent software experience.
If not, are you able to buy another Motorola phone where this is possible?
Pixel experience is literally same thing as Samsung One UI - a gross UI reskin
> no having multiple copies of the same type of app (Samsung camera vs android camera, dialers, keyboards, etc
Google is the one that forces the multiple copies of same app thing
Vendor blobs are used in third party phones that have different hardware. Or, in some cases, because the phone seller wants to track you or try an offer an additional "value add" with their version of the app.
They don't have to do any of that.
the pixels have a overheating problem -- this you can google for.
oh yeah, when automatic android updates happen a bunch of your settings are reset even something simple as UI-theme.
On the other hand, it takes over a minute to decide that it's confirmed a GPS location. The Pixel 3a will do the same thing in more like one second. The utter failure of the GPS on the Pixel 6a (and possibly other related phones?) seems to be a known, common issue.
I do have overheating problems. The phone won't work outdoors in climates that are less nice than California. Which surprises me, since that's most of the world.
People keep saying this, but that's been every phone I've ever had. They all get hot in hot weather and under heavy use.
The Motos came with very little bloatware that was easy enough to uninstall or disable. There are just as many new Google Apps that just weren't available on Moto phones that I've been uninstalling from my Pixel:
Google One, Google Tasks, Google News, Google Lens, Google Support Services, Google PDF Viewer, Google Play Books, Google Pixel Watch, Pixel Buds, Pixel Studio, Gemini, Safety, Find Hub, Google Home
It's not 3rd party, but it's still bloatware.