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I switch from a Pixel 3 to a S23 and it's really nice. The new Snapdragon 8 gen 2 is solid, with great battery life and doesn't heat up even when doing intensive task. I also change almost all the stock app to Google's so it's basically just like using a Pixel now, abet with some restriction (no google recorder app because that's pixel exclusive lol).
I was worried about "Samsung bloat" too but I have to say the new OneUI is rather nice.
Pixel has the smoothest experience in terms of animations, but they also have the shittiest hardware. Samsung is okay, and the snapdragon versions have usable battery and modems. Pixel's SOC is hot garbage (though time will tell for pixel 8)
Pixel.
I have an S23 Ultra and it is a nice phone but I wouldn't recommend Samsung to anyone because my last several Samsungs "mysteriously" got issues right before the 2 year plan ended. I won't be getting another Samsung after this one. I really wanted the pen and it is great but I'm starting to care more about longevity.
I have a samsung phone and I don't like all their bloated crap they force on you. 100% would NOT buy again.
Pixel.
The only advantage that i could think of in a Samsung phone is gaming performance.
And that's it, everything else is sh*te.
You probably can't go wrong with either one.
I've been using Pixels for a while and have been happy with them. Tried some of the other phones and didn't like the UX. Most of them have a ton of bloatware. I have enjoyed the stock android experience and the camera.
I think the Pixel 8 Pro has a slight price increase, so you're starting to get up there in price. If possible, I recommend going into a store and using the phones and such.
Those using Samsung, how do you get around the bloatware and redundant apps? I agree that Samsung typically has better hardware. Before they locked their bootloader I used them exclusively with custom roms to get a clean android experience. The Pixel line tends to only include the Google apps with no extra third party apps. Getting access to the latest Android versions on releases is also a big plus for me.
You can disable almost all. Some are less obvious to disable, for example the Samsung Free extra home screen thing: You have to switch to your normal home screen customization by long pressing on the background, then swipe to the Free thing and switch it off on top using a switch without a label.
Disable them and hide them using a custom launcher. For what it's worth, I like Samsung's changes over stock Android (especially post-Material 3) to use a Pixel. It also helps that I'm using a Fold and Samsung has the best software features of any foldable.
Oh, almost forgot, for those interested in giving buying advice, please check out our very own buying guide that we are making in the sticky post and contribute your input. Thanks.
I've been on one plus phones for years and then switched to pixel 4a 5g, then pixel 6a.
I just switched to a samsung galaxy s23 ultra and I am loving this device.
I uninstalled a bunch of the Google and samsung bloatware.
I'm going to get an S24 when they release, have pretty much always used Samsung when on Android.
FWIW, I understand all the complaints about bloat from duplicated applications, but a significant amount of that blame should be on Google as well. I don't use the GMail app, but I can't uninstall it, so it's system bloat.
Haven't had a samsung phone since the note 3, but I remember having issues with unlocking the bootloader, I think you had to use some 3rd party tool because samsung provided no guide in their manual. With nexus and pixel phones it's really easy so them I can definately recommend.
The Pixel experience being stock Android without any bloatware appeals to me.
I've also always rooted all of my Android devices, and the Pixel has been one of the easiest to do so, though this advantage would only be relevant to a small minority of users.
I really like both. This round I ended up going with Samsung. Yeah it's a little more bloated but there's just SO much more customization with good lock modules. I have an audio module that lets me choose a second audio destination. So for example I can be playing music through Bluetooth on my stereo system and then I have my system notifications set to the phone speaker so that they don't interrupt the music
There should be an inherent time frame people think about, phones from 8 or 9 years ago are not relevant in any aspect to todays talking points for both sides of the aisle.
I've just recently switched from a Galaxy S10 to a Pixel 7 as I wanted to see the "vanilla" experience, as well as be closer to upstream for software updates. My S10 still works great, though the battery needs replacement (at the time, it had already broken the glue on the back glass and was still expanding -- didn't realize until I took it out of the case for cleaning)...
With my S10, I had to really fight to get it to let me use Google's apps over the Samsung ones; which whole annoying is doable. So far, the only things I really miss from Samsung (and notably the UX):
Overall, I'm happy with the experience so far; though I dunno if the "Pro" model of anything is really worth it.
Samsung hardware is a lot higher quality, but the Pixel is cheaper. I've had to return a pixel to Google 5 times before so I don't buy those any longer for myself.