Hold on tight, we are almost back...
Previously on Lemmy: Sony
Past Discussions:
I thought we should restart the brand discussion with something more popular to give this community relaunch a bit more oomph. So, Samsung it is.
I've never really used a Samsung phone much before, despite them being so popular in the States. Have friends who used them, they usually look nice and high quality, and the Galaxy S Active are the only high-end phones I know that doesn't shatter when you look at them wrong without a case, so, props to Samsung.
There are may reasons I don't like Samsung phones: Hardware fuse disabling Knox on bootloader unlock, Exynos vs Snapdragon models, the mandatory Bixby button, the Galaxy Note 7 that really blew up. To me, Samsung phones are trying so hard to go against what makes Android good, which is the customizability to do whatever you wanted. Android is everything; Samsung is just Samsung.
Personally, I think Samsung is only worth buying at the very high end for the Galaxy S series. I've heard that A series have gotten better, but there always seems to be better choices from Moto/Pixel/Chinese brands on Amazon that it's not worth considering their low tier offering.
What should we do next week? I'm thinking Microsoft, just to make fun of them for the very idea of making a Surface Duo 2.
FAQ:
Samsung has great hardware but my OG galaxy S2 was peak Samsung for me. I still love their build quality but I don't like curved screens, lack of sd slots and 3.5mm jack and so on. Neither do I want all the Samsung social etc. apps.
If Samsung made a clean phone like the pixel with their build quality, that would be a game changer.
It would be interesting for the users but it would also undermine Samsung's position in their war with Google.
The reason Samsung duplicates all the apps etc. is so that they keep Google at arm's length. Google controls their manufacturers with tightly controlled deals for the Android trademark and access to the Play Store and Services Framework. By duplicating those and the app ecosystem, Samsung is saying "we won't be so easy to get rid of".
Granted, Samsung is also the largest Android manufacturer, so all out war would probably mean the fracture of the entire Android landscape.
I've once read a comparison between the income percentage that Android represents for Samsung and Google respectively and I seem to recall it would damage Google more than Samsung. But it was years ago so that might have changed, and also the Google side analysis involved guesswork about the impact on their ad and data collection business.
Woah... i learned something new today
That's the spirit.