Hi everyone,

Currently looking at either a Pixel 8 or a S23 as a replacement for my Zenfone 8 that is slowly becoming a hindrence due to (primarily) the battery. I would replace it, but as it costs a lot to do that here and I have needs for a non-compromised water protection DIY feels like a dangerous option.

So S23 vs Pixel 8, what would you guys recommend assuming I can get either for the same price?

I like the S23 hardware a bit better on paper, but as Pixel phones generally are very flashable my anti-Google sentiments might (ironically) push me there.

I would get a fairphone 5 for the hot-swappable battery etc if they weren’t so expensive for what you get, and as Im buying second hand reuse is better for the environment anyways.

      • tuxed@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
        6·
        9 months ago

        Is it still that bad huh? I had an A50 before and the bloat was one of the reasons I disliked that phone.

        • keyez@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          9 months ago

          If you buy an unlocked phone not from a carrier it’s not that bad at all really. Samsung dupes are easily disabled in the settings.

        • DARbarian@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          9 months ago

          Oh yeah it only gets worse lol I’m on the S21 Ultra and it was an undertaking to de-Samsung as much as I could. Also, GrapheneOS never got bad, just the dev that got a little unhinged. But he has since stepped back on the project and regardless of his ramblings, it’s still the single most private and secure mobile OS.

          • tuxed@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
            1·
            9 months ago

            Okay, good to know! Do you know whether banking etc is a problem on graphene or not? Last time I used custom roms I got it working with microg but I heard there might have been some regressions?

    • tuxed@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      2·
      9 months ago

      Yeah, that is one of the reasons I’m intrigued. Havent looked at it since the Rossman/Daniel Micay thing though, is it still good?

        • tuxed@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
          2·
          9 months ago

          Okay, cool! Several people here seem to recommend it so I will add it to the “scale”

      • Pantherina@feddit.deEnglish
        01·
        9 months ago

        Daniel is okay. The shit he got from opinion-spreading people like Rossman… doesnt make sense.

        He is still very active, maybe not the official head of the project but will still answer like every Github issue.

        He and many others have very profound Android knowledge and discuss.grapheneos.org and their website is really helpful.

        GrapheneOS is simply a good system. They change so much in minimalist ways that make sense, like sandboxed play or enhanced permission toggles.