Overall first impression....
Stock Android came a long way. My first Stock Android device was from Nexus 7 tablet made by Asus. It was so stock that i totally missed all my iphones and samsung custom android. It was the ease of use and convenience that Stock android back then was terrible.
My second go was Nexus 6p. With Google beefing up all the specifications in collab with Huawei. I was rooting for a better android experience. Turns out? Well stock android still falls short in many areas where custom android is still better. So back to Samsung devices and occassionally iphones.
Where it fell short?
No Scrolling Screenshot
No VoLTE
NFC sim card doesnt work as i have ez link inside
Google Pay seems restrictive
No dual sim or poor esim support from telcos
Many more things to list.
After which, when samsung keep giving inferior chipset. I felt that it doesnt seems good at all. Overheating, batt drain, poor gpu performance the list goes on.
Pixel 6 was almost the tilting/tipping point for me. But i gave samsung one last redeeming factor as they announced the s22u will come with Sd8g1. Pixel 6 was really this close to make me switch. But the lack of VoLTE on m1 network (at launch) is not possible. And sg wasnt the first country to get the pixel 6. Yet the VoLTE only came much later date which is April 2022. By then S22u was still my last chance. So i bought the s22u.
S22u great phone, great specs, ok software, good customisations. But then it got so expensive till it isnt worth it anymore.
Pixel 7 launched, i was on the fence. Till the review came out i was still on the fence. Till i finally cave in. I decided to give it a try.
A little bit of learning curve. Cause the menus are a bit different. I cant find it anywhere for certain features. With some help from forumers here, i managed to find it.
Took some time to figure things out. But i think i will progress better day by day.
Im also happy with the sustained performance. Despite taking the Tensor chip from Samsung Manufacturing. I was so skeptical. But it was google software that making it look good. It definitely make me feel that performance numbers are nothing. You can go how high also doesnt matter if you are going to hit bottom performance later.
And initial use of the pixel 7 pro. Indeed almost 80% of the things that samsung can do. Pixel can do, infact certain things are better. Glad that i have found a gem.