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.

  • Pantherina@feddit.deEnglish
    0·
    7 months ago

    Keep an eye on DivestOS. It seems to be somewhat similar to GrapheneOS but on more devices.

    I think the changes are a bit too many though. They support microG in the GrapheneOS sandbox, which may be pretty cool (until it breaks, or you need stuff not included in microG)

    I think 128GB is enough, but a small phone with a headphone jack, good cameras and a working fingerprint sensor…

    • Varyk@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      0·
      7 months ago

      I am pure Bluetooth, I was very happy to get rid of the headphone jack.

      Thanks for the OS recommendation.

      Oh, if you’re interested in cameras, you should check out the side by side videos of fairphone cameras with pixels and iPhones. At least half the time, I prefer the fair phone camera shots I’m seeing.

      I don’t know if it’s less processing or what, but something about the fair phone photos look better to me, even without umpteenth megapixel updates.

      128 GB is way too small for me. I can work with it, but it’s like 12 minutes of video and I take a lot of video.

      7 years ago I had an oppo with their proprietary usb charging that went zero to 80 in 30 minutes and had up to four gigabytes expandable storage, I had 512 gb on there, 6gb ram.

      The state of phone tech today is crazy to me, the one percent increase in CPU processing power every month means nothing to me if I can’t take more than 20 minutes of HD video and edit it without the phone crashing.

      Also, not really relevant, bring back front facing speakers! I want a phone with front facing speakers again so bad.

        • Varyk@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          0·
          7 months ago

          I read about that on the graphene forum, i wouldn’t mind waiting a few seconds for a higher level of security

          • Pantherina@feddit.deEnglish
            0·
            7 months ago

            No, not at all.

            I am on Secureblue now on my Laptop, which also takes way longer to start. This is a different thing, but in general, “performance improvements” are often dangerous security drawbacks.

            Like this Zygote thing in Android where all Apps share some memory parts or the layout or whatever (already forgot it) which makes them similar to each other and predictable for memory exploits.

            On Linux there is something like “zero trust randomization” which increases startup time, because the OS doesnt trust the hardware to do good randomization and instead does it itself.

            • Varyk@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              0·
              7 months ago

              That quick startup on Linux and just how much faster it is in general. Then centralized OS systems is why I switched.

              I’ve never heard of the zygote thing, it’s a Android service? Or a shared Android process?