I love Samsung phones. I previously had a Galaxy Note 4, and now I've had a Galaxy Note 9 since 2018. I like how they're designed, especially how they give you the option of using a stylus. However, I keep reading that Samsungs have more battery problems than other phones. I have noticed my Note 9 doesn't hold a charge as well as before, and also that it sometimes gets hot. I also just watched a video by a guy who studies a huge numbers of phones, and it's Samsungs that keep having a battery expand so bad that the phone actually breaks open.
Batteries Plus will replace my Note 9's battery for 80 bucks, but maybe that's just kicking the can down the road. But if it bought me another couple years, maybe it would be worth it.
If I don't use a Samsung, what would I use?
Other phones I've used:
Motorola
iPhone
My first Android was a Moto G, which I used from about 2014 to 2016. It was okay. I'm not up on current Motorolas, but they seem to have a decent reputation. One concern of mine is they need different APN settings than other Androids on the AT&T network.
After my Note 4, I used an iPhone 6 for about 6 months. It was a stop-gap. The Note 4's charging port went kaputt, and I needed a phone right away. My dad gave me his old iPhone 6 that he was no longer using. It was okay. There were a few things I preferred about iPhone over Androids, but a huge deal breaker was the iPhone was incapable of playing OGG sound files, and I have a huge collection of OGGs (about 8,000) in my language learning library. I could have converted them all to MP3s on my PC, but I still would have had to re-assign them in the app. It would have been a beast to do -- or I could just buy another Android. I bought my Note 9 at that point, problem solved.
Other possibilities:
Google Pixel 4, 5, or 6. I've heard these are pretty reliable phones, but I've never used one. I imagine they ought to integrate well with Google services like Calendar.
Pine Phone
It's possible to use Android while giving Google the heave-ho for privacy concerns. I would have to quit using Google Calendar in favor of what Pine Phone uses. The plus, is these are Linux phones, and I already use a Linux PC. The minus is they're still in Beta. That makes me a little nervous, but I'm keeping my eye on them.
I'm trying to avoid any Chinese-made phones like Huwawei or Shengui. I think Blu phones are also Chinese. (Trust me that I don't want Chinese-made, though I'd rather not go into detail as to why; we could get into territory that's against CZ rules.)
So Motorola? Google Pixel? Pine Phones? Is there someone good I'm missing?
