Android Devices which Stand Out from the Rest

[Windroid]

This thread was inspired by a post from nickdalzell:

Oh believe me all the modern offerings are too close to Apple for me. Boring, bland, lacking features, feature removals, flat UI design.

***yawn***

Let's get the rapid pace going again, start packing features in, make each phone unique, and offer choices for everyone, from small screens to large, buttons or no buttons, keyboard sliders, hey, perhaps a modern Nokia N95? Let's make phones fun again!

There are some modern offerings that aren't boring. Let's talk about the exciting Android devices in this thread, starting with Planet Cosmo's "Astro Slide 5G": A smartphone that's also a very small laptop. It can run both Android and Linux.

 

[ocnbrze]

Galaxy Z Fold4 Folding Smartphone | Samsung US

Meet Galaxy Z Fold4, the tough foldable smartphone that brings PC-like power to your pocket. Unfold your world with an immersive display and Nightography.

www.samsung.com

foldables are in

 

[ocnbrze]

the flex note and flex g looks crazy!!!!!!

edit: and the flex s

 

[Windroid]

@ocnbrze I'm skeptical of folding screans. But I must admit, the tablets (including smartphone) in that video are cool!

 

[ocnbrze]

@ocnbrze I'm skeptical of folding screans. But I must admit, the tablets (including smartphone) in that video are cool!

Don't be. My z fold 4 is an amazing feat of engineering. The next fold 5 is going to be creaseless. And I think rollables are going to be the next big thing. There were a few devices featured in the above video that showed some aspect of it.

 

[Windroid]

Don't be. My z fold 4 is an amazing feat of engineering. The next fold 5 is going to be creaseless. And I think rollables are going to be the next big thing. There were a few devices featured in the above video that showed some aspect of it.

I am jealous of folding phones. Part of me whiches I had a phone which change from smartphone-sized, to tablet-sized. But I worry that'd be hard on the screen. There's also the matter of security updates: I'm not going to pay big mony for a phone that will only get a few years of security updates.

 

[ocnbrze]

I am jealous of folding phones. Part of me whiches I had a phone which change from smartphone-sized, to tablet-sized. But I worry that'd be hard on the screen. There's also the matter of security updates: I'm not going to pay big mony for a phone that will only get a few years of security updates.

Meh on security updates. I don't think it's as important as people think. Don't get me wrong I know it helps. But you just need to use common sense. Be careful what you download and install. Be careful on the web sites you go to. Be cautious when you're on public wifi....... you should be fine.

 

[Windroid]

I'm much more comfortable with security updates than without them. Plus If I'm paying big bucks, I do expect more than a few years of security updates! If I'm paying 50 USD or something, then a few years of security updates is acceptable.

Edit: According to C. Scott Brown: "The majority of recent Samsung phones will see four upgrades and five years of patches.". Five years isen't as long as I'd like, but if my next phone is an Android phone, I'll likely go with Samsung.

 

[PitCarver]

@ocnbrze I'm skeptical of folding screans. But I must admit, the tablets (including smartphone) in that video are cool!

I'm on this side on this one also. It's just not something that I'm head over heels excited about. I just want a regular large size phone with long battery life.
Replaceable battery, a MSD card slot and headphone jack would be ideal but sadly the manufacturers have deemed them taboo.

 

[Windroid]

While we're on the subject of foldables: Here's the Surface Duo:

 

[Hadron]

I just want a regular large size phone with long battery life.

I just want a regular not large phone! If a foldable (or, perhaps better, rollable) will get me a phone that's small enough to be usable one-handed (which, at 71mm wide, the "small" s21 is still a little too large for) then I'm for them.

But I'm happy to wait for the technology to mature, and won't pay the price of a premium laptop for a phone.

 

[Windroid]

Here's another one: The Nintendo Switch. A few caveats:

#1: The Nintendo Switch does not come with Android, you must install Android yourself. But you don't have to uninstall your Nintendo OS, you can still use the Switch as a Switch.

#2: Android can't be installed on all Switches, and Android for Switch appears to be a beta.

#3: It's improbable, but not impossible, that Nintendo may mistake your Android insulation as an attempt to cheat and ban you.

That said: An Android computer with push-buttons, designed for also being displayed on a television, which also doubles as a Nintendo video-game console! Part of me wants one. The only thing missing is that the Switch isn't a phone.

 

[mikedt]

For me the Android devices that really stand out, are not phones or tablets. It's things like treadmills, electronic whiteboards, in-flight entertainments, etc. that are Android.

 

[ocnbrze]

the steam deck is a much better platform for android than the switch. the switch is good, but you are very limited as to what you can play on it. its all pretty much nintentdo stuff. while the steam deck you can play xbox games, play station games and pc games. you can run emulators as well including android. i love my steam deck. i have only scratched the surface as to what you can do. i almost forgot that you can get a dock and connect it to your tv or a monitor.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/yn14eo

 

[AugieTN]

the steam deck is a much better platform for android than the switch. the switch is good, but you are very limited as to what you can play on it. its all pretty much nintentdo stuff. while the steam deck you can play xbox games, play station games and pc games. you can run emulators as well including android. i love my steam deck. i have only scratched the surface as to what you can do. i almost forgot that you can get a dock and connect it to your tv or a monitor.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/yn14eo

Very Cool!

 

[ocnbrze]

Very Cool!

you have no idea. its so portable, affordable, and very powerful. the base model comes with only 64 gigs. but if you are willing to tinker with it, you can purchase a 1 tb ssd and install it DYI style. it comes with a sd card slot so you don't have to install a ssd drive, but instead add a 1 tb sd card. i bought the 512gig which is the largest size they make and i am totally happy with it.

i think my next thing is to look into emulation. i would also love to play some blizzard games like starcraft or diablo.

its not really an android device, but you can make it so by adding an android emulation. it does run on linux. there is also a way to add windows to the deck:

https://www.thegamer.com/steam-deck-windows-how-to-install-guide/

 

[Windroid]

For me the Android devices that really stand out, are not phones or tablets. It's things like treadmills, electronic whiteboards, in-flight entertainments, etc. that are Android.

Aren't those very locked-down Androids? Can you install apps onto them, or browse the Internet?

[Y]ou are very limited as to what you can play on [the Nintendo Switch]. its all pretty much nintentdo stuff.

Install Android onto the Nintendo Switch, and you can play Android games on it.

 

[ocnbrze]

Install Android onto the Nintendo Switch, and you can play Android games on it.

i meant to add that besides emulations, the siwtch can only play nintendo games......which are ok, not great, but ok. most games i want to play are not nintendo games. and very few are ported over to the switch.

the steam deck, almost all games can be played in one form or the other. some will play better than others while some will not have support for the controls. there is also a steam deck community that allows you to download various controls for each game as you can program the buttons to make the controls work.

the switch does not offer this.

all that plus you can play android games or run android apps if you wanted to.

 

[Windroid]

[Y]ou can play android games or run android apps [on the Steam Deck].

But does the Steam Deck give you the Android experience? As I've pointed on the thread "Turning Windows into Android?": The ability to run Android apps does not make something an Android device.

 

[ocnbrze]

But does the Steam Deck give you the Android experience? As I've pointed on the thread "Turning Windows into Android?": The ability to run Android apps does not make something an Android device.

Well you mentioned the switch so I thought that I'll throw in the steam deck as another option to the switch.

 

[mikedt]

Aren't those very locked-down Androids? Can you install apps onto them, or browse the Internet?

What stood out for me with these items, is that they're not phones, tablets, or TV-boxes, which Android usually is. I find it interesting that Android is been used as an embedded OS in things like treadmills, and whiteboards, etc. They are locked down, custom, and only runs the apps and services they're built for.

Android smart-phones are very much a commodity device these days, and I find it impossible to find one that really stands out from the rest. Folding screen phones are really nothing special now, as all the major manufacturers seems to be making them.

The Planet Cosmo's "Astro Slide 5G", a phone with a folding or sliding keyboard that runs Linux. There was one of them in 1997, the Nokia Communicator. And Blackberry has always made phones with physical keyboards, and still does.

 

[Hadron]

When you say that Blackberry "still" make devices with keyboards, are you sure? I decided to check who was currently licensing the brand (as I knew that had changed a few times), and it seems there's been no sign of life from the latest licensee for more than a year, and the last device release was in 2018.

 

[mikedt]

When you say that Blackberry "still" make devices with keyboards, are you sure? I decided to check who was currently licensing the brand (as I knew that had changed a few times), and it seems there's been no sign of life from the latest licensee for more than a year, and the last device release was in 2018.

I did see them on Blackberry website. I guess they haven't updated.

 

[Windroid]

Folding screen phones are really nothing special now, as all the major manufacturers seems to be making them.

I don't think the Surface Duo is a typical folding handheld. Its two screens can have two diffident apps on them at the same time. It can even be used as a poor man's palmtop computer (very small laptop) by using the bottom screen as an on-screen keyboard.

That said: The Surface Duo is on the pricey side, it's over 1K USD. For something that only receives security updates for three years: 1K+ is too much, so I can't recommend buying one. But the Surface Duo does stand out from the rest, so it's worthy of inclusion on this thread.

 

[mikedt]

I don't think the Surface Duo is a typical folding handheld. Its two screens can have two diffident apps on them at the same time. It can even be used as a poor man's palmtop computer (very small laptop) by using the bottom screen as an on-screen keyboard.

That said: The Surface Duo is on the pricey side, it's over 1K USD. For something that only receives security updates for three years: 1K+ is too much, so I can't recommend buying one. But the Surface Duo does stand out from the rest, so it's worthy of inclusion on this thread.

Actually the Surface Duo does stand out for me, but not because of form factor and how many screens its got, it's because of the company that makes it. Microsoft, whom I've always associated with Windows.

Windows Phone was a failure. So if they can't beat them, join them, i.e. Microsoft makes an Android smart phone. Android is an open source Linux OS, and Steve Ballmer once said "Linux is a cancer".