My first Android phone was the OnePlus 6T. It lasted me six years, went through two intensive school programs, and never even had so much as a hiccup. It outperformed every iPhone I had before and made me realize that Android was probably my preferred operating system for a phone. The only thing was the cameras were not as good as I wanted them to be, the software and security updates had stopped for a while now, and the normal wear and tear of everyday use was taking its toll on the battery and charging port of the phone.
So when a promotion on the Pixel 8 came up at my local carrier store, I jumped at the opportunity. I mean, a stock Android experience with great cameras, good performance, 256GB of storage, and seven years of security updates, all for the low, low price of $8 a month on a two-year contract, was just too good to pass up in my opinion. So I made the jump to Pixel and really loved it for the first few months until the fated purple line showed up.
I thought I had just been unlucky, and so I sent it back under its one-year warranty. After a few weeks on a lent phone, I got my fixed Pixel 8 back, and I went on about my day. The same night I got it back, it software-locked itself. The screen was completely unresponsive, not even turning on, but the phone was still active. I was receiving calls and notifications but couldn't access them. So I sent it back, and since I couldn't transfer anything from it, I had to set it back up from a cloud backup and lost a few things, including important work files that I had to remake from scratch.
Another few weeks on a lent phone, and I got a new Pixel 8. My old one couldn't be fixed, and so I had to set up again on a new phone, which wasn't too bad but still an irritant in my whole Pixel experience. Not even a year on the new Pixel 8 I got as a replacement, and the purple line came back. I had enough, and my contract was coming to an end, so I was ready to change phones and never look at a Pixel 8 ever again.
Even with all of these problems, I really liked the software experience on Pixel when it worked. Stock Android is just easy and gave me just the right amount of customization I wanted. So I thought to myself, if I want a premium experience, I'll get the premium phone. So in March, I chose to go with a Pixel 10 Pro. Loved it. Loved the hardware; it really felt premium, felt good in the hand, it was familiar, snappy, and a breath of fresh air in terms of quality, or so I thought.
Five days into my ownership of the Pixel 10 Pro, and the always-on display caused it to completely freeze multiple times. Just like the Pixel 8 I had, it straight up rendered itself as useful as a paperweight. And it was the end of my Pixel experience for me. I went straight to the store, and since I was in my 15-day period to exchange it for any reason, I picked up a Galaxy S26, and it's just okay. Don't get me wrong, the cameras are great, the hardware is good, and it feels premium.
But the Samsung software experience is just not it for me; the launcher looks weirdly goofy and is less customizable than the stock Android version in terms of appearance.
Anyway, I wish Pixel phones were reliable and that I could have that same stock Android experience on something other than a Pixel phone. I've tried launchers, but the idea of paying $25 to $50 for a launcher made by a company with a murky security background is not very appealing to me.
TLDR: I bought a Pixel 8 on a contract and had a terrible experience, having to have it fixed twice due to software issues. Then I bought a Pixel 10 Pro, thinking it would go better, and it didn't. I ended up with a Samsung S26 and had a much more reliable experience.