Hello there,
My main phone just broke, and for now I can't afford a recent flagship, although I have two options for my budget. (both the same price)
As the title says, I have to choose between a Huawei P20 PRO [128 gb / 6 gb RAM] and a Samsung Galaxy S9 [Exynos 64 gb/ 4gb RAM] (not plus).
So, I would like to ask you if I can get some guidance, I have read reviews and watched a lot of videos, but I'm still not sure...
I'm interested in a reliable device, a day battery for me is enough, a great all rounder camera in any condition.
I just have some concerns about the Huawei device, no OIS, no headphone jack and no Micro SD slot is a really turn off for me, but I would like to know if the experience overall compensate this (if any of you have switched between these two). For the Samsung, I have seen that night or low light pictures are not as good as the Huawei, and so is the battery (3000 mAh vs 4000 mAh).
Thanks in advance, I would really appreciate your answers.
Hi, just sharing my experience with you about the s9. I have never owned a p 20 pro but before I got my first s9, I did a quick hands on with the p20 pro. I was more swayed by the s9 because at the time, one of the main selling points was the quality of the stereo speakers on the s9, something which was missing on the s8.
I traded in my first s9 after a while and went through a series of phones including the Note 9, s10+ and finally the oneplus 7 pro. A few months back, I came across an s9 demo unit on the cheap. Everything in the box was untouched and after checking for burn in and scratches, I bought it. I used it together with my 7 pro and ultimately decided to sell the 7 pro and keep the s9.
Sounds a bit crazy but the s9 was always at the back of my mind when I was using the other phones. It is a very good all rounder phone. I have no regrets giving up faster charging, a bigger screen, higher refresh rate and faster processor for useful features like notification light, headphone jack, iris scanner and a higher resolution because of its smaller size.
One ui 2.1 has given it a new lease of life and although there will not be any further android version updates, my only plan is to change the battery when the time comes.
I'd be interested if Samsung did an iPhone SE makeover of the s9. I might consider a new phone then.
I only have the S9 not the P20, but if I were you I'd rather choose the latest phone available out there. since it has more recent software, unlike the S9 which I believe this year is the last year that the phone is still got the software update unless you use the updated custom rom. also there are a lot of phones that has long battery life, higher storage, higher ram, maybe a bit better camera than both s9 and p20, and again more recent software. I think it's more worth it rather than buying a 3 y/o flagship phones.
Also nowadays I feel like running stock firmware on this phone is still reliable, it's not buttery smooth like it used to that's why I'm using the custom rom. other than that, this phone really fits my hand perfectly that's what makes me still considering this phone as my daily driver.
But that's just my opinion tho
I have the p20 pro and I'm thinking to switch to the S9.
I can say that the batterie is awesome on the huawei, I get 7h On Screnn with 25% left.
But i hate the caméra, it makes good images at low light but on daylight it's horrible. Hdr sucks, oversharpening, human faces are Just drawed with oil painting, front caméra is blurry and overexposed. I prefer Xiaomi mi A3 with Gcam. Vidéo is also bad.
Emui 10 is also full of bugs. I regret switching from S8+ and Xiaomi Mi9T to P20 pro.
S8+ was much better and with gcam it's amazing, i'd like to switch to s9 but i think i Will regret it because of the ppor battery life.
I am a previous Samsung owner having had an S6 and S7 and whilst I generally liked those phones, I grew tired of the battery life falling off a cliff after approx 6-9 months - an issue that I did not find with my Huawei Mate Pro 20 that I switched to - so had planned to not buy Samsung Galaxys again.
Having said that, the reviews on the S21 Ultra do look great and it has got me tempted to switch over from my Pixel 5 (which I do love the camera on but the smaller screen isn't for me). So I am interested to hear any battery experiences of S20 Ultra / other recent Galaxys as to how impressive the battery life was initially and what its longevity was like after 6-12 months?
Tmel14 said:
I am a previous Samsung owner having had an S6 and S7 and whilst I generally liked those phones, I grew tired of the battery life falling off a cliff after approx 6-9 months - an issue that I did not find with my Huawei Mate Pro 20 that I switched to - so had planned to not buy Samsung Galaxys again.
Having said that, the reviews on the S21 Ultra do look great and it has got me tempted to switch over from my Pixel 5 (which I do love the camera on but the smaller screen isn't for me). So I am interested to hear any battery experiences of S20 Ultra / other recent Galaxys as to how impressive the battery life was initially and what its longevity was like after 6-12 months?
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unless you are in a country that offers SD variant of the phone, stay away from S20 ultra if battery life is important. The exynos chipset used in S20 series have bad battery life. Reviews shows that samsung fixed the problem on the exynos chipset used on the S21 though.. so you will be better off on S21 if battery life is important.
I've had my S20+ for 10 months now and use my phone a LOT. I haven't had any issues with my battery life.
I have over the years owned a few OP devices including the 6, 7 pro and 8 and usually compared to say the current flagship Samsung I have preferred almost everything about the Oneplus but a few things like wireless charging, no always on display and a camera that just fell slightly short saw me ultimately go with a Samsung (or Pixel)
With the 9 pro I think this has flipped around and this a year I prefer almost everything about the S21 Ultra I have over the 9 pro. The Samsung IMO looks better, feels nicer in the hand, feels quicker in daily use (a big reversal this) has a quicker and better placed FPS and has better overall battery. The 9 pro though has a better main camera in the circumstances I care about (less blurry photos or my kids and pets) and has APTX-HD which is 2 areas about Samsung that frustrate me.
So I think I prefer the OP9 Pro (just) but I am kind of missing the S21 Ultra too.
Are you sure there are no aptx HD with S21U? You can check in developer options
Samsung have only had standard APTX for a while now which is frustrating as I am not convinced by LDAC and mostly only Sony cans have LDAC anyway.
Switched yesterday from s21 ultra to op9 pro, really enjoyed Sammy but definitely i prefer Oneplus way better user experience! Also even if with Hex manager i used to be able to mod software seem more "stock like" can't feel well with One Ui.. i agree about battery that is better on S21 but here you have shocking fast charge so not a big deal for me. About camera i can't talk I'm not a good photographer and also don't take photos often... One thing that i like about Oneplus comprared to s21 is that 30grams less means so much difference in daily usage!
I think that overall the camera is better on the S21 Ultra but as a point and shoot Samsung’s always struggle with anything that moves even a little bit and I see no signs of them resolving this. I find the 9 pro better in this regard.
Hi all I'm thinking of switching from my s21 ultra (exynos variant) but been hearing some bad reviews etc of bad battery life and not so good cameras etc on the pixel does any one who ownes a pixel 6 pro know if most of these have been fixed? And would people consider the pixel 6 pro over the s21 ultra or am I best waiting till the s22 thanks
brockyneo said:
Hi all I'm thinking of switching from my s21 ultra (exynos variant) but been hearing some bad reviews etc of bad battery life and not so good cameras etc on the pixel does any one who ownes a pixel 6 pro know if most of these have been fixed? And would people consider the pixel 6 pro over the s21 ultra or am I best waiting till the s22 thanks
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hi, i have switched from s21u(exy) and battery on p6 pro is amazing comparing to samsung(9h+ p6 pro / 6h s21u - same usage)(p6pro 42h/one charge / s21u/28h) . not only battery, i like the mini rounded corners of p6 pro, software is good enough(its new), will be better after fex fixes.
Thanks so would you say it's a good choice over the s21 ultra
brockyneo said:
Thanks so would you say it's a good choice over the s21 ultra
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yeah, right now best choice, i am selling my s21u
Thanks might get it ordered today and pass down the s21 ultra to the lad
After the Pixel 1 stopped getting updates two years ago, my wife and I finally upgraded to the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 512 GB model, because for the first couple of years after the Pixel 1, I was waiting to buy another Pixel until they came out with a 256 GB model, and then by the time they did, I needed a 512 GB model so I still waited.
The Note 10+ hardware is great. I hate the software. I use my personal phone for my work too, my work uses Google for everything, and apparently, it's common with Samsung devices that they have sporadic syncing of GMail and Chat/Hangouts. When I told my brother about the problem I was having (and I did try deep-diving settings about not optimizing for battery usage, and not killing in the background, and even factory reset), my brother, who had only just bought his family their first smartphones maybe 4 years ago and go the Galaxy S9+, said that he assumed that's just the way Android is. It's not. I never encountered such bad GMail and chat syncing and notification behavior on any other phone.
For chat-type notifications, it was hit and miss whether I would receive timely ones. I could never narrow down what made the difference. For GMail, sometimes I wouldn't get a notification of an email until 45 minutes to even 2 hours later. Multi-tasking on the work computer, sometimes I wouldn't look at my GMail browser tab for long periods of time, and my boss likes to use chat quite often too. Half the time, I did happen to see the email in the browser tab, read it, and even deleted it (for non-critical things), and then later on my Samsung would let me know I have that "new" email. I already saw it and deleted it! Crazy.
There were other things Samsung gimped compared to other phones (Do Not Disturb...), and it also managed to duplicate all my contacts in a way that they're not recognized as duplicates so they can't be automatically de-duped.
Thankfully, back on the P6P 512 GB bandwagon, I no longer have those issues, and we quickly sold our Note 10+'s. So my answer is I'd trade any Samsung for a Pixel. Loved the Samsung hardware, but the software just doesn't cut it for me. The only thing I miss from the Note is the stylus from time to time, which would be handy for Pixel's magic eraser when you have to really fine-tune some erasing.
Oh yeah - I haven't had any issues with my battery life in the month I've had the phone. For the last five years, I never quick charge any phone, I only charge once the phone gets down to 25%, and I take the phone off the charger at 75%. I never charge overnight. The Pixel 6/Pro have Adaptive Charge to help battery life, but my 25-75% battery range lasts me 24 hours normally anyway. I don't own any quick chargers except my original Pixel 1 charger, and I don't use it.
brockyneo said:
Hi all I'm thinking of switching from my s21 ultra (exynos variant) but been hearing some bad reviews etc of bad battery life and not so good cameras etc on the pixel does any one who ownes a pixel 6 pro know if most of these have been fixed? And would people consider the pixel 6 pro over the s21 ultra or am I best waiting till the s22 thanks
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If multiple days of battery life is a bad thing, or the camera is too good for you.... you might want to stick with the samdung.
brockyneo said:
Hi all I'm thinking of switching from my s21 ultra (exynos variant) but been hearing some bad reviews etc of bad battery life and not so good cameras etc on the pixel does any one who ownes a pixel 6 pro know if most of these have been fixed? And would people consider the pixel 6 pro over the s21 ultra or am I best waiting till the s22 thanks
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I did the same thing, and battery is good after about a week or two. You have to give the adaptive battery time to learn your habits. Not sure where you heard the camera is bad. That's the best part of the phone.
roirraW edor ehT said:
The only thing I miss from the Note is the stylus from time to time, which would be handy for Pixel's magic eraser when you have to really fine-tune some erasing.
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There are 10 billion options for capacitive screen pokey things on Amazon. I can't tell you which ones I have, because I can't read the font they used to identify themselves, but works pretty good.
Owning currently both devices here I can maybe share a few thoughts, subjective of course as many of those base on what I like/dislike:
Pro S21 Ultra:
+ build quality
+ display quality
+ overall maturity of the software
+ better standby drain
Pro Pixel 6 Pro:
+ genuine, clean Android with less bloat
+ snappier UI
+ active battery life
+ Camera: much lower noise and much better dynamic range in low light
+ Camera: less heavy-handed noise-reduction/resharpening
+ (slightly) less weight
+ much more development friendly (no hassle bootloader unlock without lost warranty, no Knox.....)
All in all I like both phones, what makes me moving back to the S21 Ultra (or maybe again Mi 11U) is memory - sadly Google only sells the P6P with max 256GB in Germany which I find a bit too small for my purpose.....
And a few more words on the camera: Samsung has its own way in image processing and in many cases this leads to loss of details in grass/leaves/.... which I dislike. The Pixel 6 Pro gives much better results here, as with many indoor shots specifically of pets/kids.... So overall I much prefer the Pixel camera, this doesn't mean the Samsung camera is bad, though - it isn't !
The only thing I like about my s21 ultra is the display screen. Other than that, 6 pro tops it off. (The 6 pro is on par with the iPhone 13 max's camera btw) With the exception of the video quality of course. The iPhone is still the king for shooting high quality videos.
I have both. These are the most notable differences that I have noticed in using both extensively over a few weeks.
Everything else not-mentioned seems the same/equivalent between the two devices.
Battery; The Samsung has better battery life out of the box, hands down. I regularly saw 7hour screen time and easily made it 24 hours or more on a single charge. The P6P gets about 4-5hours screen time and only about 20-22hours on a charge.
Can only hope the P6P gets better with updates. I returned my first P6P because I thought something was wrong with it. Unfortunately, the second one is the same. It's bad (for some people, but apparently not everyone).
Temperature; You have to try really hard to make the Samsung work up a sweat. The P6P seems to get warm at random times without much going on (browsing forums, for example). Then other times when you would expect it to get warm (watching videos), it runs perfectly cool. Very strange.
Camera; There's nothing better or easier than the P6P when trying to produce consistent great quality pictures. Despite superior hardware in the Samsung S21 Ultra, overall picture results are handicapped due to inferior software/processing, especially in portrait mode. It has gotten better with updates, but still gets beat handily by P6P.
Size and Weight; The P6P is more hand/pocket friendly. It is noticeably thinner and lighter than the S21 Ultra, making it more comfortable in the pockets that I carry it in (back pocket or front shirt pocket). The S21 Ultra feels like a small cinder block in the pocket compare to the P6P.
Charging; Despite better technical sheet specs for the P6P, it charges inconsistently and slower than the S21 Ultra. It's not by a small margin either, P6P takes about 2x longer.
It also tends to get warm to the point of thorttling during charging. The S21 Ultra is consistent, and charges very fast and doesnt get very warm (certainly never throttles).
Software; I suppose this could be preference. If you like the Samsung software look and feel, then it's perfectly fine. It really runs almost flawlessly compared to older TouchWiz crap from Samsung. I prefer the look and feel of pure android from Google.
Napa7m said:
I have both. These are the most notable differences that I have noticed in using both extensively over a few weeks.
Everything else not-mentioned seems the same/equivalent between the two devices.
Battery; The Samsung has better battery life out of the box, hands down. I regularly saw 7hour screen time and easily made it 24 hours or more on a single charge. The P6P gets about 4-5hours screen time and only about 20-22hours on a charge.
Can only hope the P6P gets better with updates. I returned my first P6P because I thought something was wrong with it. Unfortunately, the second one is the same. It's bad (for some people, but apparently not everyone).
Temperature; You have to try really hard to make the Samsung work up a sweat. The P6P seems to get warm at random times without much going on (browsing forums, for example). Then other times when you would expect it to get warm (watching videos), it runs perfectly cool. Very strange.
Camera; There's nothing better or easier than the P6P when trying to produce consistent great quality pictures. Despite superior hardware in the Samsung S21 Ultra, overall picture results are handicapped due to inferior software/processing, especially in portrait mode. It has gotten better with updates, but still gets beat handily by P6P.
Size and Weight; The P6P is more hand/pocket friendly. It is noticeably thinner and lighter than the S21 Ultra, making it more comfortable in the pockets that I carry it in (back pocket or front shirt pocket). The S21 Ultra feels like a small cinder block in the pocket compare to the P6P.
Charging; Despite better technical sheet specs for the P6P, it charges inconsistently and slower than the S21 Ultra. It's not by a small margin either, P6P takes about 2x longer.
It also tends to get warm to the point of thorttling during charging. The S21 Ultra is consistent, and charges very fast and doesnt get very warm (certainly never throttles).
Software; I suppose this could be preference. If you like the Samsung software look and feel, then it's perfectly fine. It really runs almost flawlessly compared to older TouchWiz crap from Samsung. I prefer the look and feel of pure android from Google.
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I think a lot of what you're putting down as negatives against P6P comes down to gservices and broken "pixel features". I'm running pure (google free) AOSP on mine. I pulled it off the charger this morning at 5:30 (7.5 hours ago). Currently have 1.5 hr screen on time and the battery is at 92%, and so far the battery gauge appears to be pretty linear. I've also NOT noticed ANY substantial heating up. It runs pretty cool consistently -- note that heat comes from the battery, so it makes sense.
Also, there is no magic battery BS in AOSP.
I upgraded from a Note 20 Ultra 512Gb and the battery on my P6P is phenomenal compared to the Note 20. There have been issues for some on the P6P but I've been using my 512Gb unlocked variant with no issue at all. Just make sure you set your P6P from scratch and don't transfer data from your S21 Ultra. Also the standby drain is the best I've ever had, took it off the charger at 9PM at 100% and at 8:30 the next morning was at 99%. Not everyone is having the same results that I have.
I had both for a while. S21 ultra for the last 9 months. Tested them side by side . I don't think the pixel is better than the s21 in any single way, they are actually so similar. I prefer the maturer Samsung email and calendar software but that's subjective. The biggest difference, which matters for me was that the pixel has more global 5g and LTE bands than the s21. I used Nova and mimicked the s21 completely. Really couldn't tell the difference except screen better on s21 IMHO.
if I didn't already own the s21 I would have bought the pixel but because they are so similar and it isn't an upgrade but more a move to the side, the change didn't make sense.
Display, build quality, signal quality and probably smoothness are all better on the s21U. However I prefer the camera on the P6P and also Pixel Android to OneUI. The S21U is a solid, well built device and I don't think the P6P is an upgrade, if anything it's a slight downgrade.
Thanks for all the replys I'm still on the fence at the minute lol,can I root the pixel 6 pro and have no problems like knox,drm keys etc like other devices have? And if ibdecude to want to unroot can it be returned back to totally factory as if it was never rooted? I haven't rooted for years and miss been able to uninstall apps etc and is viper4android still going strong or is there another app in its place thanks
Stick with the S21 Ultra. I went from a Note 20 Ultra to the Pixel 6 Pro. I love the camera, the better speakers, cleaner software experience, but overall it doesn't feel like an upgrade. The 5G reception is slightly worse, Android 12 has lots of quirks, charging speeds are much slower, and customization is currently very limited. It's possible that it will improve with updates and custom ROMs but its current state is underwhelming. To be honest, I'm already looking forward to the S22 Ultra.
brockyneo said:
Thanks for all the replys I'm still on the fence at the minute lol,can I root the pixel 6 pro and have no problems like knox,drm keys etc like other devices have? And if ibdecude to want to unroot can it be returned back to totally factory as if it was never rooted? I haven't rooted for years and miss been able to uninstall apps etc and is viper4android still going strong or is there another app in its place thanks
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Yep, no bad sides to rooting or later unrooting at all, just jump through some well established hoops as far as banking apps are concerned. It didn't bother me and it was the first time I ever did what I needed for safety net and banking apps to not know I'm rooted. No one can tell you ever had it rooted if you re-lock the bootloader after restoring to 100% stock and then factory reset, which will re-disable the OEM unlock option on Developer Options.
You just never can automatically update to each months OTA, have to follow the proper manual procedure to update and stay rooted. I did it every month for over three years that I had the Pixel 1.
If you value the camera, root and stock Android then get the Pixel. If you don't value those then stick with the S21U. I came from the S21U so I can honestly tell you that the S21U is definitely a better all around device but the fact that I can root really made my decision easier to go with the Pixel. No, the Pixel isn't any smoother than the S21U as I've had both; they are pretty much the same in the smoothness department. Anyone who disagrees is lying to themselves.
Hi all,
Both the Pixel 6 and the S21 FE seem like great devices with pros and cons. I can get both for about the same price.
I'm leaning towards the S21 FE mostly because the Pixel has many bugs, and Android 13 seems to have made things worse. People are complaining of battery drain and the fingerprint reader not working. The S21 has a better screen and less bugs.
Having said that, a couple people have told me that the S21 FE UI can lag a bit sometimes and the camera is slow. Can anyone support these claims? I've seen some people say that the Exynos version is worse than the Snapdragon version. I can get the snapdragon version in Europe apparently.
In summary, I'm reluctant to go from Pixel to Samsung if the UI experience is choppy or it randomly drops frames. I'd like to get more advice.
Thanks all!
Consider the Note 10+ Snapdragon.
Can be had at a good price, run well, looks great, supports up to 1tb of expandable storage.
No variable refresh rate display or 5G but better SOT. Runs cool and fast; a good balance missing on the newer Sammy's.
Cams not as good but more than adequate.
A solid, reliable beast of a phone.
blackhawk said:
Consider the Note 10+ Snapdragon.
Can be had at a good price, run well, looks great, supports up to 1tb of expandable storage.
No variable refresh rate display or 5G but better SOT. Runs cool and fast; a good balance missing on the newer Sammy's.
Cams not as good but more than adequate.
A solid, reliable beast of a phone.
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Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, the Note 10+ is about 140 euro more expensive than the two phones I'm looking at which is out of my price range!
MrBled said:
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, the Note 10+ is about 140 euro more expensive than the two phones I'm looking at which is out of my price range!
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Used ones are getting quit low now. A lot more bang for the buck. It's a pain... I don't envy you.
Get the Pixel
Had a Pixel 6 and i would totally say it's much better than S21 FE (if you don't have connection issues although i didn't experience them). Android 13 made the phone much better. S21 FE is just a no go tbh compared to Pixel 6; battery life is worse, cameras are worse, performance is similar, Pixel 6 community is more active, and Google software support is better (imo).
I was worried a bit as well but my S21fe Snapdragon is super fast and the camera opens and takes pictures consistently quickly. The side key is set to open the camera when holding down using a 3rd party app. There were a few minor lags on the very first boot right after restoring a large backup over Smart Switch but that went away. I did do a basic debloat as well. I get ~6hrs sot with 120hz and adaptive brightness on.
I always loved the Pixel Series. So when I got the chance, I returned back my S21 FE to get a Pixel 6. Big mistake
Let me explain my experience
1-I tried several screen protectors. It's true that some work better than others. But definitely the fingerprint scanner on the Pixel 6 is under the rest of the competitors, by far
2-The biggest problem for me, the touch delay and buffering. I play a lot of rhythm games and this problem was killing me. I'm ended selling it to get again the S21 FE
Don't know if this problem is solved today (this happened to me on May)
more info:
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/qz22lm
Since I returned to the S21, I'm extremely happy
Hope this helps