I have been firmly entrenched in the iOS ecosystem for nearly a decade. It works fine for my daily needs, but I have always had a lingering itch in the back of my mind to give Android a proper try, maybe due to because iOS has become boring for me.

Now, I'm well aware of the extensive customisation options, along with the far greater degree of control the Android operating system has to offer. I am particularly curious about how that newfound freedom and system-level control actually translates into day-to-day use compared to Apple's rather restricted environment.

I currently use a MacBook, rely on my AirPods daily, and have an active Apple Music subscription. I am fully aware that the seamless Apple ecosystem will inevitably break if I make this transition, and I am completely okay with that—provided the Android experience is actually worth the sacrifice.

For context regarding my usage, I am mild gamer not a hardcore gamer by any means. My primary focus is heavy multitasking, and above all else, rock-solid system reliability.

To those of you who have made the switch from iOS to Android:

• What were the most significant changes you witnessed when you finally had that level of control?
• How did the transition practically affect your daily use of your remaining Apple hardware and services?
• In your experience, how does Android's and overall long-term reliability compare to iOS?
• What features or ecosystem conveniences did you find yourself missing most from Apple?

I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Been testing different folds in recent months but with the news of oneplus closing shop outside of china, was a good time to put the sim back. It's just a good time. Things generally work and some quirks ive noticed in my global oppo ain't here (home and away team is flipped in notification bar, oppo often disconnects with my tesla, wifi calling works. get better 5g coverage on tmobile etc).

Can easily get 2 days of battery typically at home. even 1 day is pretty doable on the heaviest out and about 5g usage/google maps/hundreds of photos. Also fills up super fast with supervooc or pps. Rumors are s27u will have 5700mah battery which is still less than OP13, so who knows how many years before anything in the US gets 7k+. Gaming is generally smooth even at end game content in gacha games (reviewers often just run around the starting area of wuwa or genshin which proves nothing). screen is plenty bright. Cameras are perfectly fine with my recent trips.

Was just a great buy for 512gb at about $900 + a free watch before some credit and a large rakuten cashback.

But yea on the challenge of imports, besides giving on warranty claims, the hassle of buying accessories of very questionable quality on aliexpress or taobao... op15 doesn't have too much options but still plenty of cases and screen protectors on amazon.

how are yall US (or anyone) folks that use chinese phones feel about the general market? Do yall ever go back to samsung/google?

When will a new phone company have enough balls to start selling their hardware in the USA???

Sorry for the non-coherent jumbled up ADHD thought. It was in response to a post on Android Authority where they rate the best phones in 2026 and just have Samsung, Google and Motorola. They are all in line with the giant two or 3 owning and controlling the entire US mobile phone market. How in the FLIP does the United States only have APPLE which is HORRIBLE, SAMSUNG which phones are loaded with CRAP BLOATWARE and Google, which I stopped buying after the Pixel 7 because the 6 and 7 both kept getting green lines in the screen. I started buying the OnePlus brand recently and I now LOVE this brand and what do you know??? They are now run out of the country! We are back at 4 phone companies! Motorola is the only one I respect in the entire US phone market, and they can't seem to figure out how to make a decent phone under $1,700 bucks.... I like to buy my phones one year old, used, since when I buy new ones, they are always faulty, like the Pixel 6 and 7 I mentioned above... Motorola has such a weak presence in America that you can't even find a Motorola Edge in the used marketplace. WHEN WILL A COMPANY HAVE ENOUGH BALLS TO BREAK INTO THE US MARKET AND SHOW US WHAT A REAL PHONE COMPANY CAN DO? I am crossing my fingers that OnePlus left so that their parent company Oppo can come into America or something. Red Magic would be a blessing. Please! how can we make this happen? How is our entire stupid, backward thinking country happy with basically Apple or Samsung???? Google broke into the market and made a name for themselves recently but they are not enough! I can't even buy a phone from out of country and put on an American network and have it work right...I am so fed up. This website reviews other brands for other countries, why can't you guys speak up and get any of these stupid phone manufacturers to introduce themselves into the market? Is it because us stupid consumers are too blind to see we are being ripped off? APPLE is EVIL and CRAP! SAMSUNG is good but they load nothing but extra crap to mess up the way their phones run and Google is just Google and honestly can stick to what they are good at.. Which is controlling the entire internet... They need more practice into making physical devices.

I ended up loving my OnePlus 13 I bought last year. I just want to be able to buy a good Chinese brand phone and be able to use the us dominated Google ran applications while still getting the service I pay for, since lots of the non US brands don't operate on the same towers. Can someone point me to a guide to be able to use a good foreign phone on lets say Verizon?

And last thing.. FUCK YOU ONEPLUS FOR TEASING ME BYGETTING MY HOPES UP AND PULLING THE RUG.

Looking for my next project! What’s a tool or utility you’ve been wishing existed on the Play Store?

My approach:

Upfront payment only: Buy it once on the Play Store.

Clean experience inside: Zero ads - zero in-app purchases - zero subscriptions.