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I am thinking of buying a new android device, but it seems all manufacturers include loads of bloatware. Is there any manufacturer apart from Google who offer l

I am thinking of buying a new android device, but it seems all manufacturers include loads of bloatware. Is there any manufacturer apart from Google who offer lean android devices?

ailideex 7y ago
I think any AndroidOne phone should. A major issue for me is that there is almost no Android phone that is not quite bad. I had a Nokia 7 Plus which ran AnroidOne and it was probably one of the worst phones I ever had. I bought a Samsung afterwards because the Nokia was not usable and while the Samsung was also quite horrible it was at least usable. Motorola also offers the Motorola One Vision but I can't vouch for their quality and I would guess it is also rather bad.
- jtylr 7y ago
  What were your issues with the Nokia? I've had mine sitting around for several months now with a broken charging port, a persistent smudge down the left side of the screen and it likes to restart when fast charging. Other than that, it was a great budget phone. For now, I'm using the Motorola One Vision and have found it to be great for the price too.
nsomaru 7y ago
I’ve heard good things about Nokia devices. YMMV
- limomium 7y ago
  A Nokia with Android One certainly has less bloatware than most cheap phones, but you WILL still get pestered by Google Assistant incessantly. There's no way to turn it off. No matter how many settings you disable, it will always pop up when it thinks you've said 'ok google', and sometimes sporadically.
  - Fnoord 7y ago
    You can't get rid of it via adb pm uninstall?
Animats 7y ago
Caterpillar? Their ruggedized Android phones aren't bad. I even took almost all the Google stuff off of mine and use F-Droid. About the only thing they stick you with that you can't delete is App Toolbox, which is an app store for useful things like bulldozer rental and excavation calculations. You don't need a case with those phones.
- Animats 7y ago
  Their ruggedized Android phones aren't bad. Let me take that back. The nonremovable battery has started to bulge and the case back has bent by 2mm. I'm currently trying to find out how to ship HAZMAT back for repair.
intsunny 7y ago
I got a Samsung S10 a few days ago. If you are technical, the debloating process isn't so bad. You enable debug mode, hook your phone to PC, and run a bunch of "adb pm remove" commands. (Google for "xda S10 debloat".) I was able to remove pre-installed Bixby, Facebook, Microsoft, Samsung apps, etc. If you're not technical, its a fucking shame that you end up with a phone with loads of pre-loaded stuff.
londons_explore 7y ago
The Chinese Umidigi brand sells a few minimal-bloatware phones. Obviously you run the risk of all your data being funnelled to China...
rezgi 7y ago
You know what... I hated the iPhone since the 3G when an update made it so slow to be unusable. Android all the way since. But then I got tired of having to install third party ROMs that vary a lot in quality, crash often, aren't updated anymore... So I bought a used 6S for 150$. Absolutely no regrets. It just works. It's not slow even on the latest iOS. It'll be hard to make me switch back to Android again. Maybe worth considering?

I am thinking of buying a new android device, but it seems all manufacturers include loads of bloatware. Is there any manufacturer apart from Google who offer lean android devices?

ailideex 7y ago

I think any AndroidOne phone should. A major issue for me is that there is almost no Android phone that is not quite bad. I had a Nokia 7 Plus which ran AnroidOne and it was probably one of the worst phones I ever had. I bought a Samsung afterwards because the Nokia was not usable and while the Samsung was also quite horrible it was at least usable. Motorola also offers the Motorola One Vision but I can't vouch for their quality and I would guess it is also rather bad.

jtylr 7y ago
What were your issues with the Nokia? I've had mine sitting around for several months now with a broken charging port, a persistent smudge down the left side of the screen and it likes to restart when fast charging. Other than that, it was a great budget phone. For now, I'm using the Motorola One Vision and have found it to be great for the price too.

nsomaru 7y ago

I’ve heard good things about Nokia devices. YMMV

limomium 7y ago
A Nokia with Android One certainly has less bloatware than most cheap phones, but you WILL still get pestered by Google Assistant incessantly. There's no way to turn it off. No matter how many settings you disable, it will always pop up when it thinks you've said 'ok google', and sometimes sporadically.
- Fnoord 7y ago
  You can't get rid of it via adb pm uninstall?

Animats 7y ago

Caterpillar? Their ruggedized Android phones aren't bad. I even took almost all the Google stuff off of mine and use F-Droid. About the only thing they stick you with that you can't delete is App Toolbox, which is an app store for useful things like bulldozer rental and excavation calculations. You don't need a case with those phones.

Animats 7y ago
Their ruggedized Android phones aren't bad. Let me take that back. The nonremovable battery has started to bulge and the case back has bent by 2mm. I'm currently trying to find out how to ship HAZMAT back for repair.

intsunny 7y ago

I got a Samsung S10 a few days ago. If you are technical, the debloating process isn't so bad. You enable debug mode, hook your phone to PC, and run a bunch of "adb pm remove" commands. (Google for "xda S10 debloat".) I was able to remove pre-installed Bixby, Facebook, Microsoft, Samsung apps, etc. If you're not technical, its a fucking shame that you end up with a phone with loads of pre-loaded stuff.

londons_explore 7y ago

The Chinese Umidigi brand sells a few minimal-bloatware phones. Obviously you run the risk of all your data being funnelled to China...

rezgi 7y ago

You know what... I hated the iPhone since the 3G when an update made it so slow to be unusable. Android all the way since. But then I got tired of having to install third party ROMs that vary a lot in quality, crash often, aren't updated anymore... So I bought a used 6S for 150$. Absolutely no regrets. It just works. It's not slow even on the latest iOS. It'll be hard to make me switch back to Android again. Maybe worth considering?