A big part of the appeal of Android stuff back in the early days was definitely the gee-whiz factor with whacky features. The wide variety of manufacturers (and

A big part of the appeal of Android stuff back in the early days was definitely the gee-whiz factor with whacky features. The wide variety of manufacturers (and thus, designs) also played a big part, since it made phone choice more about which design and featureset suited you personally. Fast forward to today, and phones have homogenized into roughly the same featureset, with “gee-whiz” being limited to models with prices exceeding that of iPhones (e.g. foldables) and the number of manufacturers has dwindled down to a handful of giants that are all aping each other. That bit of appeal is gone, with the appeal that remains being dampened by Android’s mediocrity.