zlacker

>>moelf+(OP)
I feel like GrapheneOS shot itself in the foot, being exclusive to Pixel phones. Pixel phones were great, in the past, but now they're mediocre offerings for their price range and the removal of the 3.5mm jack pushed many of the more techy users away — GrapheneOS's target audience.

Not sure if I'd use GrapheneOS even if it was available on other devices though. Really not a fan of the hostile attitude towards rooting when it's needed for basic functionality like backups — actual, reliable backups for every app, unlike those provided by the built-in solution.

>>648483+Of
I would say the exact opposite. The latest Pixel phones are "pretty much iPhones" in terms of hardware (and looks too). It seems smartphones have arrived at an agreed upon form factor and design in general.

What I noticed though is that Google often tries to upsell based on software features alone. For example, there is really no point in buying a Pixel 9 Pro instead of a base Pixel 9 as the hardware is practically the same except certain things. But Google markets the Pro model with more software based AI features. When installing GOS this really doesn't make a difference so one can always opt for the more inexpensive models.

>>suregl+rQ
Only providing the Pro mode in Pixel Camera on the Pro devices is one of the only ways they're artificially segmenting them via software. The AI model differences are largely based on real differences in available memory and that doesn't have much impact on available OS features. That matters to LLM enthusiasts but probably isn't a selling point for most people at this point.

The base devices are better value but the Pro devices do mainly differentiate based on hardware. Better display, addition of the 5x telephoto camera, better front camera and more memory are the main selling points. Pixel 9a is similarly a downgrade for the screen, cameras, memory, wireless charging speed and cellular radio (back to a variant of the 7th/8th gen Pixel radio). Pixel 9a has very good value but the cellular radio downgrade is a big one which people may care about more than they realize due to how it impacts battery life when using 5G.