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If someone rates those telephones for a living, I know from first hand how software can make or break the experience.
I can’t tell you how often incredible smartphone hardware has been abandoned by overwhelming software. And although almost all the phones I recently tested have performed Android 15, what it looks and performs varies enormously between brands.
If carefully designed, the software can improve my productivity and pleasure dramatically while using a telephone. Many companies offer a slick user interface that is packed with functions, but there are two that I always come back to: Google and Samsung.
The user interface feels just as more polished and intuitive on pixel and Milky road phones. Everything has a clear place and finding the app or function that I want rarely feels like a job.
Until recently I had said that Google Pixel phones prevailed. But after I tried one onion 7 on the Galaxy S25+, I changed my mind.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Now I am firmly convinced that one onion 7 offers a better all -round experience than Pixel UI, and these four reasons prove it.
A home screen to be proud of
When you use your phone, you want the software to be as attractive as possible. The Pixel UI is in no way ugly, but one onion 7 wipes the floor with it in terms of appearance.
Let’s start with widgets. The home screens on both support a lot of different widgets, including shares apps and many third-party options. Google’s approach seems to concentrate on functionality, even if that comes at the expense of aesthetics, but Samsung manages to reach both.
The Pixel user interface is in no way ugly, but one onion 7 wipes the floor with it in terms of appearance
To illustrate this, I added about the same set of widgets to both the Pixel 9 Pro XL and Galaxy S25+… or at least, I tried it. Google will not let the widget ‘at a glance’ remove, so I used that for the weather to make room for everything else. You can’t get rid of the search bar at the bottom, so I had to add that to the Samsung to make a fairer comparison.
Nevertheless, the final results speak for themselves. You can’t tell me seriously that you prefer the design of the Pixel – it’s not a competition.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
In the above screenshots you may have noticed another important difference: app labels. For some reason, Google cannot remove the names of each app under the icon, even though it is painfully clear what those icons represent. Removing them on the Samsung only requires a few taps, and the entire design looks much cleaner.
Before you come for me with your pitchforks, I know that there are ways to make the home screen look much better on a pixel telephone. But it requires that you download a (potentially paid) launcher from third parties and spend centuries on adjusting everything. It is good there on the Samsung.
I am committed to success
A telephone function that I demonstrably use more than any other is the Menu Fast Settings. Several times a day I wipe from the top of the screen to switch as Wi-Fi, mobile data, Bluetooth and location services.
On a Samsung telephone with one onion 7, it is a simple case of sweeping from the right under corner of the screen and tapping one of the available icons-10 are immediately displayed, with more available if you expand the list.
Luke Baker
In the meantime, Google makes this more difficult for you. As you know if you have read my ‘3 months with the Pixel 9 Pro XL’ piece, the fact that you have to tap twice to switch Wi-Fi or mobile data very annoying over time. You have to do the same for Bluetooth!
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
In contrast to one user interface 7, Google combines the Menu Reporting Tade and Quick Settings in a single display. This not only feels messy compared to Samsung, but it also means that only four settings are available via a single swipe.
Given how often I rely on fast settings, these relatively small changes make a big difference.
My favorite use of AI ever
Artificial intelligence is a large part of both Samsung and Google phones. Both contain Gemini and Circle to Search, plus a lot of photo editing, transcription and writing aids.
However, one onion 7 makes it much easier to find things in institutions. The search function uses AI to give all relevant results on the surface, not only those that match the specific term that you have entered.
One onion 7 makes it much easier to find things in settings
For example, I wanted to adjust the screen innovation speed on the Galaxy S25+, but did not realize that it was mentioned as ‘movement glossiness’. Nevertheless, institutions still found exactly what I was looking for.
Compare that with the Pixel 9 Pro XL, where the institution is known as ‘Smooth Display’. The search for ‘refresh rate’ offered nothing useful.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
As a result, I often have to look up how I can find one of the Pixel settings online. With one onion 7 I can just use natural language and it will find it.
Need a cheap phone?
Google’s approach to phones focuses on quality over quantity.
In 2024, the company released only five new Pixel -Handsets, with the cheapest the £ 499/$ 499 Pixel 8a. So, to experience the pixel software, you have to pay mid-range telephone prices or find an older model that still receives updates.
Samsung, on the other hand, is one onion 7 rolling out for all its handsets, including the Budget Galaxy A Series devices. You can soon get all the above functions for only £ 169 on the Galaxy A16, something that Google simply cannot match.
Connor Jewiss | Foundry
But wait!
Before you go to buy a Samsung Galaxy telephone, it is worth mentioning that one onion 7 is by no means perfect. Samsung has its own versions of many shares -apps, so if (as I) prefer the Google version, that means a lot of bloatware.
However, the compromise you make compared to Google Pixel telephones is in terms of updates. Although both are generous when it comes to software support (up to seven years), Google will always give priority to its own hardware.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
It meant that older Pixel telephones received the Android 15 update as soon as it was released in August. In the meantime, an onion 7 debuted in January on the Galaxy S25 series, but Samsung has confirmed that it will only start rolling to older devices.
Are you willing to be patient? If not, a Google Pixel telephone is the best choice.
But if you are the way I am and appreciate the extra functionality and design flair Samsung, a Galaxy telephone with one onion 7 cannot be defeated when it comes to Android software. It has been a long journey from the days of TouchWiz, but Samsung finally made it.