Using the OnePlus ecosystem again

Last year I had set up a bit of a change.  I'd been such a Pixel guy for so long that I was so entrenched in their ecosystem (something I used to give iFolks the gears over) so I tried to swap over to the OnePlus ecosystem for a while.  I eventually reverted back to Pixel for reasons.  Then when I knew it was time for the Pixel 10 coming in, I realized I hadn't tried the same comparison with the more recent (it was the OnePlus 12 and Pixel 8); so I revisited the test.  

OnePlus 13 vs. Pixel 9 Pro

Now, here's the set up, I'd swap phones, watches (OnePlus Watch 2 vs. Pixel Watch 2), earbuds (OnePlus Buds Pro 2 vs. PixelBuds Pro 2).  I still was using the OnePlus Pad 2 -- but that's been my daily tablet, always.

I don't want to beat the topic to death or overly nitpick at how one thing does it or not.  I just want to give a second perspective from a Pixel guy using another ecosystem.

Long story short; it's possible, 100% it's possible and I could have stayed, but there are just some things that my routine has gotten used to that it's more comfortable for me to have swapped back.

But, let's take a look.  What were some of the things I noticed about the OnePlus system:

  • Phone
    • Battery
      • the conversation can almost start and end with this.  The 13 has, by far, the best, longest lasting battery out there.  I could use the device all day, and forget to charge it overnight and it'd still be 50% by morning.  That's insane -- you know how much concern I have over battery, so this test took me a bit to 'get over'
      • beyond lasting forever, SuperVOOC or AirVOOC are fast, you don't realize how fast until even at 50% I'd put it on the AirVOOC stand and 30 minutes was all it needed.
    • Software features
      • Sometimes when you'd swipe down on, say Facebook Messenger, instead of getting just the little spot for you to reply, you'd get a whole mini floating window; neat, but sometimes a little more intrusive than what you wanted; and I couldn't really figure out what makes it do it one way or the other
      • The 'smart tray' where you can 'slide out' a list of app for easy access; I do like it.  I use it on the tablet all the time (especially for aps that aren't 'tablet friendly'), but I find on the phone I use it less.
    • Performance
      • Not a hiccup in the road -- and with 512GB of storage space, I'm never gonna worry about space
    • Text messages
      • for some reason it wasn't 'verified' to send RCS, so I'd do that process over and over.  Turns out there's some "Google verifier" that I'd never seen before; turned it off and it worked instantly.  Never had that problem with any other device before.
    • Camera
      • It's good, but I do think the Pixel is better
  • Watch
    • Battery
      • Again... OnePlus has the battery magic and it lasts days.  No more worry if it's going to make the end of the day.
    • Services
      • Google Fit just never 'connected' (tho' I think this a problem with Fit being a nearly forgotten service of Google) - a seven though I had steps registered, had Health Connect connected just always said 0 ... always.
    • Notifications
      • It has this thing with Gmail where I'll delete the message on the watch.  An dit'll be a few seconds before it goes away.  Enough where you'd like be able to scroll back up a bit and wonder if you have to hit delete again (did I hit it the first time?) and then it goes away.  It's kind of a bit of a nuisance.  Sometimes it doesn't delete.
  • Ear Buds
    • Sound
      • It was okay, wouldn't say it's better, wouldn't say it's worse
    • Interface
      • Just do not like the 'pinch' method
  • Tablet
    • Only thing I can think of here (as the Pixel Tablet barely compares) is that now using a OP phone with the tablet I can make use of the NFC tag to mirror.  Tho' that seems to be a little hit or miss if I'm mirroring the screen or just the app in a window.  Not as super intuitive as I would have liked so I didn't really use it all that often

Again, these aren't meant to be a 'nitpick' more of a "this is what I found odd, based on my use case with a Pixel".

Anything you've noticed?

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