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One of our readers asked…
ano po best available na near stock android sa mga mid ranger at flagship ngayon? PS, please exclude pixel [phone]
For those who first encountered the term, a near stock Android experience is mostly when there’s not a lot of bloatware and the user interface (UI) is largely derived on AOSP—the vanilla version of Android operating system.
With that, a few brands can be named when it comes to near stock Android experience.
ASUS Zenfone 10, ROG Phone 7 Series
Asus has previously has its own UI mod, called ZenUI. But they apparently ditched it with its latest, compact flagship offering Zenfone 10, and just called its OS version as Android 13.
The UI very much looks like stock Android with some sprinkle of Asus’ own modifications here and there.
As for the gaming phone, while the ROG 7 definitely has gaming aesthetics applied on its UI, and additional software like the Armory Crate for optimization, the user experience will likely be the same.
Sony Xperia line
Ever since, Sony’s Xperia devices has always been near-stock Android. It’s clean and simple to use.
One significant addition is its own ‘Pro’ camera app and related software which give a boost to users’ photography game.
Nothing Phone line
Lastly, the Nothing Phones. For historical context, Nothing CEO Carl Pei had a stint at OnePlus as a co-founder and OnePlus devices with OxygenOS, back then, were highly praised for their near stock Android experience.
Pei is doing the same thing with a unique approach at Nothing. While their software—NothingOS—remain true to being near stock Android, they applied a look and feel that screams of the brand’s design ethos.
For example, the dotted-matrix logo is incorporated as a typeface that can be seen across the OS, and there’s little to no bloat.
In general, whether a device does have an Android skin or not, the pros and cons are inevitable.
With near stock Android, users will have a clean experience at the expense of less features and functionalities. And with custom Android skins they typically deploy additional quirks to their OS, although users may have to deal with the bloat mess.
