Okay, here’s my blog post about the worst manufacturers for bloatware, written from a personal, hands-on perspective:
So, I’ve been on this quest, right? A quest to find a phone that’s actually clean when you first boot it up. You know, minimal extra apps, no nagging for accounts I don’t want, just… pure Android (or as close as I can get). It’s been a journey, and let me tell you, some manufacturers are WAY worse than others when it comes to stuffing their phones with junk.
The Experiment Begins
I started by grabbing a bunch of phones from different brands. I’m talking about the big names, and some of the lesser-known ones too. I didn’t just read reviews; I wanted to experience the first-boot process myself. Unboxing, powering on, going through the setup… the whole nine yards.
First Impressions Count
The very first thing that hits you is the setup process. Some are streamlined, just asking for the basics like Wi-Fi and a Google account. Others? Oh boy. They want you to sign up for their cloud service, their app store, their everything. It’s like navigating a minefield of optional (but heavily pushed) services.
Digging in Deep
Once I got past the setup, it was time to see what was actually on the phones. And this is where the real differences started to show.
- Some phones, and I won’t name them, felt practically pristine. Just the Google essentials and a few genuinely useful utilities. It was refreshing.
- Others… well, let’s just say the app drawer was a crowded place. Duplicate apps (their version of the calendar and Google Calendar, for example), games I’d never heard of, “recommendations” that were clearly just ads in disguise… it was a mess.
The Uninstall Game
Of course, the next step was trying to get rid of the bloat.
Some of the pre-installed is removable, but others, you should spend some time to uninstall it.
And some were easy to uninstall. A simple long-press and tap on “Uninstall,” and they were gone. But then there were the stubborn ones. Buried deep in settings, requiring multiple steps to disable… it felt like they really didn’t want me to get rid of them. Some, you couldn’t even uninstall, only “disable,” which just hides them but doesn’t actually free up the space.
The Aftermath
After weeks of testing, uninstalling, and occasionally cursing, I had a pretty clear picture. Some manufacturers clearly respect their users’ choices and storage space. Others… not so much.
It’s frustrating, because you’re paying for a device, and you should have control over what’s on it. You shouldn’t have to spend your first hour with a new phone cleaning up someone else’s mess.
I really wish there was a standard about this. A new phone, a clean slate, a user in control.