Do Samsung phones have UI issues? Thinking about switching from Pixel, what's your experience?

Hey everyone, I’m looking at the Galaxy S phones, especially the flagships, and I’m curious about the user experience. Some folks really notice things like UI animations and smoothness—little glitches, animations that break, or dropped frames. Apple is known for getting these things right, but some people aren’t bothered by it. I, however, am very picky about these things.

So for those of you who’ve used Samsung Galaxy S phones, what’s your take on One UI? Does it have a smooth, polished feel or do you notice some hiccups like I do?

Right now, I’m using a Google Pixel 9 Pro. I really like the phone and it runs smooth overall. People usually say Pixel phones are the closest to iPhones in terms of smoothness, while Samsung’s phones can be a bit messy (I know that’s a generalization, but bear with me). However, after a recent update, I’ve noticed some annoying bugs. For example, the swipe-to-unlock animation is now choppy, and there are other minor animation issues on the lock screen and with the quick toggles. These are the kinds of things that someone who actually uses the phone day to day would definitely spot. It’s been frustrating, and I wonder if Samsung will fix them, or if they’ll just add more bugs with the next update. So, is Samsung’s QA as good as Apple’s in this area?

Thanks for reading! I’m really looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

TL;DR: Do Samsung phones have a polished experience with OneUI or do they have some choppy animations here and there?

One UI 6 animations weren’t perfectly smooth… But One UI 7 (the beta) has super smooth animations and is actually a really nice experience.

Fifer said:
One UI 6 animations weren’t perfectly smooth… But One UI 7 (the beta) has super smooth animations and is actually a really nice experience.

Noted. Thanks for responding.

@Reid
You’re welcome! As a former Pixel owner I did have lots of bugs in my Pixel (but the animations were great). One UI 7, if anything, is even better.

The update comes out in January. Side by side with a modern 120Hz iPhone, One UI 7 is legitimately impressive in terms of how smooth and responsive it is.

It’s fine and I wouldn’t worry about it. The TouchWiz days are long gone.

Dropping animations to 0.5 makes One UI 6 enjoyable to use. I haven’t experienced “jank” since my S6. Just like a computer, keep it lean and free of junk and it’ll be smooth.

Check back in a couple months when the S25 series and One UI 7 are out. One UI 7 has a major focus on animations and UI.

Wait for the full One UI 7 to come out. The betas are better, but still not perfect. There’s still some jank.

Apparently, I’m just not sensitive to this. Watched your video and I didn’t notice the issue. I use both Galaxy and Apple every day. I always turn off the animations on my Androids to make them super snappy. No animations means instant response when I tap a button. I tried doing the same on my Apple phone, but one of the apps I use at work is buggy without animations, so I had to turn them back on.

I’ve had more issues with weird or stuttering animations on my iPhone than on my Samsung. iPhones tend to act up as they get older, while Samsung just throws more hardware at the problem. My parents’ mid-range tablet definitely slows down sometimes…

Watched your video and still can’t see what you’re seeing.

These issues really bother me. With all that power and a 120Hz screen, but bad animations just look terrible.

Developer mode – turn off all 3 animation options and adjust the animation duration.

There you go, you just made every Android phone faster and smoother.