Which is your favorite Android UX skin? Why do you like it?

Android smartphones come in all shapes and sizes, appealing to different people across price ranges. We have top Android flagships dominating at the top end, and we have budget Android phones serving needs without hurting your wallet. With such intense competition across often similar hardware, Android OEMs have to create their own identity and experiences to set themselves apart. This is where Android UX skins come into the picture, changing the way you not only use your Android phone, but also creating goodwill and brand identity for the OEM in the long term.

Android phones from different companies ship with Android, but they don’t ship with the same universal experience of Android. These companies add their own software tweaks on top of Google’s Android, changing how their phones function according to the needs and expectations of their target users. Some manufacturers heavily skin Android, changing just about everything, while others are more content with leaving most things as-is and sprinkling a few tweaks on top.

For instance, Samsung prides itself on its One UI skin for its Galaxy smartphones, which heavily changes how the Android OS looks and functions. Similarly, Xiaomi’s Hyper OS is also a big departure from the more conventional look and feel of stock Android.

On the other hand, Google’s Pixel UI takes stock Android and adds a handful of tweaks. Others like Motorola and ASUS go even lighter, shipping phones with only a few extra apps and settings, just like their users like it.

Android is all about choice, after all. So, which Android UX skin do you choose?

Which is your favorite Android UX skin, and why do you like it so much? What feature sets it apart for you? Which other Android UX skins have you tried, and why did you dislike them? Does the Android UX skin matter strongly to you, to the extent of affecting your purchase decision? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

In the interim, here is a brief breakdown of the various Android UX skins we see today!

Stock Android is not that commonly found on phones these days. “Stock Android” refers to the barebones phone experience under the Android Open Source Project. This has fewer features than you may be used to, but it also has less bloatware you don’t need.

Google’s Pixel smartphones don’t actually ship with stock Android. Instead, Google has created exclusive features only found on Pixel smartphones. These phones also get newer features over time through the Pixel Feature Drops.

Samsung’s One UI is inarguably the most popular UX skin around, as it is found on Galaxy smartphones. Flagships carry the full-fledged One UI experience, with newer phones like the Galaxy S24 series coming with exclusive AI features. You get a more limited One UI Core experience on budget Samsung phones.

Xiaomi has made the jump from MIUI to Hyper OS for its smartphones. Hyper OS will feel familiar, but it has a bunch of new tricks that Xiaomi fans will appreciate.

OPPO, Realme, and OnePlus smartphones share the same Color OS base, which is branded as Oxygen OS on OnePlus smartphones for global audiences. Color OS within China is tuned differently, focusing more on features that the regional customers appreciate.

There are many more UX skins, such as Nothing’s Nothing OS, ASUS’s ROG UI, Motorola’s My UX, Sony’s Xperia UI, and more. Which is your favorite among all of these?