Thoughts
My preference is always for a phone with the best hardware. That would be essentially the Samsung (or Sony). However, both of their USA models are not rootable, which I strongly prefer. But they both have international versions of their models which are rootable. But then not all the T-mobile bands are available in the USA (band 71 in particular). I already have enough trouble with reception that I don't want to go down that road.
So that leaves the Oneplus and Google Pixels. I love the Oneplus hardware, but they use the undesireable OOS software rather than regular Android. And so we are left with the Pixel.
I've been using the Pixel 6 Pro for the past several years. My biggest complaint is the terrible overheating. If the sun shines on it for a few seconds, it overheats. Even if the screen is simply on for a few seconds, there is some overheating there as well. I hate that so much and really wish it used the Snapdragon CPU instead. So there is no perfect solution right now if I want to keep rooting the phones.
Editor's Choice
I am not thrilled with any of these choices, but here they are.
Google Pixel 8 Pro
Best OverallI choose this over the Oneplus simply because it uses stock Android.
Oneplus 12
Pretty GoodOnce custom ROMs are available for this, it will supercede the Pixel because of the better hardware. I do hate the curved screen very much, however.
If I didn't care about rooting
Best HardwareSamsung is the clear winner if I don't care about rooting.
