Sadly, no OEM seems to understand that. Every single of their UIs either has a horrible UX, or is much slower than stock Android, or crashes, or all three.

Urgh, why aren't there any modern 4/4.5" Nexus phones. :(

I used to buy this theory for a long time until I got my Nexus 5x. It has a lot of bugs. I actually miss the very polished feel of my Sony Z3 compact. Low ui tweaks, super dependable. It's a shame I hear Sony might be stopping its phone line, or maybe that's just a rumor.

Care to share what bugs you have / had on your 5x?

I've had my 5x for months and only come across a couple of bugs, a couple of times- but they happened once and weren't reproducible.

- I also regularly have to kill apps and restart them because they don't properly detect internet connectivity. I think this is actually due to people not testing apps against the new Doze functionality, which isn't Google's fault but definitely isn't the greatest user experience. - The camera software/drivers are really slow and crash regularly. - I get random spinners on videos that don't go away sometimes.

Nexus devices aren't immune from this. I had a Galaxy Nexus. I'm now an iPhone user.

The Galaxy Nexus was a complete disaster. Especially the Verizon model. I've had the Nexus 5 and now the Nexus 6P and it's night and day. Phenomenal experience with both phones.

EXACT same experience. I bought the VZW Galaxy Nexus. Within a month I had 4 batteries as well. Not receiving text messages with low cell signal and WiFi enabled, couldn't get more than 4 hours of battery in LTE, so many radio issues. I swapped it out like 3 times just to be sure it wasn't a bad handset.

It's the first time in my life I've gone in early and bought a phone in cash off contract. I've not had an Android since.

I had a similar experience, but starting from a Nexus 4.

It didn't work correctly and there were no new Nexus devices smaller than 5".

Stock Android would kill them. For decades, didn't matter who built your computer, as long as it came with Windows.

Something similar would happens to Android world if people came to recognize that all phones' software were equal. It would lead to a race to the bottom in price terms.

Instead they've created a world where I specifically avoid phones (Samsung for example) because their software is so awful and bloated (not to mention ugly).

And lagging behind in terms of core OS updates. My last phones were Nexus phones and a Moto X because I knew they would get updates really quick (or quickish for the Moto X). I don't even want to try my luck with other vendors.

Yep, this is why I will never buy a non-Nexus phone.

Also, good lord Samsung's UX is just plain ugly. Everything about it, including layouts, color schemes, etc., makes me feel queasy. Their design aesthetic is why I go out of my way to avoid everything they make.

Ask those TI users how much having a Nexus helped.

Google has no process in place how to support their customers if an OEM breaches contract.

People already know that all the software is equal -- or that the vendor's software is worse than stock. Which is what's killing them.

They're hardware vendors trying to compete on software. How about trying to compete on hardware?

Which is different from the current situation how?

I would agree, but not necessarily because OEMs don't have the skill. When OEM modifies it, they have to work within constraints of stock android.

Stock Android UX is average at best. It is too complicated and disorganized for ordinary people, and there is a lot of room for improvement.