What devices are Android Authority readers using? (2021 edition)

Ever wondered what your fellow wonderful Android Authority readers are like and what tech they like to use? I know I certainly have! Well, today you can learn a little bit more about each other. We’ve dug through some anonymous usage statics to paint a broad picture of where you’re from and what devices you use the most.

This is the third time we’ve had a look at this data. We shared a similar look back in 2019 and 2017, so pat yourself on the back if you’ve been around long enough to contribute to all three posts (hope to see you in 2023!). All of the anonymous data in this article is based on our visitor stats from March-April 2021.

Also read: What phones do the Android Authority team use as daily drivers? (2021 edition)

Before we get to the fun stuff, let’s start with where you’re all from. You’re probably reading this from either the US or India, which account for 35% and 15% of our readership, respectively. Nearly 8% of you are from the UK, 4% from Canada, and 3% from the Philippines to round out our top five countries. You awesome people from Australia, Malaysia, Germany, Pakistan, and Singapore make up the rest of our top 10.

But what phones are you using? What browsers? Which versions of Android? Let’s find out!

Your favorite brand is…

Looking at broad brand trends, the big tech two — Apple and Samsung — are the most popular reader picks at Android Authority, with Samsung the overall leader with a whopping 33.6% slice of the pie. Both have actually grown in popularity in the past few years, especially Apple devices which now sit at 20% of our audience compared with a 9.8% share back in 2017.

Xiaomi has made big gains in its global market share this year and this is also reflected in Android Authority‘s readership. Xiaomi is now your third most popular brand. Sadly for Google, a previous darling of our readership, its share is on the wain — down from 8.7% in 2017 to just 4.8% in 2021. Of course, this could simply be because our readership has grown in markets where Google’s phones are less popular rather than Google becoming unpopular.

When it comes to actual phone models, there’s far too much variety in our results to put into a graph. Individual devices barely scrape 1% each these days. However, there are a few notable devices that pop up in the top 25.

Apple iPhone and iPad products make up the top two spots, accounting for 18.6% and 1.55% of all your devices, respectively. However, Apple doesn’t give us enough data to break them down into specific models. So we don’t know if you’re here to gloat about your swanky iPhone 12 or looking for a shiny new Android alternative to your aging iPhone 6.

The Google Pixel 5 sits behind them as the most popular individual handset. The Google Pixel 4a isn’t too far behind either, and both the Pixel 4 XL and 3 XL also make it into the top 25. There are clearly quite a few Google lovers among you. Samsung’s Galaxy S series is also popular, as you’d expect. The Galaxy S10, S10 Plus, S9, and even the S8 post nearer the top of the rankings. Interestingly, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro clocks in a 0.56% share all on its own, making it the only Chinese smartphone in Android Authority‘s top 25.

You’re probably running the latest Android OS

Each time we’ve looked into our reader stats you folks have been ahead of the typical Android update curve and this year’s edition is no exception. I shouldn’t be surprised. You’re all tech aficionados, after all, and clearly love to have the latest and greatest security patches installed. Kudos, dear reader.

Close to 30% of you are running Android 11, which is excellent news from a security standpoint. A further 37.8% are on the slightly older Android 10. That’s not as ideal but pretty much par for the course, given that some OEMs are quite slow to update their phones and eventually drop support.

The 13.9% still on Android 9 Pie might start feeling rather out of date by the time Android 12 rolls around later in 2021. Everyone else is (hopefully) pondering an upgrade sometime in the not too distant future, if for no other reason than making sure your device remains secure.

Need suggestions: The best Android phones you can buy

Sadly, Google isn’t updating its Android distribution numbers anymore, even via Android Studio. However, a quick look back at our figures suggests the update situation is improving year on year, even among our tech-savvy readership.

In 2017, just 13.5% of you were running the latest Android version at the time (Nougat). Our 2019 data showed a notable improvement, with 18.6% running Android 9.0 Pie, and now we’re up to 29.8% on Android 11. Google’s various initiatives to speed up Android updates appear to be working, at least for you guys and gals.

Other fun stats

Do you still want to learn more about your wonderful fellow site visitors? OK, here are a couple of other interesting data points we’ve pulled out.

Google Chrome is by far your favorite web browser, and it’s not even close. Accounting for 70% of all readers, it eclipses the likes of Firefox and Microsoft’s Edge. Even Safari clocks a comparatively tiny 14.5% share of our readership.

There’s a similarly strong trend when it comes to your operating systems of choice. 58.7% of you visit the site on your Android device and a further 14.6% on iOS. Mobile is by far your favorite way to browse Android Authority, although a good number of you still clock in from your PCs. There’s a bit of a preference for Windows among the PC crowd, which significantly out muscles Mac, Chromebook, and other Linux users.

Funnily enough, 0.2% of you have visited Android Authority from a Tizen-powered device. I really hope it was from your Samsung smart fridge. Even weirder, a rather impressive one out of every 5,000 of you are still rocking a BlackBerry. They just don’t make them like they used to, huh?

Now that you know a bit more about your fellow wonderful Android Authority readers, do you fit the mold or are you a statistical anomaly? Let us know where you’re from and what device you’re rocking in the comments below.