Pixel 2: New Renders Show off Stereo Speakers, Shared Designs, No Headphone Jack

[Megalith]

The first 3D renders of the Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 have been released. While quite a bit of information on Google’s upcoming handsets have leaked already, the CAD models do clear up certain design elements: for one, it seems that the Pixel line will indeed drop the 3.5mm headphone jack. The smaller Pixel will also be getting an updated design in line with its bigger brother, dispelling earlier rumors that it would remain largely unchanged from the original.

The phones feature considerably less bezel compared to the Pixel and the Pixel XL. There is no dual camera setup, and the fingerprint scanner continues to be on the rear panel. While these renders are in black, Google is reportedly considering several color options for both the devices. And lastly, there is no headphone port! The phones are also said to be one of the first devices to use Qualcomm’s upcoming chipset, the Snapdragon 836, which would be a slight improvement over the current Snapdragon 835 chipset. The Google Pixel 2 and the Pixel XL 2 could go official later this year with Android 8.0.

 

[Cali3350]

Im fine with no headphone jack (when I need headphones I can use an adaptor that Im sure Google will include) but they need to better their bluetooth stack. It is quite dodgy on the Pixel 1.

 

[Riccochet]

no headphone jack is a deal breaker for me.

 

[Deleted member 184142]

it seems that the Pixel line will indeed drop the 3.5mm headphone jack.

While these are 3rd party renders of what SOMEONE thinks it will be like, I will say if this is true, I will be dropping the Pixel line.

No 3.5mm, no buy for me.

 

[mjz_5]

No headphone jack. I wonder if this will have the same backlash as the iPhone 7.

 

[Riccochet]

While these are 3rd party renders if what SOMEONE thinks it will be like, I will say if this is true, I will be dropping the Pixel line.

No 3.5mm, no buy for me.

My biggest gripe is I haven't found a light weight, high quality, long battery life, secure to my body without being annoying, set of BT headphones that I actually like. Something about bluetooth audio that just doesn't sound as good to me. Plus, I'm hard of hearing so have to play at high volumes, for hours, while I do yard work. Nothing more annoying that than not only draining the headphones batteries, but also your phone's battery.

When someone can make some BT headphones that are actually worth buying I may reconsider.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

no headphone jack is a deal breaker for me.

So what is wrong with BT?

 

[Krixon]

To be honest, this phone was already pretty low on my radar when considering my upcoming upgrade, but now it's non-existent. TRS/TRRS/3.5mm is still, in my opinion, a necessary feature for any mobile device. Sure, the future will be an acid-laced wonderland of cable-free euphoria, but the state of consumer tech simply isn't ready.

 

[MRAB54]

I was considering a Pixel 2 xl and probably switching from verizon to google fi. No headphone jack is a deal breaker, non-replaceable battery also deal breaker.

If they want google fi to be successful they need more phone options.

 

[Deleted member 184142]

My biggest gripe is I haven't found a light weight, high quality, long battery life, secure to my body without being annoying, set of BT headphones that I actually like. Something about bluetooth audio that just doesn't sound as good to me. Plus, I'm hard of hearing so have to play at high volumes, for hours, while I do yard work. Nothing more annoying that than not only draining the headphones batteries, but also your phone's battery.

When someone can make some BT headphones that are actually worth buying I may reconsider.

For me almost all the BT headphones out there are gimmicky or are significantly lower quality for the same price as other 3.5mm sets. I also rather only worry about keeping the phone charged than a BT set as well, use it almost all day at the office and most will not last, or I forget to put them charging the night before and come into work without music etc until they are. Thats not even getting into sound quality.

I find it odd that midrange phones are starting to have WAY more features than highend phones. The G5 Plus I just got my parents, headphone jack, SD card slot, dual SIM option etc etc. What the hell is with highend phones cutting features and support and costing 2-3 times as much.

 

[T4rd]

To be honest, this phone was already pretty low on my radar when considering my upcoming upgrade, but now it's non-existent. TRS/TRRS/3.5mm is still, in my opinion, a necessary feature for any mobile device. Sure, the future will be an acid-laced wonderland of cable-free euphoria, but the state of consumer tech simply isn't ready.

What if there was an adapter that let you charge and use a 3.5mm jack at the same time? I don't use the headphone jack on my phone often, but when I do it's really appreciated and that's usually when I'm driving a car that doesn't have BT audio support but does have an aux port to plug into. If they made an adapter/splitter that let you charge and use wired headphones at the same time for those occasions when I need it, then I could get over it even with the annoyance of having to buy an additional adapter and having to remember it when I need it.

I was considering a Pixel 2 xl and probably switching from verizon to google fi. No headphone jack is a deal breaker, non-replaceable battery also deal breaker.

If they want google fi to be successful they need more phone options.

Very few phones now allow you to replace the battery. LG was one of the last major OEMs to support them for the last couple years until they released their G6 this year, which has a sealed battery. I used to be the same way, but now I just look for phones that don't make it stupid hard to open them up to replace the battery when/if it degrades or dies completely. Which I'm glad I was able to replace the battery on my current 6P relatively easily because it doesn't have a glass back that's glued on or anything like a lot of current phones have now. Because I got hit with the early shutdown issue that plagued a lot of 6Ps and I was able to replace the battery still for $10 and in less than an hour myself.

 

[Sikkyu]

I like the headphone jack, but on the hand, I love my BT wireless headphones. I could deal without the jack for sure. I probably wont give up my Pixel XL for a 2 so I'll be waiting for the 3.

 

[Dead Parrot]

So what is wrong with BT?

There are already a number of dodgy rechargeable batteries on the market. As more devices encourage the use of battery powered headphones/earbuds, some folks are going suffer from exploding head phones or ear buds. Especially as the cheaper clone earbuds hit the market. Wonder what the damage will be from a fireball inside an ear canal?

 

[grtitan]

So what is wrong with BT?

They have their conveniences, but they also bring a lot of other issues, for example:

1- In crowded areas, there is a finite amount of spectrum, so bandwidth becomes an issue, when the devices struggle to communicate.
2- Music is compressed even further when transmitted via BT. The exception are the custom codecs, like the one that Sony "donated" to Android O (but a manufacturer that wants to use, must pay Sony for it, so thats another catch).
3- One more damn device that I have to worry about charging.

I'm sure there are more.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

For me almost all the BT headphones out there are gimmicky or are significantly lower quality for the same price as other 3.5mm sets. I also rather only worry about keeping the phone charged than a BT set as well, use it almost all day at the office and most will not last, or I forget to put them charging the night before and come into work without music etc until they are. Thats not even getting into sound quality.

I can't point to a brand or type of BT headset that will suit you. I like the "full ear" cup style head phone for their superior sound quality because they block most of the noise from the outside. BUT, your ears will sweat and rebel because of the heat since no air circulates. This is useless to do anything active. They are more suited for sedentary listening sessions.
Ear buds I always hated. I could never get them to stay in my ears and they always sound like absolute sh*t to me. In between was the smaller padded earphone. The sound quality is acceptable for what it is, they are not to heavy and don't 100% cover the ears.
I have a pair of Kinivo BT headphones I've had for several years now. Sound quality is good, battery life is very good, they fit nicely and for overall they are descent.
The ONLY gripe I had was the large button can make a rattling sound if you are walking or running. My solution was to put a couple small dabs of silicone adhesive on the edge of the button to keep it from rattling.
They still sell pretty much same ones though I see they have dropped way down in price.

https://www.amazon.com/Kinivo-BTH220-Bluetooth-Stereo-Headphone/dp/B005LKB0IU

As far as how LOUD they get, I've found they will have more volume than any plug in headset I've tried.

I Feel like I need to stress this since me being an old fart that has worked with audio for decades.
I would caution wearing headphone, ear buds, etc and listening at high volumes. You can kiss your hearing goodbye. This might now seem like too much of problem when you are young. Wait to you hit your 40s, 50s, and old age naturally takes it's toll. Hello hearing aids when it possibly could have been avoided. Old half deaf rock musicians are not deaf because of playing live shows. It is from sitting in studios for hours wearing headphones turned up too loud.

2nd. If you are listening to music or whatever on your cell phone; you can forget any kind of "high fidelity". First the nature of the audio is highly compressed. When you are outside working with earbuds or headphones, you are drown in ambient noise. The temptation is turn it up louder. Bad situation.
If you have tried BT headphone in the past you might be in for a pleasant surprise. BT 3, 4, and 5, are more geared for high quality audio. (v1 and 2 sounded very compressed) Also, AptX is a newer BT standard that supports CD quality audio. Might be more expensive, but worth it.

 

[Cali3350]

For anyone looking at great bluetooth cans, dont sleep on the Airpods. They sound great (not audiophile quality, but more than good enough), last long, are lightweight, and you forget you are wearing them

 

[Mchart]

What if there was an adapter that let you charge and use a 3.5mm jack at the same time? I don't use the headphone jack on my phone often, but when I do it's really appreciated and that's usually when I'm driving a car that doesn't have BT audio support but does have an aux port to plug into. If they made an adapter/splitter that let you charge and use wired headphones at the same time for those occasions when I need it, then I could get over it even with the annoyance of having to buy an additional adapter and having to remember it when I need it.



Very few phones now allow you to replace the battery. LG was one of the last major OEMs to support them for the last couple years until they released their G6 this year, which has a sealed battery. I used to be the same way, but now I just look for phones that don't make it stupid hard to open them up to replace the battery when/if it degrades or dies completely. Which I'm glad I was able to replace the battery on my current 6P relatively easily because it doesn't have a glass back that's glued on or anything like a lot of current phones have now. Because I got hit with the early shutdown issue that plagued a lot of 6Ps and I was able to replace the battery still for $10 and in less than an hour myself.

Ding ding ding.

This really wouldn't be difficult to do. There are enough pins on a 3.5mm headset jack that you could push decent data rates and also charge. It's mind boggling that the industry never did this.

 

[Deleted member 184142]

I can't point to a brand or type of BT headset that will suit you. I like the "full ear" cup style head phone for their superior sound quality because they block most of the noise from the outside. BUT, your ears will sweat and rebel because of the heat since no air circulates. This is useless to do anything active. They are more suited for sedentary listening sessions.
Ear buds I always hated. I could never get them to stay in my ears and they always sound like absolute sh*t to me. In between was the smaller padded earphone. The sound quality is acceptable for what it is, they are not to heavy and don't 100% cover the ears.
I have a pair of Kinivo BT headphones I've had for several years now. Sound quality is good, battery life is very good, they fit nicely and for overall they are descent.
The ONLY gripe I had was the large button can make a rattling sound if you are walking or running. My solution was to put a couple small dabs of silicone adhesive on the edge of the button to keep it from rattling.
They still sell pretty much same ones though I see they have dropped way down in price.

https://www.amazon.com/Kinivo-BTH220-Bluetooth-Stereo-Headphone/dp/B005LKB0IU

As far as how LOUD they get, I've found they will have more volume than any plug in headset I've tried.

I Feel like I need to stress this since me being an old fart that has worked with audio for decades.
I would caution wearing headphone, ear buds, etc and listening at high volumes. You can kiss your hearing goodbye. This might now seem like too much of problem when you are young. Wait to you hit your 40s, 50s, and old age naturally takes it's toll. Hello hearing aids when it possibly could have been avoided. Old half deaf rock musicians are not deaf because of playing live shows. It is from sitting in studios for hours wearing headphones turned up too loud.

2nd. If you are listening to music or whatever on your cell phone; you can forget any kind of "high fidelity". First the nature of the audio is highly compressed. When you are outside working with earbuds or headphones, you are drown in ambient noise. The temptation is turn it up louder. Bad situation.
If you have tried BT headphone and objected because of bad sound quality I would suggest trying different brands. A descent quality headset should sound as good as a wired headset.

Not to sound rude or anything....But we are talking about totally different levels of sound and headphone quality.

Audio is only "highly compressed" when you use shitty highly compressed files. And outside noise is not much of an issue with earbuds or closed over the ear headphones, driver quality is a huge factor here as most headphones are very cheap, like the ones you linked and you need heavy levels of volume to make up for the poor drivers. It's like my friend who had a car with a 2,000W system, however my 800W Focal system sounded "louder" in every single way, the reason? Driver quality, proper response and lower distortion. When you have cheap bass weighted headphones of today you will without a doubt need to max the volume to "hear" anything.

Look at some B&W, Shure, Beyerdynamic, Shnnheiser etc.

 

[lilbabycat]

Ding ding ding.

This really wouldn't be difficult to do. There are enough pins on a 3.5mm headset jack that you could push decent data rates and also charge. It's mind boggling that the industry never did this.

Sounds like a recipe for interference related buzzing and crackling.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

Not to sound rude or anything....But we are talking about totally different levels of sound and headphone quality.
Audio is only "highly compressed" when you use shitty highly compressed files. And outside noise is not much of an issue with earbuds or closed over the ear headphones, driver quality is a huge factor here as most headphones are very cheap, like the ones you linked and you need heavy levels of volume to make up for the poor drivers. It's like my friend who had a car with a 2,000W system, however my 800W Focal system sounded "louder" in every single way, the reason? Driver quality, proper response and lower distortion. When you have cheap bass weighted headphones of today you will without a doubt need to max the volume to "hear" anything.
Look at some B&W, Shure, Beyerdynamic, Shnnheiser etc.

Virtually all digital music is compressed in nature to one degree or another. Some better or worse. If you are streaming music then you are getting ACC or MP3 compressed audio usually topped at at 192khz rate.
You can save your album collection to FLAC and play back from your phone; much better but still a compressed medium.

I was responding to the "bluetooth sounds like crap" comments here. Yes, that is true especially for BT v1 and v2. If anyone tried BT in that time frame and walked away I don't blame them.
BT v3, 4, and now 5 have made vast improvements in quality. I would say anyone that has a smart phone purchased in the last few years has BT v4. You can get very good sound quality if you purchase a descent set of BT headphones.

 

[Braamer]

So what is wrong with BT?

I don't want to have to charge headphones, I don't want to keep track of small components that are easy to lose (and cost more), and Bluetooth headphones don't sound as good to me.

 

[Domingo]

Aren't there adapters that allow you to plug in normal jacked headphones into the phone's power port? I thought that was the argument for dropping it completely.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

I don't want to have to charge headphones, I don't want to keep track of small components that are easy to lose (and cost more), and Bluetooth headphones don't sound as good to me.

Well, I can't force BT on you. But this trend of deleting the 3.5mm headphone jack I see as a trend most all cell phone manufacturers will adopt.

 

[Deleted member 184142]

Virtually all digital music is compressed in nature to one degree or another. Some better or worse. If you are streaming music then you are getting ACC or MP3 compressed audio usually topped at at 192khz rate.
You can save your album collection to FLAC and play back from your phone; much better but still a compressed medium.

I was responding to the "bluetooth sounds like crap" comments here. Yes, that is true especially for BT v1 and v2. If anyone tried BT in that time frame and walked away I don't blame them.
BT v3, 4, and now 5 have made vast improvements in quality. I would say anyone that has a smart phone purchased in the last few years has BT v4. You can get very good sound quality if you purchase a descent set of BT headphones.

I know all about compression types, your comment on heavily compressed assumes crappy source files. The people who care about 3.5mm are not going to be those people and in most cases will have headphones in the $200+ range.

BT bandwidth has come up, but is still lacking, and my statement about quality headphones that are BT are 2-3 times the price as 3.5mm, and when my headphones cost half of what this phone costs, I am not really looking to buy another inferior (and more expensive) set because they don't want to put a 3.5mm jack in the phone. And again, we are talking about totally different things when you think "good sound quality", to get something of the same level of build and driver quality in wireless, I would be looking at a $6-800 set of headphones.

And that is not even getting into the other factors I talked about in my post.

If BT works for you, great. However some people care a lot more about audio and headphone choices, and when talking about removing 3.5mm for cost or space saving on a flag ship phone, is just not an excuse when midrange phones are, across the board starting to have more features than these $800-1k phones. In this price range (and as a current Pixel user), having to spend more money on adapters and carry them around just to get back a feature you want so they can save money and shave 0.01mm off the thickness is something many of us will not put up with.

 

[Mchart]

Sounds like a recipe for interference related buzzing and crackling.

Nope. Pretty easy to put in something that would detect if you've got headphones plugged in or not based off resistance that would set the port to either be for it's normal usage or data/charging.

 

[Blown 89]

No headphone port is a deal breaker. I won't own a phone that doesn't have one. Ridiculous.

 

[Krixon]

What if there was an adapter that let you charge and use a 3.5mm jack at the same time? I don't use the headphone jack on my phone often, but when I do it's really appreciated and that's usually when I'm driving a car that doesn't have BT audio support but does have an aux port to plug into. If they made an adapter/splitter that let you charge and use wired headphones at the same time for those occasions when I need it, then I could get over it even with the annoyance of having to buy an additional adapter and having to remember it when I need it.

At least for me, an adapter wouldn't fix the problem as I use the 3.5mm port at least once a day - and there's no reason for me to go buy an adapter when I could just buy a different phone with the features I want. I could see it working for others who, like yourself, use the 3.5mm jack sparingly.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Fuck that. Who cares about the speakers.

I never really use them.

Get rid of the speakers all together before getting rid of the line out jack!

The line out is absolutely essential.

No line out = no sale.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

At least for me, an adapter wouldn't fix the problem as I use the 3.5mm port at least once a day - and there's no reason for me to go buy an adapter when I could just buy a different phone with the features I want. I could see it working for others who, like yourself, use the 3.5mm jack sparingly.

I wouldn't be opposed to an adapter if:

1.) It's cheap enough to have one everywhere I connect to the line out (~ $1 per adapter); AND

2.) It can both charge and use the adapter at the same time!

 

[Braamer]

I wouldn't be opposed to an adapter if:

1.) It's cheap enough to have one everywhere I connect to the line out (~ $1 per adapter); AND

No kidding. My daughter, who is blonde, did not realize that her new iPhone 7 plus came with the lightning to 3.5mm adapter. She went to Walmart and paid $26 (!!!!!) for an adapter. I just about lost it.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

The truth is this.

Copper wire is reliable, secure, cheap and high quality.

Anything wireless is junk. Doesn't matter what it is. Wireless mouse? Junk. Wireless keyboard? Junk. Wifi? Junk. Bluetooth audio? Junk. Wireless charging? Junk.

Everything wired is superior to everything wireless, and always will be.

Now obviously, we are talking about a cellphone, so a certain level of wireless functionality is given, but I want as little of it as possible.

Whenever there is a wired solution, always use that first.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

The sad part is this.

I am a Nexus fan. I believed in using Nexus phones exclusively because they were designed for geeks like me, who care about frequent security updates, but otherwise want a no-frills experience, preferring vanilla Android, wired charging, wired audio etc.

I bought a Pixel because it is the successor to the Nexus line, or so I thought, and it is a great phone, but if Google is going to pull this Apple bullshit and ditch the wired audio port, then I have nowhere to go.

This is crossing a red line for me.

I absolutely will not buy a phone that doesn't get at least monthly security updates, and I absolutely will not buy a phone without a wired audio out. I also will never buy a phone larger than ~5" class, and will never buy a Chinese designed phone.

This means if these rumors are true, and the Pixel 2 goes wireless audio only, there is nothing left for me to buy.

I usually swap phones every two years or so, so if October 2018 comes around and the current Pixel phones lack a line out, I don't know what I'll do.

I'll probably hold on to the pixel until it no longer gets software updates, hoping desperately that this stupid wireless audio trend dies in the meantime, and if it doesn't, I may just stop using smartphones all together once the pixel no longer gets security updates...

This is profoundly depressing. I thought Google was better than all this Apple bullshit.

 

[iczerjones]

The sad part is this.

This means if these rumors are true, and the Pixel 2 goes wireless audio only, there is nothing left for me to buy.

I'm in the exact same boat. Still rocking my 6P happily, but the landscape for getting a proper Google phone in the future isn't looking good. =(

 

[T4rd]

I'm in the exact same boat. Still rocking my 6P happily, but the landscape for getting a proper Google phone in the future isn't looking good. =(

Well it's too easy to add a headphone jack to a phone:

 

[SuperSubZero]

So what is wrong with BT?

I *like* BT, but my first experience with BT headphones, expensive ones (PowerBeats3) has been overwhelmingly negative. I'm on my FOURTH pair, as the previous three all reliably failed the same way within three weeks of use. They'd fail, I'd take them to Apple, they'd just send me a replacement set. Repeat, repeat, repeat. The fourth pair, which actually seem to work ok (they had an issue the other day but it seems to have gone away), was a brand new set off the shelf.

The sad thing is they don't sound bad (for me, I just use them for gym) and they are mostly comfortable and not in the way at all. They are just chronically faulty. Forget the headphone jack, I just don't want a wire to my phone at all. I hope this latest set of headphones actually lasts.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

So what is wrong with BT?

1.) BT audio is a compressed lossy format. This is why Apple developed their own standards for their airpods. There is inevitable sound quality loss when using it. If BT ever supports uncompressed stereo streams, this concern will go away.

2.) Reliability. It often disconnects, or unpairs and you have to re-pair it or troubleshoot it.

3.) Security implications of any wireless device

4.) Annoyance of having to keep yet another device charged. When you have enough wires you don't need to worry about batteries.

5.) The price couple of the thing. In engineering we have a saying. The simplest design is the best design. (Note,this means the design itself, not how simple it is to use etc.). It's abbreviated KISS, or Keep I So please Stupid. Copper wires are much simpler than compressing and see sing an audio stream over a wireless protocol requiring g security authentication, pairing, and other aspects, and then having to decompress it again on the other side.

Compare this to just adding a port. I mean, you already have a DAC in there and an analogue stage, since the phone has speakers, so it's literally just connecting a port, compared to all that nonsense above.

Everything wired is always better than everything wireless. No exceptions.

 

[aaronspink]

So what is wrong with BT?

paying 4x for headphones with 1/4th the quality? Seriously, BT headphones are pretty much universally crap. 3.5mm supports everything from dime store specials to 20k custom built and fit IEMs. Oh, and yeah, 3.5 also works in crowded areas while BT just falls over and fails completely.

 

[aaronspink]

What if there was an adapter that let you charge and use a 3.5mm jack at the same time? I don't use the headphone jack on my phone often, but when I do it's really appreciated and that's usually when I'm driving a car that doesn't have BT audio support but does have an aux port to plug into. If they made an adapter/splitter that let you charge and use wired headphones at the same time for those occasions when I need it, then I could get over it even with the annoyance of having to buy an additional adapter and having to remember it when I need it.

Its a dongle. It isn't like the damn thing is thin enough to justify not having a 3.5 nor is it like a phone should ever be that thin. Phones were literally thin enough 5 years ago. The reality is that it is just shitty designers making shitty designs.

 

[T4rd]

Its a dongle. It isn't like the damn thing is thin enough to justify not having a 3.5 nor is it like a phone should ever be that thin. Phones were literally thin enough 5 years ago. The reality is that it is just shitty designers making shitty designs.

I agree, I was just pointing out a potential solution to get around their shitty design.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Its a dongle. It isn't like the damn thing is thin enough to justify not having a 3.5 nor is it like a phone should ever be that thin. Phones were literally thin enough 5 years ago. The reality is that it is just shitty designers making shitty designs.

Is thickness really the motivation though, or does it have to do with fluid ingress?

Not that it really matters to me. In my 20 years of owning cellphones, I've never killed one with water.