Google Pixel and Pixel XL 2

It's hard to tell how serious many of the claims are vs. this is a flagship phone that costs a boatload of money and it should be flawless.
It's not like Apple and Samsung haven't had major press flare ups with their product launches. Some of the other OEMs get away with things because not enough people notice.

I'm still in the camp of people that are disappointed they cancelled the "middle" Pixel phone that was supposed to be mostly bezel-less like the XL2, but slightly smaller. IMO, they could have killed off the other two if they did that one right.
It's hard to tell how many of these "issues" are being blown completely out of proportion to generate clicks/view for these tech sites and reviewers.
 
Franco the XDA superstar calling out MKBHD Marques. I USED to be a HUGE fan, my fav tech reviewer, I am done with him as of today.



Yeah I used to be a big Marquess fan, but he seems to just gloss over specific details in his reviews, and you don't really get the true one week test, or 30 days usage real world reviews I prefer. Plus he's a big time stock Android fan, everything else is below him. Which I also agree, that stock Android is typically the best as well.

Like I said before, he's a big time YouTube star with over 5 million subscribers, he watches the counts live sometimes, really into the fame part of it more than before. He's made millions$ from being that big of a star. Good for him, he earned it. But I feel he's changed, and not the true every day Joe doing tech reviews. He comes off a little disconnected from the average dude this year, He's a big money guy,m famous person, and I feel it has gone to his head and changed him. He's not a bragger or dick about it, no, but he's different than years before.

And Franco here, that dude is a real XDA superstar, a true Android developer and smart guy. I listen to him over Marquess any day of the week.
 
Seems my smaller Pixel has the issue where the phone "ticks" almost like a clock. You can't hear it unless your ear is right up to the phone, but during a call it's unmistakable and impossible not to hear. It's actually coming from the back of the phone, near the fingerprint sensor. There is also a faint electronic white noise, but it's so faint that I don't even think it's a real issue. Disabling NFC stops the ticking. Turning the flashlight on (of all things) kills off the white noise. Supposedly they're both software related (per some Google reps), although not all Pixel's have 'em. There are some posts theorizing it has to do with the manufacturing plant that the models came from, but often theories like this are just grasping at straws.
 
I wish people would stop referring to the Pixel as "stock Android." It's a skin that Google made for their phones, much like HTC does. (Not like how Samsung does by adding a lot of bloat and deprioritized primary tasks over their own crap to make the phone lag!) Stock Android is what's on Lineage etc.
 
I will watch MKBHD reviews occasionally if I'm interested in the product, and I enjoy them for what they are. But I've never understood treating his word as the gospel; not now, not 4-5 years ago before money and fame "went to his head." He's just a kid who likes tech and has a talent for making clear, concise reviews with good production value. He certainly knows the smartphone market well and has hands-on experience with lots of devices, but he's hardly an expert on the real underlying tech behind consumer products. If you're a hardcore nerd obsessed with details and the inner workings and performance/benchmark minutia, there are going to be far more knowledgeable folks writing about these things at a place like XDA, I would imagine. Again, I have no problem with MKBHD, and his reviews are perfect for sending on to Mom and Dad looking for advice on consumer tech products. It's just that too many nerds who probably already know roughly as much as he does hold him up on a pedestal due to groupthink and his popularity, and are then disillusioned to find that he doesn't nail every detail of sRGB vs. ProRGB color space or semiconductor design. In reality, he's just like the average poster here, except with really good communication/presentation skills that admittedly have allowed him access and experience with more products than most of us will ever see.
 
I will watch MKBHD reviews occasionally if I'm interested in the product, and I enjoy them for what they are. But I've never understood treating his word as the gospel; not now, not 4-5 years ago before money and fame "went to his head." He's just a kid who likes tech and has a talent for making clear, concise reviews with good production value. He certainly knows the smartphone market well and has hands-on experience with lots of devices, but he's hardly an expert on the real underlying tech behind consumer products. If you're a hardcore nerd obsessed with details and the inner workings and performance/benchmark minutia, there are going to be far more knowledgeable folks writing about these things at a place like XDA, I would imagine. Again, I have no problem with MKBHD, and his reviews are perfect for sending on to Mom and Dad looking for advice on consumer tech products. It's just that too many nerds who probably already know roughly as much as he does hold him up on a pedestal due to groupthink and his popularity, and are then disillusioned to find that he doesn't nail every detail of sRGB vs. ProRGB color space or semiconductor design. In reality, he's just like the average poster here, except with really good communication/presentation skills that admittedly have allowed him access and experience with more products than most of us will ever see.


That's actually very well said
 
So instead of shipping my phone yesterday, Google incremented the sold by date on my account from the 5th to the 6th.

What does that mean?

u5cj3ax.png
 
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Seems my smaller Pixel has the issue where the phone "ticks" almost like a clock. You can't hear it unless your ear is right up to the phone, but during a call it's unmistakable and impossible not to hear. It's actually coming from the back of the phone, near the fingerprint sensor. There is also a faint electronic white noise, but it's so faint that I don't even think it's a real issue. Disabling NFC stops the ticking. Turning the flashlight on (of all things) kills off the white noise. Supposedly they're both software related (per some Google reps), although not all Pixel's have 'em. There are some posts theorizing it has to do with the manufacturing plant that the models came from, but often theories like this are just grasping at straws.

If you can hear it during phone calls i don't think I could live with that.
 
Seems my smaller Pixel has the issue where the phone "ticks" almost like a clock. You can't hear it unless your ear is right up to the phone, but during a call it's unmistakable and impossible not to hear. It's actually coming from the back of the phone, near the fingerprint sensor. There is also a faint electronic white noise, but it's so faint that I don't even think it's a real issue. Disabling NFC stops the ticking. Turning the flashlight on (of all things) kills off the white noise. Supposedly they're both software related (per some Google reps), although not all Pixel's have 'em. There are some posts theorizing it has to do with the manufacturing plant that the models came from, but often theories like this are just grasping at straws.

https://m.androidcentral.com/do-you-have-ticking-sound-your-pixel-2
 

Yup, that's the one. You can definitely hear in in calls. You can hear it any time the screen is "on" - just put your ear up to the phone. It sounds like a analog watch is in there. In Google's own forums they're now saying that they don't plan on RMA'ing any more affected devices since it's supposedly software-related. Not 100% sure I believe that, but I guess we'll see. Some of the Pixel 1's supposed hardware issues were fixed with updates.
 
Yup, that's the one. You can definitely hear in in calls. You can hear it any time the screen is "on" - just put your ear up to the phone. It sounds like a analog watch is in there. In Google's own forums they're now saying that they don't plan on RMA'ing any more affected devices since it's supposedly software-related. Not 100% sure I believe that, but I guess we'll see. Some of the Pixel 1's supposed hardware issues were fixed with updates.

I think I remember them "fixing" the bad speaker distortion issue on the previous Pixel by lowering the max volume of the speaker in an update.

Just another reason why I don't buy anything at launch, esp. any phone where one of several components can make or break it. But price and lack of availability are still the main reason I'm not getting one yet and my 6P is still going strong with its new battery. Hoping for a BF deal somewhere on the 2 XL, but Google has been as arrogant as Apple when it comes to discounting their devices since the Pixel line launched. The only time I've seen them discounted anywhere has been for refurbs.
 
I think I remember them "fixing" the bad speaker distortion issue on the previous Pixel by lowering the max volume of the speaker in an update.

Just another reason why I don't buy anything at launch, esp. any phone where one of several components can make or break it. But price and lack of availability are still the main reason I'm not getting one yet and my 6P is still going strong with its new battery. Hoping for a BF deal somewhere on the 2 XL, but Google has been as arrogant as Apple when it comes to discounting their devices since the Pixel line launched. The only time I've seen them discounted anywhere has been for refurbs.

I believe the pixel was free through verizon last year for BF last year with a trade in
 
So instead of shipping my phone yesterday, Google incremented the sold by date on my account from the 5th to the 6th.

What does that mean?

u5cj3ax.png
Maybe there was a delay in processing your order/payment and it hadn't updated in the system until recently?
 
I believe the pixel was free through verizon last year for BF last year with a trade in

Yeah, I was excluding any Verizon subsidy deals since I'm not on Verizon and I wouldn't want their Pixels anyways since their bootloader's are locked down.
 
Yeah, I was excluding any Verizon subsidy deals since I'm not on Verizon and I wouldn't want their Pixels anyways since their bootloader's are locked down.

I have never understood unlocking the bootloader for the google phones. They already let you do pretty much everything, there's no crapware installed, and when you unlock the bootloader you stop getting updates and kill android pay etc, which the usually biggest incentive to buy a google phone in the first place. The only time I have thought there was a need to unlock the bootloader on my nexus 6p was to disable the noise canceling mic because it was broken and preventing me from making calls.

All other brand phones a locked bootloader is no go for me.
 
I'm glad to see some people are happy with their PIXEL 2 XL. I still have to wait until mid November here in Canada for mine.

The batter life reports I've been seeing are exactly what I was hoping for. The Pixel XL is already decent, the 2 XL pretty much outs any battery life worries to rest for me since I charge daily.

7-8 hours screen on time? That's a serious amount of time on your phone in a day haha.
 
I will watch MKBHD reviews occasionally if I'm interested in the product, and I enjoy them for what they are. But I've never understood treating his word as the gospel; not now, not 4-5 years ago before money and fame "went to his head." He's just a kid who likes tech and has a talent for making clear, concise reviews with good production value. He certainly knows the smartphone market well and has hands-on experience with lots of devices, but he's hardly an expert on the real underlying tech behind consumer products. If you're a hardcore nerd obsessed with details and the inner workings and performance/benchmark minutia, there are going to be far more knowledgeable folks writing about these things at a place like XDA, I would imagine. Again, I have no problem with MKBHD, and his reviews are perfect for sending on to Mom and Dad looking for advice on consumer tech products. It's just that too many nerds who probably already know roughly as much as he does hold him up on a pedestal due to groupthink and his popularity, and are then disillusioned to find that he doesn't nail every detail of sRGB vs. ProRGB color space or semiconductor design. In reality, he's just like the average poster here, except with really good communication/presentation skills that admittedly have allowed him access and experience with more products than most of us will ever see.
The reality is that describes most, if not all, reviewers. I'm constantly shocked at how little most of these reviewers know about the product or the industry. They're basically reading off spec sheets half the time and giving opinions that seem based more on bias than anything half the time.
 
I have never understood unlocking the bootloader for the google phones. They already let you do pretty much everything, there's no crapware installed, and when you unlock the bootloader you stop getting updates and kill android pay etc, which the usually biggest incentive to buy a google phone in the first place. The only time I have thought there was a need to unlock the bootloader on my nexus 6p was to disable the noise canceling mic because it was broken and preventing me from making calls.

All other brand phones a locked bootloader is no go for me.

Google phones are actually the best phones to unlock.. because they're so easy to and they have the best dev support as a direct result of that. Pure Nexus ROM improves stock Android considerably for me with a lot of nice small features that add up. Just to name a few; hold power button for flash light, hold volume buttoms to skip forwards/back in media while the screen is off, customizable status bar so I can put the clock in the middle and have a battery circle icon with percentage remaining in the middle of the icon, ad blocking, custom color profiles for the display (seems like this will be very nice for the Pixel 2 XL with its native muted colors), custom notification LED colors for apps/charging status), clear all recent apps button (with button location preference), quick notification shade pull down (swipe from right edge to expand toggles with one swipe), quick brightness control (just slide across the status bar to adjust brightness), and probably a few other things I use that I'm forgetting as well. These are all things I use and enjoy on a daily basis that stock Android can't do.

That stuff may sound kinda petty to you, but I've had this stuff for years now on my past couple phones, so I really miss it when I try to go back to stock Android again (which I occasionally do).
 
I'm just hopeful that this ticking noise thing can be alleviated via software. Considering turning NFC off fixes it, there's always the option for NFC poll very rarely until it comes into contact with another device. Or something similar to that. If Google doesn't comment before the first week of November (my 15-day window), I'll mail this one back, too. They seem to be taking the claims pretty seriously in their forums, so I'm hopeful they'll make it right. It's my only legitimate complaint about the smaller model.
 
Three more I took yesterday of the sunset. No filters applied, just tapped on the screen to get different exposures on different areas of the scenes.
MVIMG_20171024_185506.jpg MVIMG_20171024_185519.jpg MVIMG_20171024_185528.jpg

This is a "stylized" photo that Google Pics suggested to me...
MVIMG_20171024_185519-EFFECTS.jpg
 
Google phones are actually the best phones to unlock.. because they're so easy to and they have the best dev support as a direct result of that. Pure Nexus ROM improves stock Android considerably for me with a lot of nice small features that add up. Just to name a few; hold power button for flash light, hold volume buttoms to skip forwards/back in media while the screen is off, customizable status bar so I can put the clock in the middle and have a battery circle icon with percentage remaining in the middle of the icon, ad blocking, custom color profiles for the display (seems like this will be very nice for the Pixel 2 XL with its native muted colors), custom notification LED colors for apps/charging status), clear all recent apps button (with button location preference), quick notification shade pull down (swipe from right edge to expand toggles with one swipe), quick brightness control (just slide across the status bar to adjust brightness), and probably a few other things I use that I'm forgetting as well. These are all things I use and enjoy on a daily basis that stock Android can't do.

That stuff may sound kinda petty to you, but I've had this stuff for years now on my past couple phones, so I really miss it when I try to go back to stock Android again (which I occasionally do).
I like the flashlight option, and I had made some of those other changes before on other phones. But yea, to me not worth it for killing the updates and android pay. Also not worth re-installing all the apps on my phone to get monthly updates manually, I seriously HATE doing that.

I called google and they said that they ran out of phones so that is what the delay is, I guess I should have waited for the storm trooper version after all. Basically I was supposed to be in the group of orders shipping out this week, so perhaps they changed the order by date to stick me into the next group.
 
I like the flashlight option, and I had made some of those other changes before on other phones. But yea, to me not worth it for killing the updates and android pay. Also not worth re-installing all the apps on my phone to get monthly updates manually, I seriously HATE doing that.

I called google and they said that they ran out of phones so that is what the delay is, I guess I should have waited for the storm trooper version after all. Basically I was supposed to be in the group of orders shipping out this week, so perhaps they changed the order by date to stick me into the next group.

I just dirty flash the updates unless the dev recommends otherwise (usually only for major Android updates). I use Magisk to hide root for Android Pay and any other apps (Snapchat, Netflix, Mario Run) that try to block rooted devices as well and haven't had any issues with it so far.
 
The reality is that describes most, if not all, reviewers. I'm constantly shocked at how little most of these reviewers know about the product or the industry. They're basically reading off spec sheets half the time and giving opinions that seem based more on bias than anything half the time.
Oh, I'm totally with you there. In fact, I trust MKBHD more than 98% of reviewers who are just employees of somewhere like The Verge. He's at least a real enthusiast who geeks out over this stuff in his spare time like us.
 
Oh, I'm totally with you there. In fact, I trust MKBHD more than 98% of reviewers who are just employees of somewhere like The Verge. He's at least a real enthusiast who geeks out over this stuff in his spare time like us.
Well hell, since I own one maybe I will write-up a review. But I need more time with our to make a solid evaluation. Hmmm.
 
I'd read that for sure.

The more I dig into this phone (past all the BSing about the LG display), this seems like a really amazing piece of hardware compared to the original Pixel XL, plus the software enhancements.

It's not all about the hardware, and that is what a ton of the reviewers miss. The software is why I won't be buying anything except for Google android devices. I'm done with Samsung, and I don't like what I see from the other OEMs either...
 
>There are some interesting differences between the HTC made "Muskie" and LG's "Taimen." Of course, it is LG's phone that we all know today as the LG 2 XL. But HTC's "Muskie" would have offered users a larger 3830 mAh battery instead of the 3520mAh cell that LG employs on the Pixel 2 XL.

Can you imagine the battery life on that...

LG was a mistake. I suspect that all Pixel 3 models will be HTC, as Google bought part of the team.
 
Mine is going back. No appreciable difference over the Pixel 1 in my usage scenario,and I didn't like the screen issues.
 
Only had mine for a day so far, overall positive.

The screen is nice, the blue tint is there, but only at angles I never view the phone at anyway, so it has zero impact for me, if you lay your phone down flat on a table and dont look down from above, the tint might bother you, outside of that, you will never see it.

Colors are fine, but I come from being used to calibrated IPS monitors for Photoshop and only in the last year did I get a 144hz gaming monitor, so I am used to both ends of the spectrum.

Speakers are still nothing to care about, though they are better than the first Pixel. And battery life on the 2 XL is showing to be a good bit better than the first gen Pixel I have, I don't hit the times everyone else is posting, but a good bit of my usage is outside and I keep brightness around 60% and adaptive. Phone is very snappy, I can tell it's a bit faster than the Pixel, places I notice the most are use of the finger print reader and opening the camera, which I use a lot for work, as an example it's 8:20AM and I have taken 84 photos, so it stands out. The optical image stabilization is nice, doing up close shots and early morning I spend far less time trying to get a less blurry picture, all have been nice and sharp.

Still really hate the curved glass screen, it serves no point, results in a nice gap around cases for dirt to get trapped and means not being able to use glass screen protectors, which are the only type I will use.
 
Really the thing that keeps me glued to Apple is the watch. I tried a few Android watches with my Note 5 back in the day and just never seemed to click or be intuitive. Plus my whole family is on iPhones now so having messages/Facetime is extremely convenient. Are there any good Android watches nowadays to rival the Apple Watch?
 
Really the thing that keeps me glued to Apple is the watch. I tried a few Android watches with my Note 5 back in the day and just never seemed to click or be intuitive. Plus my whole family is on iPhones now so having messages/Facetime is extremely convenient. Are there any good Android watches nowadays to rival the Apple Watch?
i like my hauwei watch, stainless with mesh band. the original not the new one. but i think the Apple watch looks like a toy, not a fan of the square shape.
 
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