Google hardware event 2019

[AJB88]

Annoyingly for now, if I go out of the house and it turns off, no way of restarting it. Its requires plugging in.

[Funk]

How long til they get the replacement to you?

[AJB88]

1-2 days I hope.

[Watchman]

I'm crossing my fingers that my Pixel 2XL will keep going another year or two until the 5 drops in price. This is easily the best phone I've ever had. If they would keep it "current" I would replace it with another one when it eventually dies.

[AJB88]

Got to say my Pixel 2 XL was solid. Mums got it now, sisters got a Pixel 2.

[stevoknevo]

• touches hairy wood* my 2xl has been solid too, still at 90% on the battery and between 6-7 hours SOT - I know it took a beating for the screen quality at the time but this was a later one and you need to get right off axis to notice the blue shift, but compared to the issues with the 3 and 4 it's seems to have been a solid device. Obviously early days for the 4a but the 3a's have been universally liked and I don't think that was a fluke given it was designed by the former HTC bods (as is the 4a)

All you can hope for is the replacement 4xl lasts until the 5 releases and try to swap for one if/when the 4xl karks it (I must ask my pal how her 4xl is holding up, not seen her in ages)

[AJB88]

I did manage to get Google CS to refund my Nexus 6P in the end and that paid for my Pixel XL 2.

[Longtime Lurker]

AJB88 said:

1-2 days I hope.

Good luck!

I finally gave up with my Pixel 3xl after having to wait over three weeks for my third warranty replacement after they had received my phone (all hardware failures)

Three weeks for a replacement device just isn't good enough and the only answer i could get from anyone at Google was "please be assured you will receive your replacement device soonest"

Replaced it with an iPhone 11 and to be honest i haven't looked back especially when it come to battery life!

[AJB88]

Phone is being delivered in next 40 minutes. I just couldn't go iPhone as a long term Linux user.

I had a 2010 MBP for 2 years and that was fine, until it stopped getting OS updates but just like to be able to tinker with stuff.

Plus I've got a whole house of Google stuff (Nest Mini x3, Nest home hub, Nest thermostat, Nest lights, Nest doorbell, ChromeOS devices).

Edited by AJB88 on Wednesday 19th August 13:16

[untakenname]

Images of the Pixel 5 have leaked and it seems they are reducing the bezel seize finally though was hoping they would include a telephoto lens on the back as even non flagship £300 android phones are new including optical zoom.

[stevoknevo]

untakenname said:

Images of the Pixel 5 have leaked and it seems they are reducing the bezel seize finally though was hoping they would include a telephoto lens on the back as even non flagship £300 android phones are new including optical zoom.

Looks like a 4 camera module stuck on a 4a body - no bad thing for my preference as I view a phone as a portal and prefer build quality/good specs over swanky design, and most people stick them in a case anyway. Maybe they're starting to realise that something solid/reliable that runs their software at its optimum is the way to go?

[AJB88]

I used to hate phones in cases, when I had samsung S1-5 and then Nexus 5, but when I got my Nexus 6P I realised that probably wouldn't survive without a gel case on it and have done that ever since.

[stevoknevo]

AJB88 said:

I used to hate phones in cases, when I had samsung S1-5 and then Nexus 5, but when I got my Nexus 6P I realised that probably wouldn't survive without a gel case on it and have done that ever since.

Likewise - my previous phone was a Moto G4+ and that was bareback all the way, had a Sony prior to that and two after, all returned for a variety of screen issues but I'd bought bloody cases for them as they were all glass backed, ended up giving them away. And I knew the 2xl wasn't going to survive with a toddler around! But I'd prefer no case, sadly the materials they use now kinda prohibits that.

[AJB88]

yeh I just buy the thin gel cases so you dont add much to the weight.

[Funk]

Yep, straight into a case for me (Spigen usually) with a Zagg InvisibleShield screen protector - the 4 XL is particularly slippery and difficult to grip I'd rather have a phone 0.5 or 1mm thicker and a decent slab of battery in it too. No idea where this obsession with making phone so thin came from, it makes them harder to grip. Then making it slippery to the point a case is a must-have and you've just designed the most pointless phone in the world.

The Pixel 5 looks a bit underwhelming and I really don't like punch-hole cameras. I'd rather have a bit of bezel top and bottom with all the sensors and a pair of front-facing speakers like the 2 XL used to be. In fact looking back, I think that - mediocre screen aside - the 2 XL is probably one of the best phones Google have made. When you have Googlephiles like me (3x Google Home Max, Nest Protect, Nest Thermostat and phone history which includes the Nexus 6P, 2 XL and 4 XL) saying that a phone released 3 years ago is the pinnacle then you really need to have a hard look at what you're churning out.

Looking back up this thread I can see I actually said the same back in March - if someone told me I had to lose the 4 XL and go back to the 2 XL I wouldn't mind in the slightest.

Edit: Oh, and 90% of the apps I use STILL don't support Face Unlock nearly a year after the launch of the phone. Google's Face Unlock is a waste of time (as is the stupid Soli radar crap which I've turned off since a week after I got the phone in order to eke out more battery life ironically).

God I think I actually hate my 4 XL...!

Edited by Funk on Wednesday 19th August 16:57

[AJB88]

Yeh I'm not 100% happy with faceunlock, it works then stops working for no reason at all. Saying that my finger print reader on 2 XL was less reliable than Nexus 6P.

[leglessAlex]

Funk said:

God I think I actually hate my 4 XL...!

I’m definitely not hugely attached to mine, and it really annoys me the lack of other options. Sure, a lot of them are quite personal, but still it feels like the pool of flagship phones is smaller than it used to be.

Oneplus: The Oneplus 3 put me off with quality issues and really, really bad aftersales service. Then the data collecting thing a year later made me swear I’d never buy one of their phones again.

Samsung: Their software is undoubtably miles better than it used to be, but I’m still not a fan, and I’ve never found a launcher I really like.

Huawei: Doubtful Google support.

iPhone: Well, it’s apple isn’t it? But I think in most objective measures it beats the Pixel 4 hands down.

Hard to see past the iPhone spec and performance wise (never thought I’d say that) but lightning connector, and Apple. Sigh.

[Funk]

leglessAlex said:

Funk said:

God I think I actually hate my 4 XL...!

I’m definitely not hugely attached to mine, and it really annoys me the lack of other options. Sure, a lot of them are quite personal, but still it feels like the pool of flagship phones is smaller than it used to be.

Oneplus: The Oneplus 3 put me off with quality issues and really, really bad aftersales service. Then the data collecting thing a year later made me swear I’d never buy one of their phones again.

Samsung: Their software is undoubtably miles better than it used to be, but I’m still not a fan, and I’ve never found a launcher I really like.

Huawei: Doubtful Google support.

iPhone: Well, it’s apple isn’t it? But I think in most objective measures it beats the Pixel 4 hands down.

Hard to see past the iPhone spec and performance wise (never thought I’d say that) but lightning connector, and Apple. Sigh.

That sums up exactly my sentiments. Literally couldn't have put it any better and I even said the same about OnePlus.

How are giants such as Google and Samsung still getting it so wrong?

[AJB88]

I feel the same for me Pixel and iPhone are really the only options. But iPhone is never a consideration when it comes to getting a new phone. Had a play with my mates Samsung the other week (newest Flagship cant remember the name) and yeh the phone is nice but their version of Android is far too skinned.

I've got a Nexus 4 running UBports (formely Ubuntu Touch) shame that the OS never really took off as its so clean. Mobian (Debian for mobile) has better app support but still a long way off mainsteam.

[flight147z]

AJB88 said:

I feel the same for me Pixel and iPhone are really the only options. But iPhone is never a consideration when it comes to getting a new phone. Had a play with my mates Samsung the other week (newest Flagship cant remember the name) and yeh the phone is nice but their version of Android is far too skinned.

I've got a Nexus 4 running UBports (formely Ubuntu Touch) shame that the OS never really took off as its so clean. Mobian (Debian for mobile) has better app support but still a long way off mainsteam.

For years I only bought phones with "stock" software (originally iOS, then I moved to Motorola then OnePlus)

I switched to Huawei at the start of this year as the deals on the P30 Pro were too good to ignore. My OnePlus 6T was only a year old at that point

I have found that I have got used to the custom software really easily and for the most part you don't even notice it. I use Nova Launcher and the only obvious place where you see the Huawei skin is within settings and other menus like that

The significantly improved hardware over the stock Google phones is worth the minor compromises on software in my opinion. I also know I won't have the phone for more than 2 years so I don't care about future updates outside of that window