Google Pixel and Pixel XL

I've only had mine a week or so but pretty much what everyone else has said, it is great. There is something about the screen that there seems to be a semi matte look to it, at least to me. The phone feels fantastic in the hand and is gorgeous.

The camera is also fantastic.

The only drawback would be price, in my opinion they have only priced it that way to directly compete with the iphone and no other reason than to match apple for scalping. There are much cheaper devices with similar spec like the 3T and many of the older nexus devices were much cheaper even though they were cutting edge.

And for the price there are a few features I would have really liked, some of the features which the iphone has but the pixel doesn't like using the front facing speaker for media audio as well as the bottom firing one and full water/dust resistance.

Xenia Onatopp said:

full water/dust resistance.

Click to expand...

I want a Pixel/XL, but this is the one feature I crave after owning an S7. For the price, I cannot justify the Pixel for this sole reason.

thewanted said:

I want a Pixel/XL, but this is the one feature I crave after owning an S7. For the price, I cannot justify the Pixel for this sole reason.

Click to expand...

I was used to having it from m xperia Z3 but although it gives a peace of mind there has never been a situation where it has been needed for me.

I probably wouldn't have gone for it if I didn't get a discount from EE on my bills. I got it on contract, without the discount £50+ a month is a bit much.

Xenia Onatopp said:

I was used to having it from m xperia Z3 but although it gives a peace of mind there has never been a situation where it has been needed for me.

I probably wouldn't have gone for it if I didn't get a discount from EE on my bills. I got it on contract, without the discount £50+ a month is a bit much.

Click to expand...

I've never damaged a phone myself through water damage, but a friend spilled a cocktail on me last year and my S7 only survived because it's waterproof/resistant. Running it under the tap afterwards also fixed the volume buttons because they were sticking.

My girlfriend killed her iPhone 6 last year whilst doing a long distance walk in the rain. Had it been waterproof, we wouldn't need to be replacing it right now

I agree with £50+/month being too much. It's reached a point where phones cost as much as laptops which is fairly insane.

@thewanted:
"I agree with £50+/month being too much. It's reached a point where phones cost as much as laptops which is fairly insane"

There is clearly a sweet spot for phone pricing at price points below Pixel and Apple and high end Samsung phones.

Last year, Google decided to ditch the Nexus phone (long associated with value, a pure Android experience, but with some compromises--esp around battery life and camera quality) in favour of the high end Pixel (no compromises, pure Android experience and huge ad spend to back up this launch unlike their low key approach to ads when Nexus existed).

But somewhere in Google, the idea sprouted about the Android One phone for developing countries (eg India, Indonesia, etc) which at $ 100-200 price points, combined the pure Android experience, compromises on quality of hardware but complete Google control over software and updates. Initially Google controlled Android One tightly but manufacturers esp in India complained about low profitability when Android updates were required. So Google provides guidance now to these third party manufacturers rather than complete control.

So yesterday it was announced that Android One is coming to the US, at the slightly higher price point of $ 200-$ 300 and probably manufactured for Google by LG or HTC rather than QMobile, Cherry or Micromax (used for emerging markets).

To me this seems like a Nexus-like reincarnation and I would expect these Android One Western version phones to make it to the UK soon thereafter.

Perhaps this will make some who hesitated on the Pixel purchase and who were disappointed with the demise of Nexus, a little happier. Google has said that they are prepared to put huge ad money behind the US launch of Android One, much like they did for the Pixel.

I expect Google Assistant to be featured prominently in the Android One launch too. Google originally launched Google Assistant exclusively to the Pixel. Google clearly wants to expand Google Assistant beyond the Pixel this year.

https://www.theinformation.com/googles-new-stab-at-boosting-android-brand-in-u-s

Expect a highly competitive smartphone market next year.

AndyCr15 said:

So Brodit where very kind and sent me an Active Mount for the XL to review. I let my phone run down overnight and used the new mount as I SatNav'd and listed to podcasts Xmas morning on my 3 hour drive to the relatives.

I was a little surprised, starting at 22% I was down to 13% within around 20 minutes...

Luckily I had a difference USB C cable in my glove box (how geeky is that?) which let it charge at full whack.

Click to expand...

So, as they've done in the past, they sent me a new cable and things seemed much better. It now charged at AC rather than USB.


If money isn't much of an issue and you drive a lot, you can't beat the Brodit.

Wave 7 research indicates that Google shipped an impressive 600,000 Pixel phone devices in Q4 2016 in the US, where it has been sold out for some time.

Clearly demand has exceeded supply. We know that the Pixel is exclusive with Verizon in the US and made up 12% of their Q4 activations.

Clearly the out of stock situation shows that Google has been unable to obtain sufficient supply in time to take advantage fully of the Samsung Note 7 fiasco.

took the plunge and bought one from smartfone which was locked to ee, ive had a few phones in the past from them supposedly locked but weren't so was a bit of a gamble, anyway it arrived and yes it is indeed locked to ee, I phoned them and they wouldn't entertain an unlock till end of may so looks like it will be going back, shame as I really like it, having said that I don't think 32gb would have cut it for me so will wait for the 128gb ones again but at least ive been able to have a play

This phone costs just as much as a titan X pascal or a PG348Q 34" curved 3440 monitor. I wasn't awfully impressed by the specs, but being a google phone might be a pure android experience?

John7up said:

but being a google phone might be a pure android experience?

Click to expand...

Ya think?

Bradmax57 said:

took the plunge and bought one from smartfone which was locked to ee, ive had a few phones in the past from them supposedly locked but weren't so was a bit of a gamble, anyway it arrived and yes it is indeed locked to ee, I phoned them and they wouldn't entertain an unlock till end of may so looks like it will be going back, shame as I really like it, having said that I don't think 32gb would have cut it for me so will wait for the 128gb ones again but at least ive been able to have a play

Click to expand...

I have just had a look at this shop? Is it a reliable place to buy from?

lucky13 said:

I have just had a look at this shop? Is it a reliable place to buy from?

Click to expand...

Yes I've bought quite a few phones from then. Quick delivery and hassle free returns of your not happy for any reason

What's people experiences with screen protectors for the XL I hate them personally but have an XL on order do probably best use one. Any recommendations?

TripleT said:

What's people experiences with screen protectors for the XL I hate them personally but have an XL on order do probably best use one. Any recommendations?

Click to expand...

I got the G-Color tempered glass screen protector and it's great. It comes in a pack of 2 with all the bits and bobs needed for a successful fitting.

It doesn't cover the entire face, approx 2mm round the edges is not covered as you may see some reviews complaining about but this is actually a very clever feature as it means a case will not interfere with it.

Got it off the rainforest for £6.99 by the way.

John7up said:

This phone costs just as much as a titan X pascal or a PG348Q 34" curved 3440 monitor. I wasn't awfully impressed by the specs, but being a google phone might be a pure android experience?

Click to expand...

You've certainly exaggerated the price a bit there. One thing I would add that others haven't mentioned, the 32GB was a concern for me as I thought I would fill it quickly but I couldn't resist the Pixel 32GB for £529. Now that I've used it a fair bit I'm glad I saved the cash because the free cloud storage for photos and videos makes a massive difference. I just freed up almost 8GB of space after a recent holiday.

AndyCr15 said:

So, as they've done in the past, they sent me a new cable and things seemed much better. It now charged at AC rather than USB.

If money isn't much of an issue and you drive a lot, you can't beat the Brodit.

Click to expand...

THANKS FOr your video. i like that each holder you can get the correct mount for your vehicle. my biggest issue is that fugly sticker on the front. lovely black holder with a white sticker with some stupid ugly logo on front. why they do that i don't know. can it be removed without leaving a visible missing sticker?

Couldn't tell you sorry, I've never tried as it's not something I've even thought about doing tbh.

I finally caved and got one of these last week. I probably wouldn't have if I hadn't dropped my 6p over Christmas and introduced a small crack at the very top of the screen.

I'm really really impressed with the battery life, 6.5hours SOT yesterday and it just hit 10% battery remaining, it is easily lasting my working day of 0600 - 2300 (time I will use it, not working hours!) Played Spotify for about 2 hours, in and out of games and web surfing a lot.

Caved myself as well... dropped my N6P into herself's hands recently and she's nicking that, and although the Honor 8 is brilliant, I can't deal with the size of it, I'land have a network upgrade, so an XL it is!

I am still waiting for a good deal. Out of contract at the minute but I know I will want the pixel 2 at some point !