Google Pixel and Pixel XL

sesevans said:
When I recently joined I was not told by the moderator that in order to be a credible poster here that one had to hold a "slightly negative view of the rumours, build or spec". Is that a new qualification or are you making that up?
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I was merely curious that since joining you have only posted on Google or Android related threads, and all your posts exclusively read like a Google Marketing social media hack, especially the following beauty from the other thread:

sesevans said:
I see that Google has really gone after the iPhone user with hardware and software specs galore, but one really easy feature to capture a hesitant iPhone user must surely be the ease of switching your data over to Android, with the Quick Switch Adapter.
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But, you've convinced me fellow human that you are totally not a robot, and are simply excited about the prospect of the glorious new future that Google will bring us.

Back to the phone... Any thoughts on the bezel size? Lack of SD card slot? Lack of waterproofing? Lack of OIS?
 
I think the 2 biggest misses on the hardware are lack of waterproofing (glass/metal design issue?) and lack of stereo speakers. The design is very bland, but is also not polarising as the 6P was with some people. This is to appeal to the masses, not an internet forum. Time will tell if they get it right, but that's clearly what they're aiming for.


I do find it somewhat amusing that people have been crying out for a premium Google experience phone, then they get one and baulk at the premium price :p
 
thep02 said:
With all due respect if you were actually in the market for a £25 pm contract you weren't really in the market for a 2016 top 3 phone.
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I wasn't in the market for a £25 pm contract. I was in the market for a top end smartphone. It was only when I discovered I could get a 2016 flagship for half the price of an iPhone I made my decision.

The G5 is currently £529.99 Sim Free with CPW. The Galaxy S7 is £549.99
If they were the same price on contract I would have taken the S7 - which is a top 3 phone. I'd have paid the market rate if I needed to. What I didn't feel the need to do was spend money I didn't need to.

With my last upgrade I initially bought an iPhone 6 Plus. I returned it within a couple of days when I discovered I could get the Note 4 for £20 per month less. This was in late October when both phones were new to market.
 
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Scottland said:
I think the 2 biggest misses on the hardware are lack of waterproofing (glass/metal design issue?) and lack of stereo speakers. The design is very bland, but is also not polarising as the 6P was with some people. This is to appeal to the masses, not an internet forum. Time will tell if they get it right, but that's clearly what they're aiming for.


I do find it somewhat amusing that people have been crying out for a premium Google experience phone, then they get one and baulk at the premium price :p
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If it had all the spec's and design I wanted I would have thought about paying the super premium price, but this thing is way off the mark.

1. iPhone clone front, front bezels far too large, don't like the overly rounded corners - Lets have a unique design no?
2. No stereo speakers
3. Prefer bigger than 5.5"

Extras - Give us waterproofing, a second super wide angle camera etc. These things would have justified the super premium price tag.

If those specs were met we'd be getting somewhere. Even then XL 128 FOR £819 is silly. £700 tops.


And people touting best camera on smartphone...even if it was we are talking marginally better than S7, iP7. Not some revolutionary SLR level thing.
 
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BigDannyO said:
I was merely curious that since joining you have only posted on Google or Android related threads, and all your posts exclusively read like a Google Marketing social media hack, especially the following beauty from the other thread:

But, you've convinced me fellow human that you are totally not a robot, and are simply excited about the prospect of the glorious new future that Google will bring us.

Back to the phone... Any thoughts on the bezel size? Lack of SD card slot? Lack of waterproofing? Lack of OIS?
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Why does he have to mention any of those things though? It's clear that they are an issue to you, but if they were an issue to this fellow human then I'm sure they would have mentioned it themselves.
 
Sugnid said:
Why does he have to mention any of those things though? It's clear that they are an issue to you, but if they were an issue to this fellow human then I'm sure they would have mentioned it themselves.
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Yeah yeah but suppressing an urge or not letting rip with his curiosity maaan that would have meant using self control or common politeness.
 
Currently using a nexus 6, thought I would go for an upgrade if this met my requirements.

Not keen on the price. I thought the Nexus 6 (64GB) was expensive at £650 on release. I would want the XL version and probably wouldn't go down to 32GB, so £819 is far too much for me. I generally would like a 2 year phone cycle, so £410 a year is a bit much.

I think the bezel looks better on XL, but I think phones like the Ulefone future and Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus look nicer with screens right to the edge. Screen does look nice from the videos i've seen, but on the white version it does look quite shiny.

Would have ideally wanted Front stereo speakers, not keen on bottom ones.

I've never been too keen on back mounted fingerprint scanners, don't know the implementation or the cost involved, but would be nice to make the whole chin of the phone a finger print scanner.

The whole design is ok in my mind, the back does look strange with the glass top, but it wouldn't bother me, especially since i'd have a case.

I think i'll look at the Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus when some reviews come up, see if it fits the bill. Will be a shame to not have Android 7.1 since i've just got 7.0 on my nexus. But for the sake of £400 pretty much, i can live with it.
 
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I've ended up buying a one plus 3 this morning

I have no illusions that it will be as good as the pixel or as well supported but it's pretty close for a huge amount of money less

I'f one plus can manufacture the hardware for this cost and still make money then why can't Google?

For me at £450-500 they could have got many more sales and built up a reputation and a hardware brand to rival Apple. Which is then when they can charge a premium. Or maybe the android market is just too close for anyone to dominate
 
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@BigDannyO

You are surely right that I am excited about my Pixel purchase and what Google is trying to in terms of changing the paradigm: the post-hardware world where voice interaction rather than touch screen/keyboards predominate. Do I need to draw you a roadmap to connect you up to their gameplan on the fully autonomous car in a few years time? How useful this voice only world will be then!

In that world, bezel size and SD card slots become really quite irrelevant. It is a huge shift/ask and the jury is still out on whether Google can get us all over that threshhold initially on the Pixel. While we are still in the nether world between these two extremes, I am sufficiently encouraged by the design of the Pixel (recall that its history at Google is quality at a high price---viz laptops) to wait to pass judgement when the phone actually arrives. My work and my fun stuff on my Nexus 6 already lives mainly in the Google Cloud and hence memory has really not been an issue for me. As mentioned it is the software, and specifically Google Assistant that holds great promise for my work and play. Assistant will work directly from the Home button or by voice activation, and have contextual awareness, a really big development IMO. Being fully in control of the hardware and esp the software, Google will be able to update the device in the background solving the fragmentation and lack of update problems that beset the vast majority of Android devices. There is a huge amount of difficult work that went into Assistant (which effectively replaced Google Now on Tap) and in effect, Google has found for itself lightning in a bottle: collecting data on services it does not own at the same time improving the user experience. Genius, really. You could not make this stuff up! And just the start as I expect Home to be a real winner of a product with Assistant built in from the ground up.

As to the lack of waterproofing, I see this as being a really narrow market. When was the last time the average Joe took his/her phone underwater? Never really needed it when I contemplated snorkeling on my last trip to the Carribean. I know it is the subject of huge sums being spent on advertising for this feature, but for me----meh.

Sincerely from your fellow human.
 
sesevans said:
As to the lack of waterproofing, I see this as being a really narrow market. When was the last time the average Joe took his/her phone underwater? Never really needed it when I contemplated snorkeling on my last trip to the Carribean. I know it is the subject of huge sums being spent on advertising for this feature, but for me----meh.
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I got absolutely drenched walking the dogs on the weekend, leaving the phone in my pocket sodden. It was fine fortunately, but the added piece of mind that it's not going to succumb to some seasonal weather changes would be nice :p
 
Seriously, read through this guy's posting history, and tell me it doesn't look like someone called Sean or Steve Evans carrying out online marketing work for Google on the forum.
 
BigDannyO said:
Seriously, read through this guy's posting history, and tell me it doesn't look like someone called Sean or Steve Evans carrying out online marketing work for Google on the forum.
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Or someone researching a phone who chances upon what at first glance seems like an intelligent tech forum and stays around chatting anout a phone the price of which isn't at all a negative thus appearing odd to people to whom the price is THE negative of negatives that overpowers all the positives.
 
"andy" said:
I've ended up buying a one plus 3 this morning

I have no illusions that it will be as good as the pixel or as well supported but it's pretty close for a huge amount of money less
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For a start the OP3 is much better looking and feels awesome in the hand. Second, the performance on the thing is blistering and has such great software addons, like customizing the hardware buttons for extra features, i.e long press fingerprint sensor to lock phone.. I have tried out many top end phones, latest being the Note 7 (wife's). And I'd choose the OP3 becuase it's no nicely designed, has stock android and feels great in the hand.

And don't write off the camera. It's goes toe to toe with an iP6S+ and S6 so far from a total disaster. If the OP3 had a 128GB model/sd slot and stereo speakers I would be using it as my daily.
 
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sesevans said:
You are surely right that I am excited about my Pixel purchase and what Google is trying to in terms of changing the paradigm: the post-hardware world where voice interaction rather than touch screen/keyboards predominate. Do I need to draw you a roadmap to connect you up to their gameplan on the fully autonomous car in a few years time? How useful this voice only world will be then!
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Changing the paradigm? Besides sounding like marketing nonsense I'd say they're actually doing the exact opposite by trying to out-Apple Apple.

Your glorious paradigm shift won't even occur within the commercial life span of the Pixel so why should Google get my business for that reason alone?
 
@DeathStorm

Agree the paradigm shift, if it occurs, will take time. In the meantime, as a current Nexus owner--who has bought Nexus phones for many years and found the need to accept compromises along the way, I am really glad to see the arrival of the Pixel in that they have decided to go compete with the top of the line players: Apple and Samsung. And Pixel products at Google have, in the past, been top of the line.

Google Assistant is a real attraction for me. And it will be a Pixel exclusive feature for some time. Fact: There is now no Nexus alternative for me to consider. I have always bought Nexus for the fast updates and the pure Android experience/lack of bloatware.

I want to work with Google Assistant to make my work and play life easier. I am prepared to spend the time to do it because I see a real reward down the road. And any improvement in Assistant beyond what I create will come immediately as an update from Google.

Full disclosure: I do not nor have I ever worked for Google.

For me owning the Pixel seems like it is a win-win. Just sharing my thoughts as I believe I have, as thepO2 says, found an intelligent tech forum. Really appreciate the diversity of opinion here.
 
^^
Just don't go to Graphics card section or GD for that matter :D

e: and to add to the topic

I'm a bit disappointed by the price and almost definitely will not buy Pixel (just yet anyway). Yes the design is a bit simple but I'm actually starting to like it the more I see it. IMO features wise it's got everything essential.
I'm more than happy with 5" screen size, any bigger is a no from me. My gf has OP3 and while a nice phone I hate using it due to its size.
Stereo speaker again no deal breaker to me, hardly ever use a phone speaker.
32gb more than enough for me as well, I have unlimited data and with unlimited cloud storage for pictures there's no problem for me.
Waterproofing would be nice but again I don't see it as essential. In about 15 years of owning mobiles I never had a need for it.
 
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