VLC or my vote would be MXplayer
**** The Official Google Pixel 2/Pixel 2 XL Thread ****
- Thread starter sesevans
- Start date
VLC or my vote would be MXplayer
Soldato
- Joined
- 16 Jan 2003
- Posts
- 10,820
- Location
- Nottingham
Breaking news someone who only used an iPhone and no other Apple devices and who also used mostly Google services had no issues switching to Android!
Take this back to your Google masters sesevans. One issue I see that is holding google back from really cracking the market is the relative lack of cases and accessories be it official or third party. Just had a stroll currys/cpw and the plethora of apple accessories is plain to see. Samsung were late to the party in that regard also but they've been slowly catching up. Google need to get the pixel to the point where you can walk into a generic pound themed store and see cases/screen protectors etc (granted I know it's cheap tat) but if you want to be a market leader you need presence.
The lack of decent screen protectors, even third party ones online, is disappointing
As long as we're discussing cases, i'm very happy with my Spigen liquid crystal case. In the past i have opted for the neo hybrid case which offers more protection but after reading reviews online i chose the liquid crystal because the neo's downfall was it wasn't 'grippy' enough. I can confirm that i had the neo hybrid for my Samsung S7 and it wasn't as grippy as i would have liked.
I looked at the Googles audio book offering and while the initial offer is good (50% off first order) there is nothing that would make me choose Google over Audible. I am going to take advantage of the offer to buy Guy Martin's book for £3.99, it's just a shame Guy isn't reading it.
I looked at the Googles audio book offering and while the initial offer is good (50% off first order) there is nothing that would make me choose Google over Audible. I am going to take advantage of the offer to buy Guy Martin's book for £3.99, it's just a shame Guy isn't reading it.
The only good ones seem to be loca based, the whitestone for £40 or there is one called invishield true fit for about £25 from singapore, i'm tempted go with invisshield. I'm happy with £25 as i expect this phone last me 2 maybe 3 years if i'm lucky.
That's a good thing. Screen protectors are utter gash. Why place cheap plastic over engineered glass?
Android global market share is approx 87% of all smartphones and Apple global market share is approx 12%. There are millions of Apple iPhone users that use many Google services on Apple devices and who do not switch. For example Google search is native to Apple iPhones. Many Apple owners use Google Maps, etc. The fact that the blogger in the Medium link I provided decided to switch from iPhone 7 to Pixel 2 XL and has had a very good experience and decided the switch was simple is news worthy.
Google seems to have given lots of thought to easing the switchover for an iPhone user and in this case it worked well.
Time will tell. Clearly Google believes there is a big market for Google Play Store Audio books and I see their service, heavily dependent on AI/machine learning, as a work in progress that will continue to get better.
Clearly Google saw an opening in the market after ceding a 10 year head start to Amazon. And where Google goes, does Apple follow? Yes, competition is great.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...to-ready-revamped-e-books-push-against-amazon
Soldato
- Joined
- 16 Jan 2003
- Posts
- 10,820
- Location
- Nottingham
Tell me how simple it would be to switch to a Pixel if the user also had a Mac, an Apple Watch and an iPad and a bunch of iTunes content.
My point being was that the user in question wasn’t invested in the Apple ecosystem so the switch was simple.
Last edited:
Apple aren't giving any narrative about it being difficult to switch to Android.
You're making this up. You'll barely find them mentioning Android at all. They just pretend it doesn't exist.
Err, no. Every quarter, Apple management make a point of telling the world how loyal their user base is and how few iPhone users have switched to Android.
The recent 'whats in their pockets' YouTube video was interesting (I think it might have been posted earlier) in that the Pixel 2 XL won out over the iPhone X 4 to 3 I think and two of the iPhone users basically said they wouldn't switch because of iMessage, but almost couldn't then explain why... Mainly about the simplicity of having it on every device... a bit like Hangouts... which is cross platform...
Arguing and getting people to switch is such a low level point. At the end of the day people become fans of a product like supporting a football club. A Liverpool fan won't convince a man utd supporter to swap side.
Best to embrace what suits your needs. I am a massive android fanboy. That's why I always have a nexus / pixel.
But when it comes to tablets it's iPad or nothing for me.
Best to embrace what suits your needs. I am a massive android fanboy. That's why I always have a nexus / pixel.
But when it comes to tablets it's iPad or nothing for me.
Associate
- Joined
- 17 Jan 2015
- Posts
- 1,547
I'm the same, I like the Pixel 2 XL, it's not perfect but I much prefer it to the iPhone, but I have an iPad Pro as a tablet, and I don't need a laptop anymore with that thing around. It would be better if they (P2XL and iPad) integrated more tightly, but that's to be expected, weirdly though, the Pixel C I had was no better in that regard despite sharing the same OS, and it was a shambles in comparison with an iPad Pro.
Associate
- Joined
- 31 May 2004
- Posts
- 1,860
- Location
- The 'Toon, UK, in Europe
And there we have it... Took me a couple of swaps to realise! The iPad Pro is pretty much it...
OK Google's blind faith in here, and the trips into the iPhone thread, well that just smacks of snorting far too much Kool-aid and following the corporate playbook a little too closely.
We've not got the complete vertical integration, but by jingo this Pixel camera destroys the iPhones in day to day use, and the fact I'm typing this on an iPad says everything about the ecosystem. I'll not go down the audiobooks argument, as that's done, and Amazon have the better product... Google won't have the better product there, unless they keep throwing money and resource at it, like they did with Google+ <look, squirrel>
I'm really impressed by the XL battery. Always have 20-30% left when I go to bed and they includes browsing and listening to Spotify for a large part of the day.
I fully understand your opinion about the "complete vertical integration"/ecosystem and why you use your Pixel phone and your iPad in combination. I appreciate that you have found a great tablet from Google to be a true hole in their line-up. But then again, I see my Pixel 2 XL as a mini-tablet and with GA and voice recognition capabilities built in, I find little need for a tablet at this time.
But I think you are being too pessimistic in your outlook on hardware and apps like Play Store audiobooks. Google has had a few false starts on hardware for sure but seems to be making progress. It completely changed its approach to hardware. While I agree that it is "throwing money and resource at it", it seems far too early to write things off. There are going to be ups and downs whenever you take risks but the ups so far seem to outweigh the downs on hardware. The Pixel first gen and the Pixel second gen show illustrate my point. In the second gen Pixel we had the issue of the blue tint screen for example (a complete non-issue in the end for many of us) but I expect the negative publicity surrounding it outweighed what I consider to be the best features of the Pixel 2: the improvements in Google Assistant, the great camera (a single lens with AI that allows for things like the great Portrait mode) and Google Lens (which I have been using a lot recently and the improvements are apparent---it keeps getting better). And the single lens with AI means that it frees up more space on the phone for other features. So if you look past the early "mis-steps" on hardware, it is possible to see a bright future for them in hardware: Pixel phones, Google Home, Pixel Buds (yes I know my opinion is in the minority), Nest thermostats and cameras, etc.
On the hardware front I expect we may see some further improvements and some interesting new intros at I/O in May. Did you notice for example the recent hire of Phil Harrison? This link discusses why a game industry vet like Harrison might want to join Google:
https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/22/why-would-game-industry-veteran-phil-harrison-join-google/
If Google is able to make good on its mission of being an AI-first company, seeding AI into everything it does, I expect greater success than you.
Last edited: