**** The Official Google Pixel 2/Pixel 2 XL Thread ****

[LiE]

I've recently installed Nova launcher on my Pixel 2, anyone else done this? I like the Pixel Launcher but the added options and the ability to use custom icons are a big draw. As far as I know, the only thing you loose is the swipe left to see curated news/at a glance.

 

[michty_me]

I stopped using the news feature as soon as they removed the ability to swipe away the cards. It became too clumsy clicked the dots then selecting why you don't want to see it anymore.

 

[Rezident]

My Pixel 2 XL does not seem to charge at all over USB 2 – is that right?

It charges fine (very quickly actually) when I plug it into a USB 3 port on my PC (faster than plugging it in to a socket for some reason, the charger than came with it is just too slow for me).

However, plugging it into my work laptop (usb 2 only) with the same cable it says ‘charging slowly’ but it’s actually not charging at all. It has been stuck on 33% for the last two hours, it has not gone up at all. Yes the cable works fine at home and the charging symbol is on the battery icon. Why does it say ‘charging slowly’ and not charge at all?

 

[V_R]

I've recently installed Nova launcher on my Pixel 2, anyone else done this? I like the Pixel Launcher but the added options and the ability to use custom icons are a big draw. As far as I know, the only thing you loose is the swipe left to see curated news/at a glance.

First thing I do is install Nova Launcher. The Google one is ok, but I miss certain features of Nova that I can't live without.

Also: https://help.teslacoilapps.com/nowcompanion

 

[jamief]

My Pixel 2 XL does not seem to charge at all over USB 2 – is that right?

It charges fine (very quickly actually) when I plug it into a USB 3 port on my PC (faster than plugging it in to a socket for some reason, the charger than came with it is just too slow for me).

However, plugging it into my work laptop (usb 2 only) with the same cable it says ‘charging slowly’ but it’s actually not charging at all. It has been stuck on 33% for the last two hours, it has not gone up at all. Yes the cable works fine at home and the charging symbol is on the battery icon. Why does it say ‘charging slowly’ and not charge at all?

Your laptop must be charging at a rate lower than (or equal to) the rate the battery discharges at.

 

[chanjy]

My Pixel 2 XL does not seem to charge at all over USB 2 – is that right?

It charges fine (very quickly actually) when I plug it into a USB 3 port on my PC (faster than plugging it in to a socket for some reason, the charger than came with it is just too slow for me).

However, plugging it into my work laptop (usb 2 only) with the same cable it says ‘charging slowly’ but it’s actually not charging at all. It has been stuck on 33% for the last two hours, it has not gone up at all. Yes the cable works fine at home and the charging symbol is on the battery icon. Why does it say ‘charging slowly’ and not charge at all?

USB2 standard is limited to a max current of 0.5A so it'll be barely a trickle. If it hasn't gone down in 2 hours then it must be supplying just as much as it's consuming!

USB-C standard is 3A max for comparison - so 6 times greater

 

[chanjy]

This is quite a nice writeup

https://www.androidauthority.com/usb-power-delivery-806266/

 

[Rezident]

USB2 standard is limited to a max current of 0.5A so it'll be barely a trickle. If it hasn't gone down in 2 hours then it must be supplying just as much as it's consuming!

USB-C standard is 3A max for comparison - so 6 times greater

Wait, I just came back after lunch and it has gone up to 35%! So that's over 3 hours to recharge 2% of battery. Wow, ok didn't know the laptop was that rubbish, desktops FTW. Cheers.

 

[LiE]

Spotify seems to be nuking my battery recently. I'm not playing anything on my phone, but I am on my desktop. So a notification does appear on my phone displaying the track I'm playing on my desktop which is normal. So far today it's drained 35% of my battery!

I've cleared the cache, hopefully it will help. Anyone else noticed this?

 

[Matteysan]

Feb OTA helps with the adaptor, but it's still not 100%.

Updated to Feb but it still does it just as bad, Maybe I have a wonky adapter, Problem is I didn't buy it directly from Google, I got it from PCworld/Carphonewarehouse.

Anyone here got in touch with Google about replacing an Adapter from a phone bought from Carphone? I really don't want to send it all off to SBE like my other Google phones.

[Edit:- Contacted Google through the Pixel help page on the browser & i'm having a new adapter sent, Very quick & very polite too!]

 

[LiE]

Updated to Feb but it still does it just as bad, Maybe I have a wonky adapter, Problem is I didn't buy it directly from Google, I got it from PCworld/Carphonewarehouse.

Anyone here got in touch with Google about replacing an Adapter from a phone bought from Carphone? I really don't want to send it all off to SBE like my other Google phones.

yea it's really quite poor. I have to wiggle the adaptor until it connects. S

 

[Matteysan]

yea it's really quite poor. I have to wiggle the adaptor until it connects. S

I have to do that also, But from time to time it'll start playing out the speakers & the only way to get it back through the adapter is a restart.

Hopefully the new adapter will fix the issue completely, If not it was worth a try.

 

[funguST]

Trying Bluetooth for the first time. Doesn't seem to work, trying it with a selfie stick of all things. Works instantly with an iPhone 6 but th pixel 2. Pair first time fine but wouldn't connect, forgot the device and no it won't even attempt to pair.

Any ideas? Done the normal things like power cycling phone, device, Bluetooth even dropped it into flight mode for a few minutes before taking it out. Doh, guess it's fate telling not to take selfies on holiday!

 

[Pyr0m@nI@]{]

It pains me to say this, but I doubt I'll be keeping the 2 XL I picked up from CPW yesterday
I had really hoped the screen wouldn't bother me so much...

The blue shift when angling the phone isn't bad at all, but the smearing of text when scrolling in low light, low brightness has got to be the worst I've ever experienced, making red text seem to disappear.
Also, the black crush in videos just completely ruins them.

If they ever manage to improve the screen via software I would consider another as I cannot fault the performance, the photos look very nice, and I really like stock android, how quickly it gets updates and also how easy it is to root/customise etc.

If I even knew it would be fixed in due time, I might even put up with it for a while, but with zero info I don't want to be stuck with it for the lifetime of the device.

I hope the s9's are decent but I despise knox My S7e is still unrooted

[edit] the Screen Balance app on the playstore seems to help a little with the black crush
[edit] saturation mode helps a little too, but makes colours just a little too bright.
Wondering if a custom kernel with KCAL would help
[edit] no issues with headphones cutting out, but only tested for about 10 mins

 

[GMac11]

You're not wrong however the black smearing/crush is probably the issue that bothers me the least. For it to be really noticeable on mine I need to have brightness turned down to 0% AND have nightlight on - these particular circumstances only occur when I'm having a quick 10 minute browse before going to sleep so in that regard I'm not all that bothered. Anything above approx 10% brightness and the smearing/crush is non existent.

 

[Pyr0m@nI@]{]

Thanks @GMac11 I've been tinkering with the adaptive brightness setting today, and I think it was making the screen a little too dim.

With Adaptive enabled, if I set it to 60%, this seems to give me the equivalent of around 5% (with adaptive disabled) in low light which massively reduces the smearing and I can still see red text when scrolled.

The web browsing was more important to me than the videos tbh, and I'd still like to see some more display options, but I think I might keep it after all.

Reading about unlocking earlier and now trying to motivate myself into rooting/flashing a custom kernel, but the thought of resetting and going through setting it all up again is putting me off lol

 

[GMac11]

The adaptive brightness has really gone to pot since the Oreo update, it was the same even on my Pixel 1 XL after it updated. I just keep the AD turned off now which is a shame as it was really good up until now.

 

[djay]

Purchased a Pixel 2 XL direct from Google on the 10th Feb for £849 and just noticed, as mentioned here previously that CPW have them at £729. So I contacted Google to see if they would price match and they have said they are not running any price matching currently and could not help me further. I asked if i could return the phone for a full refund so I can get buy one from CPW and they were fine about it. To be honest i'm pretty gutted they wouldn't just price match!

 

[Pyr0m@nI@]{]

Purchased a Pixel 2 XL direct from Google on the 10th Feb for £849 and just noticed, as mentioned here previously that CPW have them at £729. So I contacted Google to see if they would price match and they have said they are not running any price matching currently and could not help me further. I asked if i could return the phone for a full refund so I can get buy one from CPW and they were fine about it. To be honest i'm pretty gutted they wouldn't just price match!

That's crazy, surely google have authorised the discounts at CPW? *shrug*

 

[iBSOD]

The included audio adapter finally broke. Looks like the only place I can buy the official one is from Google's website which has 5 day delivery Any way I can get one a lot quicker?