I received just one. Importantly it has a Transaction number which I plan to use in mid November to get a more accurate read about home deliver estimated on 20 November. You might want to call them if you think your have a duplicate confirm. The number I found is 0870-0870168. Hope that helps.
**** The Official Google Pixel 2/Pixel 2 XL Thread ****
- Thread starter sesevans
- Start date
I received just one. Importantly it has a Transaction number which I plan to use in mid November to get a more accurate read about home deliver estimated on 20 November. You might want to call them if you think your have a duplicate confirm. The number I found is 0870-0870168. Hope that helps.
You might find the DXO Mark review of Google's Pixel camera of interest:
https://www.dxomark.com/google-pixel-2-reviewed-sets-new-record-smartphone-camera-quality/
While Clips is not yet available in the UK (coming soon), I found this 6 minute YouTube video review by The Verge to be helpful in understanding this camera much better. I thought it would have a more direct impact on GoPro at first blush, despite GoPro main use being family gatherings rather than sport action, but might create its own niche.
Clip uses a video processing unit (Myriad 2) built by Intel-owned Movidius to keep the data on the device and save battery consumption. The Myriad 2 is a processor tailor-made to handle machine vision tasks like object recognition, and Movidius claims it’s the “industry’s first always-on vision processor.” Google has previously used this VPU in their Project Tango. The VPU saves on battery as it does not need to be connected to the internet at all times. After watching this video I wonder if the "creepiness" factor some have cited is less of an issue? New way to imagine photography?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w05jWoaIHUs&t=335s
After reading your comment about your shout out for Apple, I thought you might find this comment from an iPhone user on The Verge to be refreshingly different. A few of his comments stand out:
1. Google is "tryingharder" to compete.
2. Unlike Apple, Google has put its Portrait mode achievement into both Pixels whereas for Apple it is only for someone paying top price for the X.
3. Shoot too many pics or videos on Apple and you pay a penalty beyond the sad default of 5GB. On the conference call this week, Google revealed its average users take up 23 GB and get unlimited storage----hence Android users take more pictures.
4. The Pixel 2 XL is the best looking phone since the iPhone 5. I am sure you will disagree.
5. Apple is getting on that users nerves.
Enjoy:
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbre...ogle-pixel-2-vs-apple-iphone-price-tryharding
I have a dream! Remember that famous line by Martin Luther King? Well in my Pixel-related dream, I see myself armed with my Pixel 2 XL and my Pixel Bud headphones doing most things I need to do with my phone in my pocket! (of course not take pics or videos yet--bring back Google Glass version 2).
My Buds will allow me to access a souped-up Google Assistant when I am on the move.
But my point really is quite simple: future wars between OEMs should really be less about hardware and more about how helpful your digital assistant becomes as it learns more and more about you. Enter Pixel Buds. I see screen based interactions moving to more and more voice based (and probably soon gesture based) control. In that world, people really won't care about how their phone looks or feels.
Let the war between Google Assistant, Siri, Alexa etc really begin. Pass the popcorn.
I have found that the best place to get the touch and feel of Google phones, Google Home, all Nest products, Chromebooks, and now many new devices coming such as Home Mini, the Pixel 2's, the Pixelbook, Pixel Buds and soon Google Clip camera, is the Google Store within a store, which are the ones located inside a few main PC World Currys. I prefer the one near Warren Street Station on Tottenham Court Road (the Main Store) but there are at least two others including Fulham/Wandsworth.
Following the launch of the Pixel 2's on 4 October, I stopped by their Main Store and the Google employees in the store had the Pixel 2 to show me, which looked great. They demoed the Google Lens app which was everything that Google said it would be.
Of note, they are redeveloping this main Google Store (ie, the store within a store part) and it is due to open (fully redesigned) and showing all the new Google products on Thursday, 12 October. I expect to stop by at the weekend to view.
If convenient I strongly recommend any fence-sitters to do the same. There is also a Carphone Warehouse within this store if you choose to buy the phones. Carphone expects to have physical stock of the Pixel 2 on the launch date (19 Oct) and on 19 November for the Pixel 2 XL.
Hope that helps.
Right that's it, I've given you the benefit of the doubt previously but come on... that's a sales pitch all day long.
I was addressing GMac11's request to get hands on at a store here with a Pixel 2. That Google Store is the best place I have found.
I do look at what Apple are doing on phones (esp with their new releases) and usually find Macworld a good source for all things Apple. Therefore I was quite surprised to see this article appear in which they basically are saying that as far as Artificial Intelligence/machine learning/voice assistants are concerned, Siri appears to have lost this war with Google big time. Heresy for Macworld to run with this story?
https://www.macworld.com/article/32...nning-the-ai-game-and-its-not-even-close.html
https://www.macworld.com/article/32...nning-the-ai-game-and-its-not-even-close.html
Agree in most cases, which is what makes the new Google Clips camera such an interesting exception to their automatic use of the Google Cloud for making AI in general and Google Assistant in particular such a powerful offering for them.
But take a moment to think of the way they addressed using their AI "chops" with Clips. Here it seems Google is making a big bet in that they are asking you to trust their AI capability in a memorable moment--which for a photographer might not occur again. Google's algorithm is telling Clips what to look out for and when. And of note, this automatic curation intelligence is done on the Clips camera, not up in the Google Cloud.
We will know that this product really works when Pixel uses like us put their phone (with its great camera) down to let Clips operate solo.
If so, does that really matter much? I think that design on many Google products announced last week has improved immensely from their early hardware days (remember those?).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cjVj1ZyzyE
An interesting choice for screen protection for your Pixel 2s:
http://www.globenewswire.com/news-r...-Pixel-2-and-Pixel-2-XL-Phones-by-Google.html
http://www.globenewswire.com/news-r...-Pixel-2-and-Pixel-2-XL-Phones-by-Google.html
I presume we will see them sold in the UK.
http://www.globenewswire.com/news-r...-Pixel-2-and-Pixel-2-XL-Phones-by-Google.html
http://www.globenewswire.com/news-r...-Pixel-2-and-Pixel-2-XL-Phones-by-Google.html
I presume we will see them sold in the UK.
I had a play with the Pixel 2 XL at the Indian spicy food named shop on Tottenham Ct Rd near Warren Street. As I mentioned the other day, they have redesigned the Google Store there and have great displays to allow you to play with both Pixels, the Google Home Mini and the Pixelbook. They have a couple of chairs to sit and watch the full Press launch on screen. My impressions on the things that matter most to me on the Pixel 2 XL:
The phone seemed lighter and easier to manage than my Pixel XL. Reaching the search bar with one hand for example was easy, now that it is relocated at the bottom of the screen. The response times were blazing fast, an improvement over the XL with their higher spec Snapdragon processor. I was told that the battery would give at least as good a daily performance as my XL because the processor manages it better. They were getting a full day of use from their heavily used demo models.
The design was really nice. The smooth edges are delightful to the touch. The P-OLED screen seemed gorgeous compared to my already really nice XL screen. They only had the black, not the Panda style (white) that I ordered.
I played a couple of songs from YouTube on each. No comparison. The two front-facing speakers on the 2 XL leaves last years sound in the dust. The treble and bass notes are clear and full, even in the noisy store environment.
I took a couple of still pictures with both the XL and the 2 XL. The 2 XL is in another league. The colours, the clarity, the depth perception, even in a low light environment for the 2 XL is the best I have ever seen.
Played with Google Lens through Google Photos too and the results were impressive. It identified the type of cactus they had in their plant pot!
Bring on the delivery date.
If you can I recommend a visit to the one on Tottenham Ct Road, at the Warren St Station end (one minute walk from Tube stop). It it is Store within a store and their section has a couple of chairs and a table where you can view the 2 XL at your leisure. I sat with one of the salesmen from the Google Store who handed me his pre-release 2 XL and I had all the time I wanted with it. My comments above were all about the design, the screen, the camera and the sound. There are also two other 2 XL's on the table but they are bolted down. So to have a good chance of filming it, you would probably be best served to chat up the assistant with their phone to lend you. I would certainly look forward to your comments once you have had a chance to put it through its paces. They also have the Google Home Mini and the Pixelbook on the same display tables.
I opted for Google Live Case to customise my Pixel 2 XL. I chose the thin case option as I had the same Live Case on my Pixel XL and get compliments on it all the time. I chose a particularly favourite picture I took with my Pixel XL and stored in my Google Photo cloud library. In fact the case is now out for delivery to me even though I will not be getting the phone for another month or so.
What do you think of the Live Case?
https://store.google.com/category/customizable_live_case
Couldn't resist
I played around with the squeeze feature, I found it's mainly at the bottom left and you only need to press there to activate it there. The phone vibrates like 3D Touch on the iPhone and it feels pretty good.
Did you know that you can adjust the "squeeze" feature to between light to heavy. I set the feature in the middle between the two extremes because:
1. I did not want the feature going off with a very light squeeze which I am sure I do whenever I take the phone out of my pocket or from a table, and
2. I did not need to be a muscle-man to activate the feature!
Concerning the Pixel 2 display screen, anyone else wonder about what the "p" in pOLED is an abbreviation for?
Think "plastic" and think about future possibilities in design vs glass OLED.
http://www.businessinsider.com/what...0/#poled-is-part-of-the-oled-display-family-1
Think "plastic" and think about future possibilities in design vs glass OLED.
http://www.businessinsider.com/what...0/#poled-is-part-of-the-oled-display-family-1
Slightly off topic, did anyone follow the privacy complaints around the Chinese phone company OnePlus with respect to its phones sold outside China?
OnePlus decided to include code in OxygenOS that captured and uploaded: IMEI, serial number, MAC addresses, IMSI and WiFi network data in addition to which apps were being opened and what the user was doing in those apps. This data was being uploaded and analysed by OnePlus without either the knowledge or consent of its users.
OnePlus is a subsidiary of Oppo, like Vivo, and is owned by BK Electronics. Apparently this is not being done however by Oppo, which sells many of its phones outside China.
In China, all services collect and analyse user data without user permission.
Just cultural differences?
https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/15/16479330/oneplus-privacy-complaints-oxygenos-cybersecurity
OnePlus decided to include code in OxygenOS that captured and uploaded: IMEI, serial number, MAC addresses, IMSI and WiFi network data in addition to which apps were being opened and what the user was doing in those apps. This data was being uploaded and analysed by OnePlus without either the knowledge or consent of its users.
OnePlus is a subsidiary of Oppo, like Vivo, and is owned by BK Electronics. Apparently this is not being done however by Oppo, which sells many of its phones outside China.
In China, all services collect and analyse user data without user permission.
Just cultural differences?
https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/15/16479330/oneplus-privacy-complaints-oxygenos-cybersecurity
So I went in to the Google Store this lunch time. Had quite a chat with the manager, nice guy.
He got me one out of the cupboard, so I could sit and play (and film). Video coming soon.
Glad you made it to the Google Store and look forward to watching your video in due course.
I was a little annoyed afterwards, I thought of a few other things I could have tested, like installing Geekbench for example. I actually took my sound and light meters with me, but was taking enough of their time already, so they can wait until I get my own I guess.
Happy to take feedback on the video. Thanks
Enjoyed watching your video very much. I sat in that same seat at the same table as you a few days earlier and had a long play with the Pixel 2 XL as well. Incidentally, the second cactus plant (the one behind the bigger one) works fine with Google Lens---it identifies it immediately as a eucalyptus. I am looking forward to testing the AR features available --- remember they tested it on stage at the release but it does not work on the pre-release phones in the Google Store yet. Perhaps that will drop with a security update (8.0.1?).
As you mentioned it in your video, I expect the Pixelbook to arrive at the end of October by the way. The official release date is 31 October. I plan to play with it in Store.
I agree with you about the camera. It is just amazing on the 2 XL, as I posted. I took the same pictures with my Pixel XL and saw a huge improvement.
The second speaker really makes for a great sound although when the Pixelbuds come out, I expect to listen to music, etc through them.
Agree with you on the Active Edge feature which seemed that I would likely use it too.
I am pleased I ordered the White Pixel 2 XL as the black strip really reminds me of the Panda.
Thanks again for posting and look forward to your unboxing video in November.