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

TheOracle said:
Brilliant video. Would I be right in saying like the original pixel it looks so much better in the flesh.

Ignoring the software, is it worth the upgrade purely based on hardware.
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I think you will need to decide that by yourself. I for one find Pixel hardware a means to deliver its software, esp its AI and machine learning chops and want to get access to all that software now. And yes I understand that it is possible to port over using the Android Package Kit (APK) the apps that are new, which for the average buyer is an unlikely route.

It should be possible to look back in a year when the next Pixel comes out and measure the accomplishment of the 2,000 strong team of hardware engineers bought by Google from HTC and say yes, it is immeasurably better hardware, or not. So you have plenty of justification for waiting if that is what you decide to do.

I found this link helpful in thinking about the question you raise about hardware:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/miguel...erious-about-hardware-heres-why/#508ab7a618fb
 
kona786 said:
The camera is probably the only thing that makes me want this phone. Still for this money it would have been a straight buy if it had a few more features and specs like a wide angle Camera, V30 level headphones jack and 6GB RAM.

Like someone said before, all the specs and performance are now available today, it's just spread across different phones.
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Engadget has a useful summary of features (not all of which I think are essential for my use) comparing the Pixel 2 XL, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, the iPhone X and the iPhone 8+. Pixel 2 XL stacks up really well with what I looked for.

@Azza With all the choice I do not agree there is collusion.

https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/04/google-pixel-2-xl-vs-the-competition/
 
V_R said:
This is very interesting!

Heres another article about it.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...ns-a-custom-google-soc-the-pixel-visual-core/
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Agree. This is really a great addition to the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL and clearly will aid Google in intensive AI/machine learning and probably AR based apps they plan to introduce. This may well set the Pixel 2s apart from the original Pixels and depending on how Google uses this SOC may alone justify the new purchase for many.
 
One of the new features on Pixel 2s that I am looking forward to is a Now Playing function that can display on the lock screen the name and artist of the song that's playing around you, without having to ask.

I do not think that AndyCR15 tested that feature when he recorded his video yesterday? Perhaps it was not available on the pre-release phone? Perhaps it might have told him about any ambient music at the store.

Turn on the feature and Google downloads in the background (over WiFi) a database that allows it to identify tens of thousands of songs. Currently it is favouring the most popular music today.

I am often in a situation where I find this feature useful.......spin class with music blasting for example.
 
Ravster said:
Vlad is a major Pixel fanboy... and watch the Techradar vid I linked above theres a 15 minute section, 10 of which are about the screen...

I'm going to check out a Pixel 2 in person and wait for Mr. Mobile and MKBHD... but at £800 the screen is non-negotiable - it has to be good.
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Google has clearly given a lot of thought to the quality of its screen as this article from 9 to 5 today describes when it comes to fight OLED burn in its always on display:

https://9to5google.com/2017/10/17/google-pixel-2-oled-burn-in-protection/
 
AndyCr15 said:
.........

I don't think we're ever really going to see massive leaps in phone tech now, not until there's maybe a battery break through and we get week long device use. Active edge, dual speakers with thinner bezels, dual pixel camera pixels, IP67 certified, crazy fast FPS (tbc) are probably the size of steps forward we're likely to see each year.

Also, wow, my video is over 5k views already!
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Another hardware feature I think we might see soon is a larger screen on pocket sized devices. As you know, there are a number of devices that are dual screen but I have not been a big fan of these so far. I appreciate that Google Apps can tell when the second screen is active and run in tablet mode across the two screens but I find that because of the bezels, the black line running in the middle of the two devices is very distracting.

I see in future a single screen that can unfold or unroll into a large rigid display that is as good as a tablet. While it has been tried before I am optimistic it can be it resolved in the near future.
 
sesevans said:
Another hardware feature I think we might see soon is a larger screen on pocket sized devices. As you know, there are a number of devices that are dual screen but I have not been a big fan of these so far. I appreciate that Google Apps can tell when the second screen is active and run in tablet mode across the two screens but I find that because of the bezels, the black line running in the middle of the two devices is very distracting.

I see in future a single screen that can unfold or unroll into a large rigid display that is as good as a tablet. While it has been tried before I am optimistic it can be it resolved in the near future.
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Thinking some more about future hardware improvements that AndyCR15 mentioned some posts back, I was also reminded about the well-placed fingerprint sensor on the rear of the Pixel 2 XL (as it was on the Pixel XL) and what "improvements" were achieved by Vivo earlier this year with an under-display fingerprint scanner (many thought Apple would also introduce a similar idea). This post is from June 2017 and it seems that Qualcomm is making advances with its "SenseID" solution.

Having the fingerprint sensor on the front of the device will spare me from having to open the phone sitting on my desk by having to pick it up. Google has great supporting software to help with this because Android's "smart lock" feature allows me to set the phone to automatically unlock by location or paired Bluetooth devices. That means I never have the phone ask for a lock screen challenge in safe, familiar places, like on my desk.

Under-screen scanner.......Convenient and desirable to others too?

https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/28/vivo-qualcomm-under-display-fingerprint-reader/
 
Ravster said:
I went to carphone warehouse today.... unfortunately I spotted all of these issues... its really odd the screen is wildly inconsistent, dull, and overly warm... I'll say this though, I do believe Googles reasoning for sRGB... if you notice inside applications the blues are way more punchy( as opposed to in the home screen/OS general) - clearly this is where the app colour profile takes over.... the whole issue may be at least partly resolvable by software update.

Unfortunately, my decision has been made... performance is amazing but the screen is poor...and ultimately that renders the camera useless as the screen is effectively the viewfinder and the output. I really wanted to love it.
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I wonder if you are making "a mountain out of a mole hill". I too have read about the graininess issue on LG OLED phone screens but wonder if the average user will ever notice unless they are really trained to look for this issue.

Why do I say this?

I have read a number of the reviews and comments. Boiling it down, it seems to me that the most obvious case where this issue is to be noticed is in a dark room with zero percent brightness, which occurs in the "night use" case. When there is a solid background you will see the grain if you look hard at it. If you are not in the night use case, the "grain" is much less noticeable.

In one review I read it said the photos of the "grain" are meant to be exaggerated comparisons rather than a realistic representation of what the screen looks like in the dark. So I ask myself, how useful is this in general for most users and how useful is this really in my use case. I do not intend to use the phone mainly in the night use case, in fact I use it in this case rarely. I do like to sleep at night and not view my phone with such a critical eye.

When I saw the screen up close the other day (during the day) I was very pleased with it. Each person will need to decide this issue themselves but for me the "grain" issue is a non-issue.
 
GeX said:
My non XL arrived today, woot woot!
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Great news! I hope you enjoy it as much as I will enjoy my XL when it arrives next month.

One area that I am really looking forward to playing with is Google's growing efforts with AR (artificial reality) apps, which will become increasingly evident with Google Lens. As you may recall, Google's AR efforts are based on their ARCore platform which they are offering to devs to build upon.

Therefore I was pleased that Samsung, which often goes its own way on software (ahem!) has today partnered with Google to bring ARCore to Galaxy devices, rather than attempting to fragment Android AR. This should be a huge boost for ARCore and I look forward to growing dev interest and apps.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/18...-google-ar-core-partnership-augmented-reality
 
V_R said:
The display, its all about the display right now. I'd like to see some more pics of the screen from a side on angle (blue tint) close up (the grain) low brightness on a grey background (the uniformity).

I'm intending to go into CPW when I can that may be tomorrow or the weekend too so it would be interesting to see if its a random thing or if all units are affected. :)

Pro tip: Nova Launcher.
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So its "all about the display right now."

Yesterday I mentioned after reading the reviews and comments around the web that this issue is the classic "mountain out of a molehill". CNET this morning backs my view.

A couple of observations from reading their post after they studied the issue closely with actual screen comparisons:

1. You would have to be a pixel nerd to observe any issues here except maybe in the "night mode" situation.

2. It may be that the initial batch of pre-release phones have an issue that will quickly be corrected with further runs by LG. The LG V30, which uses pOLED, did not have the issue. The cite as an example of this with an earlier iPhone.

Much ado about nothing.

https://www.cnet.com/au/news/pixel-2-xl-p-oled-screen-issue/
 
kona786 said:
https://youtu.be/EqDDYFyxZYo

The blue tint when tilting is pretty terrible.

And before people say I only view the screen head on, the blue tint starts almost immediately off axis. Plus when sharing the screen with others etc... Poor show.
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I think you can chill now! Google is on the case. They confirmed people’s complaints on the 2 XL display and will “look into” adding more options to control the colors on its display. It said today:

"We designed the Pixel 2 to take advantage of multiple facets of the innovative new POLED technology, including QHD+ resolution with 538 pixels per inch as well as a wide color gamut. One of our design intents was to achieve a more natural and accurate rendition of colors. We know that some people prefer more vivid colors, so we’ve added an option to boost colors by 10% for more saturation. We’ll continue to pay close attention to people’s responses to Pixel, and we will consider adding more display color options through software if that makes the product better."
 
Has anyone received their Google Home Mini yet with the Pixel 2 deliveries? For the Google Home newbies (there is a separate thread on Overclockers for Google Home), here are some of the fun things Google suggests you can do on your new Mini:

"


  1. Find my phone: When you lose your phone in the couch cushions, your Assistant can find it for you. “Hey Google, find my phone” will ring your Android phone (even if it’s on silent) or your iPhone.
  2. Set a sleep timer: Fall asleep to the sweet sounds of your favorite music or podcast by saying, “Hey Google, set a sleep timer for 30 minutes.”
  3. Play news by voice on your TV: Stay on top of current events with YouTube news playlists from sources like ABC, Fox and NBC. With a Chromecast-connected TV, you can ask say: “Hey Google, play the news on my TV” or “Ok Google, play sports news on my TV.”
  4. Turn the TV on and off: With Google Home, Chromecast, and a compatible TV you can just say “Hey Google, turn off the TV.”
  5. Enable night mode: In night mode, Mini’s lights dim and the volume lowers so that you you don’t disturb others in your household when it’s late (or early).
  6. Set a default TV or speaker: Choose a Chromecast-connected TV to be your default screen, so you don’t need to mention the device's name in your voice command. When you say “Play yoga videos,” they’ll play on the TV you’ve set as the default. It works the same way for speakers connected to Chromecast Audio—you can designate a group of speakers that cover several rooms (“first floor,” for example) as the default."
 
GMac11 said:
I fully intend to! I had the original Pixel launcher installed on my S6 Edge+ before I moved to the pixel itself and it seemed to work pretty well.

I don't use a lot of apps from day to day so that might help with any lag issues. Even on my 32gb XL I still have 19gb of free space!

I'm really not liking the idea of the Bixby button though. I know it can be disabled but that means there's a completely obsolete button on a phone that's supposed to be as sleek as possible. I've no intention of every using Bixby as being with the Pixel for the last year I'm very much used to Google Assistant.
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Try as hard as it might, my impression of Samsung remains as a premier hardware company and follower and jump on the latest bandwagon software company. Most of their offering is bloatware.

The Bixby button illustrates this point well. They started off attempting to compete with Google Assistant, making massive promises only to then restrict their solution to South Korea due to language translation issues. Then they rolled out Bixby late and joined the me-too category.

Samsung generates the kinds of profit margins it does from its hardware business....memory chips, display screens, etc. It generates huge volumes of phones sold. It relies on Google software expertise to make their Android phones work. Google skills at AI are world leading and Samsung is simply too far behind to make an impact.

I was pleased to see that they have recently agreed to adopt Google's ARCore technology for Artificial Reality apps on Android devices rather than try to reinvent the wheel here too. Imagine another button next to Bixby for AR created by Samsung? The world dodged a bullet on that idea.
 
The reviews of the Pixel 2 now including a new feature that I care about because I intend to buy a Bluetooth headset for my Pixel 2 XL expected. This is mostly new to Android and offered first in Oreo.

For those who have the new Pixel 2 and Bluetooth headphones have you noticed that the new Pixel displays the remaining battery life of the headphones in Quick Settings?

For example this works for Bose headphones and presumably any headphones in the "Made for Google" collection. I intend to buy the Pixel Buds when they appear on these shores so presume that this new feature will allow me to easily read my Pixel Bud battery percentage when using them.
 
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