I guess my only concern is the price. Is there a limit you guys would say 'no thanks' to? I paid £820 last year for the 128GB XL and still wonder if I should have. If they have a 64GB version at £800 or under, I'm probably a definite. If it reaches £900, I think I might pass.
**** The Official Google Pixel 2/Pixel 2 XL Thread ****
- Thread starter sesevans
- Start date
I assume that the Pixel 2 XL will be the same or slightly more costly than last year's Pixel 2. Your price assumption therefore seems reasonable.
At £ 900, it would be less expensive than the iPhone X (announced starting price in USA of $ 999 is equivalent today to £ 757), but of course, we know that when a US price of $999 is announced, it is much higher here due to tax! And sure enough, I saw this quote in the UK press today: "Apple will release two versions, a 64GB version, which will start at £999, and a more expensive 256GB version for £1,149 - ushering in the era of the £1,000 smartphone."
I assume Google will watch the uptake (ie, pre-delivery demand) of the iPhone X here before it announces a price however. I assume that most people in the UK do not look at the total cost of ownership however because they buy phones on contract, unlike many buyers on this website who seem to pay cash up front. Many buy cars on finance, appliances on finance so I guess it might be relatively easy for Apple to get the UK carriers to come out with an attractive monthly price plan that probably competes with what we are all used to paying monthly for services such as high speed broadband/TV bundled services from BT or Virgin?
Looks like its 4th October for the launch date of Pixel 2s and other products, which would be the one year anniversary of the original Pixel. This sign spotted in Boston, USA today:
https://9to5google.files.wordpress....ease.jpg?quality=82&strip=all&w=743&strip=all
** No Hotlinking **
Rumours of additional releases on 4 October point to Google Assistant powered headphones, a smaller Google Home and a Chromebook Pixel. Confirmation expected soon.
https://9to5google.files.wordpress....ease.jpg?quality=82&strip=all&w=743&strip=all
** No Hotlinking **
Rumours of additional releases on 4 October point to Google Assistant powered headphones, a smaller Google Home and a Chromebook Pixel. Confirmation expected soon.
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I'm not so sure about the DAC because it won't have a headphone jack, and Google are also releasing high end bluetooth headphones around the same time as well, probably at the same event on October. 4th.
Hopefully this isn't priced stupidly high but given the trend of ever increasing prices for flagship devices..... it probably will be 
If it is more than £600 for the base/smallest model, I'll just get a GS 8, will miss fast and guaranteed updates etc. but I refuse to be ripped off.....
If it is more than £600 for the base/smallest model, I'll just get a GS 8, will miss fast and guaranteed updates etc. but I refuse to be ripped off.....I'm hoping for a few more clear leaks before the 4th of October so that I can decide between holding out for a Pixel 2 XL or trying to get a retention deal on my contract upgrade for a Note 8. I won't use the S-Pen and the battery life is a bit suspect from early reviews but that screen and the camera improvements are tempting. I wish Samsung would just do a Google Play Edition of the S8+ which would be ideal with fast updates and no duplicate Samsung apps for literally everything that Android/Google already does fairly well (app store, calendar, launcher, etc) but I won't hold my breath.
Soldato
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Hopefully this isn't priced stupidly high but given the trend of ever increasing prices for flagship devices..... it probably will be
Google really will be taking the **** if the XL is over £700. The leaks indicate nothing more than a run of the mil spec bump. My prediction will be that it's the same phone as the original XL with a snapdragon 835 and a screen from the LG G6. You can probably assume general spec bumps here and there. Question, if that is true how would you all feel about it? I'm quite alarmed peoples expectations are getting lower each year yet they spend more money.
I'm not fearful about the headphone jack. Hopefully with that mega thread on the google forums the engineers can get it working before the Pixel 2 is released.
I think you'll be very disappointed if you think it'll be under £700, they *might* just sneak in a 64GB entry level one for £699 but I can't see even that happening in the current market.
I think the XL is rumoured to have the screen from the LG V30 (OLED) rather than the G6 (LCD)
Again I think you might be disappointed, usually this sort of stuff is decided months prior to product launch and is unlikely to be an easy change, even if they wanted to do it. Apple as usual has set the mainstream expectations by removing the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 last year so it's only a matter of time before the majority of new high end phones ditch it too.
Soldato
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No I mean I'm not bothered about them removing it. I have a pair of bose qc35 so I'm good.
If the British Pound continues to strengthen against the US Dollar, I wonder if we might see some pricing relief in the UK when Google launches next month? Just prior to Brexit, the Pound traded at £ 1 = $ 1.50. After Brexit the Pound weakened to below $ 1.20 or a 20% fall. Most electronics goods are sourced and priced in Dollars.
When the first Pixel was released the Pound was at $ 1.27. Today it is trading 8% stronger at $ 1.36.
When the first Pixel was released the Pound was at $ 1.27. Today it is trading 8% stronger at $ 1.36.
Soldato
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^ i ****ing hope so. i'm sure we were told the price increase is partly down to this, so i really hope to see a decrease this time around should we keep getting stronger.
i also have no care for the headphone jack. have never once used it on my last 2/3 phones, and if i really want to, usbc converter will work phone. wireless charging will solve the issue of needing to charge the phone while listening to music, and is my biggest hope for pixel 2, other than not a stupid price.
my nexus 4 had it, and i was sad to see it go. i have my charger cable sat next to me for my 6P now, but it's not plugged in as in 5 minutes i'll pick up the phone again and move/use it, then put it back. that's the greatness wireless charging allows is the freedom to use the phone quickly, and just dump it back on to charge. seeing the small amount of glass on the back of the leaks, i'm doubtful it'll be a feature.
i also have no care for the headphone jack. have never once used it on my last 2/3 phones, and if i really want to, usbc converter will work phone. wireless charging will solve the issue of needing to charge the phone while listening to music, and is my biggest hope for pixel 2, other than not a stupid price.
my nexus 4 had it, and i was sad to see it go. i have my charger cable sat next to me for my 6P now, but it's not plugged in as in 5 minutes i'll pick up the phone again and move/use it, then put it back. that's the greatness wireless charging allows is the freedom to use the phone quickly, and just dump it back on to charge. seeing the small amount of glass on the back of the leaks, i'm doubtful it'll be a feature.
Soldato
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Well I'm back in this thread with my tail between my legs. There is an age old saying which goes something like "you don't know what you've had till it's gone". Due to my on going argument with Google over the oreo bluetooth fiasco I went and ordered a Galaxy S8. It lasted all but two hours before I packed it all away and stuck the returns label on. Should have known! I'm now back using my Pixel.
If anyone is sitting on the fence over the Pixel 2 XL, here's my revised thoughts:
Screen
The S8 screen is fantastic, but the curved edges were just not for me. Watching films in full screen looked strange, and using the keyboard wasn't a nice experience due to the feel of the glass bending at the far sides. I can only imagine that if the Pixel 2 XL has a similar display but a flat one it will be absolutely fantastic!
Build
10 mins using the S8 with kid gloves developed a micro scratch on the back and a dot near the power connector. This was probably due to me inserting it into the Gear VR headset. I was super, super careful....maybe it was done in the factory but I have now changed my mind regarding glass vs metal backs. If the Pixel 2 XL has a metal back, brilliant! This will also hide fingerprints as the S8 looks bloody awful after handling it. Mine was the orchid grey colour and I'm told black is even worse.
Software
Never underestimate or forget how nice the vanilla-esk Pixel rom is. I did tell my OCD that it was ok to double up on apps like samsung browser and chrome, or samsung gallery and google photos. Samsung has toned down their influence over the past few years but when you even slightly scratch the surface you can tell there is bloat and crap everywhere. Maybe not bloat, but things which just get in the way and annoy you. Take changing the wallpaer for example. The pixel has google wallpaper which is great. Samsung has a wallpaper picker at the top which takes up about 20% of the screen, then tons of themes they try and sell you for 99p. I found this all over the operating system and it really hurts the user experience for me. The biggest problem was that no matter what I tried to do, I was continually asked to perform an update.
The icing on the cake was when I started to realize that I was slowly turning it back into a Pixel (nova launcher, google apps etc etc), but it would never be the same as a pixel. Unfortunately google wallpaper crashed my s8 when I tried to apply a wallpaper. Grrrr
Lag
Whoever says the S8 doesn't lag is lying! it lags.....it simply does! My pixel despite running the 821 vs the samsungs 835 felt quicker. Much quicker. It's snappy.
Cloud
Samsung cloud is a strange one. I'ts locked into samsung devices and offers no external access (ie, via a browser). Well....you might as well just use google to sync everything to erm....google. You see where this is all going, everything has been doubled up yet it's obvious which one everyone will use. What's the point.
AI
Bixby had a fault at first as it wouldn't pick up my voice. Update (this was about the 6th update I'd done at this point) and a reboot fixed it. Spent a good 10 mins setting it all up. My first question led me down another annoying path "whats the temperature of the thermostat". That got me to set up samsung home which I then found out doesn't support Nest. My second question also failed as neither does it support Philips Hue. The two most popular home automation systems are not supported via Bixby. I then tried Google assistant which took about 2 mins to setup and both questions worked.
Gear VR
It's a faff to setup and suffers the same issue as the PSVR where you can see the edges of the lenses in your peripheral vision. The rogue one demo was a bit rubbish although I'm sure if I had spent a bit more time on it I could have found something pretty good.
Final Thoughts
Ignore anything I have said over the past few days. Google can charge what they like for the Pixel 2 XL. I'm buying one. I know it will be fantastic.
If anyone is sitting on the fence over the Pixel 2 XL, here's my revised thoughts:
Screen
The S8 screen is fantastic, but the curved edges were just not for me. Watching films in full screen looked strange, and using the keyboard wasn't a nice experience due to the feel of the glass bending at the far sides. I can only imagine that if the Pixel 2 XL has a similar display but a flat one it will be absolutely fantastic!
Build
10 mins using the S8 with kid gloves developed a micro scratch on the back and a dot near the power connector. This was probably due to me inserting it into the Gear VR headset. I was super, super careful....maybe it was done in the factory but I have now changed my mind regarding glass vs metal backs. If the Pixel 2 XL has a metal back, brilliant! This will also hide fingerprints as the S8 looks bloody awful after handling it. Mine was the orchid grey colour and I'm told black is even worse.
Software
Never underestimate or forget how nice the vanilla-esk Pixel rom is. I did tell my OCD that it was ok to double up on apps like samsung browser and chrome, or samsung gallery and google photos. Samsung has toned down their influence over the past few years but when you even slightly scratch the surface you can tell there is bloat and crap everywhere. Maybe not bloat, but things which just get in the way and annoy you. Take changing the wallpaer for example. The pixel has google wallpaper which is great. Samsung has a wallpaper picker at the top which takes up about 20% of the screen, then tons of themes they try and sell you for 99p. I found this all over the operating system and it really hurts the user experience for me. The biggest problem was that no matter what I tried to do, I was continually asked to perform an update.
The icing on the cake was when I started to realize that I was slowly turning it back into a Pixel (nova launcher, google apps etc etc), but it would never be the same as a pixel. Unfortunately google wallpaper crashed my s8 when I tried to apply a wallpaper. Grrrr
Lag
Whoever says the S8 doesn't lag is lying! it lags.....it simply does! My pixel despite running the 821 vs the samsungs 835 felt quicker. Much quicker. It's snappy.
Cloud
Samsung cloud is a strange one. I'ts locked into samsung devices and offers no external access (ie, via a browser). Well....you might as well just use google to sync everything to erm....google. You see where this is all going, everything has been doubled up yet it's obvious which one everyone will use. What's the point.
AI
Bixby had a fault at first as it wouldn't pick up my voice. Update (this was about the 6th update I'd done at this point) and a reboot fixed it. Spent a good 10 mins setting it all up. My first question led me down another annoying path "whats the temperature of the thermostat". That got me to set up samsung home which I then found out doesn't support Nest. My second question also failed as neither does it support Philips Hue. The two most popular home automation systems are not supported via Bixby. I then tried Google assistant which took about 2 mins to setup and both questions worked.
Gear VR
It's a faff to setup and suffers the same issue as the PSVR where you can see the edges of the lenses in your peripheral vision. The rogue one demo was a bit rubbish although I'm sure if I had spent a bit more time on it I could have found something pretty good.
Final Thoughts
Ignore anything I have said over the past few days. Google can charge what they like for the Pixel 2 XL. I'm buying one. I know it will be fantastic.
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THIS! I agree with pretty much everything you wrote but especially this. I was in CPW the other day and was having a play on the Note 8 and I even noticed lag on it. It's not huge lag by any means but when you've been using the Pixel for a year you definitely notice the difference.
Also the update (or lack of) to Oreo. We Pixel owners have been rocking Oreo final release now for a couple of weeks and I would be very surprised if the S8 line even has it by the start of 2018!
Really appreciate your sharing the two hour experience you had with the S8.
I bought into the concept of Pure Android/Stock Android years ago and have never looked back. It just seems to be a truth that I cannot shake. And nobody does it better than Google themselves. From Nexus to Pixel I have enjoyed the ideal of pure, unfiltered Android. I am not at all surprised that you found the S8 to struggle against the one year old Pixel.
In my view, Samsung would be better served to pay more attention to the stock Android experience because anything that messes with it is bound to create a sub-standard performance. Little things matter to me which I take for granted on my Pixel XL, like being able to swipe my fingerprint sensor to get to the notification bar and night light and changing colours throughout the system. Samsung appears to be spending most of its efforts in software in just trying to copy Google creating the dreaded bloatware.
Yes, I am looking forward to the Pixel 2 XL.
To be honest, I don't think the pure Android experience has always been the best. In my opinion it was Ice Cream Sandwich where it finally approached the point where I didn't feel the need to root or to look for custom ROMs. Now, certainly, Android has taken on plenty of the features of these custom ROMs to the point it really is a great experience.
Hoping this will be below £800 anymore it's getting silly, if it does end up below £800 64gb is all I need then I'll have a bite judging by rumoured images, specs. I'm getting tired of my S7 edge and it is starting to freeze/lag more after my years ownership.
Associate
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I've got the same phone and have to say I've not really noticed lag issues. I am going to get pixel xl 2 128gb though as I'm itching to change. As long as it costs less than £900 I'm ok with the price. I suspect it'll be in that range as it seems all the other phones are knocking on that door.