**** The Official Google Pixel 4 Thread ****

[V_R]

Or it's environmentally friendly? I wonder what percentage of people use/need the adaptor? I've never used one myself. Ever.

I've haven't taken the headphones or adaptors out of the box in years.

Fair points, must admit I've not used them in years either.

God I am seriously torn. I need a new phone, yes need, mine is smashed in the bottom left corner. Do I get a 4, 4XL, go elsewhere? If the Oneplus had a better camera I'd be all over it. Samsung? Wait? Agh!

 

[ddoubleep]

The camera is mentioned a lot. The Pixel 2 has served me well. Are we saying in late 2019 the Pixel is still far ahead of the competition be it Android or iPhone? Is this solely down to software and not hardware? Any new phone purchase is based on camera. Just annoying the video hasn't jumped leaps and bounds.

 

[V_R]

https://streamable.com/91hbs

https://streamable.com/c6k5q

Looks like the soli radar needs a bit of a fine tune. Is the 4 going to be another case of early adopters unwittingly become beta testers?

 

[glenimp617]

Fair points, must admit I've not used them in years either.

God I am seriously torn. I need a new phone, yes need, mine is smashed in the bottom left corner. Do I get a 4, 4XL, go elsewhere? If the Oneplus had a better camera I'd be all over it. Samsung? Wait? Agh!

aint that the problem though

'IF' oneplus had an awesome camera, it would be game over....but they don't. I'd avoid samsung, as much as I like their watch integration stuff, it's still too bloated for me.

Pixel are expensive, look crap, are a bit tight on the hardware (ram, no wide camera), but offer a clean os experience and great camera.

The question is.....is the oneplus camera good enough? If it is, and it's not crap by any means....it's by far the best phone.

for me personally, the camera was good enough (oneplus 7 pro) and the wide camera is fantastic

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Tywb1dyFVgz67nwx9

and I absolutely love the phone itself

 

[jubei]

I just don't understand all the camera talk and hype. How many people buying this phone are professional photographers? Surely any camera phone from the last couple of years is fine for people to take some holiday snaps or post pictures of their food on facebook? I'd wager that most people wouldn't know the different between a photo from this or from the oneplus; i certainly wouldn't.

 

[Squink]

I just don't understand all the camera talk and hype. How many people buying this phone are professional photographers? Surely any camera phone from the last couple of years is fine for people to take some holiday snaps or post pictures of their food on facebook? I'd wager that most people wouldn't know the different between a photo from this or from the oneplus; i certainly wouldn't.

I think it's getting to the stage where it's down to personal preference in many case, rather than outright technical ability. For example, many 'professional' reviewers select an image as 'the best' because of realistic colour balance, only to find that many end users prefer a more saturated, unrealistic photo.

The laws of diminishing returns have well and truly kicked in and now it's all about how the software interprets what the sensor sees.

 

[cu3ed]

[QUOTE="AndyCr15, post: 33086774, member: 114571"


Who's forcing you? Google is a cloud based company. This is a cloud based phone. If you don't like that... don't buy it... maybe even don't moan about it on forums, but that might be asking too much



Or it's environmentally friendly? I wonder what percentage of people use/need the adaptor? I've never used one myself. Ever.[/QUOTE]

Really?, you dont think this a complete and total rip off?

Jumping high to make this phone look good, its terrible on nearly every front. The prices for what you dont get are simply unforgiving.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

The thing is. Will it be £150-£200 cheaper at black Friday ? Because that's what you get now if you sell the chrome book.

The price drop will be significant, it always is. I bought my P2XL for £579 - it was £800 on release.

. Is the 4 going to be another case of early adopters unwittingly become beta testers?

Another concern of mine, plus being forced to pay for a Chromebook I don't want or need.

 

[FishLicker]

I've never really understood using phones for watching films or TV shows anyway, they're just not a good size for it regardless of whether you've got a fairly small screened phone like the s10e or a big phone like the Note 10. I don't regularly travel on planes or trains for work, but if I did I'd definitely get a laptop or tablet for watching stuff. As far as I can see, the only benefit of using a phone is that it means you don't have to carry more than one device at a time.

I do use my phone for watching stuff but it’s only really on my desk at work or on a train airline style seat as sometimes lugging my 12.9 iPad around for that is either a bit overkill or taking the mickey a little (at work). But for me all phones are small for watching video so yeah I understand exactly we’re you’re coming from.

 

[FishLicker]

I just don't understand all the camera talk and hype. How many people buying this phone are professional photographers? Surely any camera phone from the last couple of years is fine for people to take some holiday snaps or post pictures of their food on facebook? I'd wager that most people wouldn't know the different between a photo from this or from the oneplus; i certainly wouldn't.

I’m starting to come around to that myself now. Yes when the early pixels were around there was a significant difference. Now? Personal preference by and large; I remember watching a video on YouTube where they tested a load of phones blind for the picture quality and seem to remember a certain poco phone coming rather high up the subjective rankings and a certain Huawei phone coming surprisingly low down. When you get to the point of zooming in on a computer monitor to see the difference then maybe it’s time to reflect on that for a moment.

 

[tom_e]

aint that the problem though

'IF' oneplus had an awesome camera, it would be game over....but they don't. I'd avoid samsung, as much as I like their watch integration stuff, it's still too bloated for me.

Pixel are expensive, look crap, are a bit tight on the hardware (ram, no wide camera), but offer a clean os experience and great camera.

The question is.....is the oneplus camera good enough? If it is, and it's not crap by any means....it's by far the best phone.

for me personally, the camera was good enough (oneplus 7 pro) and the wide camera is fantastic

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Tywb1dyFVgz67nwx9

and I absolutely love the phone itself

This is where I'm at my 7 pro is great as a phone, the camera is perfectly good and to be fair pretty decent to my eyes and I bet 99% of people would think the same if some reviewer hadn't said it wasn't as good as something else.

 

[SDK^]

I just don't understand all the camera talk and hype. How many people buying this phone are professional photographers? Surely any camera phone from the last couple of years is fine for people to take some holiday snaps or post pictures of their food on facebook? I'd wager that most people wouldn't know the different between a photo from this or from the oneplus; i certainly wouldn't.

My take is people want the quality they got from their old compact camera in one handy convenient mobile phone device, which they can use to upload their images/video to social media, email or message. That means the ability to zoom, add filters and blur backgrounds to make the image/video look pro.
Hence why all of the mobile phone companies are scrambling to outdo each other in the camera and image processing software dept.

The other option is to buy a cheap mobile phone (still with all the high end functionality) and a wifi enabled pocket camera, all for less than £800 and you'll get far better image and video quality, especially in low light. But that means carrying around two [pocket sized] devices and transferring the images [wireless] from the camera to the phone. With this there is no need for all of the current buzzword software modes. i.e. night sight, portrait mode, astro mode, because the camera is capable of doing that stuff out of the box.

Over time the outputs you currently get from a DSLR/Mirrorless camera will be possible in a mobile phone.... but that's many years away and in the meantime we have to sit through all the marketing selling BS each time a new phone is launched to get there

 

[FishLicker]

My take is people want the quality they got from their old compact camera in one handy convenient mobile phone device, which they can use to upload their images/video to social media, email or message. That means the ability to zoom, add filters and blur backgrounds to make the image/video look pro.
Hence why all of the mobile phone companies are scrambling to outdo each other in the camera and image processing software dept.

The other option is to buy a cheap mobile phone (still with all the high end functionality) and a wifi enabled pocket camera, all for less than £800 and you'll get far better image and video quality, especially in low light. But that means carrying around two [pocket sized] devices and transferring the images [wireless] from the camera to the phone. With this there is no need for all of the current buzzword software modes. i.e. night sight, portrait mode, astro mode, because the camera is capable of doing that stuff out of the box.

Over time the outputs you currently get from a DSLR/Mirrorless camera will be possible in a mobile phone.... but that's many years away and in the meantime we have to sit through all the marketing selling BS each time a new phone is launched to get there

I'm still thinking about this myself.

Majority of phones are just fine for 99% of casual situations.

For the times when I require the best picture quality, I'll probably not mind having the extra camera on me as long as it's not a massive SLR. Some very small cameras appear to offer excellent performance nowadays.

However, I totally get the desire for having a one device does all option. You could probably say the same about music playback. If you were willing to carry another device, you could have a dedicated DAP with excellent quality DACs and a HEADPHONE JACK!!! But most people simply don't want to carry that many things.

 

[Deleted member 209350]

As a fan of the Pixel 2 and 3, the 4 is a disappointment.

Quite an ugly design (especially the camera at the back), 90hz display is nice but the front of the phone just doesnt look appealing at all. a forehead bigger than the chin? Will need to just wait and see for the reviews

 

[biron_w]

Are we saying in late 2019 the Pixel is still far ahead of the competition be it Android or iPhone? Is this solely down to software and not hardware?

I think it's down to software and the fact that Pixels have a dedicated chip for photos.

 

[Squink]

But most people simply don't want to carry that many things.

I've got a compact camera sitting in a cupboard somewhere. It seemed like a great idea when I bought it and no doubt it captures better images than my phone. However, it doesn't leave the cupboard at all. Ever.

It's easy to get caught up in the hype around phone cameras (after all, who wants to buy Device A when every reviewer says that Device B has a better camera?), but in reality most photos from most phones look absolutely great on a small screen. Put them up on a TV and the rough edges show whether it's a Pixel 12 or an iPhone 23 that caught the image.

The better things get, the more a reviewer has to focus on the tiny differences and make them out to be bigger and more important than they are. By and large we as consumers buy into the hype. It's hard not to.

 

[unwashed potato!]

@_Jimlad_ You can't guarantee you'll get £150-£200 for the Chromebook though. If eBay etc get flooded by people trying to sell unwanted Chromebooks you might not get what you expect, or even sell it at all.

Personally, I might even keep the Chromebook, as I said earlier, it would make a good couch surfer, and maybe even something my little girl could play with down the road.

I am still in two minds about ordering one, but I really want the XL not the regular one due to screen size, batter etc., and that is IMO too expensive. So, do I swallow it up and get a free Chromebook and be happy or do I wait it out in the hope that BF will bring better deals.....?


Also, looking at The Tech Chaps unboxing, not even a headphone adaptor in the box? lol, Google really cheaped out on this one.... :|

The chrome book will never sell for £150 as like you say ebay will be flooded.

Id suggest waiting, and if you fancy a chrome book, you an always purchase one on ebay as there will be any people who kept the chrome book at first, to realise they never use it and want to sell it on as good as new.

What price is the 3 currently on Google store for? People saying a drop to £500 for the pixel 4. I don't think the 3 ever went that low?

 

[AndyCr15]

What is this marketing rubbish !?!? "A different way of thinking of controling exposure in a camera"
Fact : Exposure - changing brightness and shadows has been possible since the dawn of digital photography (30+ years)

Sorry, I forgot to ask, which smartphone has been able to do dual exposure in real time before?

Really?, you dont think this a complete and total rip off?

No, I'm paying less than I did for my OnePlus 7 Pro, which in itself is a well priced phone.

I assume you could port it to another device, or is there a certain chip allowing it to work in real time so well?

From what I'm hearing it's the neural chip allowing this, so maybe it can't be ported. For those saying nothing is new, another way the Pixel has totally new tech pushing new boundaries.

I'm not saying this will be the best phone. I'm not saying it will definitely be my new daily. I don't get why everyone is so upset by it. If you don't like what they're bringing, you don't have to buy it. There's so much choice. You should accept though that we all have different needs and for some of us this is looking like a great device.

 

[Earth[Tera].bin]

I've got a compact camera sitting in a cupboard somewhere. It seemed like a great idea when I bought it and no doubt it captures better images than my phone. However, it doesn't leave the cupboard at all. Ever.

It's easy to get caught up in the hype around phone cameras (after all, who wants to buy Device A when every reviewer says that Device B has a better camera?), but in reality most photos from most phones look absolutely great on a small screen. Put them up on a TV and the rough edges show whether it's a Pixel 12 or an iPhone 23 that caught the image.

The better things get, the more a reviewer has to focus on the tiny differences and make them out to be bigger and more important than they are. By and large we as consumers buy into the hype. It's hard not to.

Totally agree, the margins are getting smaller and as you say reviewers have to focus on details your average buyer wouldn't even pick up on.

Are we saying in late 2019 the Pixel is still far ahead of the competition be it Android or iPhone? Is this solely down to software and not hardware.

Team size seems to be a factor too, some of the offering from the likes of Oppo,Vivo and even Oneplus come with the best emerging sensors/configurations they can order up, but they obvioulsy don't have the in-house teams such as Google and Apple to do a lot of R&D with all the new computational stuff.

 

[Squink]

If you don't like what they're bringing, you don't have to buy it. There's so much choice. You should accept though that we all have different needs and for some of us this is looking like a great device.

I'm in the market for a phone and I won't be buying the Pixel 4. I'd hoped Google would pull something out of the bag, but for me they have not. However this is a tech forum and discussing perceived inadequacies in the hardware is just as relevant as high-fiving over how amazing someone else might think it is. I don't want the phone, but I still want to talk about it.