I've been a bit quiet on this thread since Saturday. I ended up going to buy a Note 9 locally that afternoon. I got a good price for it so I could always sell on again if I didn't like it - and that's exactly what I've done.
I have the Pixel 2XL so I was looking to make the same jump as
@AndyCr15 . I just wanted to offer a few of my thoughts as there are very few youtube comparison's between these two. Or just for good old fashioned debate!
1) It's heavy, certainly heavier than the 2XL. After a few minutes of Youtube videos in landscape I found my hand was sore. When I switched to the 2XL it was like night and day. That being said the 2XL certainly does not feel too light or 'toy like' IMO.
Secondly, when I hold it in landscape my pinky finger rests exactly on the Bixby button, triggering many an unwanted action. And while I'm on the topic, Bixby, just...no.
2) The screen in and of itself is top notch, there is no denying that. However, it is tall so those with smaller hands must bear that in mind. My only gripe is I really dislike the blueish vignette you get on the edges when viewing content with a white background. This was one of the things that put me off Samsung around the S6/S7 - give me a flat(ter) screen all day long.
3) I can't stand the OS/UI. Coming from 2 years of using a Pixel XL/2XL I love the vanilla Android/Google experience. I never liked that Samsung install duplicate apps that work alongside (IMO superior) Google apps. Yes most can be disabled but others, like Calendar, Gallery, Messages etc can't. Without a 3rd party app or rooting/adb config there is no way to get rid of the Samsung bloatware.
I just couldn't like the OS/UI experience. It's almost like the Google OS was 'shoehorned' in to a fantastic piece of hardware and that just ruins the experience for me. Right now it's hard to beat Google software designed for Google hardware - to coin a phrase 'it just works'.
4) I liked the ability to hide the Nav bar at the bottom - Google could take 'note' (
) here. That aside, on most apps the larger screen doesn't actually garner more real estate, it just stretches certain elements, but it is nice to have the entire screen at your disposal.
5) S-pen is excellent - unfortunately just not much use to me personally. Having owned a couple of the Note tablets this is the best iteration I've used.
I really wanted to like the Note 9 but couldn't for the price. It felt like too many compromises just to have a nice big screen and
slightly better speakers. I was also thinking I'd be kicking myself if I stuck with the Note and Google came out with a belter of a Pixel 3 (I'll not hold my breath though).
Sorry for the essay but I thought I'd get it all out in one go!
What will you do if you're unimpressed with the Pixel 3 XL? Stick with then 2 XL?
