Pixel 2 XL being delivered tomorrow, Google Home being delivered tomorrow and a brand new heat pump for my house being installed (we haven't had heat for two weeks) all tomorrow. Tis going to be a splendid day.
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Phones Google Pixel 2 / Google Pixel 2 XL
- Thread starter kkh786
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Happy New Year!
oh, and Google decided to have these available to us today as well
Off to sideload the OTA to my Panda Pixel
https://www.droid-life.com/2018/01/02/january-android-security-patch-nexus-pixel/
oh, and Google decided to have these available to us today as well
Off to sideload the OTA to my Panda Pixelhttps://www.droid-life.com/2018/01/02/january-android-security-patch-nexus-pixel/
Sooooo after a few weeks with the Pixel 2 XL, I’m back using the 8 Plus (X had too many shortcomings for me). As much as I truly enjoyed the Pixels hardware, superior camera, and ridiculously fast OS, I’ve come to know that I’m too invested in the Apple ecosystem. It was a hard decision surely (well not life, just smartphone life).
More or less Apple Continuity was what I missed and forgot I appreciated. Opening iMessage from one device to another. Opening a safari website opened on the Mac and then opening where I left off on the phone while on the go. Examples like that. Chrome needs to wake up badly as Safari was missed. Doesn’t look good when I opted for the Samsung browser on a Google Pixel device. Get the mobile Chrome app updated Google c’mon.
Of course iMessage was greatly missed, which I knew going in, but wow not this bad. FaceTime didn’t bother me as I find Duo just as great on the Google platform. Sending a video is impossible from the Pixel, I don’t get it. Sending a MMS video compresses down to flip phone quality. Sure I can jump through 3 hoops to send/share a video, but why when I can shoot a video and boom send easily on iPhone.
Sure iOS is “stale” but also reliable. More polished apps across the entire iOS platform. Notifications is still trash on iOS though. Will definitely miss the customization aspect of Android. Really Apple? I can’t even move icons where I want and remove icon labels? I know it can be done as JB devs have had tweaks like this in the JB community for years.
So with the switch back to the 8 Plus, I gain the continuity I love and messaging platform that crushes the competition. iMessges will never make it to Android, as Apple knows that’s the sting holding the balloon tight as MANY people would make the Android switch.
With the switch back, I’ll miss the better camera hands down and 2017/18 hardware that the Pixel 2 XL has.
So in the end, it’s the ecosystem for me personally. Been a blast my Pixel peeps!
More or less Apple Continuity was what I missed and forgot I appreciated. Opening iMessage from one device to another. Opening a safari website opened on the Mac and then opening where I left off on the phone while on the go. Examples like that. Chrome needs to wake up badly as Safari was missed. Doesn’t look good when I opted for the Samsung browser on a Google Pixel device. Get the mobile Chrome app updated Google c’mon.
Of course iMessage was greatly missed, which I knew going in, but wow not this bad. FaceTime didn’t bother me as I find Duo just as great on the Google platform. Sending a video is impossible from the Pixel, I don’t get it. Sending a MMS video compresses down to flip phone quality. Sure I can jump through 3 hoops to send/share a video, but why when I can shoot a video and boom send easily on iPhone.
Sure iOS is “stale” but also reliable. More polished apps across the entire iOS platform. Notifications is still trash on iOS though. Will definitely miss the customization aspect of Android. Really Apple? I can’t even move icons where I want and remove icon labels? I know it can be done as JB devs have had tweaks like this in the JB community for years.
So with the switch back to the 8 Plus, I gain the continuity I love and messaging platform that crushes the competition. iMessges will never make it to Android, as Apple knows that’s the sting holding the balloon tight as MANY people would make the Android switch.
With the switch back, I’ll miss the better camera hands down and 2017/18 hardware that the Pixel 2 XL has.
So in the end, it’s the ecosystem for me personally. Been a blast my Pixel peeps!
We shall see. If I return the Pixel 2 it will be due to a defect.
I will have an X, eventually, but it will be a hand me down from my husband. Until then I have a nice 7 Plus.
So I’m in a different position from you and Aneres11 in that I am not forgoing an iOS daily driver entirely. I’m just acknowledging that $3000 outlay is not what I want for only 2 iPhones. Especially when I find the X display to be harsh on my eyes so that I have to use my 7 Plus or Samsung for reading ebooks anyway. This is not a problem for 90% of lucky X owners. I just had to go and be special.
When you factor in Apple Care Plus, which I had to, because of how horrendously easy it is to break this phone and the cost to repair it if I do, it ends up being almost twice the cost of my 7 Plus, which is not covered by Apple Care Plus because it’s a metal phone and I can afford to have the screen repaired without Apple Care.
Just last year a little less than $3000 let us bring THREE new IPhone 7 Pluses into the family. One was 128 GB and the other 2 were 256 GB.
Now there isn’t even a 128 GB mid range option. You have to go to the top tier price to get more storage than most people need, to avoid being stuck with less storage than most other people need. That is frustrating. You know it’s a tactic to shake down loyal customers for more money. 64 vs 256 gb is not a customer friendly choice. Pfffft!
I also don’t think it’s customer friendly to offer only Face ID as a biometric unlocking solution when Touch ID works better and more conveniently for some users. It would be one thing if they were going to add the option back in for future models. That would indeed feel very premium and luxurious to match the price. Building a sensor into the Apple logo would be incredibly cool, if they can’t put one under the glass. But to take it down to one biometric option and tell us this is permanent and because this is our future with Apple (when some Andoid phones offer 3 options) just makes me salty like a pretzel.
Of course I’m not thrilled that Google seems intent on emulating some of these exploitative moves of Apple. That’s why I won’t write off Samsung just yet. Or LG. Or HTC. I even keep an eye on the Chinese upstarts even though I’m wary of them.
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Yep, that about sums it up for most of us who tried to go all the way to Android. I’m happy to keep on fence sitting awhile longer while I can afford to. Oh and I envy you that 8 Plus.
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Happy New Year!
oh, and Google decided to have these available to us today as well
https://www.droid-life.com/2018/01/02/january-android-security-patch-nexus-pixel/
Didn't know about it until I just read your post. Checked and it's waiting for me.
Maybe you all can enlighten me, but what is it about iMessage that has a hold on people? The fear of becoming a green bubble? The continuity it offers?
For me it’s sending videos and photos with zero degradation/compression.
I know other apps allow this but everyone is already on iMessage and I have no desire to convince everyone to download an app.
Think for alot of people who know people who have iPhones it’s their default messenger. So if everyone is on it who you text, and you are the random one without an iphone, it becomes difficult to interact as fluidly.
People also like how they can reply from iPads and macs etc. Personally I always turned this feature on but found it more annoying than replying from the phone itself. Replying to a text from an iPad is just not fun. Or as fast. My phone is always next to me so whilst nice to read it on my iPad and know whether or not I need to bother replying right away, I’d always just do it from my phone.
I find iMessage a bit too feature packed these days. The amount of people I know who have iPhones who see fireworks go off in messages etc and lose their **** over it and demand to know how it’s done (on a phone they’ve used for the last 7 years) is baffling. Too many options and not very user friendly. Unapple some would say.
WhatsApp all the way for me. Even my sisters who are huge iPhone lovers and users won’t use iMessage.
I wonder if Google is even aware at the amount of people who are clinging onto iPhones just because of iMessage. Judging by the lack of consistency to make one decent iMessage competitor I'd say no. Instead we get the stock message app, Allo, Hangouts, Duo for calling... Why not just build one damn app that does it all, and make it mandatory to be installed as the primary messaging app across all Android devices. From there if someone doesn't want to use it they can change it, but if it's the default and it works great I'd be willing to bet most people would use it.
/Rant
/Rant
I can understand that. Probably something I’ll need to consider when setting mine up. I very rarely send video, but send quite a few photos. I know Facebook Messenger will allow you to send up to 16MP (4096x4096) photos now, which is enough for our phone cameras.
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I've made a thread about iMessage alternatives for Android, it was a good one. I need to find the link here.
But seriously I think it's way overblown. I could give two ***** being the green bubble to my family using iPhone's, it's meaningless to me.
And when I want to send high res pics and videos I use WhatsApp. I've gotten most family and friends I know to download and install WhatsApp. It's easy, I just send them the link to WhatsApp every few days nonstop until they install it. And eventually they all did.
I'd be happy if WhatsApp became the default text app for Android.
But seriously I think it's way overblown. I could give two ***** being the green bubble to my family using iPhone's, it's meaningless to me.
And when I want to send high res pics and videos I use WhatsApp. I've gotten most family and friends I know to download and install WhatsApp. It's easy, I just send them the link to WhatsApp every few days nonstop until they install it. And eventually they all did.
I'd be happy if WhatsApp became the default text app for Android.
Been using Verizon's Message+ on my Windows desktop, IOS cell iPads, Android phones, and even my iPhones for quite a while now. No problem keeping everything sync'd. It's on my Pixel 2 but no app for the Pixelbook yet.
The hardest part is getting iMessage shut down if you EVER used it.
Really depends on your usage of mobile data, and if TMobile/Sprint has decent coverage in your area. Anything over 4GB of mobile data per month, I think another carrier would be much better monthly cost wise. I think the biggest benefit is the global roaming capabilities at full speed, and data is charged the same $10/GB no matter where you are. If the majority of your day is spent on WiFi or you are a light data user, I think it's a great carrier choice and works seamlessly on the Pixel phones.
lol, Tig we don’t all have your big personality. Also there is a difference when a woman tries something like that, especially with other women. I’ve had zero success ever getting another woman to go along with anything they weren’t already planning on doing anyway, except my best friend in middle school who was a fellow tomboy. I know I am a woman, but I’ve never understood women. At all. I’ve always been a quart low on estrogen or something.
The only male friend I ever failed to understand or get along properly with was a priest. He eventually had a nervous breakdown and left the priesthood. Then he attempted to start a New Age cult with some girlfriend about a year later and tried to hit me up for a massive “donation”. Last I heard he’s a priest again. Alrighty then.
With a lot of the ladies I deal with, once you annoy or tick one off about something, you’re going to hear about it every day until you die. Your mutual friends will hear about it every day until they die. Your pets will hear about. Sweet baby Ray, no, there is no way I will ask any of the other moms on my contact list to install WhatsApp. I’d rather keep a burner SE on me until the end of my days than ask them to do that. A few might be fine with it, but the ones who aren’t will talk about me and my “weird phone fetish” at every PTA meeting and every get together and then their kids will start shunning mine.
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I posted this in another thread but it's worth posting here too (I hope). I have until 1/8/18 to return my X. I love iPhones and Android phones. I was thinking of potentially picking up a used 7 Plus and the smaller Pixel 2. It would give me iOS and the new Pixel 2 for around the same price as an X (maybe a slight bit more). I'd also have a big phone and a small phone so it'd check those boxes too. I call this plan the @GrumpyMom plan. Not sure if I'll do it yet but if I can find a 7 Plus to my liking in my price range this might be a good solution!
Not sure if I'll do it yet but if I can find a 7 Plus to my liking in my price range this might be a good solution!Okay so I’ve been back on my 7 Plus full time since yesterday and the battery is draining as fast as the broken hot water dispenser in my kitchen.
Apple News accounted for 11% of the total battery usage yet I had it open for only a couple of minutes. I took it off the charger around 6:45 and by 7:00 am it had dropped about 4% at a little under 25% brightness. I turned off auto brightness to keep it at less than 25% brightness. I’m not used to it draining so fast. It’s draining as fast as my iPhone X did playing Animal Crossing Pocket Camp.
I guess I’ll be going in for a new battery, then. My other possibility since I do NOT like where Apple is going with the OLED and cheaper LCD rumors is I could trade my 7 Plus in for a discount on an iPhone 8 or 8 Plus so I can buy more time on iOS with a good quality LCD. I just don’t know if I want to do that right now. Financially, holiday bills and all, eh, doesn’t sound good. But trade in for discount puts the price of the 8 Plus combined with the Pixel 2 still about what we paid for one iPhone X.
That will buy me one more year with a fresh iPhone and I can decide if I want to stay with Apple. I’m not sure I like their direction. iOS 11 has been a curse on batteries.
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I’m going to need to check on how my teenager’s 7 Plus is doing. See if that needs a new battery, too.
Apple News accounted for 11% of the total battery usage yet I had it open for only a couple of minutes. I took it off the charger around 6:45 and by 7:00 am it had dropped about 4% at a little under 25% brightness. I turned off auto brightness to keep it at less than 25% brightness. I’m not used to it draining so fast. It’s draining as fast as my iPhone X did playing Animal Crossing Pocket Camp.
I guess I’ll be going in for a new battery, then. My other possibility since I do NOT like where Apple is going with the OLED and cheaper LCD rumors is I could trade my 7 Plus in for a discount on an iPhone 8 or 8 Plus so I can buy more time on iOS with a good quality LCD. I just don’t know if I want to do that right now. Financially, holiday bills and all, eh, doesn’t sound good. But trade in for discount puts the price of the 8 Plus combined with the Pixel 2 still about what we paid for one iPhone X.
That will buy me one more year with a fresh iPhone and I can decide if I want to stay with Apple. I’m not sure I like their direction. iOS 11 has been a curse on batteries.
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The 7 Plus is a great phone but if you’re buying used make sure you see what the battery situation is like. You might need to get that $29 battery replacement. I think even though mine is only a year old I may need one.I posted this in another thread but it's worth posting here too (I hope). I have until 1/8/18 to return my X. I love iPhones and Android phones. I was thinking of potentially picking up a used 7 Plus and the smaller Pixel 2. It would give me iOS and the new Pixel 2 for around the same price as an X (maybe a slight bit more). I'd also have a big phone and a small phone so it'd check those boxes too. I call this plan the @GrumpyMom plan.
I’m going to need to check on how my teenager’s 7 Plus is doing. See if that needs a new battery, too.
Yeah at $29, I'd get a new battery for sure. Can't beat the price for a genuine battery.
My husband reminded me my iPhone could just be reindexing since I just restored my sim to it again yesterday.
Anyway it still boggles my mind how with a trade in on my existing iPhone and even buying a new Pixel 2 I would still be spending about the same as for one iPhone X.
If the rumors are true the upcoming iPhones will be using LG OLED displays. For the love of Pete, why? Samsung makes the best. I get that they want to diversify sources but unless the investment they made into LG has already yielded significant improvements in the manufacturing process and end quality, there’s going to be people returning their iphones to get Samsung displays.
Well they always wanted diversified sources for all of their components so that they could negotiate the best prices for them. They couldn’t do that with Samsung and I’m sure paid more than they wanted to for the display in the X.
Anyway my husband has blessed my plan to trade in my 7 Plus for an 8 or 8 Plus. Now I have to pick a color.
Received my 2nd RMA moments ago, somehow got a unit with a build date of 10/22/17.
And the kicker.... damaged out of the box with a noticeable nick in the aluminum to the bottom left corner.
Welcome go Google Quality Control. I was 0 for 3 before I gave up.
Panda just delivered to my house means me taking a half day off work to go home and play with it.
Okay - I'm going on the Panda. Phone is pretty stunning imo. Don't see any noticeable defects on hardware or software. All looks good early. And hot damn Samsung can make a phenomenal internet browser.