Phones Google Pixel 2 / Google Pixel 2 XL

[5105973]

I’m the envy of my family. We are traveling, and so far every single time they’ve asked Siri on their iPhones for information about a travel destination she’s misheard them or cut them off mid sentence and returned a whole host of pathetic non-sequiters. Even when my husband tried to use Google Assistant on his X there’s been issues.

Meanwhile I give good old Snowball a squeeze and ask for directions or hours of operation of a business and I get a prompt and accurate reply. I don’t even carry my iPhone around here on the road.

I’m not among the people I need to keep in touch with via iMessage so I check what few iMessages I get at my convenience when I get back. So of course my husband has to get snarky and complain about how all of his financial services apps don’t allow for biometric authentication on Android. I just tell him sorry to hear that sweetheart but I don’t need those apps so I’m good on my Pixel 2. He’s jelly. Oh yes, he is jelly!

The kids just wants the AR stickers. My husband has a few iOS AR stickers but they are so sad. The thing about AR stickers on the Pixel is that they move and interact so you can watch them and play a tiny bit with them. They aren’t just for photos. My 13 year old has begged me to pass her the Pixel 2 when I upgrade. So it won’t be going for trade in after all. She was super anti-Android at one time. But she and her friends have had a lot of issues with iOS bugs and the whole lot of them have gone sour on iOS. I do hope Apple gets serious about making iOS great again. They also really need to fix Siri.

 

[jamezr]

I’m the envy of my family. We are traveling, and so far every single time they’ve asked Siri on their iPhones for information about a travel destination she’s misheard them or cut them off mid sentence and returned a whole host of pathetic non-sequiters. Even when my husband tried to use Google Assistant on his X there’s been issues.

Meanwhile I give good old Snowball a squeeze and ask for directions or hours of operation of a business and I get a prompt and accurate reply. I don’t even carry my iPhone around here on the road.

I’m not among the people I need to keep in touch with via iMessage so I check what few iMessages I get at my convenience when I get back. So of course my husband has to get snarky and complain about how all of his financial services apps don’t allow for biometric authentication on Android. I just tell him sorry to hear that sweetheart but I don’t need those apps so I’m good on my Pixel 2. He’s jelly. Oh yes, he is jelly!

The kids just wants the AR stickers. My husband has a few iOS AR stickers but they are so sad. The thing about AR stickers on the Pixel is that they move and interact so you can watch them and play a tiny bit with them. They aren’t just for photos. My 13 year old has begged me to pass her the Pixel 2 when I upgrade. So it won’t be going for trade in after all. She was super anti-Android at one time. But she and her friends have had a lot of issues with iOS bugs and the whole lot of them have gone sour on iOS. I do hope Apple gets serious about making iOS great again. They also really need to fix Siri.

They really need to fix Siri...it has fallen way behind

 

[The Game 161]

They really need to fix Siri...it has fallen way behind

It has for tasks that require anything major.

Google assistant is great I must admit. It has really gone from strength to strength.

Sucks google hasn’t made an Apple Watch competitor

 

[Cryates]

One would almost certainly have to think a Pixel Watch is coming at some point.

 

[5105973]

One would almost certainly have to think a Pixel Watch is coming at some point.

One would hope. But they better do their homework on materials and build quality and design. One reason I value Apple Watches so much is that compared to my Samsung watches, Apple watches fit well and are made of materials that don’t irritate my skin.

I’ve got autoimmune disease. Sometimes I’m as normal as anyone else. Then out of the clear blue I’ll suddenly seem allergic to everything for several days to a couple of weeks. I’ll become chem-sensitive. My skin will look like I got sunburned. My digestive tract will reject food. It’s weird and random as to when and why I’ll have a flare up. And some effects never do go away, like my knees are never quite free of inflammation, which is why I don’t run despite having a Nike Apple Watch and joining the Run Club. (Fortunately I can hike or walk as much as I want).

At these times I can’t wear jewelry and my Samsung watches weren’t very comfortable but my Apple Watches never cause a problem. Also Apple took great pains to design a fully functional uncompromised smaller Apple Watch that women can comfortably and somewhat stylishly wear.

My Samsung’s are a bit too large and worse, Samsung came out and said in the most dismissive tones possible that women weren’t a significant enough market worth designing for (when it came to feature packed LTE watches). They relegated us to their fitness bands. Meanwhile Apple gave me this fabulous LTE enabled watch that fits so well and so comfortably.

I’ve yet to see any other watch made for use with Android that doesn’t look like a saucer on my small wrist.

 

[akuma13]

I'm using a TicWatch with my PIxel 2 XL. Not a looker but it gets the job done! I don't miss my Apple watch which I now have to sell. Earlier I skimmed through people having issues with their battery but it's still been solid since the February update. Over a day and a half on a single charge and over 6 hours of SOT? Yes please! I think I'm sticking with the Pixel until the new one comes out.

 

[Wildo6882]

I'm using a TicWatch with my PIxel 2 XL. Not a looker but it gets the job done! I don't miss my Apple watch which I now have to sell. Earlier I skimmed through people having issues with their battery but it's still been solid since the February update. Over a day and a half on a single charge and over 6 hours of SOT? Yes please! I think I'm sticking with the Pixel until the new one comes out.

Which Ticwatch are you using?

 

[Aneres11]

Still having battery issues with my Pixel 2.
Today it's being warm to touch again and my battery has already dropped over 20% and I've hardly touched it.

They need to fix this asap.

 

[5105973]

Still having battery issues with my Pixel 2.
Today it's being warm to touch again and my battery has already dropped over 20% and I've hardly touched it.

They need to fix this asap.

Oh goodness, I wonder what’s going on? Has Google said anything about this?

I’m still on my road trip and have had no problems. In fact, I’m carrying only my Pixel 2 when I’m out and about. Using AR stickers is the only thing that eats up battery and heats up the phone after several minutes.

iPhones and iPads have been something of a dud on this trip. My iPhone failed to get updated posts from the education oriented social media app our school uses to communicate with parents and students. If I didn’t have Snowball with me I would not have known of several teachers’ posts. My iPad mini 4 has acted odd and eaten through battery like crazy. My teen’s iPhone 7 Plus has severe battery drain.

Come to think of it, none of our iOS devices that are a year old or more gets respectable battery life. It kills me to think I may already have to get my kid’s 7 Plus battery replaced. Due to restrictions at home and school and team events, that phone has actually gotten very modest use.

I gave my 6S Plus to my sister-in-law last year but she only recently transferred her data and use to it from her old iPhone. I had barely used it but the battery is clearly going bad on it. My sister-in-law called the phone I gave her a “piece of you-know-what” on a Facebook rant. And she texted my husband to rant more about it. I’m so embarrassed. It was working perfectly when I gave it to her.

I never should have given it to her. But I felt so bad she was having so much trouble with her older iPhone. I insisted she take my 6s Plus. She got suspicious and said “Why do you want me to have this so much, what is wrong with it?” I told her it was one of the best iPhones I’d had to that point but I got an SE then a 7 Plus so it was just not getting used. Anyway, now I suppose she thinks I was trying to unload a dud on her. It would never occur to her that I could have sold it or traded it in to Apple even though I told her she could keep it and trade it in for a new iPhone.

These blasted phone batteries! I hope that’s the next huge technological breakthrough some genius makes—reliable rechargeable batteries that are also always safe. Heh, I may as well wish for a pet unicorn while I’m at it.

 

[Geert76]

Heh, I may as well wish for a pet unicorn while I’m at it.

haha make that one pet unicorn for me as well

 

[JaySoul]

Still having battery issues with my Pixel 2.
Today it's being warm to touch again and my battery has already dropped over 20% and I've hardly touched it.

They need to fix this asap.

Mine's settled down now.

Started at 4am (don't ask) at 100% and currently at 8pm it's at 41%. Proper days usage and lots of photos.

It's only a few weeks until the next update, I'm sure so my device seems OK. Although there are totally random glitches - the Haptic motor went absolutely crazy, wouldn't stop buzzing! Had to restart my phone. Never experienced that before.

Google gave us the best camera but the cost is baked in deceptively.

 

[co.ag.2005]

Oh goodness, I wonder what’s going on? Has Google said anything about this

They just released a statement:

https://mobile.twitter.com/AndroidPolice/status/967444819013337088

A Google spokesperson has provided us with the following statement:

"Our analysis does not show any evidence of a significant issue with battery-life following the February software update on Pixel 2."

As mentioned above, it's always difficult to assume where these bugs crop up from. There could be a misbehaving third-party app, a Play Services glitch, or another problem altogether.

 

[Aneres11]

Oh.
Well that is most definitely BS.

Because I have not had a single issue with my phone heating up (even with a lot of use) or battery drain until that update. Literally the day after I updated I started seeing issues.
And it has been hit and miss ever since with no new apps being installed on my device. I've done reboots and restarts and that sometimes fixes it (like today) but other days it does nothing.

I have to say, that response has left a bit of a sour taste. Thanks for posting btw @co.ag.2005.
I didn't know they'd given a response.

I'm really quite annoyed that they have just brushed it aside when lots of people are experiencing problems.

Not what I expect from Google.

 

[slitherjef]

Actually, they have:

https://mobile.twitter.com/AndroidPolice/status/967444819013337088

Hopefully they will not pull an apple and remove the battery indicator icon

 

[Michael Goff]

Oh.
Well that is most definitely BS.

Because I have not had a single issue with my phone heating up (even with a lot of use) or battery drain until that update. Literally the day after I updated I started seeing issues.
And it has been hit and miss ever since with no new apps being installed on my device. I've done reboots and restarts and that sometimes fixes it (like today) but other days it does nothing.

I have to say, that response has left a bit of a sour taste. Thanks for posting btw @co.ag.2005.
I didn't know they'd given a response.

I'm really quite annoyed that they have just brushed it aside when lots of people are experiencing problems.

Not what I expect from Google.

Have you tried this?

https://productforums.google.com/d/msg/phone-by-google/N96WVo8vJBc/idI_Tm88DAAJ

Thanks for the screenshots! That definitely looks like something is going wrong with Google Play Services.

Please try going to Settings > Apps & notifications > See all apps > Google Play services > Storage > Manage space > Clear all data, reboot, and see if the heavy drain continues. Hopefully that will knock loose whatever is causing Play Services to get hung.

Let me know how it goes,
John

 

[noobinator]

Hopefully they will not pull an apple and remove the battery indicator icon

Apple removed the battery icon?

 

[akuma13]

Which Ticwatch are you using?

I'm using the TicWatch E.

 

[Aneres11]

Have you tried this?

https://productforums.google.com/d/msg/phone-by-google/N96WVo8vJBc/idI_Tm88DAAJ

Thanks for the tip. I've just given it a go.
Will see how I go on from there!

 

[Wildo6882]

I'm using the TicWatch E.

How do you like it so far? Especially compared to the Apple Watch?

 

[slitherjef]

Apple removed the battery icon?

On the new MacBook pros that came out last year when people where claiming they were not getting the advertised battery life, well to remedy that, apple pushed out an update and removed the battery icon. Users had to get an app (forgot what it was called, like coconut something or other?) To check batter time remaining instead of being able to click on the icon to see the details.

 

[5105973]

Snowball has really impressed my family on this road trip. My daughter keeps grabbing it from me to put AR stickers into every scene. She’s made it known she’s got dibs on this phone when I’m ready to move on. Move on to what though? Snowball is adorable! I love this phone as-is.

We’ve counted on the rapid response of “squeeze-ask Google Assistant-get accurate information” while on the road trying to find places and exactly when certain businesses are open. When you’re on the road and needing to plan your lane changes and turns having such a fast response is really important. Querying Siri on the road has been an unmitigated disaster. Even trying to make use of Google Assistant on my husband’s iPhone X has not gone well. I hope his phone mic hasn’t gone bad but GA on his iPhone doesn’t seem to hear him well. Siri doesn’t ever understand any of us on any of our iPhones.

The Pixel 2 camera has been fabulous. Even operating with AR Stickers, in which image quality isn’t as good as the pure camera app, we still get very nice pics.

AR Stickers have been way more fun and used than Animoji ever were. Apple can do AR sticker types of things so they need to get on it and get Porgs and probably those little Despicable Me minions and How To Tame Your Dragon dragons. The kids would go wild. I do have an Apple AR Dragon app on my iPhone that is pretty cool and can do much of what the AR Stickers on the Pixel 2 can do. It’s just that it’s a standalone app and you can’t select from multiple AR characters like you can with the google camera one.

The song identification feature on the AOD display has proven to be fun, too.

I thought my husband was set on getting an S9+ but he says he’s seriously considering a Pixel 2 instead. I’m still probably going to get an S9+, myself. I want to evaluate the Samsung upgrade path. I’m just about ready to leave the Apple one unless they turn things around when my 8 Plus is ready to retire.

I am sorry for all of the battery issues some people are having. I don’t know why I have not experienced this but I did take a look and to my shock I have only a handful of apps loaded onto Snowball. Really, it’s only about five. After what happened to my Samsung S8+ I got very cautious and only downloaded what I absolutely could not do without.

So there’s no Pokémon Go which snarled my poor S8+ camera so badly and overheated my iPhone 7 Plus.

Sorry I’m rambling. Long day today and I’m just ending the night by sharing my enjoyment and success with my little white Pixel 2, Snowball. I sometimes get a little bit wistful about the Panda that almost was. But I can’t be sad because Snowball has turned out to be such a hit with everyone who has seen it in action.

 

[Aneres11]

It's completely understandable @GrumpyMom!
It's the little things with these Pixel devices that really set them apart. And that's without even talking about stock Android and how fluid the phone is to use day to day.

Yesterday we drove to a big department store and we need to go via Manchester Airport to get there kinda. My partner drove as I have no clue haha. Anyway he took a wrong turn as they're doing loads of roadworks so was like hmm not sure how to manouvere back to the road we should be on.

One squeeze "direct me to John Lewis Cheadle" and boom. Directions.

On the same car journey, a song came on the radio. If I were driving I wouldn't even entertain the radio (I HATE the radio lol. I always play my playlists or whatever album I'm currently into). And it was a song I'd heard before and liked but didn't know who sung it. So I announced that i quite liked this song and my partner said yeah I do too. Who sings it?

So I'm like urm, looks at my phone - "it's someone called 'MK'". Thank you Google! Haha.

It's just these small things that add up to making a device more user fiendly really. I loved the squeeze idea on the U11 because I liked that it could be remapped to cool stuff like taking a screenshot or turning on the torch etc. I was a bit bummed that the Pixels were exclusive to assistant but honestly, I use it every single day. Mostly for timers, or alarms but it's just amazing.

 

[throwthedice]

I have an iPhone 6S+ which is giving me some problems (switches off after I take a few pics on my camera when I'm out and about even when the temperature is in the 40s and 50s) and was looking at getting the Note 8. Then after seeing the S9+, figured I might as well jump on to that but then the wife vetoed it.

Then the choice was between Note 8, S8+ and Pixel 2 XL. One Plus 5T was an outside contender but was quickly passed on because apparently, the camera wasn't as good.

Note 8 - Heard the battery life is pretty horrible
S8+ - is still a contender but is now a generation old. Don't know how much it affects things, but I may want to take time before deciding.
Pixel 2 XL - Seen some reviews that claim that the display is pretty bad at different viewing angles.

Out of nowhere, Pixel 2 became a contender because it has pretty much the same specs as the Pixel 2 XL with a slightly low res screen and costs around $700 (incl tax).

Then I hop on to Reddit and this thread and I see some people are having battery issues with a particular update. I've been through that phase with the Nexus and I don't know if I want to sit through that again.

Back to drawing board, I guess.

 

[jamezr]

I have an iPhone 6S+ which is giving me some problems (switches off after I take a few pics on my camera when I'm out and about even when the temperature is in the 40s and 50s) and was looking at getting the Note 8. Then after seeing the S9+, figured I might as well jump on to that but then the wife vetoed it.

Then the choice was between Note 8, S8+ and Pixel 2 XL. One Plus 5T was an outside contender but was quickly passed on because apparently, the camera wasn't as good.

Note 8 - Heard the battery life is pretty horrible
S8+ - is still a contender but is now a generation old. Don't know how much it affects things, but I may want to take time before deciding.
Pixel 2 XL - Seen some reviews that claim that the display is pretty bad at different viewing angles.

Out of nowhere, Pixel 2 became a contender because it has pretty much the same specs as the Pixel 2 XL with a slightly low res screen and costs around $700 (incl tax).

Then I hop on to Reddit and this thread and I see some people are having battery issues with a particular update. I've been through that phase with the Nexus and I don't know if I want to sit through that again.

Back to drawing board, I guess.

I don't think you could go wrong with a Pixel 2 XL personally. The display is not really on par with most flagship phones. BUT....the Pixel 2 as a whole is still a great phone. The ease of use and overall user experience makes up for the display imho.

Why did your wife veto the S9? Personally I would get the S9+ over the Note 8 just because of the newer specs and FPS location. I have a Note 8 and really enjoy it though...but looking forward to the S9+

 

[JaySoul]

I have an iPhone 6S+ which is giving me some problems (switches off after I take a few pics on my camera when I'm out and about even when the temperature is in the 40s and 50s) and was looking at getting the Note 8. Then after seeing the S9+, figured I might as well jump on to that but then the wife vetoed it.

Then the choice was between Note 8, S8+ and Pixel 2 XL. One Plus 5T was an outside contender but was quickly passed on because apparently, the camera wasn't as good.

Note 8 - Heard the battery life is pretty horrible
S8+ - is still a contender but is now a generation old. Don't know how much it affects things, but I may want to take time before deciding.
Pixel 2 XL - Seen some reviews that claim that the display is pretty bad at different viewing angles.

Out of nowhere, Pixel 2 became a contender because it has pretty much the same specs as the Pixel 2 XL with a slightly low res screen and costs around $700 (incl tax).

Then I hop on to Reddit and this thread and I see some people are having battery issues with a particular update. I've been through that phase with the Nexus and I don't know if I want to sit through that again.

Back to drawing board, I guess.

My battery issues have already stopped after the latest update - it was only for a couple of weeks, now back to normal.

Honestly, I'd recommend the Pixel 2 or 2 XL out of those if you're coming from an iPhone.