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Agree with a lot of this, though 'overpriced for the design' is all relative to what the buyer will pay for it. We constantly see comments online is these forums that the iPhone is way overpriced for it's design/specs, yet Apple moves more of them than any other phone. I think your assumption that every consumer approaches smartphones with the same perspective as your own, someone admittedly far more tech savvy than the typical consumer, is where your argument falls down. If it was all just about how pretty a device looked, we'd see a lot more of the G6s and S8s moving off the shelves. I can't recall exactly where the stat came from (Kantar maybe), but one of the Android podcasts I listen too stated that S8/S8+ sales are actually lagging behind S7/S7 edge both vs last year AND right now.

Found the story:

iPhone 7, 7 Plus remain top sellers as Galaxy S8 sales disappoint in the US

And to be clear, I'm not trying to turn this into a 'iPhone is better because it sells more' discussion, just trying to illustrate that what the general consumer wants usually doesn't equate to the observations made here by a bunch of tech enthusiasts.

Brands carry a lot of weight and Google is one of the biggest, most recognizable. I'd assumed since the Pixel was originally announced that Google was focusing on the long play and ultimately wanted to develop a top down ecosystem similar to Apple's, controlling the entire stack. Doing so would take years--building the infrastruture alone would be a huge investment and I just figured it wasn't about turning an immediate profit so reports of low sales numbers wasn't a concern, especially since low availability has probably been the biggest limiting factor. They priced the phone high because that's ultimately the segment where they want it to live. Discount it now and trying to move the price up later would never fly with consumers.

But the latest rumors are really confusing. Spreading productions/design of your two flagships phones across different manufacturers---how is any of this different that what they did for years with the Nexus program? They also show zero interest in living in the tablet market, which is fine if you ultimately expect Chrome OS and laptop/hybrids to be your solution but again, very little progress seems to be made here. Android TV (I LOVE my Shield TV, btw) looks like yet another platform that's going to languish and die under Google. And wearables? That's funny... I even think Apple, of all companies, showed them up a bit with their focus on AR and making an AR kit available for developers to use with any iOS device, not just specific hardware Google is using (Tango).

Google just doesn't seem to have a clear strategy in mind...or at least, that's the way it looks and I find it frustrating as hell because I think with their services/data advantage, they have the opportunity to build a spectacular ecosystem of software AND hardware.

Well said, I agree with everything. Google has no clear direction, although we all understand their money isn't made on hardware but rather on how many eyeballs they can entice, so their direction is to throw as much hardware onto the wall and see what sticks. With the overpriced comment, you are right, it's only personal opinion. I'm still a bit miffed that Google is double dipping, charging me a premium for a meh flagship AND making a ton of money off of my eyeballs/advertising. But I also see a LOT of missing features from the Pixel from smartphones that were released a year or more ago. But once again just personal opinion, I'd be curious to see how many pixels Google really would sell if they didn't constrain themselves, personally I'll bet it would not have been that many. These days a million is just a drop in the bucket, and even if you times that by 10 it would still pale in comparison to Apple or Samsung.
 
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I LOVE this rumor for the Pixel XL 2, being a larger LG G6. I think the G6 is one of the best shaped / sized phones ever, very compact and one handed, but a little too small for me, I'd like a slightly larger G6 running stock Android. And if the Pixel XL 2 will be a 5.9" phone in the design of the G6, that could be just perfect.
 
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First look at this year's Pixel XL...

nexus2cee_p2xl_close.png


http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/0...ow-bezel-amoled-display-and-squeezable-frame/
 
Not digging the possibility of a squeezable phone, they are slippery enough already, seems like they want you to drop the damn things. At any rate, I can't wait to see this device. I think it will make for a nice wifi pocket tablet.
 
This part of the rumors makes me sad:

In regard to the smaller Pixel, I tend to think it'll be largely unchanged versus the current Pixel, with the new "XL" representing the cutting edge of Google's engineering and design efforts, while the smaller device will act as a sort of entry-level option.


It lines up with previous rumors that the smaller Pixel will remain mostly unchanged. Not only does that suck, but that's just a puzzling move from Google. I thought they were "getting serious" about hardware.
 
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This part of the rumors makes me sad:

In regard to the smaller Pixel, I tend to think it'll be largely unchanged versus the current Pixel, with the new "XL" representing the cutting edge of Google's engineering and design efforts, while the smaller device will act as a sort of entry-level option.


It lines up with previous rumors that the smaller Pixel will remain mostly unchanged. Not only does that suck, but that's just a puzzling move from Google. I thought they were "getting serious" about hardware.
They've been saying Google is getting serious about hardware for a long time and the pixel last year is rumoured to have sold around 1-1.5 million units only, and that's with 2 models. That's not even day 1 sales for Apple or Samsung, so how serious are they really ? I think the tech news sites keep saying things like that with little evidence that is actually happening. It seems whilst Google have made the conscious decision to make 'better' hardware materially, quality & design wise, they are seemingly content to be as niche as they were through all of the Nexus days.
 
They've been saying Google is getting serious about hardware for a long time and the pixel last year is rumoured to have sold around 1-1.5 million units only, and that's with 2 models. That's not even day 1 sales for Apple or Samsung, so how serious are they really ? I think the tech news sites keep saying things like that with little evidence that is actually happening. It seems whilst Google have made the conscious decision to make 'better' hardware materially, quality & design wise, they are seemingly content to be as niche as they were through all of the Nexus days.

It wasn't Google themselves that said they were getting serious about hardware?

Even so, it's no excuse for them not to really apply the same updates to the smaller Pixel model. It's really getting shafted if the rumors are true.
 
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It wasn't Google themselves that said they were getting serious about hardware?

Even so, it's no excuse for them not to really apply the same updates to the smaller Pixel model. It's really getting shafted if the rumors are true.
Yeah it's the tech world that say it, Google themselves have never said the same themselves. It's been merely implied or projected upon them by the tech world.

But yes. The pixel and pixel XL were examples of how to do size differences properly with mostly same hardware and aesthetic with both. If these rumors are true it's a step backwards and would piss me off too.
 
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Yeah it's the tech world that say it, Google themselves have never said the same themselves. It's been merely implied or projected upon them by the tech world.

But yes. The pixel and pixel XL were examples of how to do size differences properly with mostly same hardware and aesthetic with both. If these rumors are true it's a step backwards and would piss me off too.

Not very different from what Apple will be pulling this year. Hope this isn't a trend
The pixel and pixel XL were examples of how to do size differences properly with mostly same hardware and aesthetic with both. If these rumors are true it's a step backwards and would piss me off too.

Samsung, too.

Shame Google is following Apple's route. Hopefully not true.
 
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The G6 is 5.7", correct?

If the Pixel 2 XL is closer to 6", it'll be quite a bit larger in footprint than the G6, no? Closer to 6P size?

EDIT: No, the 6P was 5.7" also, but did have dual front facing speakers. The pixel 2 XL could still be larger than both 6P and the G6.

This just makes me even sadder about the regular Pixel 2 rumors.
 
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The G6 is 5.7", correct?

If the Pixel 2 XL is closer to 6", it'll be quite a bit larger in footprint than the G6, no? Closer to 6P size?

EDIT: No, the 6P was 5.7" also, but did have dual front facing speakers. The pixel 2 XL could still be larger than both 6P and the G6.

This just makes me even sadder about the regular Pixel 2 rumors.


Yes the G6 is only 5.7", but with the 2:1 aspect ratio the phone feels much smaller, and is easily one handed. My wife has the G6 and it's a super tiny phone actually.

So with Google just bumping it up .03" it will just be a hair bigger, and in my opinion a better size, as the current 5.7" does feel a little too small.

In no way will this Pixel XL 2 be larger than the Nexus 6P, which is super tall due to the dual speakers top and bottom, plus the 6P is a wide phone being 16:9. And the Motorola Nexus 6 is a whale, they don't make phones like that nowadays. So this Pixel XL 2 will just be a little larger than the G6, but still much smaller than the 6P.
 
Yes the G6 is only 5.7", but with the 2:1 aspect ratio the phone feels much smaller, and is easily one handed. My wife has the G6 and it's a super tiny phone actually.

So with Google just bumping it up .03" it will just be a hair bigger, and in my opinion a better size, as the current 5.7" does feel a little too small.

In no way will this Pixel XL 2 be larger than the Nexus 6P, which is super tall due to the dual speakers top and bottom, plus the 6P is a wide phone being 16:9. And the Motorola Nexus 6 is a whale, they don't make phones like that nowadays. So this Pixel XL 2 will just be a little larger than the G6, but still much smaller than the 6P.

Being smaller than the 6P will be good.
 
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Yes the G6 is only 5.7", but with the 2:1 aspect ratio the phone feels much smaller, and is easily one handed. My wife has the G6 and it's a super tiny phone actually.

So with Google just bumping it up .03" it will just be a hair bigger, and in my opinion a better size, as the current 5.7" does feel a little too small.

In no way will this Pixel XL 2 be larger than the Nexus 6P, which is super tall due to the dual speakers top and bottom, plus the 6P is a wide phone being 16:9. And the Motorola Nexus 6 is a whale, they don't make phones like that nowadays. So this Pixel XL 2 will just be a little larger than the G6, but still much smaller than the 6P.
Yeah, and we have to learn to remember that measurements for these new aspect ratios have to be read differently.

The 5.9" screen of the new Pixel will most likely (I cba to do the exact math atm, have this summed up in an old post somewhere) mean a SMALLER screen area than that of the 5.7" 6P screen.

Just like the 5.7" G6 screen of the SOUNDS bigger than for example that of the iPhone 5.5", but in effect has a SMALLER screen area.

The whole thing kind of irks me because companies are able to use the 2:1 ratio diagonal measurement to trick people into thinking they're putting a larger screen in a smaller phone. Personally I don't love the 2:1 format so from now on I go by screen width measurement, and consider whatever protrudes from the 16:9 rectangle "extra bits". :p

So yeah. A 5.9" screen Pixel would have a screen essentially and practically with the same screen area as the 5.7" 6P screen. If the width turns out to be smaller than the latter, I'll be disappointed. Very happy that they're going for a flat screen though. And that render looks sumptuous I gotta say, hoping that's the look they're actually going for.
 
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