Interesting to see in your pics jamezr, that the Pixel XL 2 is the only one not charging. I wonder what the issue is?
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Phones Google Pixel 2 / Google Pixel 2 XL
- Thread starter kkh786
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I think you’re the second person to say that there was no portrait mode to be found for the front facing “selfie”camera. Was that a feature that was supposed to be in beta, still?
It’s strange that eyewitness reports like yours are saying the opposite of the first impressions from the tech writers about the displays. I don’t doubt your report or the other real people reviews. I just wonder what accounts for the discrepancies. I saw on the videos at the Pixel event that the displays looked nice. It’s strange they would take such a step backwards.
FWIW I’m a huge fan of iPhone 7 Plus and IPhone 8 Plus displays. I like them better than my Samsung displays, except the resolution isn’t as nice and the contrast ratio is much lower, of course. Despite that, I like the overall look of the iPhone displays. It doesn’t help I’m stuck on Adaptive mode on my S8+ due to the pink stain problem. Lol, I might change my mind if I could see an unstained S8 Display set to a less saturated mode.
The Pixel 2... It should be a crime to waste so much space on the bezelsI was able to checkout the Pixel 2 at a VZW store today. Very nice phone! Great build materials and nice feel in the hand. The speakers are amazing. But you have to step back a little really hear the stereo front speakers. Next to my 8 plus they sound almost the same until I stepped back a foot then you can really tell the difference in the sound volume and clarity.
I didn’t see any display issues at all. Side viewing angles seem to be normal. The XL 2 display is not as nice as the Samsung displays of course.
Performance was silky smooth as expected. Took a couple of snaps with the camera and it was really fast and pictures were amazing!!
The side bezels were hardly noticeable to be honest. My iPhone 8 plus being my daily driver might have something to do with that
Overall I am super impressed and can’t wait to get mine!
Here are some pics
Did you check the max brightness? How was it?I was able to checkout the Pixel 2 at a VZW store today. Very nice phone! Great build materials and nice feel in the hand. The speakers are amazing. But you have to step back a little really hear the stereo front speakers. Next to my 8 plus they sound almost the same until I stepped back a foot then you can really tell the difference in the sound volume and clarity.
I didn’t see any display issues at all. Side viewing angles seem to be normal. The XL 2 display is not as nice as the Samsung displays of course.
Performance was silky smooth as expected. Took a couple of snaps with the camera and it was really fast and pictures were amazing!!
The side bezels were hardly noticeable to be honest. My iPhone 8 plus being my daily driver might have something to do with that
Overall I am super impressed and can’t wait to get mine!
Here are some pics
I did checkout max brightness and it seemed normal to me. I didn’t see any difference to my 8 Plus
So I thought after hearing about the screen being "set in" that I would head over to my Verizon store to check the Pixels out for myself. They had a side display in front with the Pixel 2 (Kinda Blue) and Pixel 2XL (didn't look at the color). I like the phone. The screen on the regular Pixel for me was perfect and while the colors were calmed down compared to the 2XL I preferred it (personal opinion). The screen didn't seem any more in set than my iPad Mini 4 or iPhone SE. I also really liked the Kinda Blue color and wished I had ordered that over the black but im not ordering another phone and waiting 7-9 weeks for shipping.
The 2XL was too big for me (prefer smaller phones). But the colors on the screen were really nice. I can see where some feel the screen is a bit in set. The curve of the phone [to me] felt as though there was a magnifying glass sitting on top of the screen (Ive never liked curved screens so this may be my problem).
I moved to where they originally had the Pixel 1 display and found a Just Black Pixel 2 hanging out next to last year's Pixels. The screen size and the size of the phones are practically identical (as you can see in the picture). But I did notice that the whites on last year's Pixel (the google search button and Gmail button) were warmer or almost had a yellow tint to them compared to the Pixel 2. Overall with the 5-10 mins I spent with the phone in the store Im glad I got the Pixel 2 rather than the 2XL.
I noticed a lot of people saying that the 2XL batteries were dead when they got to the store. The two phones on the side stack did not have the "alarm" chargers but had regular chargers on them and the "alarm" chargers were just dangling off the phones. The batteries were full and fully working. Probably an issue with Verizon's hardware and not the phones Im guessing. The two Pixels in the picture obviously were plugged in (though the first gen Pixel was not charging).
I could not get the squeeze for Google Assistant working despite the phone saying that it could do it. I don't know if it was disabled or not but I guess Ill have to play with that next week when it shows up.
Edit to add: The live wallpapers are really cool! Ill probably run one when I get the phone.
The 2XL was too big for me (prefer smaller phones). But the colors on the screen were really nice. I can see where some feel the screen is a bit in set. The curve of the phone [to me] felt as though there was a magnifying glass sitting on top of the screen (Ive never liked curved screens so this may be my problem).
I moved to where they originally had the Pixel 1 display and found a Just Black Pixel 2 hanging out next to last year's Pixels. The screen size and the size of the phones are practically identical (as you can see in the picture). But I did notice that the whites on last year's Pixel (the google search button and Gmail button) were warmer or almost had a yellow tint to them compared to the Pixel 2. Overall with the 5-10 mins I spent with the phone in the store Im glad I got the Pixel 2 rather than the 2XL.
I noticed a lot of people saying that the 2XL batteries were dead when they got to the store. The two phones on the side stack did not have the "alarm" chargers but had regular chargers on them and the "alarm" chargers were just dangling off the phones. The batteries were full and fully working. Probably an issue with Verizon's hardware and not the phones Im guessing. The two Pixels in the picture obviously were plugged in (though the first gen Pixel was not charging).
I could not get the squeeze for Google Assistant working despite the phone saying that it could do it. I don't know if it was disabled or not but I guess Ill have to play with that next week when it shows up.
Edit to add: The live wallpapers are really cool! Ill probably run one when I get the phone.
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So stoked! Great pictures. Thanks so much for posting those for us.I was able to checkout the Pixel 2 at a VZW store today. Very nice phone! Great build materials and nice feel in the hand. The speakers are amazing. But you have to step back a little really hear the stereo front speakers. Next to my 8 plus they sound almost the same until I stepped back a foot then you can really tell the difference in the sound volume and clarity.
I didn’t see any display issues at all. Side viewing angles seem to be normal. The XL 2 display is not as nice as the Samsung displays of course.
Performance was silky smooth as expected. Took a couple of snaps with the camera and it was really fast and pictures were amazing!!
The side bezels were hardly noticeable to be honest. My iPhone 8 plus being my daily driver might have something to do with that
Overall I am super impressed and can’t wait to get mine!
Here are some pics
This article might help?
https://www.droid-life.com/2017/10/09/which-google-pixel-2-verizon-or-unlocked/
Unless you want the Kinda Blue, unlock seems to be the way to go?
with the original pixel, IIRC, the bootloader was locked so you couldn't root or load custom roms.
Thank you for that! Actually it seems buying from Verizon is the way to go. It's shipping much sooner. The XL, anyway.
Well my credit card was stolen and there are a bunch of fraudulent transactions.
Has anyone had any luck with your credit card declining a Google purchase? At some point will I be asked to change the order?
Has anyone had any luck with your credit card declining a Google purchase? At some point will I be asked to change the order?
Just got back from Verizon store with my husband. Have to head out to dinner with my in-laws so I’ll be back but quick Post is that they look good. But neither seemed to be charging. The 2XL said it was charging when I first checked it then it indicated it wasn’t. At least it was working. I was very happy with what I saw for the most part. Later dudes.
What usually happens is your CC company will ask you which charges you're disputing. However your CC company is going to issue you a new number. Call Google immediately once you receive you should be able to change payment if the order isnt ready to ship.
Sorry that happened to you. Sucks.
Well I tried just now to upload photos from my iPhone but the forum says the files are too big to process. It’s not my Live Photo’s so I’m not sure what’s going on.
Anyway, the displays on both models were very nice. But they offer less generous viewing angles than my Samsung S8+. The colors were nice. The displays were set to maximum brightness in the store. When I knocked it down to about 60% on the 2XL it did look a bit dim, but nice and even. I think the reason it looks “sunken” or odd to some people is because the display itself is flat but the glass over it curves a little at the edges. More so than what we are used to seeing on IPhones.
White balance favored a more blue-green cast than what my S8+ is set to and definitely more than my IPhone 7 Plus’s warmer display. I wasn’t too excited about that.
I wasn’t able to send the photos I took on it to my iPhone to see if the photos shared that color cast. There was the ability to adjust white balance to a limited offering of presets (fluorescent, tungsten, normal are all I can remember). But in my tests under the fluorescent lights of the store I was not able to get an accurate reproduction of the brown shade of the walls or cream accents. None of my phones really could, which surprised me because my iPhone usually captures colors very close to how I see them in reality. This was a very challenging situation.
I could not find any way to adjust the temperature of the display but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any. I had to share time with my husband so I was limited to how much I could explore of the features which were pretty locked down by password barriers. I even forgot to squeeze the sides—of the Pixel, not my husband! We were both rushing to make our dinner with his parents.
I did a short video clip and I thought the sound was very good but I couldn’t determine if it was stereo because I was standing next to the Home Mini blasting out sample music with no way to turn it down or mute it. Still, I managed to determine the 2XL’s front firing speakers can get nice and loud without distortion.
I presently have absolutely no complaints about the displays of either phones other than the color temperature and a narrower viewing angle than I’m used to with iPhone 7 Plus and S8+.
I thought the smaller Pixel 2 was nice. It had a nice flat wide display. Yes it looks dated but it’s a tried and true form that is eminently functional.
As I already mentioned, the display of the 2XL doesn’t curve around the edges, so all of the content was displayed nice and flat. It made me point and laugh at the pictures running over the edges of my Samsung display. Sorry, I mean no offense to Sammy fans, but I just don’t like that sort of thing now that I’ve lived with it long enough to figure out what bugs me and what I can let slide.
The cameras on both display models kicked tail when it came to capturing a section of the store that presented a unique lighting challenge. Both my iPhone 7 Plus and my S8+ overexposed this area but the Pixels nailed it. It was a place where a display had recessed lighting shining down on another phone display. The Pixel 2 and 2XL managed to properly expose the ceiling area around the recessed lighting and keep the lights themselves from becoming blinding blobs. The Sammy and IPhone turned that area into a white blob.
Each camera displays noise differently. My iPhone 7 Plus shows less noise pointed at the brown wall of the store. But when you zoom in on the picture you see that’s the noise suppression algorithm creates that Monet watercolors effect instead. The Sammy and Pixel2 XL gives a hint of old fashioned noise instead. These latter two retain details better in those lighting conditions than my iPhone did. However, I suspect when iPhone X comes out that it may lead the pack.
If I can figure out why the forum can’t accept my photos, I’ll upload the pic I took on my phones to illustrate what I’m talking about. I’m sorry for now it’s all verbal descriptions.
Anyway, the displays on both models were very nice. But they offer less generous viewing angles than my Samsung S8+. The colors were nice. The displays were set to maximum brightness in the store. When I knocked it down to about 60% on the 2XL it did look a bit dim, but nice and even. I think the reason it looks “sunken” or odd to some people is because the display itself is flat but the glass over it curves a little at the edges. More so than what we are used to seeing on IPhones.
White balance favored a more blue-green cast than what my S8+ is set to and definitely more than my IPhone 7 Plus’s warmer display. I wasn’t too excited about that.
I wasn’t able to send the photos I took on it to my iPhone to see if the photos shared that color cast. There was the ability to adjust white balance to a limited offering of presets (fluorescent, tungsten, normal are all I can remember). But in my tests under the fluorescent lights of the store I was not able to get an accurate reproduction of the brown shade of the walls or cream accents. None of my phones really could, which surprised me because my iPhone usually captures colors very close to how I see them in reality. This was a very challenging situation.
I could not find any way to adjust the temperature of the display but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any. I had to share time with my husband so I was limited to how much I could explore of the features which were pretty locked down by password barriers. I even forgot to squeeze the sides—of the Pixel, not my husband!
We were both rushing to make our dinner with his parents.I did a short video clip and I thought the sound was very good but I couldn’t determine if it was stereo because I was standing next to the Home Mini blasting out sample music with no way to turn it down or mute it. Still, I managed to determine the 2XL’s front firing speakers can get nice and loud without distortion.
I presently have absolutely no complaints about the displays of either phones other than the color temperature and a narrower viewing angle than I’m used to with iPhone 7 Plus and S8+.
I thought the smaller Pixel 2 was nice. It had a nice flat wide display. Yes it looks dated but it’s a tried and true form that is eminently functional.
As I already mentioned, the display of the 2XL doesn’t curve around the edges, so all of the content was displayed nice and flat. It made me point and laugh at the pictures running over the edges of my Samsung display. Sorry, I mean no offense to Sammy fans, but I just don’t like that sort of thing now that I’ve lived with it long enough to figure out what bugs me and what I can let slide.
The cameras on both display models kicked tail when it came to capturing a section of the store that presented a unique lighting challenge. Both my iPhone 7 Plus and my S8+ overexposed this area but the Pixels nailed it. It was a place where a display had recessed lighting shining down on another phone display. The Pixel 2 and 2XL managed to properly expose the ceiling area around the recessed lighting and keep the lights themselves from becoming blinding blobs. The Sammy and IPhone turned that area into a white blob.
Each camera displays noise differently. My iPhone 7 Plus shows less noise pointed at the brown wall of the store. But when you zoom in on the picture you see that’s the noise suppression algorithm creates that Monet watercolors effect instead. The Sammy and Pixel2 XL gives a hint of old fashioned noise instead. These latter two retain details better in those lighting conditions than my iPhone did. However, I suspect when iPhone X comes out that it may lead the pack.
If I can figure out why the forum can’t accept my photos, I’ll upload the pic I took on my phones to illustrate what I’m talking about. I’m sorry for now it’s all verbal descriptions.
Thanks so much for the awesome info.
I have the same issue uploading pictures to the forum. Even some of the ~3mb photos from my phone are deemed too large. Either shrink them down on your computer, or upload them to somewhere like Imgur and then embed them. Note: be careful uploading photos to third party sites if your images have your location in them. Might not be a big deal at the Verizon store, but you don't want a photo taken at home uploaded online with your location.
I tried to take a screenshot of the photo because I’ve always been able to upload screenshots before. But not this time. I wonder if the new iPhone photo format has something to do with it. I forgot everything is in the new format now.Thanks so much for the awesome info.
I have the same issue uploading pictures to the forum. Even some of the ~3mb photos from my phone are deemed too large. Either shrink them down on your computer, or upload them to somewhere like Imgur and then embed them. Note: be careful uploading photos to third party sites if your images have your location in them. Might not be a big deal at the Verizon store, but you don't want a photo taken at home uploaded online with your location.
[doublepost=1507951815][/doublepost]Okay it was the IPhone HEIC or whatever file that was causing the problem. This is from the Samsung. The white area around the recessed lights in the little bump out display was blown out by the S8+ as you see here and by the IPhone 7 Plus. On the Pixel 2XL you would be able to see each light surrounded by the cream colored fascia of the bump out that they are recessed into. It would not be white and glaring like what’s shown in the picture. It would be cream with a little bit of distinct reflections from each light. So I guess that’s a measure of the sophisticated HDR capability that Google is so proud of. This particular picture’s yellowish cast is a result of me clumsily converting a png to a jpeg so I could upload it easily to this forum. The original moving photo isn’t that yellowish. I turned off Live Photo’s on my iPhone but forgot to do so for my Samsung. However I don’t think that would have made much difference since my Sammy does tend to blow out lighting situations like this one even with moving photos turned off.
Darren Gloster said he got 4hr 51m SOT with 35% remaining on the Pixel 2 XL
Just played with a black XL 2 at VZW.
Wow it is HIDEOUS in person. I don't recall who was complaining about the bezels but they are 100% correct. The bezels on the phone are actually pretty huge. Basically with the giant black borders it looks line someone cut a rectangle into a tube. I played a trailer in full screen and it looked like a small box.
Nope nope nope nope. Cancelling my panda order. Google got this one wrong.
Wow it is HIDEOUS in person. I don't recall who was complaining about the bezels but they are 100% correct. The bezels on the phone are actually pretty huge. Basically with the giant black borders it looks line someone cut a rectangle into a tube. I played a trailer in full screen and it looked like a small box.
Nope nope nope nope. Cancelling my panda order. Google got this one wrong.
The ones we looked at were so locked down we couldn’t look at trailers or go on the internet due to lack of passwords. So we could not view trailers or anything like that. I barely noticed the bezels, myself. But every person is different.
I’m looking for a smooth OS experience and timely updates. I get timely updates on my iPhone of course, and the S8+ on AT&T is good. I’d like to keep to that level.
Suffice it to say there is no smoothness at the moment in anything I own running on recent OSes. My iPad mini 4 and iPhone 7 Plus are mere shadows of what they were when new. My S8+ is a flighty thing, but I’m still a noob, all things considered, and my next step is to uninstall the themes I’m running and restore it to stock and see if that helps any. I’ve got thousands of dollars worth of fairly young tech and I’ve not done anything exotic with them, have been very conservative about the reputation of the apps I install and it’s all just not the greatest experience.
My sister-in-law, who is representative of the average non tech consumer, is extremely frustrated with her iPhone 6 Plus these days and we hoped to switch her over to the 6S Plus I gave her months ago, but now we think it’s not going to make her any happier when iOS 11 is such a brat.
Its also possible those bezels bothered you because you got used to the Note 8.
The side bezels are actually smaller than the iPhone X.
Not concerned about the bezels as my iPhone has big ones so it cant possibly be any worse as long as its almost bezelless. Just the screen brightness and quality with the shipped units concerns me. Waiting for reviews of this phone before plonking cash on either the Note 8 or iPhone X or Pixel 2 XL.
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